Debut You is an interview feature on Our Stories Matter blog. Debut authors, who have released or have upcoming releases in 2020, are given five questions to answer about themselves and their book. Currently, the questions are the same for all authors. We hope you enjoy getting to know these new authors and can offer them your support.
Describe yourself in five words, then expound on one of them.
Introvert, grateful, observer, dedicated, and witty.
I live to laugh. And truly enjoy making people laugh, preferably when they aren’t expecting it. I think being a natural observer allows me to find humor in the most unlikely of circumstances, ever since I was a child. And the quick delivery of the observation is the icing on the cake.
Explain your writing procedure, such as how you come up with ideas, carve out time to write (or, if you can write anywhere at any time during the day), deal with writer’s block, or anything particular or peculiar.
Most of my ideas just show up and plant themselves in my brain, typically when I’m busy with non-writing related things. The story is built in my head, a non-linear process, but I mostly work it out in my head before I ‘write’ anything down. I want to get better at moving this process along more quickly by capturing the story fragments on paper and creating drawings, good ones and bad, roughing it out to better visualize how to pull all the pieces together.
Balance is the key to successful living. How do you balance the act of writing with other priorities, such as your job, family or fun activities, and self-care?
Balance? What is that? I wish I could say I have this figured out with a consistent routine, but unfortunately, I do not. There are definitely droughts in dedicated creative time because the rest of life is all-consuming. However, because I do a lot of building in my head, as mentioned about my process, it sort of works out.
Understanding your audience is essential. What do you know for sure about the audience you are writing for?
I know that children want to be entertained while learning. They want a connection to the story, to see themselves, and something relatable. So, representation is important to me, creating stories about children on and beyond the margins so they can see themselves reflected in a book.
Tell us about your book.
I Love Me! is a fun, rhyming, self-affirming book for children. Featuring a diversity of races and ethnicities, physical features, body types, and abilities — it teaches all kids (adults too) they have many, many reasons to love themselves.
I Love Me! (Beth Hughes, Illustrator, Beaming Books, Picture Book, 32 Pages, April 21, 2020)
LaRonda Gardner Middlemiss is a picture book author, who came to writing by way of motherhood. Her son’s love of story time immersed her in the wonderful world of picture books. Enjoying books with various themes and approaches to storytelling, from the quirky to the quiet, eventually inspired her to begin writing stories of her own. By day she is an engineer and when not busy battling wits with her husband or having fun with her son, she enjoys listening to children’s book themed podcasts, gaining insight from NPR, and watching movies. She also likes creating art and hopes to someday both author and illustrate her own books. Books that will entertain, enlighten, and empower children across the globe.
