Sweetpea and the Gang

It began as an idea that had been percolating in my brain for a very long time. Simply stated, it was to capture the innocence and essence of my grandchildren in their early years. Back to a time when simple play and discovery ruled their worlds. I wasn’t sure how I was going to package this storyline but I felt it held great promise. The title came from a moniker Charlotte’s parents had given to the youngest of the group. And it fit her perfectly.

If you go back far enough, Charlotte did look like a ‘Sweetpea’ and they did look like ‘the gang.’

Unfortunately, time passed far too quickly from that initial moment of inspiration and the gang all grew up. The five grandchildren are practically young adults now (four out of five are in their teens). If not quite adults, they are well on their way into their maturing years and young adult-hood. Where the heck did the time go?

Although I missed my first opportunity to capture them ‘in the moment,’ I’ve collected enough comments, statements, antidotes, truisms and incidents that could fill a small graphic novel or the beginnings of a comic strip. For example:

Brennan asks: “Why doesn’t it hurt when you get a haircut?”

Charlotte asks: “Why did they nail Jesus to the cross when they could have used glue?”

Samantha giving her ‘death stare.’

What I haven’t already collected ‘from the mouths of babes,’ I can always make-up. In this case, I have a ready resource in their parents and the kids themselves for past vernacular gems. I’m confident there’s a wealth of material to mine out there.

After completing my first children’s book entitled: Waleed, the Skinny Hippo, I got to thinking about another children’s story that’s been nudging up against Waleed for the longest time. It started out in the form of a comic book then a comic strip and finally a graphic novel. All under the banner of ‘Sweetpea and the Gang.’

Following the gestation and wonderful creation of Waleed, I am beginning the process of trying to find just the right illustrator who can draw cartoon characters that best resemble my grandchildren at a younger age. After that, there’s the storyline, the flow of content, and most importantly, trying to capture the excitement, fun, and silliness that would be at the heart of ‘Sweetpea and the Gang.’

The format keeps switching from comic book format to comic strip to graphic novel. The final form will depend on a variety of things such as marketing opportunities, content presentation and the amount of heavy duty labor involved. Ultimately, it will all depend on the illustrator chosen and his or her ability to create content at a reasonable cost, then acceptable timeframes and the right correlation between my written text and the final illustrations. Not a small undertaking at all. But after Waleed, I’m confident there is an illustrator out there who can do the job.

Now I just have to find him or her and make the connection. Maybe, after all these years, I will be able to share the pure joy of youth in the form of ‘Sweetpea and the gang.’ Here’s hoping.