Mia Araujo debut illustrated novel -- a 12 year journey!

 Attn indie artists -- want a primer on how to write and illustrate a stand-out debut book?? Check out "Afia in the Land of Wonders," written and illustrated by Mia Araujo. https://stuartngbooks.com/products/afia-in-the-land-of-wonders-signed-with-a-drawing-69100

(the next 6 photos are from the SNB Facebook page)

This illustrated novel is Mia's first book. It was published by Scholastic Press --  a premiere endorsement! She's on her book tour now. Stuart featured the book and Mia's signing at SNB in his recent email newsletter. He writes the newsletter himself every week. The newsletter shares the latest events, new arrivals, convention schedule and other SNB updates from the man himself. Sign up via this link from the SNB website: https://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001HT_4jDa_Q_wr9MkttYf8IrlLs8tDOXvfCpbqB6je5GxZy9rM2TkKxl3RBIYBk5jbgEjBAP6dgW7dl_CrHk-NLOw0w52C9r8ofoGYRNSD2LbvUE7dXDOR5uufmMYdSmj5tu5b5hVkY4SFfWvFF1Nz9vYcUN0rr2r6

Mia's story is a re-imagining of "Alice in Wonderland," with a bit of "Wizard of Oz," and a jolt of "Hunger Games" to raise the stakes. Her brisk writing keeps the compelling story moving forward. While the book is marketed for YA readers, anyone 9 and up will enjoy this magical, coming-of-age adventure. Mia grounds her fable in well-researched elements from West African story telling traditions of the 10th-18th centuries. She weaves a classic "Alice" narrative, and her own lush visuals, through this respected, rich foundation. Her illustrated novel feels both fresh and timeless. The end of the book concludes the character's arc, but maybe sets up a sequel too? All the culture and characters Mia provides throughout her story evolves into a springboard for the readers' imaginations.

This book took 12 years of research and development. Mia recaps this odyssey in the "Acknowledgements" section at the end. 

Her artwork first arrived on my radar when she was selling a small sketchbook at her table at WonderCon. Here's a link for her earliest appearance on the blog https://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2018/03/wondercon-2018-indie-artistscreators.html

The sketchbook was early concepts for this story, the characters and the settings. Here are some sample pages from vol 2 of this sketchbook 

"Overnight success" is usually the result of a long process. Following an artist's career over many years is always exciting. You can see more background on Mia and her art career journey in this post from 2019 https://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/12/indie-artist-mia-araujo-looks-back-on.html

Her struggles with developing this book, and its outstanding eventual outcome, are a case study for other indie artists and students to learn from.

For info on scheduling Mia for an author appearance or school visit, see this page on her website: https://www.art-by-mia.com/contact

Mia stopped by SNB in early May, soon after the book's publication release, to sign copies. 

Each copy has an original pencil sketch too!

You can find these for sale now at the store and on the SNB website:https://stuartngbooks.com/collections/pre-orders-1/products/afia-in-the-land-of-wonders-signed-with-a-drawing-69100

Here are my photos from the signing:

Thanks Mia and congrats! You can follow Mia on her Instagram page  https://www.instagram.com/mllemiaaraujo/  ... her website: https://www.art-by-mia.com/ and podcast: https://www.youtube.com/c/paintedincolor

Support her and other indie artist via Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/miaaraujo/about. 

Art and intellectual property have never been more important. 

Fans are the front lines protecting these treasures we all depend on. 

If you follow an artist's posts and would take them out for coffee or lunch once a month as a "thank you"... consider pledging that amount to their support platform. Buy direct from their website/links. You may depend on frequent posts artists share on social media sites, but remember -- artWORK is never free. It takes time, experience, supplies, research and talent to produce art images. Real art by real people, not prompts.

Support what sustains you!