The Nature of Inspiration
On fantasy, and the magic of the natural world
The following was originally written as a blog post for Middle Grade Escapades.
A partial truth: Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology took me three years to make. I signed the contract in 2021 and delivered the final page in 2024. Or I could tell you it took seven years. I could point you to a 2017 illustration, drawn as a birthday gift for a dear friend who loves guinea pigs, of a girl who would become Lu climbing an enormous guinea-pig-mountain, and say that’s where it started. Another part of the truth: I’ve been “writing” it long before that.
Geozoology arose from, among many things, my enduring love of the natural world and my equally enduring love of fantasy. I was that kid who read their National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Birds from front to back. I also knew all 251 Pokémon by heart (a number which, to those in the know, will tell you exactly how old I am).
Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology is set in a fantastical world, but much of its inspiration is drawn from our own natural world. I’m sure many of you recognize the inspiration for the sunfish eclipse—and were perhaps lucky enough to see the solar eclipse for yourself last year. Axolotls really do regrow lost limbs. Sundogs are real phenomena (generally not dog-shaped) caused by the refraction of light on ice crystals high up in the atmosphere. Rhinoderma frogs actually protect their eggs and tadpoles by keeping them in their mouths until their young metamorphose into adult frogs.
Some time in late elementary or early middle school—during the middle grade age range, appropriately enough—I learned about hydrangeas. If you live in the U.S., you’ve likely seen these popular bushy plants, with their large serrated leaves and spherical sprays of flowers, adorning someone’s garden. Perhaps even your own garden. The flowers can be white, blue, pink, or shades of purple in between.
I also learned that, among the blue-purple-pink species of hydrangea, the color of the flowers is not set in stone. The flowers bloom blue when the soil they grow in is acidic. They bloom pink when the soil is alkaline. (I learned later that the flower color isn’t affected by soil pH per se, but rather by the availability of aluminum ions in the soil, which is determined by pH. But I suspect my teacher deemed that too complicated for a bunch of ten-year-olds in science class who were there to learn cool facts about plants.)
A gardener can change the color of their hydrangeas by adjusting the pH of their soil. Say you’re a gardener with blue hydrangeas. They’re nice, but your favorite color is pink. You add garden lime to the base of your hydrangeas to increase the pH of the soil. Then you wait, as you always must when you grow things. You continue to care for your plants. One day you’ll notice, at some point over the past several months, your hydrangeas are no longer blue or even purple; they’ve turned pink. Amazing!
Flowers changing color on command. An axolotl regenerating an arm and a leg. The moon passing just so between the sun and the earth so that we on the surface are thrown into dusk in the middle of the day, just long enough that birds begin returning to roost, before it passes and daylight returns as quickly as it left. If that isn’t magic, then I don’t know what is.
ARC MADNESS
Are you a book reviewer, blogger, librarian, or educator? You can request a digital advance reader copy of Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology on NetGalley or Edelweiss. Tell your librarian and educator friends. We’re two months out from release day—help Lu and Ren find their audience!
WHAT ELSE ARE YOU WORKING ON?
A few months ago, Alex Lupp, writer of the SAND comics, commissioned me to do a poster featuring the flora and fauna of the world of SAND. I'd seen his collaborations with other local artists in the past, so I was excited to dive into the world he's created!
I referenced Erin Lisette's work from Of Wolf & Prey for the creature designs and drew inspiration from the beautiful borders Jade Lee drew for The Tale of Luc & San. It's been a hot minute since I've done a detailed illustration, especially something with this sort of linework. I admit I groused quite a lot while working on it, but I'm proud of how it turned out.
WHAT’RE YOU READING?
My currently-reading and to-be-read pile grows ever longer. I generally like to finish books before I put share my thoughts about them, so I leave you with this list until I make my way through it. That isn’t to say that I’m not super excited to read all of these, though!
D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T., by Abby White
Hunger’s Bite, by Taylor Robin
Bea Mullins Takes A Shot, by Emily Deibert
Werewolf Hamlet, by Kerry Madden
The Underwild: River of Spirits, by Shana Targosz
Story Spinners: A Sisterly Tale of Danger, a Princess, and Her Crew of Lady Pirates, by Cassandra Federman
YOU PROMISED CATS.
PRE-ORDER CAMPAIGN REMINDER
A reminder that the pre-order campaign for Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology (releasing May 27) is ongoing. I encourage you to get your copy from Fantom Comics. And remember to fill out the form if you want your goodies!
UPCOMING EVENTS
May 17: Gaithersburg Book Festival (Gaithersburg, MD)
May 31: Launch party for Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology at Fantom Comics (Washington, DC)
June 7-8: Toronto Comic Arts Festival (Toronto, Canada)
RESOURCES FOR OUR TIMES
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You can find more of my work at angela-hsieh.com or on Instagram. If you want to be the first to know what I’m working on, you can support me on Patreon.
I also had both the insect and bird Audubon guides as a kid and reread them so many times 😭 I can't wait to read your graphic novel!!!