Welcome, LaRonda! We are so excited to chat with you!

When was your love for writing born? 

After having my son, my husband and I introduced him to books very early. Beginning with sensory books for the tiniest hands, providing input through touch, sound, and sight. And we saw how much he absolutely loved books! I think this is in no small part from how we performed the picture books for him, making story time as fun and engaging as possible. Through this experience, I became fascinated with children’s literature, especially picture books. While I do enjoy reading middle grade and YA, picture books are my favorite.

So much a favorite that one day I was inspired to write stories of my own. In the routine of house cleaning, I was thinking about my son and his identity, having a black and white parent. I found myself thinking about how important it is for him to see himself reflected in the stories he reads—and how few those options were for him. I thought about how planting positive seeds of his racial identity is important at an early age. How loving and believing in himself is critical, and how ideal it would be to provide him, and other children, words of self-affirmation through picture books. Beyond his racial identity, I began to think about my son’s diagnosis and how rare it is to find a main character in books with Down syndrome. I realized that, despite all the wonderful, colorful, and different stories out there, there is room to make the landscape a bit richer by sharing more stories that feature children from beyond the margins. A child with Down syndrome is still a child who learns, plays, explores, and overcomes challenges, with all the silliness, joy, tears, mischief, and stubbornness you can see in every child. While I’m still on the path to fully realizing this particular vision in publication, my son lives in my stories, regardless of whether he physically shows up, because at their core, my stories have themes aligned with being true to oneself, letting your light shine, and pushing beyond any self-imposed or societal limits placed on you.

So, I guess my love for writing was born with my son. He was the creative spark for me. 

Without giving too much away, what does your children’s book, Do You See Me?, entail? 

Okay, no spoilers.  Do You See Me? follows a young girl and her mom on a blustery beach day adventure. It invites the reader to self-reflect and celebrate the beauty and strength that exists in each of us – ultimately discovering what it means to be really seen. 

What sparked your interest in writing this children’s book, specifically? 

It sparked from observing my son and his peers. Seeing how kids want to know that you notice them and what they are doing – do you see me? – literally, and especially when it is something they are excited about. I thought about how their perspective of the question, do you see me?, is about being noticed in a moment, and that the parents or adults in their life see something more, something deeper – beyond the immediate, momentary thing. I thought that juxtaposition was an interesting concept, ultimately leading the child to reflect on the words spoken to them and then to express a new, broader view of themselves. 

What lasting message do you hope your readers will take away with them after they have read the final page? 

I want children to know their value and understand what it truly means to be seen. I hope it fosters ongoing conversations with children and the adults in their lives as they continue to discover one of their superpowers: seeing themselves.

I understand how challenging writing a book can be. Was there a moment in the book that challenged or changed you while writing it? 

I first had the idea for this book in early 2017 and worked on a draft that same year. I then set it aside for a number of reasons. The main one being, I couldn’t fully write the initial vision at the time, specifically the structure of the latter half of the manuscript focused on self-reflection. Also, idea and manuscript hopping didn’t help. And life in general. Then in late 2019 there was a lot of public discourse about black girls and black women in terms of invisibility (this even resonates today). That discussion brought me back to the Do You See Me? manuscript. Although the desire to be seen is universal and is how the manuscript began, it was this specific conversation that reignited the spark and set me on the path toward completing a submittable manuscript.

Where can we purchase your book?

It’s available wherever books are sold. For a snapshot and links to where you can purchase, I’ll share a link to the book page on the publisher’s site (Do You See Me?). To support independent bookstores, you can find it on bookshop.org.

When it comes to self-care, what are some of your favorite ways to recharge, stay grounded, and pour back into yourself?

I’m a work in progress in this space. I’d like to be more intentional with self-care. Currently, I allow myself to binge-watch a series or relax with a warm foot bath while watching a movie, reading, or listening to a podcast.

Thank you so much, LaRonda!

Thank you, Linnea. I appreciate the time.

Stay connected with LaRonda Gardner Middlemiss:

Website: http://www.iscribeisketch.com/