[ Music ] >> Hello, and welcome to
the National Book Festival. My name is Monica Valentine
from the Library of Congress. I'm here with Angela
Dominguez, who's featured book at the festival is Stella
Diaz Never Gives Up. If you'd like to see Angela's
presentation at the festival, log on to loc.gov/bookfest. Welcome, Angela. It's great to have you here. If you're ready, we can
begin our conversation. >> I'm ready! Hello. >> Okay. Well, first I
would like to know who or what inspired you to
become a professional writer. >> Oh, wow. Well, growing up I
always loved reading and I always loved drawing,
and I thought I just wanted to be an illustrator, but
as I became a professional illustrator, that love
of reading just -- I realized I was telling so much
with my pictures that I wanted to write the words with them. And I had encouragement
from my literary agent, from some author friends as
well, from editors who all said that you're telling stories
visually, why don't you write. So, I just kept going at it. And I think what originally
inspired me to want to become a writer, even though
I was afraid to admit it, was back in high school I
had a high school teacher who also told me that
I was a good writer, and that was the first
time I really heard that from a teacher,
especially an English teacher, and I was so excited
when she said that. I think that planted
the initial seed, and then it was all the
other people in my life that helped make that happen. >> Yeah, a teacher who believes
in you is a powerful thing. Your most recent
book, we mentioned, was Stella Diaz never gives up. What inspired you
to write that book? >> So, it was a combination
of things. So, it's the second in
the Stella Diaz series, and I was so excited when I
wrote that first character, and I knew that I wanted
to write more about her. But with the first book
it's so heavily based off of my background that
I didn't exactly know where to begin with
the second book. And so what kind of started it
all was I realized, you know, Stella loves the ocean,
she loves sea creatures. So, I went to my library and
I started researching more on the oceans and sea creatures. And so that kind of got the
wheel spinning, but then on top of that seeing that there was
a growing problem with plastics in the oceans as well
is really what spurred that activism in the book. And then on top of
that, you know, I wanted to continue Stella's
personal growth at, you know, developing her voice,
becoming more vocal, talking and meeting more friends,
starting a group, so it all kind of synced together and helped
me come up with that story. >> Okay. Kennedy would like to
know what was your inspiration to write the character Stella. And Kennedy is from
Southside Virginia. >> Oh hi, Kennedy! So, it was a combination
of things, again. I had done this little
character design of a girl with curly hair, because
I have straight hair and I've always wanted
curly hair. So I drew a girl with curly hair
and she had a polka-dot dress, and so I looked at that
little character design for like a couple years
and I was thinking huh, what kind of story could
I write for Stella? And I got the name Stella stuck
in my head just because I saw that there were so many
kids with the name Stella and I thought it was
a pretty fun name. And so it was that character
design, and then when I came up with this initial rough
idea for the first story and I knew it was going to be
a girl who loves sea creatures and who was a little shy,
and realized like I needed to add more to it and that it
needed to be a longer book. That's when I turned
to myself and I thought about my personal experiences
growing up about being shy, having to take speech classes,
and so it all came together and Stella is now so much based
off of me, but she's turned into her own little person too,
and so it's kind of fun to kind of go back and forth
whether I would agree with it or whether Stella
would agree with it. >> Interesting, interesting. Okay, Amy. Amy says hi, Ms. Dominguez. And then she asks, since you're
an author and an illustrator, was it always the plan that you
would illustrate your own Stella Diaz books? >> Oh, that's a great
question, Amy. So, I think so, because I
initially was going to do it as a picture book, and so
that relies so much more on pictures than words. And then when I decided I
was going to make it longer and I got help from an
editor who helped me turn it to a much longer book, because
we had worked together before on illustration jobs, it
just seemed to make sense for me to illustrate it too. >> Here's a good
question from Charity. Are all of your books bilingual? My daughter Madison has
only read about Maria and her little llama,
which she loved. >> Aw, thank you! So, a lot of them are bilingual, because I think there aren't
enough bilingual books, and I also love both
languages and I want to celebrate both of them. Some of my earlier picture
books were just in English and, you know, I still
love those dearly, but I think there's something
special about being able to share both languages. >> Okay. I have a question. What do you think are the major
themes or motives in your books, and how would you say
they relate to our world? >> Oh, that's a great question. So, I think some of the
major themes are confidence, because I know that's
something that adults, children, everyone can struggle
with, and the idea of projecting your voice and
that everyone has a voice to be heard, you know, especially with Stella
being an immigrant, and being someone who's
struggling with language also, you know, she having a voice
as much as anyone else does. And it's that growth
and confidence. And then I like to think
that my books are also about, especially with the Stella
Diaz series, about activism and how we all can make a
difference through the actions that we do, and just like little
adjustments and being mindful of the world around us. Especially right now as we're
seeing there's growing problems with the oceans, and climates,
