This is a project I finished almost a year ago as a freelance writer. This is my first time working as a freelance writer for children’s literature outside of writing my own picture books. I was invited by Sandhya Nankani of Literary Safari who worked with Benchmark Education to create an opportunity for more writers and illustrators of color. The result is a series of stories. This one is a story for kids around 3rd grade. It’s about a mixed kid (of course) who is Latinx/Asian and her name is Hana Dominguez. This was a fun experience and I really enjoyed working with editor Alicia Zadrozny and Eileen Robinson. Here is the synopsis:
Hana Dominguez has a knack for building things. While planning to build a stage for her cat, Purple, she stumbles upon the idea of performing herself. Will Hana be able to take center stage in her local theater’s musical revue?
Shout out to Mirelle Ortega beautifully illustrated the book with a great sense of color and composition.
Get a copy HERE
Now they have this sanctuary. A writing center to be, where my murals sit everyday waiting to make new friends among books, zines, artwork, and artifacts that inspire “Make Believing.”
All our kids, mine included, need artists and allies in the classrooms supporting teachers and bringing learning home through making and believing.
Peace,
This is it. I’m finally doing it. I’m launching a Kickstarter campaign for my first ever self-published children’s / picture book called Furqan’s First Flat Top. Over the next 30 days I will not only be doing a major push for this campaign on all the social networks, but I’ll be doing a series of posts related to the campaign talking about my mentors and influences in the field, how and why I went back to school, my short stories series, libraries, and more. For those of you who have been with me on this artistic journey for months, days, or years already, from Oakland to LA, Texas to New York, France to London, Mexico to Chile, Canada, India, Philippines and South Africa: you understand where I’m coming from. But for those who have never seen my work before, I need to break it down for them and I need your to help spread the word wherever you think it will resonate clearly. That can be in traditional newspapers, radio shows, cable access, artsy blogs, podcasts, bookstores, emails, re-tweets, re-blogs, however you want to help.
Thank you, Muchas Gracias, and Kamsamnida in advance. With this story I am manifesting many years of practice and dreams. It is the beginning of much more storytelling to come.
Most of the necessary information is on the campaign page but if you need to get some specific information from me, a press kit, images, links, please contact me directly at info@robdontstop.com.
Visit the Kickstarter page, give if you are in the position to, and let’s get Furqan’s First Flat Top onto bookshelves here in the states and abroad.
Join me as I celebrate a collaboration of art and poetry with Chapter 510 and some young spitters (poets). Also, reminder incase you missed the post about my illustration work with Oakland, literacy based Ch 510; they are seeking volunteers. If you know a young person or an adult who is interested in helping out with workshops, social media, etc please contact them. If you know of any funders who can support more literacy, creative writing, and poetry work they are doing with kids, contact them.
From Chapter510.org
Last week I had the chance to go speak to some beautiful little ones over at 826 Valencia st and 18th in The Mission District of San Francisco. I had never heard of the organization until the homie Raul J. Alcantar asked me to come through and speak to the kids. I arrived to a beautifully written “welcome” sign and got the sign from the ancestors that this is definitely part of what I need to be doing.
The day was part workshop and part reading as i showed them photos of my art, my sketchbooks, and some original paintings of some of the short stories. I love talking with this age group (mostly 3rd-5th grade) because they still laugh at my bad jokes, smile, and are not yet so serious. I did call and response with them, drew our names in graffiti styles, and answered a bunch of questions.
The funnest part was reading the stories. I have written words for all of them, but I don’t know them by heart so I usually just improvise with the basic storyline. And it came out great, they flipped through my books, and pointed to drawings with giggles. And one little boy stopped me mid sentence raising his hand to say “you’re art is COOL!”. Ha! me? Really? Child approval is the best!
826 is an national organization that promotes literacy by teaching writing, story making, and book publishing workshops for ages 7-18. They had an amazing array of stories, zines, and books published by the babies! They’re words, so simple, yet so right on. As I finished Raul handed me a gift bag with some of their short stories (english/and spanish). Pure awesomeness as I read their stories about the first time they ate tres leches cake.
The walls of the writing workshop were also adorned with awards and photos of the children who put in the most effort with their writing, giving other children the extra push to improve theirs so that they too could get on the wall. I got to meet the Executive director, the staff, and I found out they have branches in Los Angeles , Brooklyn, Seattle, Boston, DC, and Chicago. Hopefully i’ll be able to take my son’s school there, if you have some youth who are interested in telling their story, i highly recommend it.
