Author: okelliott

Thank You Creative Capital!

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screenshot of the Creative Capital webpage, a graphic with 53 photos of the winners of the State of the Art Prize

Hello friends! Today i am filled with gratitude because Creative Capital awarded me one of their 53 State of the Art Prizes. My proposed project is a kids’ graphic novel, a grandmother-granddaughter heist that features the Cherokee language. I’m hoping to use the money to get some help with research, and to run a few comics workshops in the Cherokee Nation in Northeastern Oklahoma, where I am from.

My grandmother spoke Cherokee as much as English when she was a child. My mother knew enough words to chat with my grandmother without me knowing what they were talking about. But I’m pretty bad at learning languages, and at the time it wasn’t a language you could learn in the public school system, so it never stuck well with me. Recently, I’ve been taking online courses offered by Cherokee Nation so I can finally learn.

One of my favorite ways to remember words and phrases is to draw pictures to go along with them. I also like learning enough sentences that I can adapt a scene, or sometimes invent a scene, of a favorite TV show.

You can read more about the State of the Art Prize here. This is the first year for this prize, which spreads money for artists and art projects more evenly across all the states and territories of the USA.

Isaac and Pearl, a new comic chapter book series for young readers!

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Hi Friends! Here’s some news: I’m writing and drawing a new comic series for young readers, titled ISAAC AND PEARL. Huge thanks to editor Robyn Chapman at First Second / Macmillan, agent Susan Hawk at Upstart Crow Literary, and everyone else who is helping bring ISAAC AND PEARL to life. They are a combo of low-key and goofball, and readers get 5 stories in one book. I love them very much and hope you do, too. An even HUGER thanks to my big brother David, for being the kind of big brother Isaac is. 🙂

  • drawing of two anthropomorphic cat siblings. The taller is pointing at a cloud shaped like a horse. The shorter is holding up a plastic toy horse. Headshot of Rachel Elliott with text that reads "Robyn Chapman at First Second has acquired, in a two book deal, Isaac and Pearl, Rachel Elliott's young reader graphic novel series about two cats: level-headed Isaac and his vivacious little sister Pearl. Publication is scheduled for 2027; Susan Hawk at Upstart Crow Literary negotiated for World rights"
  • color comic page with four panels. a little young cat, PEARL, talking to an older kid cat, ISAAC, among some trees. PEARL: "But you know everything!" ISAAC, reaching in his pocket, "Let's call for help." PEARL, reaching in her backpack, "K." ISAAC on phone: "RING RING" PEARL, holding a plastic horse and hugging a tree: "Hello, Tree." Isaac, on phone: "Hello, Dad?" Pearl, talking to tree, "we are lost."
  • five comic panels of anthropomorphized cat siblings talking. The younger sibling, PEARL, is holding a toy horse, and says "and herman will have a new hoof in a year." Older sibling, ISAAC: "Well, no. Not Herman. Herman is plastic." PEARL stares into space, and says "RRR. RRR. eeerrr." ISAAC says "Pearl?"
  • seven comic panels of anthropomorphic cats. PEARL is in foreground, ISAAC and a friend in background. FRIEND: "Dude, get her out of here." A light bulb appears above PEARL's head. She starts crying loudly. ISAAC, the older cat, says to his younger sister PEARL: "Pearl, C'mon, don't cry. I'll play with you tomorrow." PEARL, whispering, "I'm not Pearl..." PEARL, speaking up: "I'm BABY ZOMBIE." ISAAC laughs. PEARL: "Waaa! Waa! Hungwy! Bwains!" A different friend doubles over snorting and laughing.

Crack the Case with ZEB AND BEL, Rachel’s New Comedy – Mystery Graphic Novel Series for Young Readers

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Fans of suspect boards, sibling banter, and mischievous city birds– here is YOUR BOOK. Zeb and Bel: A Case of Bird Problems is the first book in a new graphic novel series for kid readers. Local prankster parakeet Payton goes missing during a neighborhood magic show. Is this one of his usual pranks? A petnapping? Or actual magic? While their human owner Josephine and her two moms help search Perpleck City for the bird, Zeb and Bel run their own adventurous and hilarious investigation. There’s a musical number on the balcony, and cameo appearances from corgi butts. If you keep your eyes peeled as you read, YOU could crack the case ahead of Zeb and Bel!

I started drawing this duo- Zeb, the dog on the left, and Bel, the cat on the right- waaaay back in 2017, years before finishing The Real Riley Mayes. They are based on my very first pet and my most recent pet, but they grew into their own characters. They are such a great brother-sister duo, it made sense for them to solve mysteries together.