like, we all need to chip in together and, you know, together we can make a real
difference in the situation. >> Okay, thank you
for sharing that. Kristie is writing in with a
question from her nine-year-old. When did you decide to write
your second Stella Diaz book. >> Oh, that's a great question. So, Kristie, you know, I thought
the first book was just going to be -- that was it, because
I had never written a book that long, it's over 200 pages. The longest a picture
book is, you know, about 32 pages or 40 pages. And so I did that book and
thought, okay, that's great, I did it, you know, that's
going to be the end of it, but that character kept speaking
to me and I kept wanting to write another book. So, I think it took me
about maybe six months later after the first book
came out and seeing that people were really enjoying
the first book and it finding that audience that really gave
me that extra encouragement to want to write a second one. And thankfully my
publisher agreed and I was able to
write a second. Then they asked me to
do a third and a fourth, so the third one will be coming
out in January of next year. >> Great. Okay, we have
another question from a guest. Are there aspects of your
characters that are similar to you or your loved
ones' experiences? And if so, can you
give us some examples? >> Yes, very much so. Actually, it's sometimes
a little uncanny. So, with the first Stella, or
just the Stella's in general, the brother is very much
based off of my own brother, I just changed his name
from Alejandro to Nick because I thought it was just
like an easier name to say. And then, you know, there are
like my friend Chris who's in this story who -- he
loves art and he's one of my best friends to this day
and I included him in the book and I called him Chris Pollard, and that's his name
in real life too. And then with Stella,
you know, she loves dogs, especially as you see in the
second book, I love dogs, I have a little Chihuahua
Boston Terrier mix that I'm obsessed with. And her favorite food are
albondigas, which are meatballs, and those are my
favorite food as well. >> Okay, so Stella does have
some similarities to you. Kennedy wants to know what
does your average day look like when you are
writing a book. >> Oh, that's a good question. So, when I'm writing, I think
usually -- or illustrating too, I wake up early because I'm the
most productive in the morning. So I wake up between five
and six and kind of take like an hour or so to
myself, take care of my dog, and then I get started
working around by eight. And then if I'm writing,
especially if I'm working on a first draft, I set
certain goals for the day. So, I say I'm going to write at
least a thousand words today, because that way it helps keep
me on track for writing so that if my book is about 25,000
words, I can get a first draft of that in about
25 working days. So, I do that and I just
make sure to take breaks in the day, go for little walks. And then if I'm struggling with
writing, which happens to anyone who is writing or doing
anything creative you're going to have your little
moments of writer's block where you're just frustrated,
that's maybe when I'll try to go read a great book,
because that will inspire me with the writing and then
it gets me back on track. >> Okay, more questions
about the writing process. Lisa wanted to know
what your process is when you plan to write a book. I think you may have
answered some of that, but she also asks how was
writing a chapter book different from writing a picture book? >> Oh, that's a great
question, Lisa. So, I think for me,
with a picture book, because the visuals weigh so
much into the story-telling, sometimes I'm more thinking
about what do I visually want to happen on this page, and then
I think of the words and I clean up the words to go with it. With writing a chapter book, even though there's
illustrations in there, I just think about the words and the whole pace
of the story first. So, what I do is first I
go research at the library and I find out -- these books
have so much of, you know, like sea creature facts in
there that I want to make sure that there is something
that kids can get excited about every time there's a book. And also these sea creatures
sometimes become metaphors for how, or symbols, for how
Stella is feeling in the book, like when she gets nervous she
wants to escape like an octopus which they're really
great at escaping. So I do that research first. And then afterwards what
I do is I work on a plot. So, that's basically where
I think about the beginning, your middle, and your end,
and think about all the steps in between, and think about
how you can just make it like these ideas and themes
reoccurring throughout the story. And then from there you
just have to write it. And that first draft is
always the hardest part, because I love coming
up with a plot, but making it actually work
and figuring out the words that go next to each
other, that is so hard. And then afterwards
I get feedback, and then I can go
back and do revising. We'll do that a few
times until we got it into a perfectly finished story. >> Thank you for sharing
some of that insight on the process with us. Our guest also asked when you
were younger what did you think you would be when you grew up,
and was author on the list? >> Oh, that's a good question. So, I have to admit, I
didn't really think author. I knew I wanted to be
an artist in some way, but I also was very
practical and I grew up in a single parent home, so
a part of me thought, was like, I should be a business person
or I should be an architect or a graphic designer. But I just, you know,
I knew I had to do art, and I went to art school, and it
was art school that I discovered that you could be a
children's book illustrator, and that all kind
of fell into place. >> That's a great lead-in for
this next question from Celeste who asks, what kind of art did
you like drawing as a child? >> Oh! So, Celeste, I
loved drawing everything, I loved drawing like cartoons,
