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Marissa Bañez has received acclaim for her two children's books Hope and Harmony and Hues and Harmony (How the Rainbow Butterfly Got Her Colors). Marissa talks about her experiences as an author and the honors her books have received.
Tell us about yourself.
I’m a Filipina-American immigrant who was lucky enough to graduate from Princeton University, to become a lawyer licensed to practice as a litigator in three states (California, New York, and New Jersey) for 40 years, and at age 65, to be an award-winning children’s book author and, just recently, a reporter for the leading Filipino-American magazine in the Northeast.
How did you get started in writing?
I began writing kids’ stories for puppet shows to entertain my daughter and her friends when they were young during the early 2000s. Living in NYC, we always took advantage of the many and varied kid-friendly activities the city had to offer. Then, I just decided I could do something similar (and cheaper) by making up stories and using things I purchased from the local dollar store or art store to create the characters and scenery for my puppet shows.
I’d never written kids’ stories before and have never taken any creative writing classes or workshops. I have absolutely no formal training in writing fiction, much less kids’ stories. Once I decided to write, ideas and storylines just came to me almost unbidden. Don’t ask me why, but as stories formed in my head, all the dialogue comes to me in rhyme, while the descriptive portions remain in non-rhyming narrative, which the kids seem to enjoy a lot. A happy circumstance for everyone!
What inspired you to write Hope and Fortune and Hues and Harmony?
My daughter. Always my daughter.
Hope and Fortune originated as a play we put on with her friends for her seventh birthday. I wanted to write something that would be fun for the kids but also have a practical and useful side to it. I wanted my story to be something the kids could grow up with and, hopefully, revisit as time went on.
Anyway, back to the play. My daughter and each guest played an advice-giver to a character that had lost its way. At that time, my daughter was into cowgirls and fairies, so we made each advice-giving character a “cowgirl fairy” wearing pink cowgirl hats and fairy wings. Interestingly, because we lived near the United Nations, most of her friends were diverse and/or multi-cultural. I saw that both the kids and their parents enjoyed the story.
Fast forward to 2020 during the pandemic. With time to spare, I resuscitated and updated the story. Given the diversity of my daughter’s young party guests, it was a short leap to depict the Fortune Fairies of Hope and Fortune as multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-generational characters.
Hues and Harmony is about mixed raced children, like my Filipina-Cuban daughter. I wanted to create a story that discusses multiraciality in a kid-friendly and not an “in-your-face” kind of way. So, I used basic chemistry concepts with the mixing of primary colors and common shapes to demonstrate different but ultimately inconsequential physical characteristics. On the surface, the book teaches kids about mixing colors and shapes but the subtext carries a much more significant message and lesson about self-acceptance, parental love, and belonging.
Fun fact: In the puppet show version of this story, I made the caterpillar out of wired-together silver round pot scrubbers from the dollar store.
You’ve received many honors from your books, such as presenting them at the Philippine consulate and getting praise from an executive at Barnes & Noble. Tell us more about these experiences. Which one was the most meaningful to you?
Each is meaningful in different and important ways. To say that one is better than the other is like comparing orchards to vineyards—well beyond the more common apples-oranges comparison.
I was asked to present my book, Hope and Fortune, in the Philippine consulate’s summer cultural/educational program for children this year. I offered to donate copies of my books to the consulate and the Deputy Consulate General said they wanted to have a formal acceptance of my books by the Consulate General. So, on September 8th, I was honored by Consul General Senen Mangalile with a very warm meeting and official reception of my book for the consulate’s permanent book collection. As I came from very humble beginnings without any “socioeconomic connections” either in the Philippines or the U.S., this event meant a lot to me.
As for the Barnes & Noble marketing executive, he has been in the book industry for over two decades so his compliments about my books are significant and invaluable to me, a rookie unknown author. He indicated that my books present the concepts of diversity and inclusion in a unique, intelligent, and subtle but effective way. As a result, he is introducing me to other people in the industry so that my books would gain greater traction and to carve out more marketing opportunities. You can’t buy that kind of validation.
I’m also very proud that the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association chose to feature Hope and Fortune as part of its annual convention in Indianapolis last month. It was such a great honor and privilege to have my kids’ book featured in a legal convention, giving other Asian and Pacific Islander attorneys inspiration and encouragement to pursue their creative and non-legal aspirations.
Finally, Filipino-American publications both in New York and in California have published several articles about me and my books. This exposure has connected me to the Filipino community and its wonderful people that I confess I’ve previously not had the time for as I concentrated on my education and career. As a result, I’m now also a columnist for The FilAm magazine, which is the leading Filipino-American publication in the Northeast. My pieces celebrate the accomplishments of various Filipino-Americans who are not necessarily already known within the community. I’ve met some very interesting and amazing people doing these pieces.
