Brainstorm 1 |WIP Eva and the Growbug

The Ideas

What if a children’s picture book depicted the nighttime terrors that afflict children as somewhat palpable entities?

What if the child in this story could face their fears with the help from a magical creature?

What if the terrors grew and grew as the child’s fear grew?

What if the child could stop the terror by having a little courage and imagination, which would empower the magical creature to become a powerful opponent to the darkness?

What if the book was cute and charming and creepy and suspenseful all at once?

That is basically the germ of the idea behind Eva and the Grow Bug.

BRAINSTORM

-Shadow Puppets- what are the biggest fears cassock with being in the dark? Being seen and grabbed by a thing you can not see, the darkness, the shadows hide things from you. What if whatever is after you is lurking in those shadows? With all that in mind, my idea for these terrors is that they are shadow arms and hands that form shadow puppets of birds, spiders, rabid rabbits, whatever can be made of the shadows of any number of hands working together. I also like the idea of the shadows having mouths and eyes, though perhaps the mouths and eyes are just openings in the shadows, or an absence of shadowthat leaves the impression of eyes and mouths.

-Growbug/Glow Bug – this magical insect has the power to repel the shadows. She is a sort of person and she has a bit of a stern personality, though she is kind. She is a large round beetle, almost like a giant ladybug with no spots. Or maybe she does have one spot, or ring centered on her back. It splits with her wing covers and maybe it symbolizes light pushing away darkness?

-Kaiju made of shadows

-Anti-Shadow spray

-The magic and adventure is kind of like Totoro, Mary Poppins or Little Bear where it feels real and pretend and its just charming and fun and you want to roll with it.

-Black and White – the book could look amazing as a monochrome color scheme. It could be iconic, graphic and beautiful through composition and clever use of positive and negative space.

The Theme

Fear is only as powerful as you allow it to be

The Beginning

Eva is upset with her parents because they want her to go to sleep, she has no interest. She saves a magical bug outside her window.

The End

Eva goes back home and snuggles with her parents and goes off to sleep conctented as she remembers to be brave and that her parents love her.

The Goal

Get the manuscript finished by end of April, then shop around for an artist, get the book made and embark on a publishing campaing.

The Dream

Make a successful series of these Tokusatsu-inspired children’s picture books. Tokusatsu has so much good stuff in it for kids. The spectacle and cool factor draw the attention and the earnest characters can deliver deep, powerful messages. I’d like to trio of books at least, each with a different message and each with the eponymous Growbug meeting new people as she travels.

Sketches and Concept Art

Below are an early concept for the Growbug and a mockup of the cover.

The designation of “WIP” stands for both “Work in Progress” and “Writing In Public” as I will be publishing and updating these posts as I write them. I might mark off each update to track my progress.