“Prompt to Page” is a cool podcast all about sharing writing prompts! Recently I had so much fun chatting with host Carrie Green, (of Jessamine County Public Library here in Kentucky.)
Check it out! 🙂
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.
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.
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 First, a “banned book” refers to books withdrawn from the library, or prohibited from use in a school (PEN America.)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—
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.
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.
Hello! This is the third of four blog posts about the making of THE REAL RILEY MAYES, a graphic novel for kids. The first post focuses on inventing a character, the second post on research, and all three touch on revision- this post is all about it!
All writers revise their writing, whether it’s a novel, a comic, song lyrics, or a joke. If you think about the word: RE-VISION, it means “to look over again.” When you look at something you wrote from a new perspective, you might decide to make big changes. So how DO see your writing from a new perspective?
Hello! This is the second of four blog posts about the making of THE REAL RILEY MAYES, a graphic novel for kids. This post focuses on inventing a character. Read the first post here.
Do you remember the first time you were so intrigued by someone, you just had to find out more about them? At 10 years old, I remember getting interested in short biographies to find out more about well known people: What were they like when they were kids? How did they grow up? What were their likes and dislikes? How did they become so AMAZING?
In the book THE REAL RILEY MAYES, Riley is searching for new friends… but she’s also searching for information about her favorite TV comedian, Joy Powers. Aaron helps her surf the web, but they don’t find an email or mailing address for fan mail. Instead, they find an intimidating photo gallery of her thirteen trips to the White House. Riley’s research into Joy Powers’s life is sometimes thrilling, sometimes daunting.
Artists and illustrators also do research to make better stories. I’d like to share with you some items I found through research. Drag the bar on each photo to reveal the research that inspired various pages in 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.
My debut graphic novel THE REAL RILEY MAYES is set in Oklahoma. See that tell-tale sky blue flag on the cover? I grew up there, and it was a joy to draw little slices of life from my home state into this book. There are Chevy Silverados in the drop-off circle, mullet haircuts with no irony whatsoever, and frito chili pie in the school cafeteria. There’s also LGBTQ+ characters in the book. Sometimes Oklahoma’s lawmakers are hostile to LGBTQ+ issues and rights, but Oklahomans in general are supportive, and there’s a lot of queer community to be found… in the book, and in real life. Last week I got to visit my home state for four stops on a quick book tour. Here’s the amazing people and places I got to visit:
My debut graphic novel THE REAL RILEY MAYES is set in Oklahoma. I grew up there, and it was a joy to draw little slices of life from my home state into this LGBTQ+ book for kids. So I’m thrilled to come back to Oklahoma for three stops on a little book tour! If you’re in Oklahoma, come say hello!
SEPT 30: I’ll be on a panel “Banning Queer Books” at University of Central Oklahoma’s International Gender and Sexuality Studies Conference in Edmond. The panel is at 1:15 in Constitution Hall at UCO. There will be a REAL RILEY MAYES book signing afterwards, and free postcards for everyone!
OCT 1: I’ll be signing copies of THE REAL RILEY MAYES, and giving out free postcards, at the Pryor Book Exchange and Bible Bookstore in my hometown of Pryor, Oklahoma. I’ll be there 1pm-3pm. While you’re in town, don’t forget to swing by Sandusky’s Market for some jam (the edible kind and the musical kind!)
OCT 2: I’ll be talking about the making of THE REAL RILEY MAYES at Magic City Books in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Come ask a question! Pick up free postcards, and browse a scrapbook of behind-the-scenes sketches. 2pm at Magic City Books.
Since Riley uses the U.S. Mail to contact her favorite TV comedian, I drew and designed these postcards. I bring them with me to book signings for THE REAL RILEY MAYES. Want some of your own to mail to your fave celeb, LGBTQ organization, your friends, or even your enemies? Here are two downloadable, printable color PDF files to make your own RILEY MAYES postcards. It works with Avery 8387 postcards, or you can print them on standard 8.5 x 11 cardstock and cut them yourself.
Rachel Elliott 