Giving Birth to Dragons

Where do dragons come from? Easy. From eggs. But where do ideas come from? Not so easy.
Last year, I wrote a series for Stone Arch called The Library of Doom, a dark, fantastical, monster-filled set where the hero is called The Librarian. The books were well-received, and I was encouraged to write another series for the same reader: a kid who struggled with vocabulary, most likely a boy, who was into pop culture, but was also probably embarrassed by not reading at-level.

So, I first thought about a sci-fi setting: two boys in the future who crash-land on an uncharted, unexplored, gigantic planet. This would give the boys lots of room to explore and encounter all kinds of aliens and adventure. I even wrote a few manuscripts along these lines, but they just sort of lay there on the page. Flat. There was no spark. I realized that a planet, no matter how huge, was still basically one setting. Just like the Library of Doom. Authors like to give themselves challenges, try out new tricks, and I wanted this series to be different from the Library: lots of heroes, lots of locations.

And that’s when it gets harder to explain. As I pictured that gigantic planet, I saw the image for the TV series Heroes, which is a view of the Earth from outer space. Heroes? Hmmm. What about a series where kids (rather than adults) all over the world discover that they are different from ordinary human beings? They don’t possess traditional super powers, they possess . . . what? And from some forgotten, rarely visited fissure of my brain, another image popped up: dragons. I’ve loved dragons ever since elementary school – the dragon Smaug from Tolkien’s The Hobbit; the legend of St. George; and, of course, the monstrous serpents of Greek mythology like the one killed by Apollo, or the Hydra with seven heads, or those terrible papier-mache creatures from the 60s sword-and-sandals flick The Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules (I was a mythology nut as a kid. In 5th grade, I even built an altar to Apollo!).

Somehow, both of those images collided and gave me the idea for Dragonblood. Six books came out last year, and I’m writing six more. And as I work on these new ones, something else has joined the mix. I can see how the young heroes coming to terms with their bizarre genetic gift of dragon blood (and wings and scales and talons), is not all that different from kids coming to terms with adolescence, becoming human, growing up. So these three ideas, brooding quietly in their neuron nest, decided to hatch and come twisting like a lizard’s tail from the corners of imagination and past history to become a book.

So where do ideas come from? Maybe the answer is eggs.


Michael Dahl
Editorial Director
SAB

The Next Round

I’m not a huge fan of sports analogies. Oftentimes, these clichés come out of left field and fail to hit their mark. That said, I’m also not someone who lays off a perfect pitch. I mean, everyone knows you gotta take a few cuts if you’re ever going to connect, right? So, if I WAS going to use a corny sports analogy to describe the graphic novel process, I might say it’s a lot like boxing: match up an author and an illustrator, promote their event, and hope the outcome pleases the audience.


At Stone Arch, we’ve already started our next round of graphic novels, scheduled for release in Fall 2009. One title, FLOAT AND STING: ONE ROUND WITH MUHAMMAD ALI, matches up celebrated author Davis Miller with illustrator Andres Esparza. In the book, Miller is a puny little mouse at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. At least that's
what the other students call the 4' 7" senior. After years of being depressed, the sickly teen decides to take on an impossible dream. He decides to become a boxer. Then one day in 1975, Miller gets a chance to spar with Muhammad Ali — a bout that changes his life.


Unlike some matchups, Miller and Esparza haven't clashed with each other in these opening rounds (trust me, as an editor, I’ve refereed a few battles in the past); their combination of writing talent and visual storytelling has created a tale of excitement and inspiration. So for now, enjoy a few sneak peeks or, you might call them, pregame warm-ups. This book is sure to be a knockout! (Okay, that was a little corny.)



Donnie Lemke
Senior Editor
Stone Arch Books

Comic-Con New York 2009

Our friend Batman, posing for fans at Comic-Con New York

The Stone Arch booth, showcasing our graphic novels

Art of all kinds is featured at Comic-Con

SAB Creative Director Heather Kindseth and her husband, Aaron

Messages of Diversity

Last November, my then 4-year-old daughter, Sky, took part in a mock presidential election in her preschool class. The teacher showed the kids a photograph of each candidate, told them their names, and then let them vote. I was surprised that night when Sky informed us that she voted for “John McCain, because he sure looked like he would be a good president.” She was disappointed in the morning to learn her candidate lost, and she simply wasn’t sure Barack Obama would be a good president.


Something about her reaction left me feeling a little embarrassed. But after thinking about it, I realized that John McCain was the candidate who looked like all the other presidents Sky had ever seen. She, like so many children her age, didn’t fully grasp that anyone, no matter their color or gender, could be president.


I saw an educational opportunity there. With the books I choose to share with her, I can share a message of diversity. For example, I can read The End Zone, from our “My First Graphic Novel” series, so she can see that an African-American girl can be the hero among a football team of boys. And as Sky grows, there are countless Stone Arch titles with diverse characters just waiting to capture her interest and imagination. She can read Running Rivals, a Jake Maddox book, and discover two competitors—one black and one white—who work together to improve their skills. When she picks up a Claudia book, she’ll find that despite differences in cultural backgrounds, she and the quirky character have a lot in common.


And how does Sky feel about her Mr. President now? Well, she has fallen in love with the rhythm of his name, and while she clicks to cartoons, she often pauses on the news to listen to him speak. She has definitely developed a respect for our president. But I think it’s his fashionista-wife that has truly captured her heart. She just loved that gold inauguration suit!


Julie Gassman
Senior Editor
Stone Arch Books/Picture Window Books

Flipping Pages

Okay, I’ll admit it, this month I turned the page on my calendar a few days late. Normally, I wouldn’t mind (it’s not an unusual occurrence, after all); however, February is different. First, it’s already the shortest month of the year and doesn’t need additional editing (yes, even editors know when to say when). And, much more importantly, it’s Black History Month. For twenty-eight days (not counting those crazy leap years), we commemorate the enormous contributions of African Americans in our society. For twenty-eight days, we recognize Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Jackie Robinson, Wilma Rudolph, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr., and hundreds of other African American icons. For a mere twenty-eight days, all people are given the chance to discuss the African American experience, to share stories, both fiction and nonfiction, of their struggles, triumphs, and perseverance throughout history. So, before flipping the page on your calendar next month, flip through the pages of a few good books and learn something you hadn’t yet known. Oh, and don’t worry if March comes a few days late.


Donnie Lemke
Senior Editor
Stone Arch Books