September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and in support of the Anything Can Be Foundation, Shadow Mountain has published True Heroes: A Treasury of Modern-Day Fairy Tales Written by Best-Selling Authors. It's a compilation of short stories by celebrated authors such as Shannon Hale, Brandon Mull, Ally Condie, and Jennifer A. Nielsen. Each tale was inspired by a child with cancer and their fantastical photograph by Jonathan Diaz, who asked each participant, "If you could be anything, what would you be?" Diaz used their answers to create elaborate, costumed photo shoots, depicting the girls and boys in their wildest dream roles—including magical beings like fairies and mermaids and real-life heroes like fire fighters and astronauts. SLJ spoke with photographer Diaz as well as two of the featured authors, Hale and Mull, about the impetus behind this stirring collection.   Tell us about the Anything Can Be project. How did it begin? Jonathan Diaz: In 2014 I was feeling a little bit like my photography wasn’t doing much. By that I mean I wanted my photography to hold meaning, to tell stories and to uplift. So I started to experiment with Photoshop and studio lighting. I would take images of my kids with these huge capes made out of bed sheets. I loved the idea of taking my kids' dreams or imaginations and bringing them to life through photography. I had a vivid imagination as a kid growing up, so it was a way to connect with my children and explore with them. I loved the imagery I was creating and recognized that it was something I could do for kids who could really use some inspiration or some hope. So the idea of taking the dreams of pediatric cancer patients and bringing them to life was born. I wanted to not only create these dream images but also give [the kids] large versions of the images so they could hang [them] in their rooms and hopefully take courage and strength from the images. From there I was able to connect with families who were interested in participating in the project. I was able to meet with the kids and families and talk about their hopes and dreams. Together we came up with ideas for the images—to place the kids in their dreams as much as we could.

photo credit: True Heroes/Shadow Mountain Publishing

The imagery is so vivid with each photograph.  How do you go about creating the backdrops and props for each child? JD: I recognized that if I could get the kids more involved, the images turned out better. So we started tailoring the photo-shoots to the dreams of the kids. They began to look like movie productions, with hair, make-up, lights, actors, costumes, etc. We work with local businesses and organizations to create the props, costumes, hair and makeup, if necessary. People are extremely giving and willing to help out. We now have an in-house costume maker. She is amazing; she designed Lilly’s costume, Sada’s, Sarah’s, and a few others. I am really inspired by movie posters and high quality productions. I try to the best of my ability to create images that reflect that quality. How did this project become a book? Did you have any involvement in selecting or recruiting the authors? From the beginning, I planned to publish a book of the images and the kids' stories. My initial plan was to do a large coffee-table, fine art book. Midway through 2014, I thought it would be really cool to approach some local authors to have them write short stories based on the actual kids and their dreams. I wanted short stories because they are so similar to still photography in the sense that you only have a short time to capture someone's attention and tell an entire tale. Plus it is a little easier to get someone to commit to a short story! We started reaching out to authors in mid-2014 and had little luck! It wasn’t until Chad Morris came on board that we started to have real success. Utah has a really awesome, tight-knit community of authors. They are all so giving and willing to help with worthy causes. Chad sort of advocated for our cause to some of the other authors around town, and the response was immediate. We had 18 writers on board within about a week. From there we worked with Shadow Mountain, and they were able to pull in a few others, and we had our 21. It seemed like every author we approached that had the time was very willing to help. We feel extremely blessed and grateful to our authors for their willingness and desire to contribute! What attracted you to the Anything Can Be Project? Shannon Hale: I’d gotten a couple of emails asking me to participate, but I get so many emails I kind of

photo credit: True Heroes/Shadow Mountain Publishing

scan them and often forget them. I’m a mess. Then someone sent me a link to the gorgeous photos, and I was blown away. A picture really is worth a thousand emails. I thought, I want to be a part of that! I want to help people feel with words how I feel looking at these pictures—full of awe at the awesomeness and power and creativity of children. Brandon Mull: I use fantasy to augment my reality on a daily basis, both in my job and in my daydreams. I loved the idea of kids and artists using their imaginations for the purpose of wish fulfillment and had to be a part of it. Shannon, how did you develop the story about Lilly?  How did the picture inspire you?  SH: In my case, Lilly’s picture wasn’t completed until after I’d written the story. I learned about her from the book’s organizers and by watching a video about her. Her mother said [that] she’s a warrior, a princess, and she loves horses. And I was like, yeah girl, yeah you are. We’ve never met, but we’re kindred spirits. I wanted a story that could communicate the struggle and the power of this awesome little girl and her awesome mother, who never stopped fighting for her. Brandon, you wrote a story called "Batkid Versus the Bully," inspired by a boy named Ethan. How did that come about? BM: Ethan’s wish was to be a mix of Batman and a doctor, so I invented a story where he was a kid detective with a kid-friendly crime to solve. It represented my first attempt at a superhero story—which made it a lot of fun to write.

photo credit: True Heroes/Shadow Mountain Publishing

What are a few of your favorite photographs or most memorable experiences while taking the photos? JD: I love them all. Every shoot had its memorable moments and challenges! Cami’s shoot was awesome just because on the day of the shoot she learned that her bone marrow transplant worked and that she was cancer-free. So it was awesome to be associated with such good news. Her reaction upon seeing her image is easily one of my favorites. William the Dragon Rider holds a special place in my heart because over the time I worked with him, he was in the hospital or extremely tired from his treatments. But on the day of his shoot he was in great spirits and feeling really good. He really got into it and had a great time. Caimbre’s shoot in California was a blast because she loved to pose. She was not shy at all.  We brought her a mermaid tail, and she was so excited to wear it around the house. JP’s shoot was really special because his dream actually came to life for real! The Utah Jazz went all out making his photo shoot come to life. It was incredible. What is next for Anything Can Be? JD: My immediate goal is to raise as much awareness as possible for pediatric cancer with this book. I want to do this by getting this book into the hands of as many kids facing cancer as I can. There are over 40,000 kids treated for cancer each year. If I can get this book in front of all those kids, then for me this book will be a success! We have a big waiting list right now of kids wanting to be a part of this project, so I plan to continue making dreams come true for as many [children] as I can. Hopefully we can do this for all kids facing this disease as well as other life-threatening diseases and disabilities. Kris Hickey is a youth services supervisor at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, OH