Saving the Sun by Emma Pearl ~ Blog Tour

I’m pleased to welcome author Emma Pearl to Scope for Imagination with a wonderful guest post about her beautiful picture book, Saving the Sun.

In this stand-alone starring characters from Mending the Moon, Luna and Poppa set out on a second celestial rescue mission, finding fantastical solutions and enlisting an assortment of island creatures in their quest to return the fallen sun to the sky―and set it ablaze once more. After an especially sweltering day, the ocean sparkles and twinkles so invitingly that instead of slipping beneath the horizon, the sun plunges into the ocean itself. When the sun sinks and loses its fire, Luna and Poppa’s yearly vacation on Summer Island suddenly goes dark. Luna knows the sun needs their help―the sky looks all wrong, and it’s neither day nor night! But it’s a big job to do all on their own. To bring back daylight, they must think of creative solutions, seeking help from the local dolphins, monkeys, birds, and more. With the power of teamwork and imagination, can they find a way to return the sun to its rightful place, and set it ablaze once more? This imaginative tale will enchant readers as Luna, Poppa, and their new friends of the sea, beach, and air rise to the challenge of fixing the sky once more and―literally―save the day.

Guest Post by Emma Pearl

Saving the Sun went through quite a dramatic process of metamorphosis from its inception to the final version.

I wrote the first draft in October 2017 – this was very early on in my writing days and I had no idea what I was doing, as evidenced by the fact that it ended up 1600 words long! But despite the fact I knew nothing about writing picture books, I churned out four stories about Luna and Poppa in the space of a week or so. I knew there was something special about the characters, their relationship with each other and with nature, and the magic of the little world I had created kept sparkling in the back of my mind.

I went away and learnt some more about how to turn my scribblings into proper stories, and I came back to Luna after a couple of years. I focused on the Moon story first because that was the most fully formed idea. After another year of tinkering with that, in October 2020 I struck gold with a like from the fabulous Kayla Tostevin at Page Street Kids in the #PBPitch event on Twitter, which led to my debut picture book Mending the Moon. It wasn’t until the middle of 2021 that I revisited the manuscript for Saving the Sun.

With a book deal under my belt and an amazing editor who was keen to see more of my stories, I had a strong sense of purpose as I revised. But the story was a long way off where it needed to be. Eighteen more drafts off to be exact!

The story started out set in a city, with Luna worried about the missing sun who had been kidnapped by thunderclouds. In the next draft Luna had to return a piece of broken-off sun sparkle that she’d buried in the park. The various versions of the city story included squirrels, pigeons, skyscrapers and strong winds. They were also set in winter, which meant it perhaps wasn’t differentiated enough from the moon story. So I tried moving it to a tropical island in summer – the complete polar opposite to the wintry mountain setting of Mending the Moon.

The first island version had magic shells falling from the sky (I’m still not entirely sure why…). I banished the shells quite quickly but struggled to pull the island story together. Maybe I was too attached to the details of the city setting – the cute squirrels, a host of butterflies, an exciting scene at the top of the Sky Tower? So I went back to the cityscape and added snow to create a more magical atmosphere. This time there was hot chocolate and a snowman, a message carved in ice… but not enough tension. I realized I’d taken out nearly all the elements I thought I loved. And I couldn’t nail the ending.

So I went back to the island. Again. And again. And a few more times for good measure. In the end, I settled on a heatwave (which turned out to be ominously prescient) causing the sun to go for a dip in the ocean and a cast of sea creatures, monkeys and birds to help Luna save the day. And once I’d sorted out all the plot elements, I completely fell in love with the island setting and couldn’t understand how I had ever contemplated a city version!

I am the least patient person I know, and I find revising really difficult. Whenever possible I prefer to do things right the first time and never look at them again. At school I would always finish my exam papers early because I simply didn’t have the patience to re-read what I’d written. (This is clearly not the right way to do exams, kids!) I did okay anyway, so I never felt the need to change my habits. But writing picture books is not something you can do by the skin of your teeth or in a hurry. It requires diligence, perseverance, meticulousness and a willingness to go back to the drawing board time and time again. Which, I suppose, is why it’s so rewarding.

With Kayla’s support, never-ending patience and wise direction, we got there in the end. And I couldn’t be prouder of the final book, with truly magical illustrations by the amazing Sara Ugolotti.