Vicki Marquez is the author of The Rootlets.
The Rootlets are four fun-loving and adventurous kids, with veggie hair and healthy habits – whose lives, up until now, were undoubtedly ordinary. In their very first adventure, Brocc, Carrotina, Cornelius and Kaley overhear shocking news that’s most definitely NOT ordinary, and that’s sure to change life as they know it…forever! Could it be that the Rootlets are in fact superheroes with real super powers called Rootabilities? Using clues from an old legend book, The Rootlets get to work, determined to solve the biggest mystery of their lives.
Read on for an interview with Vicki.
Q: What inspired you to write The Rootlets series?
A: The idea of The Rootlets popped into my head one day as I was thinking about how I could help inspire kids to want to — and to be excited to — eat their veggies and make good, healthy choices. That thought lit a fire inside of me and I immediately knew that these characters were something special – that’s what inspired me to take action, create this series, build this brand and bring these characters to life.
Q: How did you decide what traits the Rootlets would possess?
A: It wasn’t actually a conscious decision – they each began taking on certain characteristics with that initial vision I had of them. Right away it was clear who they were and what was important to each one of them. Brocc was smart and into studying, Cornelius was the jokester who loved to have fun. Kaley was a fancy girly-girl and Carrotina was a brave adventure-seeker. It felt like I knew them.
A few months after I wrote the first book (Super Rootabilities), my husband said to me that each Rootlet reminded him of me, like they were me — at the core — divided into four. And in retrospect, I can totally see that…everything that The Rootlets love, I love. So, I guess that maybe I subconsciously selected their traits based on those things…and that each one actually represents a little part of me.
Q: What inspired the characters veggie-hair?
A: When I first transitioned to a plant-based diet, my best friend kept calling me her “veggie head.” That nickname was running through my brain when I first had the idea of The Rootlets. I envisioned these adorable kids with big, veggie hairdos: a broccoli afro, carrot pigtails, blonde kernels, leafy green locks…it was how I saw them, and it was absolutely perfect.
Q: Since you are an expert in health and nutrition with years of experience, what types of research did you do to write The Rootlets?
A: The Rootlets series is all about the evolution of these four young kids who learn that they’re superheroes and who now have to navigate the huge responsibilities that come along with that, so all of my research was focused around character and story development, as well as general writing tips and guidelines for kids literature.
The health and nutrition aspects of this series are indirect and expressed creatively, so that requires a lot less research, and a lot more imagination.
Q: The Rootlets are superheroes with special powers, which contribute to their big adventures. Which superpower would you choose to possess?
A: Ooh, good question! I’d LOVE some sort of healing touch power. To be able to free people and animals from pain, sickness and illness…that would be the greatest!
Q: What other projects are you currently working on?
A: Right now I’m devoting the majority of my time to The Rootlets, writing book three, developing our app, attending school events and marketing the brand — and when I’m not working on that, I’m writing, creating content and testing recipes for “Nourished” and coaching my private and corporate clients.
In The Rootlets: Super Rootabilities, Vicki Marquez introduces readers to Brocc, Carrotina, Cornelius and Kaley – four fun-loving and adventurous kids with veggie hair and healthy habits.
As a certified health coach, wellness expert, plant-based chef and author, Vicki’s dream is to break the stigma that healthy living is boring and to show both kids and adults that plants – especially veggies – are ridiculously cool!
Vicki lives in Chicago, with her husband, stepdaughter and two quinoa-loving Yorkies.