you know, I would draw like Garfield or Sonic because I
wanted to make my brother happy and I doodled little
drawings for him. I'd do portraits. I would also, and this kind
of ties into what I do now, I would write my
own little stories and then do illustrations
for them too. So, I would draw everything,
you know, I would even copy from my favorite artists,
and that's such a great way to get better at art as well, is
by seeing someone else's artwork and either being inspiring
or try to do it yourself, especially when you're
learning how to draw. >> Okay. We have a
question from Susan. Is there a particular author you
would like to collaborate with, either as an author
or an illustrator? >> Ooh! There's so many. You know -- hm. God. I would say --
okay, Judy Blume is one of my favorite authors
of all time. To work with her in some
way would be amazing. For contemporary
authors and illustrators, I would say my friend Min Lee,
I think he's really talented at writing and I think he'd
be fun to work with as well. I've worked with Meg Medina
before and she's amazing, and I think if we
could collaborate on another story now,
that would be thrilling. And let me see if
there's someone else. I would say probably either
Mo Willems or Matt de la Pena. I think both would be --
that would be a thrill. >> Oh yeah, those
are good choices. This next question
is kind of fun. Melissa asks, she says our
school has a green team that works to make an impact
in our community's environment. What advice do you think
Stella would give our team? >> Oh! Good question, Melissa. So, I think it's the idea of --
in the book she creates a pledge with her teammates or her club
members, and I think the idea of working consciously to cut
back on plastics on every, like, step of the day basically. So like making sure that
you're carrying a tote back, making sure that you're using
a reusable drinking container, avoiding plastic cutlery,
just avoiding plastic as much as possible, but knowing that you're just
scaling back every day. Because I think those
small changes is what helps to make a big difference. And then not only on top of
that, encouraging your friends and your family to do so also. >> Okay, here's another
question from Kennedy. When did you know that
writing was your calling? >> Oh, okay. So, probably, Kennedy, when
I realized that I wanted to start writing was in 2011. I know that because I was an
illustrator and I had just -- I went to grad school
in San Francisco and I took a couple
years and I was living in central valley California with my mom getting my
career started, I moved back to San Francisco was teaching
a lot, and I really realized that I wanted to make a big push
with my illustration career. And it was at that
point that I realized that I wasn't particularly
excited with the projects that I was getting, and that's when my agent told me have
you thought about writing? And when she said it, it was
like all the stars aligned, and I was like yes, I
want to try doing this. And that is when
I wrote, actually, my first book Let's Go Hugo. So, it was a later start for
me, but I completely love it, and I would say I almost love
it as much as illustration, maybe even a little
bit more now. >> Wow. Okay, one more
follow-up from Kennedy. Do you have to do research
when you write your books? >> Definitely, I do have
to do research, Kennedy. I think -- research makes it
feel like, A, you can add, you know, things that are
interesting tidbits in there, or like for Stella she calls
them conversation starters. Secondly, it makes
it feel more real. Because if you are researching,
you learn more about it, and the more that you know about
it the more that you can speak about it confidently or
write about it confidently. So, I find research
as just so much -- like so important
to the process. >> Okay. Here's a
question from Breonna. Do you have any book
recommendations? I'm curious about the ones that
inspired your writing process. >> Oh, Breonna. So, I love The Year
of Billy Miller. That was a really
big inspiration to me when I was starting to write
Stella, because I wanted it to be sweet and positive
but also realistic, and I think that book does a
wonderful job of, you know, conveying those emotions. Other books that I really
love are Ramona, you know, Ramona Quimby is a big
inspiration to me as well. I remember reading the Cecilia
Lee-Jenkins books by Susan Tan. Those are fantastic books. And I feel like there's
a kinship between Cecilia and also Stella, so I would
definitely recommend those. And then, let me
think, there's one more. Oh, Alvin Ho! Alvin is more anxious
than Stella, but again, there's a similarity between
the two, and I read those books as inspiration for my character. >> Okay. I've got another
interesting one from a guest. Would you want Stella
to have her own TV show? >> Oh wow. I think that would be
really -- I would -- you know, who wouldn't
want that? I think that would
be really cool. I just would want
to see it done well. But yeah, it would be really
interesting to see it. You know, it's funny because,
because the characters are so similar and like my
brother is very similar, I used my grandparents' names
in there, my aunts' names, and it's going to be an
audio book very soon, and I'm just excited to hear
like how those voices are going to sound like for like
my brother for instance, or for my grandparents. And so I have that same
feeling about the TV show. It's hard to imagine who
could play like my brother or like my mother, but it
would be really awesome to see what they
would come up with. >> Yeah, yeah. Okay, a question from Laura. What is the typical path to getting a children's
book published. >> Oh, good question, Laura. So, I would say, first of
all, to anyone who wants to be an inspiring author or
illustrator, it's really great to join the Society of
Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, because
they have conferences across the country,
both in person and now of course virtually where you
get to meet editors and agents. And that kind of helps you