It took awhile for agent Susan Hawk and I to figure out how to pitch it… it’s a mystery, yeah, but light. It’s funny, yeah, but also has the whole range of emotion that siblings share. Over the course of sketching the story, new TV shows for adult audiences came out. So we pitched it as “like Only Murders in the Building, but with PETS.” (I promise you the pitch had nothing to do with my 400+ drawings of Martin Short.)

It has for sure been a sweet gig, drawing these two as they solve all their world’s problems, whether it’s missing parakeets or sibling differences. ZEB AND BEL #1 comes out in January of 2026, but you can preorder it now. 🙂 Thank you to everyone who helped in your own special ways.

Preorder Here!

Six Questions About Book Banning, Censorship, and The Real Riley Mayes

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I’ve been asked a lot about book bans recently, so let’s round up all the questions, and my best attempts at answers, in a post for the bookban-curious.

Q: Hey Rachel, has your book been banned yet?

That’s a tricky question. First, a “banned book” refers to books withdrawn from the library, or prohibited from use in a school (PEN America.) A book might not technically be banned, but still affected by censorship. For example, decades ago when I was a kiddo, upset grown ups painted underwear over Mickey’s weenie in Maurice Sendak’s In The Night Kitchen (example image from ScopeNotes.)

Second, authors don’t always know if their book is banned or censored or defaced-by-the-weenie-phobic. When folks succeed at censoring a book they don’t say “welp we’d better email the author and tell them the news.” That said—

A: I know of three censorship incidents involving The Real Riley Mayes, and they all happened in the last three months.

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Highlights Foundation Summer Camp in Illustration

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Are you interested in writing and / or illustrating books for young readers? Do you enjoy creeks, rural places, staying in a nice little cabin, and making friends? Then you’d love attending a Highlights Foundation in-person class, workshop, or retreat! You might be familiar with the Highlights for Children magazine… the foundation is dedicated to helping folks who create books for kids, whether in the beginning stages of their career, or further down their journey.

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Stonewall Ceremony Thank You Remarks

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On June 26, 2023, the American Library Association Rainbow Round Table held the Stonewall Award Ceremony as part of their Youth Media Awards and the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.

I’m truly grateful to the ALA Rainbow Round Table and the Stonewall Award Committee for choosing THE REAL RILEY MAYES as a 2023 Stonewall Honor Book. The best part of this experience was meeting all the librarians who serve on the committee. They are each so devoted to LGBTQ+ books for kids, and yet this is also just a small part of their amazing creative lives.

Below is a video of my thank you remarks at the ceremony.

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Juneteenth Banned Books and Literary Festival

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Please join Shawn Pryor, Mariama Lockington, and Rachel Elliott at the Juneteenth Banned Books & Literacy Festival!

FRIDAY June 16th: Join from anywhere! A virtual panel of scholars will discuss literacy and inclusion in K-12 schools

SATURDAY, June 17th: Join us at the University of Kentucky’s Cornerstone Building at 401 S. Limestone in Lexington, KY! Saturday’s program will include youth poet Klitan Adedeji, an author panel, a book signing, and a series of banned book READ IN workshops. Books will be for sale onsite, and a pizza lunch will be provided.

The festival is free with registration, and you can register and read more details here.

It’s OK to Draw Houses on Fire

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Last week, I did an internet search for photos of houses on fire, and drew them in colored pencil. One of my new drawing habits is to think of a word or phrase, like “giant skeleton” or “kangaroo resting” or “emotional bird”, do an online image search, and draw from the photos for about twenty minutes. Sometimes I put them on instagram. Sometimes it’s an enjoyable break, a way to fuel my curiosity and get new ideas. This time, I was feeling emotional about some anti-LGBTQ legislation in the Kentucky state legislature. I scribbled really hard with the pencils.

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The Real Riley Mayes is a Sid Fleischman Humor Award Honor Book

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The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators held their virtual Golden Kite Gala on February 24, 2023. THE REAL RILEY MAYES was selected as an Honor Book for the Sid Fleischman Humor Award. SCBWI will be making donations to the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and Oklahomans for Equality. FREDDIE VS THE FAMILY CURSE by Tracy Badua was selected as the Sid Fleischman Humor Award Winner. You can see her fantastic speech, and all the other winners, here: https://www.scbwi.org/golden-kite-gala-2023/

It’s a gigantic joy to have RILEY recognized for her humor. In the book, Riley ‘s own jokes usually fall flat, but she loves a comedian with all her spirit. In reviews, folks mention bullying & difficult conversations around LGBTQ issues- these aren’t the focus of the book, they’re more like an inevitable bug in Riley’s life. When readers imagine books with those events in the pages, they may imagine serious books. I wanted to make this a funny book. Why? Because against the straightness of this world, the experience of discovering you’re queer (and embracing and conveying that queerness throughout your life) has its hilarious moments.