Barbara Perez Marquez & Sonia Liao Interview - The Curie Society

[00:00:00] - [Speaker 0]
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[00:00:11] - [Speaker 1]
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[00:00:55] - [Speaker 2]
Hello, and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner. I am one of your host, Jimmy Gasparo. And what a fun and exciting episode I know we are going to have today because I have not one but two guests, and we're talking about a project that I really didn't know much about until I saw the recent volume three of the Curie Society game of code on social media, and it sounded like a fascinating project. I reached out to one of my guests, and I I was able to get two guests on who worked on the project. So, we are talking to both Barbara Perez Marquez and Sonya Liao about, the Curie Society game of code, which will be out 03/24/2026.

[00:01:40] - [Speaker 2]
Barbara and Sonia, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

[00:01:43] - [Speaker 3]
Thanks for having us. It's fun to be here.

[00:01:46] - [Speaker 4]
Yep. Thank you for inviting us.

[00:01:47] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. So I wrote the Curie Society wasn't wasn't something I was really, you know, familiar with until I I think maybe it was Barbara that actually had posted something about it. And just the little I had read about it, it it sounded like a great graphic novel series, and I wanted to, you know, I wanted to talk about it. So I just I reached out, Evan, and got Barbara on, and and she reached out to Sonia. So, Barbara, can you just or or Sonia, I mean, you've been with the project from the beginning.

[00:02:17] - [Speaker 2]
What is the Curie Society series about?

[00:02:21] - [Speaker 4]
So Curie Society is about a secret society of female STEAM students. So people especially STEAM is science, technology, engineering, art, math. I I don't remember. But, anyway Yeah.

[00:02:36] - [Speaker 2]
I think you got it. Yeah.

[00:02:38] - [Speaker 4]
Yeah. It's like a it's like a net a secret network of females basically, like, female, like, agents, like, who have faces all over the world, and they promote it's been a while.

[00:02:53] - [Speaker 3]
No. I Yeah. You've been doing it. Been doing it so long, but but you got it. Yeah.

[00:03:00] - [Speaker 3]
So basically, you know, the team, it there's three main characters, Taj, Maya, and Simone, and they are sort of recruited into the secret society that has scientists all over the world, and are sort of continuing this mission of advancing all of these STEM subjects with sort of like women forward, you know, after sort of like Marie Curie, that's sort of where the society gets its name. And yeah, in this third volume, I think we see some really exciting growth for the trio. You know, I came into the project and I got the chance to read the first two volumes that Sonya had amazing art on and just like, seeing where the character sort of started and where we could take them was sort of, like, really exciting to keep exploring what we could do with them.

[00:03:54] - [Speaker 2]
Before we get into the the the character side of it, and I I I I mean, I love the characters in in game of code, so I wanna go back and read volumes one and two now. But I'm just curious, Barbara, with with being brought on to, you know, this project in volume three, and because it is, you know, fairly science I don't wanna say science heavy. I don't wanna give the impression that, like, it's dense. It's it's it's it's very fun, and there's a lot of interesting concepts in it. But, like, what are kind of your, I guess, you know, marching orders when you get something like this from editorial as to, like, yeah, we we need you to talk about, you know, AI, or we need you to talk about some type of, like, you know, computer code?

[00:04:40] - [Speaker 2]
Like, how does that all all work? And is that something you had a familiarity with beforehand? Yeah.

[00:04:46] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. No. I had no idea. So the really fun format that the career Society at Largest of Series brings is that EEP is working with MIT Press, and each of the volumes actually gets assigned sort of like a subject matter expert. So I got to sort of pitch my here's a crazy concept in science that I just knew as a sort of lay person, just a writer being like, I could probably essentially, you know, make up some interesting things about in this particular case for the game of code, we have a lot of AI heavy subject matters.

[00:05:25] - [Speaker 3]
And then MIT press and the editorial team, finds a subject matter expert. So we use real life science and real life concepts and adapt them into the sort of sort of fictional story. So it was an extra sort of challenge to be like, well, here's what I think the, you know, theoretically, it's not in the plot, but like, you know, like the secret laser of the villain may do this, and then we'd get points from the scientists being like, oh, actually, that's not really how that's working. So it was a nice, interesting calibration to find both. Right?

[00:06:03] - [Speaker 3]
Like, what's approachable? What's interesting? Like, what makes good plot? And also, what can we teach readers and be like, hey, actually, I didn't make up, you know, large language models. Like, those are obviously all around us in particular with recent sort of years and sort of where we are in technology.

[00:06:21] - [Speaker 3]
But it's interesting to be able to sort of present them in a way that may sort of be a jumping board for readers to be like, actually, I do wanna learn more about this and learn from the real people that are in charge of that.

[00:06:32] - [Speaker 2]
Well, that's awesome. Yeah. That's that's kind of, I like that concept that they kind of assigned you like a, you know, like an expert for that volume that you could you could rely on. Because, know, you the interesting thing, like, when you're reading it, the game of code, and, like, it it it opens. That's the third volume.

[00:06:49] - [Speaker 2]
It opens up, and the character of Taj is is playing, is playing, like, an online game Mhmm. Combot, I think it's Combot Arena.

