Aya Morton: Parenting Doesn’t Have to Look Perfect

Aya Morton’s debut author-illustrator project is The Days Are Long, the Years Are Short, and she is also the illustrator of The Great Gatsby: The Graphic Novel. Aya grew up in rural Oregon, where she discovered her passion for stories and drawing; studied at Brown University, where she majored in religious studies; and traveled extensively in Southeast Asia. She then received an illustration degree from the ArtCenter College of Design and has worked as a freelance artist in London, England, and Portland, Oregon, where she now lives with her family. She invites you to visit her online at AyaMorton.com or on Instagram @ayamorton.art.

Aya Morton

In this interview, Aya discusses the process of venturing out on her own with the first book she both wrote and illustrated, The Days are Long, the Years are Short, her hope for readers, and more!

Name: Aya Morton
Literary agent: Alyssa Henkin, Birch Path Literary
Book title: The Days are Long, the Years are Short
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release date: March 26, 2024
Genre/category: Picture Book
Previous titles: The Great Gatsby: The Graphic Novel (F. Scott Fitzgerald (Author), Fred Fordham (Adapter), Aya Morton (Illustrator); His Dream of the Skyland Anne Opotowsky (Author), Aya Morton (Illustrator); The Road Home: A Letter to my Children Mimi Buckley (Author), Aya Morton(Illustrator)
Elevator pitch: A day in the life of a family with young children, enjoying their messy and precious time together.

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What prompted you to write this book?

When my boys were two and four years old, I escaped into my studio after bedtime and roughly sketched out a series of images from the day: the breakfast with one kid refusing to touch his food and the other rubbing it all over; the delight from a shell on the beach; the instant nap in the car. Those sketches sat for a few years. My parenting life took up a lot of oxygen! Later, when I was building my portfolio with kid art, I shared the sketches with my agent, Alyssa Henkin. She said, “It looks like a book!” And happily, I went back to the images as a series.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

There were many years between idea and publication. Once I started working on the book in earnest, it took another three or four years for it to come to completion. In its early stages, the story was snarkier. As time went on, the tenderness and nostalgia came into balance. I think this has a lot to do with the experience of parenthood. All the little moments feel overwhelming when kids are small, and they become so precious as the years go on.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

Since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to make picture books. When I finished art school, I got involved in graphic novels, and that’s been the bulk of my book illustration experience. The process of making a graphic novel feels like building a world or writing a thesis. You visualize every environment and scene, and there’s a lot of opportunity to add details and visual information. Working on a children’s book felt like refining a poem. Every word and image affects the story, so the editing process takes a great deal of focus and patience. Deirdre Jones and Brenda Angelilli, the editor and book designer I worked with, were incredibly involved through this process and I’m really proud of how the book came out.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

This is the first book I’ve both written and illustrated. While most of my professional life has been as an illustrator, I’ve always loved to write. Usually, illustrators respond to a text that’s already been written and the dialogue between text and images through the creation process is minimal. This story started with images, and as I worked, I could tweak the words and the pictures to better fit each other. That was a really fun experience!

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope families feel a sense of community and affirmation from this book. I hope kids recognize scenes from their own lives and parents relate to the chaotic imperfections and the deep love that characterize these years. I also hope parents and kids of all ages and stages of life connect with the idea that parenting doesn’t have to look perfect for the emotional heart to be real.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

It’s old news and it’s true—these things take time! So much work happens in book making before there’s any outside validation. Especially if you’re a working parent, things can go at an excruciatingly slow pace. My advice is to stay with it, in whatever capacity you can. If you stay on the path, eventually there’s a body of work behind you.  

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