Book Birthday Blog with Darren Cools

 

Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!

Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators.

 

Congratulations to Darren Cools on the release of Light in the Canyon

 

 

How did you come up with the idea for your book?

Around 2015 I was flipping through an old notebook and found an entry from when I was 15 years old. It describes a dream I had just awoken from: I opened my teenage eyes to discover I’d become a girl overnight. In this dream I was distraught, exhilarated, and utterly preoccupied with a sense of dread about what might happen when I encountered parents, siblings, friends. My 30-something year-old self, reading this forgotten old diary scrawl with fresh eyes, felt there was something intriguing here, something I might want to touch on in a story someday.

In 2016 I completed a century ride. 100 miles in one day on a bicycle. I didn’t bring headphones — a fortunate oversight, it turns out. While riding my bike around Puget Sound all alone, from Seattle to Bremerton, I crafted (in my head) the rough plot of what eventually became Light in the Canyon. It took me another five years and a move across the country to actually sit down and write the book, but it progressed quickly once I really got going.

 

 

What is something you hope your readers will take away from your book?

I find the strict division of gender roles, interests, and self-expression a bit mystifying. Aren’t we all human, first, after all? Simply living in open, generous community together as fellow humans with all our various interests, hopes, desires, and inclinations is, to me, the basis of our interconnectedness. Not so much how we’re ‘allowed’ to behave or what we’re supposed to do and not do based on some rigid notion of what’s correct for ‘our kind’. I’m oversimplifying. But I try to explore these ideas in a respectful, thoughtful way in my book. I also talk about forgiveness. Of letting go of anger, even if that means losing ourselves a bit. A lot of young adult novels out there right now focus on justice, often through violence and vengeance, and I get that there’s a place for that narrative. But I’m trying to do something very different.

I hope there are people of all ages (but especially young people) out there who might experience something of the same excitement I would’ve felt if I’d found this particular story during my own complicated, internally turbulent teen years. My book is about a lot of challenging things: identity, accepting oneself, daring to say ‘yes’. It was written for young me, but it’s for everyone who feels they’re on the outside or who don’t quite fit in. It’s for those who wonder about what happens when science and magic get all mixed up. It’s for all who delight in the unusual and the unexpected.

What was the most difficult part of writing this book?

Being brave enough to tackle the parts of the plot that deal with gender head on. Those moments are some of my favorite scenes in the book, but it was difficult to get them just right. To really say what I meant to say.

What inspires you to write/illustrate?

I’m a silly, old-fashioned person. One of my absolute heroes is Edward Gorey. I love his absurd, dark, wistfully funny vibes. I’m transported by ghost stories, cloudy skies, long road trips, tall brick apartment buildings, cluttered bookstores, the sound of a Meadowlark. I’m deeply inspired by amazing women (men, too!). I wish I could be Joan of Arc or Ellington Feint or Matilda — but I’m entirely unwilling to suffer as much as they had to! There’s nothing more compelling to me than a smart, fierce, quietly incredible woman who is too brave and honest to accept things as they are — or a man who flips everything on its head because he cares about the wellbeing of children and clean dishes and isn’t afraid of others witnessing his tears over something beautiful.  

What's next for you and where can we find your book?

I’m working on a solarpunk trilogy, a series of YA novels about a near-future world suffering from rapidly accelerating climate change and political issues. I’m also developing a stand-alone YA novel about growing up in the endless, empty wheat fields of eastern Washington State, and a graphic novel about a secret island and a message in a bottle, set on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. I dream of achieving just enough success to keep writing and publishing for the rest of my life. (What author doesn’t?) I’m about halfway through it already (my life), so I feel it’s a reasonable ask, haha! 

People can order from any independent bookstore, and if they're willing to suggest that the store stock my book (as opposed to just ordering a single one for themselves), that would be wonderful.

If folks want to order online, here are some places to find it:

IndieBound (Bookshop.org) 

Hudson Booksellers 

Barnes & Noble 

Amazon 

Walmart 

More about the book . . . 

A year has passed since Halley’s mom died, but she still feels like she’s falling to pieces. Dad talks her into joining him at her uncle Gill’s house for yet another homemade science experiment (something to do with black holes and cosmic rays), but to their horror, his machine explodes in a flash of blue light.

Jamie finds himself increasingly isolated now that his brother Ash left for college—not long after his father left for forever. Out for a walk, he’s thinking about the book that Raina, the neighborhood librarian, gave him when there’s a sudden explosion down the street…

A few houses away, the blast hits Raina too. She’s joined by Halley’s dad, who can’t find his daughter—or his brother. Their search leads them first to Gill’s wrecked machine, then to a secluded farmhouse where a young girl died many years ago.

This astonishing debut novel for young adults and readers of all ages—in the spirit of beloved writers like Madeleine L’Engle and Maile Meloy—is by turns chilling, tender, and profound. A story of loss and courage, Light in the Canyon explores how change can help us discover who we’re truly meant to be. 

Published by: Slant Books https://slantbooks.org/ 

More about the author/illustrator . . . 

Darren is an author, illustrator, and designer. When he’s not writing or working, he likes to spend time outside running, biking, or relaxing with friends around a campfire. His home is in Michigan with his wife Anna and their three children (and two cats). 

X https://x.com/darrencools 

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/d.j.cools 

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/darrencools.bsky.social 

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrencools/ 

 

 

Featured Illustrator: Darren Cools

Thank you for being our spring 2024 Featured Illustrator! Tell us about the banner you designed for The Mitten.

