Characters come to life in many ways. Whether they represent
aspects of who the author wants to be, or are composed of traits the author
sees in others, characters are made up of what the author knows. Today, Judy Li
describes her experiences conducting research in eastern Oregon and the joy of
having her characters as new friends. Li explains how the characters and world
of her new book, Ricky’s Atlas, the
sequel to Ellie’s Log, came to life.
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I love the grand landscapes of eastern Oregon, its
wildlife, streams, and forests.
Intertwined with memories of those places I conjure unforgettable aromas of
Ponderosa, juniper and sage. For almost twenty years I conducted research as a
stream ecologist in many of the streams and gentle rivers of those lands,
sleeping under the summer stars, snorkeling to watch the trout, collecting the
aquatic insects I find endlessly fascinating.
This was the obvious setting for Ricky’s latest adventure in the
out-of-doors. In his Atlas he reverses
roles with his buddy Ellie; this time he gets to introduce Ellie to a place he
knew.
A great joy of story writing is that my characters become my
new friends. I imagined Ricky Zamora as a blend of several smart, lively Mexican
American undergraduates I’ve mentored at Oregon State University. I’d learned a few details of their family
lives, and there is a touch of Monty, Jose and Manuel in Ricky’s way of doing
things.
Ricky and Ellie are the kind of kids who love exploring in
the out of doors, and recording what they experience. Ricky’s approach is to map out what he sees
and observes. We take a broad view of what an atlas might be – a collection
not only of spatial maps, but including timelines, geographical information of
all kinds. His notebook is filled with memories of the
varied geologies, histories and life zones he encounters. It's truly remarkable
that this diversity does indeed exist east of the mountains!
In the rain shadow of the Cascades, dramatic storms are
regular summer events. Often great windstorms whipped through our summer campsites, followed by wild lightning and thunder. Besides the excitement of
wildfire Ricky’s Atlas describes the amazing adaptations living things have to
recover from fire. It’s exciting to
discover the remarkable ways plants and wildlife can survive, even thrive, with
fire. The scientist in me is always curious about those variations, and
chasing down the details for this book has been a great joy. For those parts of the story I relied on
other scientists who have more experience in those parts of the ecosystems than
I. Science is a team enterprise and we
learn much by working together. This
book, like Ellie’s Log, was also an incredible collaboration with Peg Herring
who illustrated my ideas and brought new ideas to add to mine. The sense of whimsy, and down-to-earth
moments are often because of her.
Though the special places Ricky visits are not exactly next
door neighbors, the fantastic landscapes of the Painted Hills and Sheep Rock
are really not far from the cool lodgepole/Ponderosa forests of the Blue
Mountains or the native prairie of the Zumwalt.
Different research projects allowed me to spend significant time in
these places and other spots. I became
familiar with their daily rhythms, common wildlife, and little details. We watched the nighthawks over the John Day
near Sheep Rock, followed the golden eagles spiraling above the Imnaha River, and
were lulled to sleep by coyotes at the Middle Fork John Day. Magical moments to share with kids who’d like
to explore the great outdoors! Ricky’s
Atlas became a story not only about a panorama of special places but I also
hoped to convey a sense of how it feels to live there.