Nancy Duarte recalls the moment, many years ago, when she realized that she was a perhaps-overly-cuddly kind of mom.
She had her then-small daughter on her lap while she was chatting with a cousin, and every now and then Duarte would – as mothers are wont to do – lean down and kiss her daughter’s head. Until her cousin said: “Let her breathe, Nancy!”
Duarte remembers being slightly taken aback but thinking: Hey, she’s my daughter, and she’s only going to let me away with it for so long, so I might as well enjoy it while I can.
It was the germ of an idea that would eventually grow into a full-fledged story, Too Many Kisses – recently released in book form by Peppermint Toast Publishing. The book tells the story of a small boy with a problem: you guessed it, his mother just gives him too many kisses.
Duarte notes the story stemmed from a combination of things – that moment with her daughter; the realization that her nieces and nephews were much less “huggy” than she is; the journey with her own children as she watched them grow out of the need for mom’s cuddles.
“It’s definitely based on our life,” she says with a laugh, noting that her son grew his independent streak earlier than her daughter did. “They can recognize it.”
Duarte’s son is now 13, and her daughter will be 17 in August. The story, she notes, has been many years in the making. She wrote the first draft when her son was small – a quick little tale she dashed off in about half an hour. Way back then she tried sending it to a couple of publishers, and over the years she has sporadically revived it and tried again.
But it had gone back into the drawer and sat untouched until Duarte read an article in the Burnaby NOW a few years ago about Peppermint Toast, a new independent press started by New Westminster’s Grayson Smith to focus on children’s literature. Duarte particularly liked the fact that Smith was committed to the idea of helping charities with each of his books.
“I loved the idea of just being tied to the community and giving back,” she says.
She messaged Smith right away, and he liked her idea. The connection quickly grew into a full-fledged plan to release Duarte’s book.
Duarte is thrilled with the finished product. Smith found an illustrator, Harriet Rodis – working remotely from overseas – who was able to create illustrations that captured exactly what was in Duarte’s mind.
“I’ve never met her, but I loved what she did with it,” Duarte says. “It’s exactly like I would have wanted. I think I’m really lucky like that.”
She also loves the design of the book. Smith came up with the idea to set it up in the style of a kid’s school notebook, with ruled pages and “sticky notes” on the pages throughout.
Most of all, Duarte is excited to be able to help out a charity that holds personal meaning for her: the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The foundation has been one of Duarte’s favourite charities for many years, since her now-23-year-old niece was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age five. The cover price of Too Many Kisses is $9, and $2 from the sale of every book goes straight to the JDRF.
Since its release, Duarte has been working on helping to promote the book at events like Word Vancouver and LitFest New West. She’s also paid visits to classrooms to present the book to kids and hold discussions with them about it.
“They always have lots of questions,” she says, noting that her biggest fan base is in the Grade 1 and 2 classrooms. “It’s cute hearing them giggle and enjoy the story.”
There’s a serious side to Duarte’s story, too: she wants to use it, in an entertaining way, to share a message with kids – especially the four- to eight-year-old crowd it’s aimed at.
“It’s OK to speak up if you don’t feel like getting a kiss,” she says. “They can put themselves in that place. I think it connects with kids; I hope it connects with kids in a lot of different situations.”
Duarte has some other ideas percolating for future books; for one, she’d like to follow her protagonist into a second story, set when he’s a little bigger.
At the moment, however, she’s not a full-time writer – her day job sees her working in internet services for a vitamin company.
“It would be wonderful to get another book out, but I need to press pause on life first,” she says with a laugh. “When I win the lottery I’m definitely going to spit them out.”
For now, she’ll continue to promote the book in the hope of selling as many copies as possible – “the more kids read it, the happier I’ll be,” she says – and she knows she’s achieved what she set out to do.
She wanted to show her kids that even when something seems really big and difficult to achieve – like writing a book and having it published – it can still be doable.
“I wanted to set an example to show that, even if it takes 10 years, it can happen,” she says with a smile. “I’m one of those people, I have a lot of ideas and I’m crazy enough to try.”
WANT A COPY?
Too Many Kisses is available at www.amazon.ca (find it directly at www.tinyurl.com/TooManyKissesDuarte), through Peppermint Toast Publishing at www.pepperminttoast.com, or through the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/toomanykisses.
Any teachers interested in school visits, or anyone holding fundraising events for the JDRF who’s interested in partnering with Duarte, can also contact Peppermint Toast Publishing.