A long time ago I encountered a photo of some kids with great (and somewhat hilarious) expressions, eating street food under neon signs. As I was contemplating what to draw for The Mitten blog banner I suddenly remembered that photo. I tried to make something in my own style that was true to the original spirit but had a uniquely Michigan flair (pasties!).

 

You illustrated two picture books and a parent/teacher guide on computer science that are coming out this summer. Congratulations!  I’d love to hear a little more about that process: 

I’m excited about these books and so grateful to their author, Julie Darling, for everything! She's a librarian, published author, and a STEM, makerspace and technology educator and speaker. Be sure to check out her website and follow her on social media (@authorjuliedarling). I have wanted to be an author and illustrator since I was 9 years old, and thanks to Julie, the author and originator of the books I was so privileged to work on, my life-long dream is becoming a reality.

            The journey of making these books has been long but rewarding. Julie crafted a proposal to her publisher, and once it was accepted, grew her original concept of a single board book to two picture books and a guidebook with educational activities. It was a collaborative process between myself, Julie, and the publisher, involving many revisions and adjustments. We are very happy with the outcome!

 

How did you get chosen as the illustrator for this project? 

Haha, it almost feels like an accident. My friend Julie and I were talking about writing at the pool in the summer of 2022 (we are both working on YA novels), and she told me about the manuscripts she was developing for picture books about computer science concepts for early learners. I thought her ideas were wonderful, and then she said, “Wait, you are an illustrator, right?” Everything fell into place from there.

 

What were some things you considered while designing the characters?

We discussed Julie’s vision for her characters before I did any sketching. She wanted a distinctly female but gender-inclusive, multi-racial main character—in short, she hoped to create a character that almost everyone could see a little of themselves in. I made four initial test sketches with a variety of unique features. Then we asked for voluntary feedback from Julie’s students. After poring over dozens and dozens of comments from young people ages roughly 4–14, we brought Zuri to life! One happy result of the feedback was Zuri’s rainbow shirt, which the students liked so much we made real t-shirts available for purchase! Check them out here.

 

What are the differences between planning a picture book compared to planning the parent/teacher guide?

I drew a number of spot illustrations for the guidebook based on specific requests from Julie. For the picture books, the process was entirely different. Julie left it largely up to me to imagine how to visually interpret her manuscript and make it engaging. I spent a lot of time using my imagination and loose sketches to ‘fly’ through the words and concepts, almost as if I was in a video game or short film, figuring out how to move smoothly and cohesively from one idea to the next. It was highly intentional but involved trusting my intuition—and, of course, my writing group’s thoughtful feedback. Finding the right amount of letting go during the process can bring about a strange magic, where the results are somehow more than the sum of the parts.

 

What kind of feedback did you get? Did the author provide feedback or did it come from an art director/editor?

I shared early concept art, then thumbnails, then rough sketches, then color as each was completed, and Julie (and other friends) commented and provided feedback at every stage. It was a very personal and intimate process to bring this vision to life, and I feel Julie and I each contributed deeply to the finished product.

 

Was there any feedback that you disagreed with? If so, how did you reconcile your vision with theirs?

Ultimately, I felt Julie’s vision was so clear and solid that I didn’t disagree with anything strongly. We compromised on a few things here and there, but they were minor, and I believe the end result was better than if either of us had insisted on something without remaining flexible. That’s the power of true collaboration. One character that I originally drew as a boy Julie wanted reimagined as a girl. That became an opportunity for us to create a gender-neutral character, which was a big win! 

 

How does illustrating a picture book compare to other design/illustration work you’ve done in the past?

My professional design work (day job) is mostly pretty prescriptive—I am given a brief, like creating a map or a mailer or branding for a project, and I use design software and a multi-step creative process to get it done on tight timelines. Illustrating a picture book is a much more expansive experience. The ‘brief’ is to spend weeks and months assembling through lines on paper (or digital tablet) how the words of the manuscript make me feel and what they actually mean, then refining, correcting, altering, and redrawing from that raw, wild, intuitive space. It takes a tremendous amount of time, but I love it. It’s very seat of the pants.

 

What does your workday look like?

Pretty consistent, and packed! I try to get up around 6 a.m. at least a couple days per week to get some writing done before it’s time to get the kids up for school. Then it’s making breakfast, drinking lots of coffee, transporting kids to school, and sometimes a short stop by the gym before heading home to start work. I work remotely as a graphic designer leading a small creative team on the west coast, so I am usually very busy until dinnertime with my day job. After dinner, it’s hanging out with family, then depending on what writing or art project I have going on at the moment, I may work a little before bed. Weekends usually involve a bit of personal or freelance work I didn’t get to during the week, a happy hour out somewhere with my wife, and some quality family time with everyone Sunday evening.

 

You’re originally from the west coast. When and why did you move to Michigan?

My family and I moved from Portland, Oregon to Southeast Michigan in December 2020. We were one of those pandemic statistics. It’s too much to go into here, but the big picture is that we wanted a quieter, calmer, more values-driven environment for our kids to grow up in than what we were experiencing on the west coast. I grew up in Washington State, so Michigan still feels strange to me, but I love it. It’s a good place to have landed.

 

What other writing/illustration projects are you working on?

Too many! I have five picture book manuscripts in various stages of completion, one complete novel I am currently querying, two more novels in process, and several short stories I am shopping to literary magazines, as well as a few ongoing illustration efforts. If you want to see more of my work, visit my website and follow me on social media (links in my website footer).

 

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

I love working with people to make beautiful, interesting things. Hopefully there will be more opportunities in the future to help bring words and ideas to life through illustration… I’ve always wanted to paint a public mural (hint, hint)!