[00:06:59] - [Speaker 3]
Combot Arena. Yeah.

[00:07:01] - [Speaker 2]
But when they when when Taj gets together, with the other two members and they start talking about, like, their their project, like, they they are, like, right into, like, you know, scientific concepts, you know, right away. So I was very curious as to, oh, like, you know, like, is this really research heavy? Do they, like, do they get somebody, like, on standby to to help with some of it? Like so that's that's pretty fascinating. Sonia, what is your experience experience been like, you know, being on this as, you know, the the penciler from, like, the very beginning and and working with, you know, different writers at times?

[00:07:42] - [Speaker 2]
Like, is it has what has that collaboration been like with the the different the different writers that you've worked with?

[00:07:50] - [Speaker 4]
Yes. So I've been here since the first volume, so things have definitely evolved a lot. It is nice to come back to a world and characters that I am familiar with. So that's always good. With the writers, I actually don't talk directly with the writers.

[00:08:07] - [Speaker 4]
I actually work mostly with EEP and pay is it Page Turner? Because this whole project is very collaborative. I do know that, like, especially for book three, there's just so much going on. Right? The writer, the MIT press scientists, apparently, in book one, they actually had to, like, talk to a bunch of students to come in and fact checked the the science stuff.

[00:08:36] - [Speaker 4]
And, of course, there are situations where you're halfway through the book, and then suddenly MIT comes back and is like, actually, this thing that you mentioned on book on page five doesn't work. So you have to redo it. So it's definitely a learning process. Like, book one was definitely there are more of those issues. Right?

[00:08:53] - [Speaker 4]
Because I think everyone was just getting used to going back and forth. Right? Like, the writer comes up comes up with something, gives it to me, I draw it, and then, like, there was a lot of disconnect. So I know for book two and book three, they were working really hard to try and make it make sure we're all on the same page or, like, there's a lot less of that. I think, like, focusing on the science for each book might actually have helped because I think so book one is more of, a general introduction.

[00:09:22] - [Speaker 4]
So, like, it's you know, the girls are all attending college for the first time, and then they get recruited into the Curie Society. So it's definitely, like, an introduction explaining what the Curie Society is, like, what the enemy is, the Eris Eris. Yeah. Anyway. The organization.

[00:09:38] - [Speaker 4]
Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Like, that's the the evil organization. Yeah.

[00:09:43] - [Speaker 4]
Well and then the books after that. So book two was mostly about Maya, and book three is about Taj. So each like, so I would always recommend reading book one first, and then, obviously, in order. But if you read book one and the book three, I think it's okay. But, of course, characters develop, you know, throughout the books.

[00:10:03] - [Speaker 4]
So, yeah, like, I had a pretty interesting time working. Like so so the people I work directly with hasn't changed, but I do know, like, the writers have changed. The scientists behind the scenes have changed. But yeah. What what is it like with when you are I mean, because I know if

[00:10:20] - [Speaker 2]
I I'm not sure about book one. You can tell me. But I I know for, like, book two, you're credited as, like, the artist. But for book three, they had, like, a penciler and an anchor. Is that, like is that all, like, an editorial decision, or does that, like, impact how you approach a project if you're going to just do pencils rather than if you're doing, like, pencils and inking?

[00:10:40] - [Speaker 4]
So that happened because book three was coming out at the same time I was working on another project. So I actually had less time to work on it, and, there was some back and forth, and then they EEP came back and was like, okay. Like, you can work as just a penciler, and then they'll have someone else come in to finish the pages. So for me, that it's just removing a step. Because for books one and two, I would pencil, get it approved, and then I would ink.

[00:11:07] - [Speaker 4]
While book three, I would just pencil, hand it to the inker, and then and then just keep working that way. I really appreciate how understanding they were since it was kind of a struggle schedule wise for book three. And know because of the whole inker situation, I think it's delayed a little bit. But I'm glad that they were able to find an inker, and they were able to make the pencils presentable for print.

[00:11:35] - [Speaker 2]
But yeah. You know? So The they definitely did. The book the book looks great. I mean, it really does.

[00:11:43] - [Speaker 2]
And I think for book three in particular, I wanna say was it Joanna Taylor that that colored it? Who I

[00:11:50] - [Speaker 3]
think Yeah. So we have so it's myself writing Sonia with the with the pencils. Then we have Jane McElvain who did the inks. Joanna Taylor was our colorist. And then we had a w's Josh Reed for letters, which, like, similar to to Sonia's sort of experience.

[00:12:12] - [Speaker 3]
For better or worse, we didn't really get to interface with each other. Like, I found out about the rest of the team beyond Sonia when I read sort of, like, the final proof that we were sort of checking for, like, last, like, last dialogue changes. And it's so fun to see just how this team, right, like, we keep if you keep thinking about, like, well, we just expanded, how many people it took to come up with this to finish this book, and still make it cohesive. Right? Because it looks pretty seamless, you know, if you check out the first two books, like, the everybody sort of came together, and and it feels right?

[00:12:47] - [Speaker 3]
It feels like a Korean society book. It doesn't feel like suddenly we have like, a complete, like, teen change even though we did. Right?

