Happy November!
It seems like the perfect time to celebrate debut author Lindsey Hobson’s Dark Skies,
illustrated by Makenzie McCarthy (The Little Press)
which released Oct. 14th.
About the book:
written by Lindsey Hobson (The Little Press)
About the author:
Lindsey Hobson is an award-winning author from Southwest Missouri, where she lives with her husband and daughter. Lindsey is a proud member of SCBWI and local writers’ guilds. Her work includes two self-published picture books, several short stories, and a middle-grade novel. Dark Skies is her first traditionally published picture book.
Let’s ask some questions!
Inspiration from the stars?
Q 1. What was the inspiration for DARK SKIES? A move to the city—and light pollution? Your own love of stargazing? A family member like Papaw—and memory loss? We love how you seamlessly merge these topics.
Lindsey Hobson: I love learning things about nature. When I read somewhere that only around a dozen stars are visible in the typical city sky, I knew there was a story there. Further research brought me to dark sky parks, which are places that have strict guidelines about external lighting and offer an almost completely unobstructed view of the night sky.
Character choices
Q 2. How did you land on the characters of Laney and Papaw?
Lindsey Hobson: Originally this story was about a child who moves from the country to the city and becomes homesick for the night sky and the memories of stargazing with her grandparents. I received a critique that suggested I flip the POV so main character experiences the night sky for the first time in the book.
As I started working on this revision, I realized I needed a reason for Laney to discover dark sky parks, and thus Papaw entered the story. Being able to mirror the hazy sky with his increasing hazy memory added an important and meaningful layer to the story.
Publishing Insights
Q 3. Congratulations on your debut traditionally published picture book! Can you share a few insights gleaned from your kidlit journey that has led to this exciting accomplishment?
Lindsey Hobson: Thank you! The biggest takeaways I have learned are patience (I began working on this story in 2021, signed the contract in 2023, and it finally released this year) and persistence.
After several agent passes, including the agent who suggested the edits I mentioned above, I was able to submit directly to my publisher after placing in the 50 Precious Words writing contest.
Takeaways and favorites
Q 4. What’s your favorite spread?
Lindsey Hobson: I love the spreads where Laney and her family are driving out of the city, away from all the lights and arrive at the dark sky park.
written by Lindsey Hobson (The Little Press)
Q 5. What do you hope readers will take away from reading DARK SKIES?
Lindsey Hobson: I hope readers will realize that they can make a difference. Whether it be for one person, like Laney does for Papaw, or on a larger scale, like taking steps to reduce your light pollution so your neighbors can enjoy the stars!
Congratulations to Lindsey Hobson and many thanks for joining us on the blog to celebrate Dark Skies.
To learn more about Lindsey and her books visit her website lindseybhobson.wixsite.com
and follow her on social media:
Instagram lindseyhobson.author
Tiktok lindseyhobson.author
Next on the blog:
We chat with Nathan Christopher about his new rhyming holiday book,
When Santa Wrote Back (Sourcebooks Wonderland)
Illus. Pablo Pino.
I love this! I read about this book on another blog and it looks like such a great book. Thanks for the reminder to pick it up.