Tiffiny Mariano
Children’s book author
Waiting in the car line at Lake Murray Elementary School, Tiffiny Mariano began writing her first children’s book, Green Beans and Tangerines. Graduating UC Santa Barbara with a degree in English, the northern California native said she never really thought much about writing. She wanted to teach high school, but instead, found herself teaching preschool. “I loved it and knew it was where I was supposed to be, for however long I was supposed to be there,” said Mariano.
During her ten years as a preschool teacher, she came up with the title, Green Beans and Tangerines. “I never really knew what it was going to become; I just sort of had it locked away in the back of my mind.” Two years ago, when Mariano’s son started school at Lake Murray Elementary, and she experienced waiting in the car line for the first time. “I would get there an hour before school dismissed because I never knew what the situation was going to be like. So, in January of 2017, I was sitting there one day and I just started writing, and this story was created.”
Mariano’s inspiration for her book, Green Beans and Tangerines, a story about a little girl who eats nothing but—you got it—green beans and tangerines, was her son. “My son is a very picky eater, and if it doesn’t smell right, forget it!” Her husband is Filipino, so she wanted her main character to have some multiracial attributes. “The actual look of my character is based on a very good friend of mine who is from California, and her daughter is half Filipino. My character’s name, Nikki, is based on another good friend of mine who is also from California.”
Mariano was quick to point out that their family motto is ‘life is good’, and in Green Beans and Tangerines, the motto occurs twice. In the dedication, it appears in Tagalog, her husband’s native language —Mabuti ang buhay. Mariano says she is part Italian, so later in the book, we see La Vita e buono, stenciled on the wall in one of the illustrations. “I tried to incorporate little things that are meaningful to me. The look of the mom is my best version of myself. I sent a physical description, as well as a photo of myself to the illustrator in Canada. My daughter sent in illustrations as well, for inspiration, just to get a feel for what I was looking for. It was very important that the illustrator used a lot of orange and green, because those are Nikki’s favorite colors.” There was also a southern touch to her book as she took characteristics of southern homes, such as the wainscoting in the dining room illustration. “My daughter said she felt like she was in our dining room when she saw the illustration in the book!” Mariano’s attention to detail is what makes the text and illustrations so endearing.
Born in the Silicon Valley, the soft spoken, free spirited Mariano lived in California until she and her family moved to Chapin two and a half years ago. They were living in Sonoma County, when the devastating fires broke out. “Several of our friends lost their homes and had to evacuate. Even if people didn’t lose their homes, they still had to move away for a year or so and wait for things to settle, and then start over.” When asked what brought her family to South Carolina, Mariano said her sister in law and family live in Columbia. “My husband and I have been coming to visit for the past twenty years. We would always come here over the Christmas holidays, and we always thought it was an interesting place to live, but never really thought too far beyond that.” In December of 2015, she and her family came out for a holiday trip, but a storm affected the flight back to California, so they were delayed a day. To make use of the delay, they decided to look at houses around the Columbia area, and met a real estate agent who had sold the house to her sister in law 20 years previously. Information was exchanged, and in March of the next year, the Mariano family returned to South Carolina, where they made Chapin their home. “We would have had to eventually move from our home because of the fires, so we decided to make the change and move to South Carolina.”
Mariano, a mother of two, is now a stay at home mom, who volunteers at LMES. “It’s nice to know that I can be around for my kids. I don’t have to worry if someone is sick, and I can be at school for whatever they [the school] need.” Her son and his classmates were actually her first audience. Before the book was put together completely, Mariano had the chance to go to her son’s class and share her writing process and how she finds inspiration. “I just shared from the pdf, and I received such a positive reaction from that. I just knew it would resonate with them! Before the holidays, I went back and read them the actual book, and we gave the book to the class. They were just so excited!”
Mariano is trying to schedule time with the different media specialists within the district to be a guest reader. She is scheduled to read with pre K through second grade at Harbison West in April of this year.
When asked about the publishing process for Green Beans and Tangerines, Mariano stated she sent her story to six different publishing houses before Mascot, a hybrid publisher, took her under their wing. “They helped me with the whole process. It’s copyrighted, and they have an entire marketing department. My book is at Barnes and Noble, on Amazon, and on the Mascot website. They have scheduled readings and book signings at different places.” Between readings, book signings, and school visits, Mariano’s next children’s book is beginning to take shape. “I am open to the possibilities, whatever that opportunity might look like. I just want to share my story.”
