Like most of the books I’ve worked on the idea really started to shine when a few pieces of comet whooshing inspiration came together. I wanted to explore the brain-fizzing fact that we are, right here, right now, on a planet called Earth, spinning through the Milky Way. Wow! And that with our feet firmly on the ground we can learn all we can about space - just like astronauts. (You could say we are all astronauts! That’s where the title of the book came from!)
The idea really came together after I heard the story of Wally Funk. She was a member of the all-female team of trainee astronauts called the Mercury 13. In the 1960s they were told space was no place for girls and their mission was scrapped. Wally Funk never gave up on her dream of reaching space and in 2021, while I was working on this book, she travelled to space as part of the Blue Origin space programme.
Wally sparked the idea for Granny and her backstory in the book. Once I had Granny and Luna Scope, I began researching all aspects of training to be an astronaut and that gave the book its shape!
I always start with the drawings, if I do that the words and story start to flow. The first step is to do some very busy, very messy character sheets getting to know who the stars of the book will be. Granny popped out fully formed but Luna morphed a bit until I settled on the final version of her. Once you’ve drawn the right version of a character you just know.
Next, I do some world building. For We Are All Astronauts this meant doodling things like the contents of Granny’s Guide to Astronaut Training scrapbook, designing the astronaut badges that appear on each page and drawing Granny and Luna building the ISS out of cardboard boxes. I sketched an early version of Luna eating breakfast cereal and it floating away from the table as if she was floating into space! This led to the idea for the asteroid belt being made from moon and stars breakfast cereal on the exploring space spread in the book!
Most of those drawings don’t make it into the final book but they really help me get to know the characters and the settings for the story.
It’s a tough call between the astronomy badge spread and the final We Are All Astronauts dreamy celebration spread. I loved working with all the inky blue colours and going mad with twinkly, glowing stars. I think they both have a magical night-sky kind of feel which is what the whole book is about!
It didn’t make it into the book in this much detail, I adjusted the wording so it was suitable for young readers, but, did you know the reason why astronauts are weightless on the ISS isn’t because there is literally ‘zero’ gravity? There is gravity even that far up, the reason you float is because the space station is in free fall, but only at a rate that keeps it following the curve of the Earth. So astronauts are falling rather than floating because of zero gravity.
The conditions in space are referred to as microgravity – which a situation when the effects of gravity feel very small. Mind blown.
I’ve tried to fill each spread with stardust, wonder, space facts and inspiration from female pioneers of space travel, and granny, to reach for the stars. I hope this is a book that fills readers with wonder about STEM and space. Most importantly I hope it’s full of inspiration to follow your dreams, and to know we are standing on the shoulders of those amazing female space pioneers that came before us.
Oh and of course – remember that WE ARE ALL ASTRONAUTS!