And did i mention that each location has a different themed store in the front? The SF (founding branch) is a freaking Pirate Store! How cool is that? A little girl named Camila gave me a tour of the ship, stopping to tell me “I’m in this book”. I said “So then you’re published then, huh?” To which she replied, “Yeah, I guess so”. Rob smiling….
If you know of an author or illustrator who knows how to handle his or herself around little ones please hit up the man Raul and let him know.
I’m proud to say that my visit is the second of its kind after the great writer Luis J. Rodriguez!!! Wow, can there be more adventures like this on the horizon?
-Rob
This summer I went to the 40th annual SCBWI Summer conference. This was a well organized event I was referred to while going back to school to finish my BFA. I don’t know many artists personally who specialize in Children’s Books and I am a new comer to the field, so I went as a student of the game. It was hella (very) interesting and well worth the trip from the Bay Area to L.A.
I was able to pay the conference entry fee through the “QUICK Grant” which is awarded by Creative Capacity Fund to obtain professional development. Originally a year ago an instructor suggested I go, but I was unable to pay the fee then. This year I decided to find a way. The entry fee was around $500. The grant paid for over 90% of that cost. But renting a car, food, etc was another expense.
The SCBWI stands for Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. It’s an organization that provides a membership based community of writers and illustrators who are either published or starting out like me. It is an additional source of information, regional advise, special events (like this one), grants, and even special awards. They’ve been around for quite a long time. And to tell you the truth, I’m glad I became a member. Joining did not get me a book deal, and it didn’t give me “the answer”, it was another step forward that has made me more knowledgeable.
The information packet contained detailed information on each day of the 4 day conference which included key note speakers, critiques, workshops, networking sessions, portfolio reviews, a book sale, guides to the industry, and a lot of helpful tips. The hotel was luxurious and huge! The conference took up three floors of this massive place and every day we heard from key note speakers in a huge banquet hall equipped with sound system and video monitors.
The Good!
–I met people in my field! I know a lot of artists, but not many children’s books illustrators/writers. It was paramount that I go expand my horizons by meeting some new people.
–I learned many insider tips about the business. Things that the website does not come out and say, like for example. If you are a member of this organization, when submitting manuscripts or portfolios, some publishers will give Scbwi members first peek.
–I met some elders. Its comforting to know that there are people who do this successfully and can earn a living doing what they love.
–I got to see what my competition looked like. There were tons of portfolios out there, and tons of people both new and experienced to ask questions of. Most were open and helpful.
–Most of the art I saw was phenomenal!
–It affirmed my suspicion that there is a desperate need for someone, anyone with the guts to put bilingual and children of color focused books at the fore front. Both of these are barely a blip on their radar (in my opinion). It’s unfortunate for them because I felt like they’re blind to a lot of people by not being more inclusive of more diverse stories. But, it’s good for me because it showed me a wide-open opportunity.
–I got encouragement from pro’s first hand. When I submitted my portfolio for the competition I didn’t win, but one of the judges came up to me and spoke to me about my work after wards. That was extremely helpful!
–I gathered information and resources. Eventually I want to be able to share what I know about this business with others. I wouldn’t be able to share much if I didn’t go to learn from events like these.
The Ugly!
-No People of color (POC)! There were about 2000 attendees including presenters. About 5% of them were people of color.
Specifically, No Men of color! Out of the people there, 70% of them were women. Brothers!! We need to be involved in this! When I go to the major book stores, even the black owned stores it is hard as hell to find a book that shows a positive, thoughtful, or even edgy image of a father of color taking care of his kids! That has got to change. Fail!
-Bi-lingual books. Ok, beyond just welcoming POC and making them a constant presence at an event like this, it is important to acknowledge language. Spanish and Chinese (mandarin/Cantonese) are the most widely spoken languages around the world next to English. But, no mention of bi-lingual books! None! Wack! Unacceptable!
-The cost. Most young artists, students, and aspiring illustrators or writers cannot afford $500, plus a plane ticket if they don’t live in LA, plus room and board. This event is grand, the hotel is grand, but they need to figure out how to cut costs somewhere so that more young people can attend. The majority of the women there were over 40, probably with regular 9-5 jobs. What about recent college grads? After the last day there were extra workshops that could have been useful to me, except for the fact that the cost $300 each
-Children! Here at a conference about children, there were NO children at the event. No young speakers, no classes invited, beyond the illustrated books, not one single image or mention by kids them selves. I feel like children although young have a lot to offer the discussion on how to make better children’s books. Also, I am a young parent. What if I wanted to go but needed childcare? That was not an option, and it should be. Especially for single parents.