[00:12:54] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. It it does seem, you know, very, very cohesive.

[00:13:02] - [Speaker 2]
So, Barbara, when you come in and, like, you know, as you said, there's already two volumes, and you enjoyed, seeing where the characters were and where you you could take them. So not not worrying about the science side of it. Just like this was, you know, essentially Taj's book and focusing on Taj. What was, like, you know, the most enjoyable part of kind of telling Taj's story for you in terms of, like, creatively in the writing of it?

[00:13:31] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. It was really fun to be able to sort of look at the two volumes just while I was sort of getting acquaintance with the project, but also thinking of, like, what can I bring that's not just my own flavoring as a storyteller, but also that adds, you know, volumes to this already sort of rich story with like, a really well established world? Right? Like, I I didn't have to reinvent the wheel. We have the Greek society, we have heiress, we have our main characters.

[00:14:01] - [Speaker 3]
And I basically try to find, okay, as a reader of the first two books, now that I get to sort of be at the, like, behind the wheel, I'm like, what do I wanna see? And that's sort of how I landed. I'm like, I'd love to learn more about Taj, who is sort of this, like, rough and tumble type of character, you know, she's the coder of the team. But she is very much, even with the first two volumes, and then in this book, we get to see a little bit of how her personality came to be like that. She's sort of the more, sort of at arm's length type of character.

[00:14:38] - [Speaker 3]
She likes what she likes, you know, she's always on combat arena, and, you know, she has this connection back home, that we learned in this book that she sort of originally from Detroit area, and that she left a lot of, like, sort of local friends that were younger than her, to come to university and then eventually sort of find herself in the queer society. So to be able to find those gaps and then to sort of get, right, that editorial freedom to come up with a completely original story for this character, building on those blocks that already existed and adding more depth to the world, was really fun. In particular, Taj's, like, whole childhood crew, you know, it's like my ode to, like, the friends that I left back home when I moved to United to The United States and, you know, eventually, like, becoming a writer and all that stuff. And then to be able sort of branch out for the characters in that same way, you know, this book, we get to see Simone, like, turn a year older, you know, and that that's a great way to sort of see where the book started to where the book is at right now.

[00:15:44] - [Speaker 3]
At this point, they've been a full year in university, so we get to see Simone sort of grow a year older because it's her birthday. And then with Maya, who's sort of the prissy type character, that bumps head with Taj Taj very often, We actually got to see the first kiss with her girlfriend in this book, which is really wonderful because I was like, yeah. We have queer representation. I was like, well, now we need to make it a little queer because now I'm here. You know?

[00:16:15] - [Speaker 2]
I did pick up on that. There's one I did like there was, like, one scene where, like, you just see Taj is just kind of, like, still playing, still playing, still playing, and all the stuff happens

[00:16:25] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

[00:16:26] - [Speaker 2]
In the background behind her. I thought that was, I thought that was very well done. Sonya, I just because I I have not yet read volumes one and two yet, so I don't know how much the the game that Taj plays, the combat arena shows up. But I was really curious about those character designs. Was that something that that came up, like, in the script?

[00:16:49] - [Speaker 2]
Was that something that was more for you for, like, the panels that that show the the in game characters? Because I thought I really liked them.

[00:16:59] - [Speaker 4]
Those were created for this book. So it was books one and two. Taj is definitely, like, the tech girl in the background. Well, this one, I think, is the first introduction of Combat Arena, the whole thing. And I think Okay.

[00:17:11] - [Speaker 4]
Fall yeah. Yeah. Following the script, there's definitely pointers in the script of, like, the style. It's been a while, I remember you mentioned, Barbara mentioned a couple of references. And so based on that, I then whipped up a bunch of character designs and then showed it to the editorial team and then had them decide whether or not they look good.

[00:17:36] - [Speaker 4]
And then, of course, because they're, like, in in game versus out of game of I, you know, wanna have fun with that with different panel styles just to show that, like, you know, this is the in virtual reality and versus, like, when they're out in the real world. But, yeah, I did have a lot of fun designing some of the things. I I do like I think one of the characters had, like, little springs, you know, having him, like, whip around. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:18:01] - [Speaker 4]
I like those little details. Those were mostly in the script, I believe.

[00:18:04] - [Speaker 2]
Okay. Yeah. I just go go ahead, Barbara.

[00:18:07] - [Speaker 3]
No. So just to to speak a little bit of that, you know, even today, I was actually on social media talking to Joanna who had a similar experience. I just you know, as writers, sometimes we add things to script that you're like, you know, do with this what you will, you know, like, I trust, like, the artists and the colorist, like, they'll take it where they need to take it. But I remember that I was like, I left Sony, I was like, I don't know, kinda like this and this and that and like, you know, came back to this like really awesome, sort of like, coupled together robots because it's kinda like the spirit of the game, right, as we were sort of developing what does the game actually look like if we're gonna show it on the page. We were thinking about, like, not necessarily making something that's so one to one to what we currently have, but what would lend itself to useful to the story.

