Convention guest talks writing at FL
FOUNTAIN LAKE — A featured presenter at the area’s first science fiction and comics convention stopped by Fountain Lake on Friday to detail her experiences as an author.
Jennifer Holm traveled from Orange County, Calif., this week to take part in the inaugural Spa-Con at the Hot Springs Convention Center, in conjunction with the Garland County Library. The multigenre entertainment and comic convention kicked off Friday and will continue through Sunday.
The library sponsored Holm’s visit as part of its partnership with Visit Hot Springs on SpaCon. Holm was introduced on Friday by Katie
Allen, a children’s librarian for the library.
“We have been looking forward to bringing Jennifer Holm to your school for over a year and today is finally here,” Allen said. “So we are super pleased.”
Holm will lead an author presentation and participate in a book signing today at 10:30 a.m. in Room 205. She is a best-selling author and a three-time winner of a Newbery Honor, awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children.
Children ages 12 and younger can enter the Expo Hall for free during the convention. Entrance is also free for visitors with a Garland County Library card.
Holm spoke in the Fountain Lake Auditorium on Friday to students from Fountain Lake Middle School Cobra Digital Prep Academy. She explained how her life experiences translated into her work.
Holm is the middle child of five children, the other four of which are brothers. She grew up around many comic books and enjoyed reading about characters such as Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and Plastic Man. She asked students if they found a common theme among the characters she listed.
“There weren’t a lot of ladies in comic books,” Holm said.
Her father was a Navy pilot who grew up reading Prince Valiant. His interest in comics led to his children’s interest in reading other comics, such as Calvin and Hobbes. Wonder Woman was a popular character in comics during Holm’s childhood, but she said the character was not one of her favorites.
“I did not identify with Wonder Woman,” Holm said. “I’m not sure why. I think it might have had to do with the fact that I was a normal kid and I did not run around in my underwear. So when I was growing up, I dreamt that there would be a girl comic book character that I could relate to, the way my brothers could relate to Peter Parker as Spider-Man.”
The idea led to the creation of the character, Babymouse. Her younger brother, Matt Holm, grew up drawing comics and went on to work on Babymouse.
Holm showed the first drawing of Babymouse and explained how the character’s appearance evolved over time. Her brother worked to settle on the right look while she worked to determine the character’s personality.
Her first full-length graphic novel, “Sunny Side Up,” was released in 2015. Her previous work only used black, white and pink colors.
Holm explained her family’s history in Key West, Fla. Its transformation into a tourism destination served as the inspiration for “Sunny Side Up.”
Students were asked what they knew about Louis Pasteur, Marie Curie, and Jonas Salk. Holm said their medical discoveries sparked an interest in the idea of immortality.
Holm said she turned to examples in nature, such as the immortal jellyfish, which can transform into a younger version of itself. She said the trait inspired the story for “The Fourteenth Goldfish,” released in 2014.