My First Kids Book Project
Lessons in friendship, keeping in touch with good people, and going outside
So far, I’ve mostly been talking about how I have the social instincts of a housefly and how I’ve been slowly losing my mind with social media. I thought this newsletter could be slightly more upbeat this time around. I’d like to talk about how I got my first kid’s book project!
Available for pre-orders from booksellers in Canada, including Vancouver Kidsbooks. Also available direct from the publisher, Harbour Publishing.
A Wordpress Plumber for Hire
About nine years ago, a friend of mine approached me for some webdev help. She had designed a couple of websites for a guy named Grant Lawrence and she needed a Wordpress plumber to put it all together.
From initial emails and conversations, Grant sounded like a real nice guy. I’d see him on TV as the CBC’s music correspondent from time to time. He had published memoirs about his childhood summers spent in the Sunshine Coast, playing beer league hockey, and touring the world with his indie rock band The Smugglers.
The budget wasn’t massive, so I suggested that part of our deal be for him to send me copies of his books. I thought it would be fun to ask.
At this point in my career, I already had a line of webdev clients who would pay me partly in hand-dyed yarn, knitting lessons, and shucked oysters. More than one person had pointed out that my freelance business model resembled Robbie Hart getting paid in meatballs for singing lessons like in The Wedding Singer. Honestly, the people I met through these projects were much more fun and interesting. I was more than fine to receive some free books.
I was so glad. The books had more of an impact on me than I expected. His memoir about Desolation Sound, Adventures in Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck was a lovely collection of stories and characters that stuck with me. His easy way of writing felt like making a friend, and I slowly got to know him through his words.
The website projects had finished, but we kept in contact for touch-ups and small updates. Kind of like when you find a good hairdresser or barber. He was never demanding, and I always made time for “The CBC Guy” (as he became known in my household).
Oh, Hello, Old Friend
Fast forward to 2023. By this time, Grant and I had been carrying on with an intimate, torrid relationship online as webdev maintenance person and local Canadian celebrity who had to update his website once in a while.
He was also an early victim of my “HELLO MY NAME IS GINGER” campaign.
I emailed him about my recent sashay into the illustration world and asked him to kindly keep me in mind if any interesting projects arose. We started following each other on Instagram. And then we both went on living our lives.
A few months later, Grant reached out and told me that Adventures in Solitude was going to be reincarnated as a children’s book. He had seen my drawing of a bear eating out of a honeycomb and asked if I was interested in collaborating on the project with him.
Was I interested? I had more interest in this project than the Bank of Canada did on mortgage rates in 2022! WHERE DO I BLOODY SIGN?!
The Process
What a dream. I got to research the wildlife and landscape of Desolation Sound, filling up my sketchbook with so many drawings of animals and nature. I would go for walks around Stanley Park to study the plants, building a visual library for myself.
I dove in with drawings of some of the characters. Some were based on real images that Grant sent along, and others were from my imagination.
I made lots of thumbnails to sketch out the pacing of the book and different compositions to try and capture the funny parts of the story. I was also working on the cover. I think my own sentimentality over this book came out naturally, which made it easy to talk to Grant and the publisher.
The book already meant something to me, and the stories were familiar right from the first draft. This was my first illustrated book project, and somehow they took a chance with me. I gave it everything I could.
The best part was being able to meet Grant in person for the first time. Last month, he came over to my place to look at the printer’s proofs with me. A wonderful sense of friendship hung in the air as we hugged on the sidewalk.
It turned out that we had some common friends, but for years we had eluded each other like ghost ships passing in the night. My image of him from nine years ago evolved into a real person standing before me, struggling to lock his bike to a post while he held on to a grocery bag and his helmet.
The Reason for Good Things
This project was easily a top highlight in my first year of illustration, but took nine years to take shape. It gave me a sense of optimism throughout the winter, and tested my skills as a late-bloomer illustrator. But more importantly, I got to create something wonderful with my friend.
Many of us are struggling with social media these days. I know that. Me too. But whenever I think about the way this came about, I am always struck by what lay underneath it all.
It wasn’t a business deal born from out-of-control scheduled Instagram posts or viral videos of me drawing online. It didn’t happen overnight.
It was simply me and a buddy staying in touch, gently checking in with each other over the years.
I celebrated the wins he shared with me—big and small—and he returned the favour because no matter how bad it got online, I knew Grant Lawrence would always be a real nice guy.
Share in Our Win!
Please do consider pre-ordering our book, Adventures in Desolation Sound. Pre-orders help bookstores and publishers make the big decisions, and knowing that our book is wanted in the world makes a difference.
Available for pre-orders from booksellers in Canada, including Vancouver Kidsbooks. Also available direct from the publisher, Harbour Publishing.
Way to go on the book, Ginger. And, dang. This sure brought me out of a mid-week funky bunch slump. P.S. that's a random reference to the one and only, Marky Mark.