[00:19:01] - [Speaker 3]
So to be able to know that, like, putting the reference in the script counts for something because it gets that springboard going to be like, okay. And now we add another layer and we add another layer, and we end up with these really fun designs. I, you know, for myself, I remember, I think I said I was like, was like, you know, Katamari Damasui dad? Like, like, this there's like this nineties anime called Metabots.

[00:19:28] - [Speaker 4]
Oh, yes. Yes.

[00:19:29] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I was like, here are some little robots, and what if we make our own little robots? So

[00:19:36] - [Speaker 2]
I really like the designs. I just I thought it was I thought it was a a lot of fun. One of the other things I wanted to say, Sonya, is that well, and to Barbara too that, you know, part of the this story is they they get to attend, like, a a conference, at the same time that there's, like, a combat, you know, kind of convention as well. And it it sounds great. Like, oh, we're gonna go try and do one of our missions here, and Taj will get a chance to connect with her friends.

[00:20:08] - [Speaker 2]
But I always I always feel for the the the artist because sometimes writers have, like, great ideas, and it's like, oh, this is so good for the story. And then you're like, I'm sorry, Sonya, but you're gonna have to draw several panels with just people standing around. You're like, you're basically gonna have to you're basically gonna have to design, like, a convention floor and maybe, like, 20 to 30 people around. And I'm like, it looks really good. And I'm like and, like, I I don't think, like, listeners or readers sometimes appreciate, like, the amount of work that goes into, like, a single panel like that.

[00:20:45] - [Speaker 1]
Well done. Can't see that I'm

[00:20:47] - [Speaker 3]
covering my face in shame. I I know. No. Nothing's always. But it's the same thing.

[00:20:54] - [Speaker 3]
It's it's true. It's like, you know, you put a crowd scene and you're like, oh, it's really easy for me to say, and there's 500 people in this room. Good luck.

[00:21:03] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:21:03] - [Speaker 3]
But, you know, we we again, like, you try to take those considerations as writer to be like, Sonya, I'm so sorry. We're gonna try to cut it down, but good luck.

[00:21:13] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Sonya, I'm curious. Like, do you feel like that when you get a scene like that? I mean, you did a really nice job. In particular, like, the one where the the girls are, like, go to, like, their, you know, their convention.

[00:21:24] - [Speaker 2]
It's it's really, like, laid out well. It's very organized. It's like, oh, this this looks great. This is like it's very it's composed very well. But, yeah, I thought I thought you did a nice job with with all of those.

[00:21:36] - [Speaker 4]
Thank you. It really helps that I've been to conventions before. I feel like if I had never gone to a single convention, I would be so confused. But, you know, thankfully, at this point in time, I've gone to conventions as a visitor. I've gone to conventions as a vendor.

[00:21:50] - [Speaker 4]
So I feel like I have a generally better idea how things are set up. And, of course, like, if the story calls for it, the story calls for it. Right? Like, it's a convention, so you have to draw a lot of people. And sometimes it's fun.

[00:22:01] - [Speaker 4]
Right? Like, it's like a where's Waddle thing or like you just sit there and you just draw all these little details. And then you're like, oh, I wanna add some Easter eggs here and there. I wanna maybe this one character, like, for so to me, drawing the initial scene is actually not that bad. The the really mind heavy part, the the part that makes takes up the most brain space is when the panels changes angles.

[00:22:24] - [Speaker 4]
And then I have to remember where all the boots are. So after I draw the initial, you know, the initial opening scene, that's because I reference for the rest of the book. And then sometimes I I'm so mad at myself. I'm just like, why did I draw this complicated array of keychains on the first panel? That I have to draw this keychain thing, like, like, for five more pages in the background.

[00:22:47] - [Speaker 4]
Because according to this little map I drew, you wouldn't be able to see this keychain tower when from a certain angle. So so that was definitely like what took up a lot of brain space. And I feel like I I do appreciate the inker who was able to, again, like translate some of these scribbles. Because I'm just you know, I'm having a difficult time drawing everything according to my map. I feel like for the inker it's even worse.

[00:23:11] - [Speaker 4]
But, yeah, like, I I did have a lot of fun though. Like I said, like, sometimes you just want to draw lots of stuff. And like so compared to, I think, was it book two? They were like they were in like this big building. But like sometimes like the building just has a bunch of empty walls.

[00:23:27] - [Speaker 4]
So like sometimes when you try to fill the panel, you're like, oh, I don't know what's going like. It basically looks like a bunch of talking heads against blank backgrounds. So at least for the convention, there are, like, nice background things going on. I never had to worry about feeling the background with random thoughts or, like, you know, sometimes the characters have, like, little little cross hatching to try to make the background look less empty.

[00:23:48] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. So yeah. Yeah.

[00:23:52] - [Speaker 5]
Jimmy is too humble to do this. So as his stalwart ride or die, I wanted to tell you about his new graphic novel, Penny and the Yeti with artist Amber Aiken. What started as a comic short with his daughter that I've known about for ages now, and it's evolved and has become one of those annoying can't talk about it in comics things for too damn long. Yes. I'm predisposed to be supportive but after reading an advanced copy of it, I have to admit it's way better than I anticipated.

[00:24:20] - [Speaker 5]
No shade but it's really good, remarkably so. Does it have a yeti? Yeah. Is it cute and adorable?