with the networking side. With that aside, I
would say with a book, like a chapter book, you'd
want to have a draft finished, and then you would submit it to
an editor or publishing house that you think would
best fit your story. A lot of times publishers
don't take unsolicited work, so that means you might
want to try submitting it to a literary agent first. And then the same thing
goes like if you wanted to do a picture book,
you would want to write a draft for your story. If you're an author-illustrator
for a picture book, that's even better, because
you can create drawings and make a mockup of your book,
basically, in black and white, and then you would submit that
to the agent or a publisher. >> Okay. That's great advice for all the future
writers out there. We have a question from a third
and fourth grade teacher, Karen. She says that my students loved
reading your books this week. They are tuned in right now. Do you have any advice
for young writers? >> Oh, definitely. So, I would recommend to all of
you that, first of all, read. Reading is so important because
it gives you inspiration, and it also shows you what makes
a good story and, you know, what a good sentence is. And then secondly, I would
say, you know, I think a lot of times people think
they have to come up with a whole brand
new original story. And a lot of times, it just
twists on classic stories. So, you know, take an old story
and try to make it your own, or also, like, even
write fan fiction. Because, like, if you
love a story and you want to try continuing that
story, that's a great way to get some practice
into writing as well. Like, I remember when I was
a kid I used to try writing like my own Beauty and
the Beast, because I loved that story, and I was doing
my own weird version of it. Or also like I used to write
my own Babysitter's Club books. So, take the books that
are around you and use them as inspiration and try writing
your own stories based off of that, because you're
going to be excited, and that's a great way to start when you're coming
up with ideas. And then also carry around a
little sketch book or a journal. And I always jot down ideas
when I'm walking around, and that's a great way to
kind of like keep your ideas and then maybe those can
turn into new stories that you've written too. >> Alright, kids out there,
that's some good advice. Okay, Angela, do you believe
that your books appeal to a specific audience,
and do you think about that audience
when you're writing? >> I -- you know, I would hope
that it would be universal, but at the same time,
I know with especially like the Stella series
I'm writing for those kids who might be shy,
or the kids who -- whose families or
themselves might come from a different place and don't
feel like they quite fit it. Because I know growing up I
struggled with both, you know, I really was painfully
shy for a very long time, and then also I had to
take speech classes. And the fact that there
weren't that many Latino kids in my school that could
relate to my experience, because we moved to the
United States when I was two, and it was just --
so, I always felt kind of a little lost
with my identity. And I think I would
have loved books like this when I was a child. Books that would have told me,
like, hey, there's other people that feel this way too,
and that you're not alone and it's totally fine. And not only that, books that
encourage and promote confidence in their heritage as well. So, it's definitely I'm
thinking of those kids when I'm writing these books. >> Okay. And what do you most
hope that audience will gain from reading your work? >> So, I think it's
a few things. I would hope empathy, because
I think often times, you know, people just think,
like, you know, they don't understand
why a person is shy, or they don't understand why
they might struggle fitting in. And I think if people could
empathize with the way that other people feel, I
think that just, you know, it makes the world a little
kinder, a little bit sweeter. And then I guess it was just
like promote the idea -- you know, when I was growing up
they had me only speak English because I was struggling
with language so much. I know it's very
different now and a lot of people would promote
speaking two languages. So, I think with my books I'm
trying to encourage the idea that speaking another
language, in particular Spanish, is a wonderful thing
and it's something that you shouldn't be
ashamed about doing, you should be very proud, and speaking two languages
is a very cool thing because that means you get
to speak to even more people and have even more friendships. >> Okay. We've got one final
question from Ikemefuna, who wants to know
what inspired you to write Stella Diaz Never
Gives Up specifically. >> Specifically. I guess it's a combination of
things, you know, it's wanting to continue that Stella
character in a second book, because I just knew that I
had more to tell her story, and it was also just seeing the
growing problems with plastics in the oceans, wanted to
start doing my research. I watched Mission Blue, which
is a wonderful documentary on Netflix, and that
really was inspirational. And also, I would say
National Geographic's article and their pledge for
plastics or planet, I thought it was
really inspiring as well because it really synthesized
what is the problems with plastics in the oceans. And once I read that,
that really gave me one of the big plot points
of the second Stella, Stella Diaz Never Gives Up. >> Well that is all
the questions that we have time for today. Thank you so much, Angela
Dominguez, for sharing your time with us so generously. We have been speaking
with Angela Dominguez, whose latest book is
Stella Diaz Never Gives Up. You can find her presentation
on the children's stage of the National Book
Festival at loc.gov/bookfest. Thanks too to our audience
out there, and I hope all of you will take the time to
explore our many programs, and enjoy the remainder of
the National Book Festival. [ Music ]
