Overall, Eileen had her Baby. Her character that is. She had the comedic, plus polyphonic voice, the gestures, the jokes, and the storytelling. Yet, Baby needed to be visionary. By all means, Eileen’s soulful craft begged for a story behind her.
   Literally, the more Eileen babbled about Baby and acted like her, soon did the wheels begin to turn. Either seated at the kitchen table or ogling over her baby pictures, did it spark inspiration in Eileen. She loved (still does) the adorable baby that eyed back at her in those baby photos. According to her parents, whenever out with them, people stopped and took in the sight of the young one.
   Eileen felt blotted out in those (ephemeral) years in the time of her infanthood. She yearned to have seen herself firsthand at six months old, from a third-person point of view. She desired to cradle her baby self, hug her, get her to giggle with no sense of control.
   “I wanna make a story about myself as a baby!” Eileen (probably) said as she can’t exactly recall what she said upon her newfound idea. “I want all these babies to look like myself,” she probably added.
   Babyland–a colorful, mystical land where only babies exist–churned out in her mind. Babies that looked exactly like her and names described their personality, occupation, hobbies, or lifestyle. Baby deserved a best friend; that’s where Funny Baby came along. It clicked on the whim, the name Funny Baby. Soon others like Nature Baby, Fashion Baby, and Sleepy Baby contrived from Eileen. These babies were to be neighbors and friends other than supporting characters in the story.
   Once she conceived the story, Eileen wrote up a quick draft, along with pencil illustrations. She hadn’t drawn up a conclusion of who the audience was to be, as well as the type of format the story would fall in.
   Her writing indeed hadn’t seen an audience, as it screamed editing, and while it was not her creative writing that called for improvement, Eileen had not yet reached seventh grade at the time.
   An instance of this, taken that unedited writing, Eileen read the first draft of the Babyland series to her mother, where she, too, shared the rather lewd illustrations as well. 
   Quite . . . taken back by the pencil drawings and the Babyland story, Eileen’s mother hadn’t any fondness of it at first. It took years for Eileen to drive up the courage again to go back to writing the series. 
   In the early fall of 2018, about two months after losing her beloved grandfather, Eileen remained keen on job searching–job searching in the film industry. See, Eileen had finished up seven weeks at drama academy that summer and felt certain she’d nail an acting role after all the skills she’d studied. Skills she studied on the weekends, mornings, afternoons, and nights, with the education that forced her to engross all her waking hours to film study. Within the remaining hiatus, Eileen soaked up upon completion from the academy, and nothing seemed confident. 
   I know what I’ll do. I’ll write a book and earn my money there. I’ll get my career going from there, Eileen thought. 
   Eileen had at it. She first pondered over what she could write: there were ideas she had in the back of her mind but weren’t ready for publication. What’s more, when she pondered over her Babyland series, what started was what format the series would take place. 
   Graphic novels–Eileen concluded–though, and she wasn’t interested in them. Never read them or liked them. Indeed a tyro, there was much to process over this unfamiliar territory. 
   It would have to do. Babyland was to be picturesque and fit for teens and young adults. 
    As an outcome, the research took off: information about graphic novels, the pricing, the art supplies included, history of graphic novels, how they differ from comics. The list drove on for a long while.
   Which is where the creative process of Babyland began . . .

Know of any movies or TV shows that also started as graphic novels or comics? Let me know in the comments.

  Babyland has yet to be world-renowned, much less a household name. While in its infancy, marketing and publishing orbit, what’s new to its creator–Eileen Gillick–informs the world about her first novel. What isn’t new is the story itself. 
   Eileen dreamed up of Baby around the age of nine or ten. What began as a funny, high-sounding voice altered into a story series. More on that in another post. Going from there, she entertained her family daily with her animated voices and dramatic facial expressions, where tales told on the whim with gesticulation. The character she acted for them was Baby–rather herself as a baby–with a mammoth vocabulary. 
   To get a clearer picture, she gave herself the name Baby. An alter-ego, if you will. A six-month-old (yes, she decided on that, as she feels that’s when babies are the cutest) with a dirty mouth and suggestive behavior, along with a risqué mind. If she’s asked a question, she’ll often come back with a terse response when not a cheeky, (jokingly) mean, melodramatic, perverted, or clueless one. 
   Her acts are quite random when Eileen acts as Baby. It’s all part of the act. When you think you have quiet time to yourself, such as watching TV, Baby (as Eileen prefers her name to be when she acts as her and as a general pet name in her immediate family) will shuffle in and stare at you with puppy eyes. As a distraction, she’ll face a wall and stare at it, waiting for you to notice.
   Should Baby find something she likes (i.e., a Target ad for diapers), she’s known to slap that down upon her mother’s dresser and wait for her mother to see it. Shopping lists get edited to list “baby food” on the bottom of them. Now and then, before leaving the house, she’ll write a note indicating her whereabouts, with “Baby,” signed at the bottom. Others have had the words, “Love your bae,” at the end of them.
   Baby is playfully disgusted at the sight of genuine babies. Babies rolled up the streets in strollers by their moms. Baby hurries over to her own mother to inform her of “an emergency.” Mind you, her immediate family plays along. They’ve grown accustomed to this “baby.” Her mother frequently addresses Eileen by her nickname. What’s more, her father playfully worries her that babies get eaten for dinner, or he got attacked by one while walking his dog. 
 Eileen and her mother have running jokes about Baby, at any time of the day, in any situation. Stuck in traffic, she will turn to her mother, with her face fixed in the cutest expression, and say, “Did you ever think to let me drive as a baby?” With a scrunched-up face, her mother will spat, “No!’ but in a high voice, to play along. 
   Riddled with low self-esteem and low confidence, Eileen didn’t dare share her character with friends and family. As a result, a lack of support from extended family gave her the impression Baby was best shared with her immediate family. Above all, Baby was her creation, and a creation she was not yet ready to release into the world.
   Baby has always been her heart and soul. In due time, she’d gain enough support and confidence to go from a shy to unabashed creator/artist. For now, an author stands in wait. 

Next blog will follow part two to this. Stay tuned!