Swipe to see how Seeker’s journey became the foundation of NeoWorld. #NeoWorld #SciFiAdventure #CharacterJourney #MiddleGradeBooks

These early vignettes laid the groundwork for the Ari we know today: a robot driven to explore beyond his programming and find his own path.

Great scenes in books and movies work on multiple levels, layering character, setting, and story all at once. I try to do this as much as I can when I write. #NeoWorld #AmWriting #StoryBehindTheStory #MiddleGradeBooks

This is Ari’s introduction to NeoWorld. It’s doing multiple things: introducing us to Ari and showing us his world from his own eyes—a place of wonder and mystery. But it also hints at Ari’s deeper longing.

Over the years, developing the fictional park has meant pouring in details, dreaming up rides, creating fun experiences. Excited to share some of these as we move forward but let’s get to some characters first in the next posts. #NeoWorld

Creating NeoWorld was my chance to build a theme park, to be an #Imagineer, crafting experiences for guests to thrill over. It was part of “write what you want to know.” (I’ll get more into this later)

But it quickly became much more—a character of its own and a central plot point, with each character having a different relationship with it.

The concept of the toy and the idea behind it being an artifact inspired a character who would soon be known as Ari (Seeker at first) Ari was a robotic guide to a museum who wanted to find the artifacts showcased in the museum. And that was the spark to ignite the flames.

It all started with a toy. Well, the idea of a toy in 2010. How that idea became an actual toy is a whole other story for a whole other post.

As I continue refining and working toward publishing, I thought it would be cool to share insights into the story, my creative path, things I've learned, and everything in between. I’ll try to mix things up with the posts, to keep things interesting for you (and me). So let’s begin.