Highlights:
I attended a workshop with Pat Cummings and Priscilla Burris. These two women (both women of color) gave some warm, stern, to the point insight on the business and their experiences. For example, most art instructors will tell you “make postcards of your work and send it out to publishers like crazy”. But what you don’t know is that an average art director (in charge of hiring illustrators) receives something like 100 postcards a day. That’s about 500 a week, or 2000 a month! It’s hard to get noticed in that race. An important note Pat and Priscilla made was to target your favorite books by finding out edited, art directed, illustrated, wrote them. Then send a specific collection of work and letter to that specific art director or team, because it shows that you are not just throwing work out aimlessly.
Steven Malk –I went to Stevens workshop about breaking into the business. Why? I did my homework before I got there and found out that he represented (he’s an agent) several of my favorite children’s book illustrators like Kadir Nelson and Adam Rex. What I found out is that illustrators work ten times harder than I thought they did. He gave a slide show about what kind of work he receives, what stands out and why. Now, some of you are saying “so what, what’s he know?”. Well, its an illustrators job to get paid well to do what they love. I mean, imagine working on a story you love for an entire year and being paid to do just that. And, I’ve seen the work of his clients. It’s tip top! I don’t want to be like his clients, but I wanted to know what information he would give. One of the jewels was that art directors get tired of receiving postcards. He showed personalized dummy’s (a mock up of a story in book format) and specially sewn together fabric/paper promotional pieces. It’s not all about money, but this definitely made me want to step my game up.
Sarah Stern – Sarah is one of the newest staff members to Scbwi and she made an impact on me because she remembered me. Months before I attended the event, I sent my work to various publishers, agents, etc in an effort to produce, work, and learn. One of the people I contacted and sent my work to when I first became an Scbwi member was Ms Stern. And when I checked in at the front desk, she remembered my work and my name before she saw me. That helped ease the anxiety of being one of maybe 10% of people there under the age of 50, and being probably the only man of color there, period!
E.B. Lewis –This brother was very nice. I was sitting outside in between workshops eating lunch. A little frustrated at what I didn’t see there, but trying to appreciate what was in front of me. I offered my food to anyone around me as a way to just make conversation and network. Low and behold, one of the people I talk to was E.B. Lewis! If you’re not familiar with his work look up “I love my hair”. This brother not only gave me advice, but he acknowledged me, my concerns, and my questions. All without an ego or authoritative tone. To hear about his work and his life helped me focus and be present.
Imix/Mi Vida- What the conference lacked in books about people of color and bi-lingual childrens books I got from Mi Vida (Highland Park) book section managed by former book store owner Elisa Sol Garcia (Imix). The store was beautiful. I swear East La is one of the only places I’ve been where I see Chican@s playing electric guitars and singing rock or punk songs. Artist Oree Originol took me on a brief tour and when I told him I wanted to see books, this is where he took me. The store breathed life back into my heart because it showed me again what is possible. The collection of books was seriously like nothing I’ve ever seen and I’m thankful to know there are people out there who care about telling stories that are often ignored by whites and mainstream society.
While I was on my way down there I drove by myself and got a chance to work out a lot of things in my head. Although I hate driving in traffic, I love riding to music so I just enjoyed driving through La’s west and East side, seeing all the people, all the stores, the smells, sounds. I know some folks hate L.A., but I was comforted by it. Lots of beautiful people out there. Also, when I got there I got a chance to hook up with Oree. We rode to the Iron Lak (spray paint)store because they were having a store opening with some dope pieces on the wall. There we also ran into Graffiti veterans from the bay Estria and Vogue. A good night indeed. Lastly, I stayed with my cousin Tremaine who I hadn’t seen since my grandfather passed away. We hadn’t really kicked it for several years so it was wonderful to see him , go to Amoeba Records, and just catch up, offering advice and sharing stories with this young father to be…..
There’s a lot of movie experiences I’ve had in my life that were memorable. I’ve always loved films because my mother and father loved films, especially anything that was heavy in narrative and fantasy. But one particular experience that sticks out is when I went to see Batman Returns in 1992. I was about twelve years old at the time and my big cousin Mook had planned going to go see it.
He was as big a movie fanatic as I was. Actually we shared an appreciation for many things such as music too. But this film was an experience because of three basic things: the journey, the scope, and the relationship I had with my cousin. But first a little background on the city.