[00:24:27] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:24:27] - [Speaker 5]
But it streak lies in effectively tapping into the all too familiar family dynamics that we all are facing in 2026 and approaching it in a way that doesn't insult the book's target audience. Kids. They are way smarter and perceptive than we adults give them credit for, so I really appreciated Jimmy's narrative approach tapping into his own experiences as a dad and a spouse. I can hear his wife saying, get off your phone, Jimmy, through the pages. She's gonna kill me for saying that.

[00:24:55] - [Speaker 5]
It's hitting shelves on April 21, and I dropped the link in the show notes where you can preorder a copy today. Getty or not, here we come with Penny, Perry, Fenton, Maxine, and the magical, mythical, magnificent YETI. On behalf of us both, we appreciate your

[00:25:11] - [Speaker 2]
support. YOLOLA. One of the other things I wanted to say, you know, because the, like, the opposite of of a detail heavy convention panel. There are you know, a lot of this is, you know, Taj sitting at the computer, playing, you know, playing her game and or Taj talk looking at her phone and another character, like, kind of, like, reacting to her doing that in the background. One of the things I thought you did really well is, like, in terms of, characters.

[00:25:52] - [Speaker 2]
Like, you really like, there's always a definite changes from panel to panel where you can there's a lot of you know, you'll hear a lot about, like, in terms of facial acting. And certainly for this, it is it is good, but I think, you know, you can't discount, like, body posture. And I think you do a really good job of, like, the positioning and the posture of your characters to kind of tell part of the, like, e either the the thought or the emotion of what's going on. I just I I think it it it made the panels, you know, very interesting to kind of take a look at, like, why is she sitting like this or you know, it wasn't always there's always something different. I I just thought that was very well done.

[00:26:34] - [Speaker 2]
Is that something that you really think about and and work on and a lot of photo reference? Or

[00:26:42] - [Speaker 4]
Not photo reference. I so this is the advantage of working on, like, the third book of a series. I feel like the first book was when I really like, we really ironed out each girl's character and kinda, like, decide, oh, you know, again, like Maya's really prissy. Like, she has really high standards, more of a preppy style. You know, Simone is like a like a prodigy, but she's also young compared to everyone else.

[00:27:09] - [Speaker 4]
She's like I think she turned 16 in this book. Yeah. But everyone else is like call like normal college age. And how like that kind of affects things, how like she kinda feels like a kid. But like she's just as like see, just as deserving to be in university as everyone else.

[00:27:24] - [Speaker 4]
Right? Like, you know, she's not supposed to be like just a sidekick or whatever. Like, her voice matters too. And Taj is, yeah, having that more sassy, tomboyish. I think, like, the first book really emphasized that tech and parkour.

[00:27:37] - [Speaker 4]
Yeah. So I've yeah. I feel like these two things were, like, her character. And I think, like, you know, as a as a comic artist, kind of giving characters general like, the way they hold themselves is just something that comes while you work on a book. Especially, like, a longer graphic novel as you start working, you kind of assign characters their own personalities and their own the their though, the way they sit and stuff.

[00:28:03] - [Speaker 4]
That's because, yeah, there's so many, different camera angles. Right? Like, you don't want to suddenly have, like, Leo looking over the back of the head and just have no idea who the character is. So you start, like, really having, like, a bunch of, like, premade things like, oh, this character is this way. This character looks like this from this angle.

[00:28:24] - [Speaker 4]
I know book one so okay. Book one, originally, I drew all the characters wearing the same exact outfit throughout the entire book because I think, like, drew a character sheet, and I just followed that. And then and then later, they were like, oh, actually, actually, this takes place in the college, and they would not wear the same outfit the whole time. You have to change their clothes. You know?

[00:28:44] - [Speaker 4]
It's not like they're not like one those cartoons where you open the closet, and it was like the same outfit, like, 10 times. So I think because of that, like, I actually came up with a, like, a silhouette. Basically, each character has their own silhouette. Like, Maya tends to have really high like, she has a high cinched waist, while the bottom tends to be either like a poofy skirt or like baggy pants. Like, basically, each character has, like, their own look.

[00:29:09] - [Speaker 4]
This is half because, like I said, I had to redraw some of the some of the their outfits. And so, of course, I can't change too much. Otherwise, I have to redraw more. Right? So, you know, slight edits.

[00:29:20] - [Speaker 4]
But based on the different silhouettes, I think that also contributes to each character looking different. Just, like, having their own, like, little character look, personality, posture. I know for this book, because I was just a penciler and didn't ink it, I did give give the inker, like, a whole character sheet with, like especially the main three, Taj, Maya, and Simone. I gave I gave her a character sheet with the care with the faces from different angles since, you know, like I said, sometimes I feel like my pencils could be a little rough. So I was like, you know what?

[00:30:00] - [Speaker 4]
Like, if it's rough, this is what the character looks like from this angle. Oh, yeah. So, yeah, again, I appreciate just the effort it took to follow follow my my my pencil sketches and the character sketches. But after doing that because I I think I it was decided that I would only do pencils from the beginning. And so at the beginning, I drew, like, all these careful reference sheets.

