The Making of THE REAL RILEY MAYES: Inventing a Character

the making of "The Real Riley Mayes"

Hello! This is the first of four blog posts about the making of THE REAL RILEY MAYES, a graphic novel for kids. This post focuses on inventing a character.

In the opening pages of THE REAL RILEY MAYES, Riley doodles her favorite comedian on her homework, suggests off-the-wall football plays at recess, and stabs herself with a marker in protest during class. To the reader, her character emerges quickly. But it actually took months and years to create Riley.