In the San Francisco bay area there were historic sites that gave you a very nostalgic look back into history, much like New York. The city was officially founded around the mid 1800’s. The Ohlone and Miwok indigenous tribes were murdered and run off their lands starting in the mid 1500’s, but it wasn’t until the establishment of the Mission’s by the Spanish, the gold rush that gave way to the “Forty Niners”, where thousands of European settler’s moved out west to strike it rich in gold, a huge recruitment of Chinese immigrants to build the railroad that really started to bring people there. Even more so with the foundation of labor unions, Treasure Island, the Port of Oakland, and the huge amount of work being produced because of the World War in areas surrounding the city such as Richmond, ca. Labor is one of the forces that brought so many African American families from the south to the city. This is huge because it brought my grandparents there.
So, one of the historic places that is now closed is a theater on Geary street in the Fillmore section of the city, known for its historic presence in jazz and regal black history. The name of this theater was the “Coronet” and it was huge! Imagine a regular theater today with twelve to fifteen smaller theaters in it. The Coronet was the size of at least four or five smaller ones put together. It was big! And that is where you went to see a film like Batman with all of its action and fantasy details.This was before comic films were such a craze that there was a new one of them coming out every single year.
I remember my cousin told me to be at his house the night before so that we could get up at 6am, crazy right and mob over there to be among the first people in the city who had seen the film. It’s different now days because you can find the film online before it even comes out. To give you a scope of internet, I didn’t start using
emails until about seven or eight years later. Man, it was cold, windy, and surprisingly bright on Geary street that morning, and one thing that made it comforting besides the fast that I was going with my cousin Mook, who really I considered the big brother I never had was that there were hella (a lot) of people already there! I thought he was crazy for wanting to go so damn early and here we are staring at a line of people. He wanted to be first in line I think. It just goes to show that we took seeing films seriously and it was an event.
And it was worth it if you like fantasy and action. Batman returns was one of the most expensive films of its time. It’s predecessor the first Batman starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson was one of my favorites, Not only because of the film itself but because Prince did the soundtrack. But that’s another story. This film starred Michael Keaton again, Michelle Phifer, Christopher Walken, and Danny Devito.
The characters they were playing from the comic were Batman of course, Catwoman, I can’t remember Mr. Walkers character, and the Penguin. Classic! One thing that tripped me out that I consider subliminal back then and overt today is symbolism. A lot of people who were waiting in line were wearing the yellow and black logo of the film. I mean, people had shirts, cups, belts, all kinds of stuff. I thought it was corny to wear, but people really got into it. Warner Brothers studio was smart though, because the power of the symbol for people to identify themselves, a movement, or even a
character is powerful.
One thing that made the film powerful is that I got to hang out with mycousin. Ever since I could remember I looked up to my cousin. Whatever he wore, I wanted to wear. Whatever he listened to in hip-hop I was buying. I even wanted to have a girlfriend like his because she was so laid back. I certainly wanted to roll like him because he had a 71 Nova with beat (a good stereo) that made the bumper rattle when he turned it up. Plus, he always had a fresh cherry air freshener hanging from the mirror which makes the memory come back every time I get into someone’s car with that scent. But beyond those thing, his character was and still is very strong and confident in a quiet and humble way. He never shouted, got angry, or lost his patience even though I’m sure I asked some stupid questions in my time. Like “what did you do to get you’re girlfriend?” Everyone called him “Mook”, but his real name was
different. He had a swag that was an imprint in my brain way before the term transformed from “charisma”. I have always strived to be as calm, cool, and collected about life as he was. To this day we don’t see each other as much but without saying it, the love is there. Now that his son is damn near in high school and mine is about to start kindergarten, life sure has changed, but I’ll never forget that day. We had a blast and life was simple.
For all my hip hop heads, the albums that came out that year were history making:
-The Pharcyde’s “Bizarre2, Redman’s “Whut the album”, Diamond’s “Stunts, Blunts, and Hip” hop, The Chronic by Dr. Dre, Spice 1’s first Lp, Common Sense’s “Can I borrow a dollar”, Too Short’s “Shorty the Pimp”, Compton’s Most Wanted’ “Music to drive by”, Grand Puba’s “Real to reel”, Ice Cube’s “The Predator”, The Lenchmob’s “Guerillas in the mist”, Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “The Mecca and the Soul Brother”, Gangstarr’s “Daily Operation”, and Boogie Down production’s “Sex & Violence”. I could go on but these are just some of the LP’s that were slappin at the time. I think the Click’s “Down and dirty” came out that year too. At least that’s around the time I remember hearing about a dude named e40 who bay areans all know and love now. Damn, I feel old!
“when I was a teen I did nothing else, but pick up a pen and express myself” –who remembers who said this?
-Robert Trujillo/Tres
Tys, come bien