[00:30:22] - [Speaker 4]
And, of course, now I drew them. I might as well use them.

[00:30:24] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:30:25] - [Speaker 4]
So, of course, that also helps me keep the characters probably consistent.

[00:30:29] - [Speaker 2]
Barbara, when you are, you know, writing some of the not just the main characters, but but but some of the outside, you know, cast for this. And with a project like this, do you get the opportunity to, you know, create, you know, new characters? And, how did you work either any of those or some of the side characters into, you know, the main story, like, when you you you structure this? Do do you look at this as like, I'm going from a to b writing a graphic novel, or do you still think of it in terms of if this was out in single issues?

[00:31:00] - [Speaker 3]
There was definitely a little bit of a single issue approach just because the team was really interested in the fact that we you know, similar to so what Sonia was saying that there's this, like, secret hack to, like, what the characters look like. They were also very interested in, we can't change the voice of the characters at this point. Like, all of these characters have a have their sort of personalities ingrained into the reader's mind. So, you know, part of a a big part of the job was to make sure that I could adapt to that and sort of serve to it right. But right on the same flip side, they were also very open to be like, and then beyond that, as long as you get those voices right that are like our permanent cast, you can make whoever you want.

[00:31:43] - [Speaker 3]
So to be able to explore, as I mentioned, you know, Taj sort of gets to reunite with her friends from back home, that complete cast was like from me coming into the project and saying like, let's give her these friends that, you know, are like in different sort of grades than her. You know, Nelson and her were classmates, but Ariel and Yamila are younger. And that adds on to that those dynamics that we needed for the for the book. And you also get the the Korean society chapter that they go to in Madrid. Those are all all new characters that turns out to be that the head scientist there was a classmate to Emma who is one of the upper classmates in their their home chapter.

[00:32:31] - [Speaker 3]
So again, being able to sort of expand the world to this like web of connections. Most of the job was really finding how it fits so that it lives in the in the world seamlessly and thinking about like, how does this expand? What's at hand? So there's a lot of that. Early on, I remember on some of our revisions, was a lot of sort of like tweaking that voice since it was new to me and sort of finding, you know, where we left them in the last two books and where we could take them.

[00:33:04] - [Speaker 2]
Okay. Yeah. That makes a lot of lot of sense. Mhmm. And so it what was the real you know, not just creating the new characters and and getting kinda getting to tell Taj's story, but was there anything in particular that we haven't, like, talked about yet that you really enjoyed kinda getting to dig into and and write with, with this volume?

[00:33:25] - [Speaker 3]
I think really the diversity of the characters to be able to explore them. As I mentioned, Taj's friends from back home, Nelson, Ariel, and Yamila, you know, they're, like multicultural characters and they needed to be three-dimensional, you know, they're not necessarily, I mean, I don't know, now they exist in this world, but I they're not necessarily being recruited one way or another into the society or something like that. So to be able to create characters that felt three-dimensional, that they didn't just feel like pieces to this particular plot was really important to me. And to be able to sort of make tangible bits that, again, felt like they built onto the world without necessarily just being set pieces. Both from a cultural approach for myself, you know, as a Latina writer, as well as just sort of adding depth to, like, the possibilities of this world.

[00:34:25] - [Speaker 3]
And as I mentioned, you know, like, the Maya, like, kiss was, like, one thing that I was, like, I was, like, really attached to when I was first coming up with the plot. I was, like, I think Maya and her girlfriend should kiss. And I was and I was, this doesn't fit in the plot. You know what I'm saying? Like, At that point, it was not necessary to the plot, but it was necessary to me as a creator, and I think it was necessary for the bigger picture of the world.

[00:34:55] - [Speaker 3]
So thinking about those moments, that sometimes get finicky. Right? Because we have a deadline to meet. We have a book to finish. It's like we can't just like get precious with every scene.

[00:35:08] - [Speaker 3]
But to be able to find sort of like where that ebb and flow sort of meets was really nice even, again, on a third volume of a series. Because sometimes you see, you know, it's not always the creation. It's not always whatever it is. But sometimes you get a disconnect from volume to volume. But to be able to think about it holistically in a way that feels like to the vision of of the, like, the editorial team was really cool.

[00:35:34] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. That's awesome. I mean, edit I think having a strong team, you know, even if it isn't a consistent team from volume to volume, but also having a strong, you know, editorial team really helps with that with things like character voice and, you know, and with tone. But I really liked all of Taj's friends. I also I I was really waiting to get to the point where they got, you know, to interact and and see how all of that went.

[00:36:04] - [Speaker 2]
I was like, you know, because that's what you're building Like, you know, if you you've read any type of story, like, as soon as you get into it, you're like, oh, Tasha has these friends, and she has the you know, she has Simone and Maya, and and clear clearly, we are working towards all of them getting together and kinda see how that, you know, all plays out. And then also you have, like, the the the other plot, like, the undercurrent of what is going on with what is it? The character that that Ariel gets the the free trip. Right?

[00:36:31] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Yeah. Like, essentially, like, the actual plot of the book. Yeah. The actual plot.

