It didn’t take long for Miguel Garcia to get hooked on golf. The extreme sport enthusiast and part-time graphic designer was 28 when the bug bit.
“I started thinking about the ability to play the game for a lifetime,” he said. “I loved the feeling that came with that one good shot. I was kind of bummed that, aside from my father-in-law, I didn’t really have anyone to share the game with.”
When his daughter, Alana, who turned 2 in August, was born, he did. Not right away, of course, but Garcia, 33, envisioned days on the range or course with his little girl and began looking for children’s books on golf to start the enticement process.
“I didn’t want an instructional manual; I wanted something fun and visually vibrant that was geared for small kids,” Garcia said. “I really couldn’t find anything.”
Enter “Ace The Golfer,” a cute cover guy for a book Garcia hopes to get published. Despite no writing experience, Garcia is relying on his graphics background, with help from other professionals, to produce a 32-page hardcover book and an e-book that is artistically stimulating and light on text. With fewer than 200 words in quick and staccato sentences, it’s a quick read, to say the least. But, as with many children’s books, it’s the looks that are touted as the attraction.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of Pixar and their amazing characters,” said Garcia, who lives in Long Beach and also works at his family’s business, PCH Lawn Mower in Wilmington. “I’d like this to be a soft introduction to the game for young kids and something that golf enthusiasts, like myself, will enjoy reading to their children.”
Whether “Ace The Golfer” hits parental hands depends on a Kickstarter campaign in September. With the work complete and his ability to retain creative control, Garcia thought it was the best way to go. He has contributed to other projects on the crowdfunding platform so he’s familiar with the process and confident he can raise his $15,000 goal. All funds raised, he said, will go toward illustration, printing and shipping costs. But since Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing venture, if the project falls short of its goal, Garcia and his wife, Vanessa, will huddle to determine if they want to kick in the remaining money to make the book a reality.
“I feel really confident we’ll come through,” Garcia said about the funding. “I believe in the process and I believe in the product.”
A video promotion for “Ace The Golfer” is running on YouTube (Ace The Golfer Kickstarter), and a website is also in play as a way to attract as many eyeballs as possible.
“I’m so happy with how things look and have worked out so far,” Garcia said. “That’s what keeps me going. I can’t wait to read it to my little girl, and to have those who love golf as much as I do read it to their kids as well.”