You’ve toured extensively and read your books to children in classrooms and bookstores. Of those experiences, which one stood out the most to you?
I’ve also done readings for libraries and book fairs. My presentations are essentially the same at each reading so no one venue stands out more than the others.
What stand out are the kids’ reactions to my readings. For example, it was extremely heartwarming that on two separate occasions, two boys (one Chinese and one Indian) came up to me to tell me that Hope and Fortune—a story about a little girl and fairies—inspired them to write books. Also, when I read for the Philippine consulate’s summer program, both girls and boys, ages 5–15, listened attentively and enthusiastically participated in the post-reading discussions. And not just kids. Several adults have told me they “teared up” after reading (or hearing me read) my books.
What would you like people to learn about the Philippines and its culture from your books?
Neither of my books specifically addresses the Philippines or its culture. The presentation of diversity and inclusion in my books is more subtle than a direct exposition of any particular country or culture. My intent was to depict through my illustrations different cultures and/or physical characteristics to prompt and encourage curiosity, discussion, and maybe even research about those differences.
Especially with Hope and Fortune, I want the reader to go beyond the surface. Every one of the illustrations is especially and meticulously curated so that each color, animal, character (with their poses, clothing, and overall look), and scenery is imbued with symbolism and deeper meaning.
For example, the first fairy in Hope and Fortune is the Fortune Fairy of Hope, and she represents the Philippines by her clothing. She is depicted wearing the national dress (called the terno) with its distinctive bell-shaped sleeves for the top, while the lower half is similar to the rectangular cloths worn by the indigenous people (called the tapis). She’s also wearing brass bangles, which the indigenous people call giniling. Green is a prevalent color in the illustration because the color green represents a new beginning, which is the essence of hope. Further, the dawning of the sun in the background represents a new day—again, symbolic of hope.
The backstories for each of the illustrations in Hope and Fortune can be found in my website at www.marissabanez.com.
What advice would you give to authors who want to write children’s books?
Be realistic. The biggest misconception among authors of any genre is if you write something, it’ll be read, and then you’ll be rich and famous. In fact, getting your book recognized and read by your targeted audience takes a lot of effort on your part, involving massive amounts of time, labor, guts, and money to market, network, beg for reviews, etc.
Also, if you're lucky enough to have bookstores and other venues host you for readings, don't just read. Make it fun. For my presentations, I have arts-and-crafts projects, free giveaways (nothing crazy, just something like stickers), and most times, I raffle off fun prizes, including a free signed copy of the book. I also have backdrops that relate to my stories to give my reading a nice setting and to have the caretakers take kids' pictures within that setting to create a nice memory (I have a fairy forest for Hope and Fortune, and a butterfly outline for Hues and Harmony). Finally, my musician friend, Alan Shapiro, and I wrote songs about my stories that we perform to get the kids (and caretakers) really engaged by dancing, clapping, and singing along. You can scan the QR code below for the songs.
I'm not saying you need to do all that, but do none of that and your book will simply gather dust, unread and unappreciated, (and likely unsold) regardless of how good it may be.
It’s not all glitz and glamor. Don’t give up your day job as you’re not likely to get rich doing this. You may, but don’t bet on it. That said, if you’re doing it as a labor of love (as I am), it can be very rewarding and fun knowing that you could possibly influence or otherwise change a child’s life for the better, which is a bigger reward for your efforts than glitz and glamor.
Develop a thick skin as there will be haters out there. Fortunately for me, I’ve gotten mostly 5-star ratings/reviews for my books. Admittedly, I got two 2-star ratings for Hope and Fortune but without any narrative reviews. I simply discount them because if whoever gave me those ratings can’t even articulate why they are giving me such a low rating in the face of the 100+ higher ratings with reviews, then how valid could those 2-star ratings be? You have to be able to shake those haters off or you could go crazy. You can’t please everyone and you shouldn’t even try.
Several blogs have asked me to be a guest blogger to share my thoughts on becoming an author. Aspiring children’s book authors may want to read them for more details. Just Google my name.
Where will you be speaking next?
I’ve just been asked to do a reading at an elementary school in Fairfield, CT. I think that’ll be early next year.
I’ll also be doing something in either January or February in New Jersey.
In late April/May, the Barnes & Noble in San Bruno and Walnut Creek in Northern California have agreed to host my readings but we haven’t settled on any specific dates yet.
I’m also negotiating to do something in Southern California again in July. Details to follow.
Where can readers learn more about you?
My website (and I apologize in advance that I haven’t had the time to update it) is www.marissabanez.com.
I’m also on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Also, if you Google my name, several articles that have been published about me and my books will pop up. |