[00:36:36] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. With Decoder. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:36:38] - [Speaker 2]
Yes. Look. There's something for everybody. Alright? You know?

[00:36:43] - [Speaker 2]
So you can follow that along and see what what Decoder is is doing, but I I was really curious is to see how, you know, the the girls from the Curie Society and Taj's Combat arena friends would interact. So I was I really enjoyed that. But, you know, if if so whatever whatever you're into, there's there's something for everybody, in the in these books. But I I really enjoyed it. I didn't get a chance to finish the the the arc that you had sent over.

[00:37:11] - [Speaker 2]
I told I I said that, Barbara, but I'm I'm I'm going to. And then I'm gonna have to go back and read volumes one and two because I really liked three a lot. Yeah. So I was just curious in terms of, like, is there anything else that I I know that that either of you have coming out that we can, you know, mention to listeners? I mean, I I think I saw a couple of things from Barbara.

[00:37:32] - [Speaker 2]
But, Sonya, I didn't know if you had anything. But, Barbara, do you wanna do you wanna go first? And is there some other stuff that you have coming out this year?

[00:37:40] - [Speaker 3]
Sure. Yeah. So, you know, this book comes out March 24 this year, and then I have three other releases. So if you like this one, please check out the other books. I also helped adapt Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before that comes out of May.

[00:37:58] - [Speaker 3]
I have a You romantic y book that is like sort of like really heavily like sort of fantasy and obviously romance skewed that's coming out in July. That's called To Dance the Moon and Stars. And then in August, I'm coming back to middle grade, which is sort of where I started with The Library of Memories. And yeah. So it's a lot of books this year, but we're we're excited.

[00:38:25] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. You've you've been busy.

[00:38:27] - [Speaker 4]
Yeah. They're the opposite of me. I think Game of Code is the only book I have coming out this year. Oh, sorry.

[00:38:36] - [Speaker 2]
So okay. So so Game of Code, but but you also have some other books that I am very curious about. I know they they've I think they came out a few years ago, but, just I wasn't again, just something I wasn't familiar with, but I look I'm I was looking on your, I think, website, Sonya, the books that you worked on, a thief among the trees and a spark within the forge, from a you know, from, I guess, 2017. They, or no. No.

[00:39:08] - [Speaker 2]
They were from 2020 and 2022. Yeah. They look fantastic. And so I wanna go that's the one the one thing I love about this podcast, talking to folks that I, like, are aren't super familiar with their work and then doing the research and discovering things. And I'm like, alright.

[00:39:23] - [Speaker 2]
There's two more books to add to my to read pile. They look really good. So

[00:39:29] - [Speaker 4]
Thank you. I think those So the idea behind those two was they are prequel stories for an ongoing series called, I think, Ember in the Ashes. So it's like a it's either it's a young adult. Basically, it's like a book series. And then they Yeah.

[00:39:45] - [Speaker 4]
Wanted to create prequel comics. So each comic is it's our each book is relatively standalone, and they kinda talk about the backgrounds of the characters. The first one this has been a long time. I think the first one talks about Elias, who is one of the deuteragonists from the book series. And the second book is Laia, who I think is also one of the protagonists of the series.

[00:40:09] - [Speaker 4]
I think originally, there was supposed to be three books, but after book two, I haven't heard back from them. So I don't know if they're gonna continue with that at all. Since because, like, because each book is standalone and a prequel, I feel like the author the author wants to prioritize writing the next book. You know what I mean? As opposed to the next prologue chapter of a background character.

[00:40:34] - [Speaker 4]
But that was kind of fun to work on. It's similar to any kind of series. Like, you're not I I came into that series not knowing anything. You know, having to draw the characters from scratch creating character designs and things. It was actually kinda funny because after afterwards, so after I finished the books, I realized that the fans had already created their own fan versions of the characters.

[00:40:59] - [Speaker 4]
And then I was like, oh, no. I had no idea. I'm a fake fan. Like, the characters I drew, I just based off of, like, the script and, like, my own thoughts. But then, like, apparently, these characters already had, like, these fan designs that people had already decided that this is what the character looks like.

[00:41:16] - [Speaker 4]
So yeah. That kind yeah. Yeah. So that kind of thing happens. Like I said, Game of Code is the only book that I'm sure is being published in 2026.

[00:41:26] - [Speaker 4]
I just finished I finished a book for Harper Alley, but you know how publishing goes. Right? Like, I just finished it, but it might not don't know if it's gonna come out this year or next year or who knows. I'm not even sure if I'm a how I should put it. So, basically, it's called Hex and Havoc, and it's like another, like, fantasy fantasy book with, like it's I don't even know.

[00:41:53] - [Speaker 4]
It's been so long. Sometimes sometimes I just focus so much on just drawing. It's like just finishing the inks. This one, I actually colored as well. So finishing the colors that, like, if you ask me the characters' names and then the plot, I'm just like, I have no idea.

[00:42:09] - [Speaker 4]
It's been too long. Okay? I've been focusing so hard on coloring these characters for months that, like, what are these characters' names? I have no idea. And that just turned the or I have to turn on the so every time I draw something, like, for for the pencils, I usually add my own lettering just to make sure that all the, you know, dialogue and the faces are matching.

[00:42:30] - [Speaker 4]
Sometimes when people ask me questions, I have to go and turn that little text text layer on to read what they're saying and then be like, oh, this character's name is Barty. I remember now.

[00:42:40] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Yeah. So I

[00:42:43] - [Speaker 4]
don't know. So so Hex and Havoc, like I said, I just finished. So that one, there, I think they're reviewing it right now. But I'm pretty I don't know if it's coming out in 2026. It's like another really long book, so I feel like the review process is also pretty long.

[00:42:58] - [Speaker 2]
But yeah. Alright. Well well well, I'll put a link in the show notes so folks can go to your website and and follow along for when that that stuff does come out. Barbara, I I did wanna say not that I, not not that I I, don't wanna hear about to all the the boys I've loved before or to dance the moon and stars, but the concept that I read for the library of memories sounds amazing. And it's illustrated by, Lissy Marlin.

[00:43:28] - [Speaker 2]
Mhmm. Can can you just, like, give listeners, like, you know, just a couple of sentences on what that book is about? That comes out in August. Right?

[00:43:37] - [Speaker 3]
That's right. Yeah. That one that you know, people are really we just had the cover reveal this, you know, it's January now, so in January. The Library of Memories takes place in a place called The Library of Memories where our main character Copenhagen finds herself and there's something happening to the magic in the library memories that is erasing memories. And in the process, at some point, Copenhagen has lost her own memories.

[00:44:06] - [Speaker 3]
She's sort of on this quest to figure out where her memories are, what's going on with the library, and then shenanigans will ensue. But, you know, similarly, again, connecting back to the game of code almost, Lizzie Marlin and I are both Dominican creators. They've been working together for many, many years that we've sort of been working parallelly, and this is sort of like the culmination of that. And it was really important for us to sort of bring our heritage and just like bring more sort of like Latina voices to comics. So this is sort of, you know, Game of Code allowed me to sort of push that into that You STEM agenda.

[00:44:49] - [Speaker 3]
Library of Memories is sort of pushing that in the middle grade fantasy realm. And I mean, like, Lizzie's art is unreal. Like, again, Sonya blew it out of the park, Joanna, like, everybody in this book. And then Lizzie also, like, in the middle grade realm is just to be able to sort of work with such awesome artists, I'm just like, everybody's really excited. It's like, there's so many books coming out.

[00:45:14] - [Speaker 3]
I was like, I'm just excited to show you all of these cool artists. That's why I brought Sonya today. I was like, we need to put Sonya on the pedestal. She's been working really hard on this series. So, yeah, so, like, to be able to showcase that and, see what's gonna happen this year, I'm excited.

[00:45:29] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I'm I'm very excited for all that stuff too. And, yeah, the Curie Society volume three, game of code is out 03/24/2026. I wanna make sure I got that right. Yeah.

[00:45:43] - [Speaker 2]
03/24/2026. I'll put a link in the show notes listeners so you can make sure to get a copy of that. And I wanna go check out volumes one and two because I really liked volume three. I just I thought I thought I I really like Taj's character in this. And, yeah, Sonia, I I thought your your art was, tremendous, and, I wanna go back and and and read the volumes one and two that you worked on as well.

[00:46:10] - [Speaker 2]
But I just thought it was it's a really great series. I love the whole idea behind it. I like the whole concept, and I I think we need have something like that, and it's executed so well. And it's so it's fun. You know, I I really enjoyed it.

[00:46:26] - [Speaker 2]
So so, Barbara, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you for bringing Sonia. Sonia, it was so nice to to have you on the podcast as well. So thank you both very much. So listeners, there'll be links in the show notes.

[00:46:41] - [Speaker 2]
You know how that works. Rate review us. Do all the things they tell you to do about podcasts because it really does help us. You can find me on Blue Sky and TikTok. Especially, you know, let me know what you're reading, especially if if you're reading anything that Barbara or Sonia have have worked on.

[00:46:56] - [Speaker 2]
And let me know if you get your copy of, game of code. But, yeah, thank you thank you so much for listening. Again, thank you so much to Barbara and Sonia for, spending some time with me talking about comics. So thank you very much listeners for listening. I'll see you next time.

[00:47:13] - [Speaker 2]
Good night.

[00:47:14] - [Speaker 3]
Bye. Bye.

[00:47:16] - [Speaker 5]
This is Byron O'Neil, one of your hosts of the Cryptid Creator Corner brought to you by Comic Book Yeti. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast. Please rate, review, subscribe, all that good stuff. It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve. Thanks for listening.

[00:47:37] - [Speaker 0]
If you enjoyed this episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast, Into the Comics Cave. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:47:50] - [Speaker 6]
This episode is brought to you by Athletic Brewing Company. No matter how you do game day, on the couch, in the crowd, or manning the snack table, athletic brewing fits right in. With a full lineup of nonalcoholic beer styles, you can enjoy bold flavors all game long. No hangovers, no buzz, no subbing out for water in the second half. Stock the fridge for tip-off with a variety of nonalcoholic craft styles available at your local grocery store or online at athleticbrewing.com.

[00:48:17] - [Speaker 6]
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