You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Giveaway’ tag.
About two and a half months ago I decided I was going to start running. I had a few reasons for this decision;
- I was getting fat.
- I didn’t feel great about the way I looked.
- I had seen one too many pictures of myself at various author events from weird angles with more than one chin.
So I bought some cheap running shoes and decided to start running when my kids went back to school after summer break. Keep in mind that I’ve never been a runner. Not when I was a kid, not in high school, not ever. I’d see people running down the street and think that they were crazy. Running was never something that wanted to do but I was determined to give it a try.
My kids started school on August 14th and, as planned, I started running. I use the term “running” very loosely here as I was doing more walking than running. I would run as far as I could until my lungs were screaming and my legs were burning and then walk. Run. Walk. Run. Walk. Rinse and repeat. On and on until I had completed thirty minutes. (Around two miles.) At the end of my first run/walk I was pretty sure that I was going to die. My legs were sore and throbbing but I had taken the first step towards a leaner, happier me.
The next day I woke up with sore legs but I still went out running. Run. Walk. Run. Walk. At this point I had no idea that I was supposed to take days off between runs. (This was all new to me.) I was determined to stick to my new goal regardless of the pain. So I hobbled along running and walking for two weeks straight with only the weekends off to rest.
After two weeks of running I reached a point where my legs were super sore. I could barely sleep at night. I knew I needed to take some time off to let my muscles recover. The funny thing is that I didn’t want to take a break. Even with my legs screaming for relief I loved running. I loved being outside listening to the music on my iPod and I felt really great emotionally. I had a deep sense of accomplishment and I was starting to see some results when I got on the scale. But I knew if I wanted to keep running I’d have to take some time off and let my legs recover.
Lucky for my legs I had a six-day book tour of San Francisco the following week. It would be the perfect time for a break.
When I returned from San Francisco I jumped right back into running. My legs felt better but it wasn’t long before they began to hurt again. After some online research and talking to friends who run I came to the conclusion that maybe it was my shoes. So I went to my local running store and twenty minutes later I left with the most expensive pair of shoes that I’d ever bought in my life. The salesman said that they would help absorb some of the impact and give my legs more support. The next day I took the shoes out for a test run and they worked. My legs weren’t near as sore as they had been previously. Success!
At this point I’d been at it for about a month. My legs weren’t hurting quite as bad as before but they were still a little sore. I did a little more research and discovered that it’s a good idea to do some cross training between running workouts. So I dusted the cobwebs off my ten-year-old mountain bike and hit the bike trail. Riding my bike between running workouts made a huge deference. It gave my legs a day between runs to recover and I was still able to get in a good workout every day.
I really had no idea what I was doing when I started this whole running thing. I just figured it out as I went. The important thing for me was to just keep at it. To make myself get out of bed every day and either run or bike. It didn’t matter how fast I went, it only mattered that I was doing it everyday or almost every day. I would after all take the occasional day off to rest or to sleep in. I hadn’t completely lost my mind.
The funny thing is that the more I worked out, the better I felt, and the better I felt the further I pushed myself to go. I went from running short spurts and walking, to running three to five miles at a time without stopping. I started biking 18 miles on my bike and I felt amazing. Now, every day I go out and I challenge myself to go a little further or a little faster. I go to bed at night looking forward to getting up the next morning and running or biking. It’s crazy. It’s been two and half months since I started and I feel happier and less stressed than ever before. Oh, and I’ve lost twelve pounds and counting. No more extra chins.
Some of you reading this may be asking yourself at this point, “What does this have to do with writing picture books?” Good question. Here’s the thing, no matter what you want to do in life it all starts by taking a step. A single step.
That step may be taking a class or starting to draw, or in my case starting to run. It can be anything. You just have to take the step. The more steps you take the easier it will get. Along the way you may step in a puddle or two, or get injured (rejected) and that’s okay. Just take some time off to clean yourself up and recoup.
Then when you’re ready, take another step, and another. After a while your steps will get faster and a lot easier, and before you know it you’ll be running. You’ll be pushing yourself to go further and you will be feeling better. You’ll be happier. Who knows, maybe some day you’ll even run a marathon or two. All you have to do is just keep running.
James Burks started out working as an artist in the animation industry for various studios including Disney, Warner Brothers, and Nickelodeon. Projects he has worked on include the Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis, Treasure Planet, Home on the Range, Space Jam, the Iron Giant and the television shows Wow Wow Wubbzy, Ni-hao Kai-lan, the Dinosaur Train and Fan Boy and Chum Chum.
He currently spends his days taking care of his two kids, running/biking and writing/illustrating his own books. His first graphic novel for kids, GABBY AND GATOR, published by Yen Press, was a Junior Library Guild selection and a 2012 CTA Read Across America title. He also has a picture book with Carolrhoda entitled BEEP AND BAH, a graphic novel with Scholastic/Graphix called BIRD AND SQUIRREL ON THE RUN, and he just finished illustrating a book for Simon & Schuster called THE MONSTORE written by Tara Lazar which will be out in June 2013.
James is giving away a signed digital print of this friendly witch and best friend. It sure is as sweet as Halloween candy!
Just comment to be entered into the drawing (one comment per person).
A winner will be randomly selected in one week.
Good luck!
OMG! I’m having a fangirl moment. Somebody fan me and feed me chocolate. (No, not YOU. Get Ryan Gosling.) Because not only is the brilliantly prolific author Tammi Sauer here, but she brought along the stars of her newest picture book, OH NUTS!
Thankfully I have Billy Bush helping me out (who will do as a Ryan Gosling substitute in a pinch). Billy’s qualified to interview Miss Universe contestants, so he will no doubt pose the tough questions to our guests Cutesy, Blinky and Bob. He caught them on last night’s Emmy’s Red Carpet.
Take it away, Billy.
Billy: Wow, so great to see you Cutesy, Blinky and Bob, stars of OH NUTS! Thanks for stopping to talk. You look fabulous. Tell us, who are you wearing?
Cutesy: Carolina Herrerra’s “Forest Dwellers” collection.
Blinky: Um, obviously Bob. Will someone please peel him off my back?
Bob: Wait, I was supposed to get DRESSED?
.
Billy: So you guys reached the pinnacle of popularity but then retreated from the limelight. What caused you to give up show business? Was the pressure just too much?
Blinky: Well, dude, we realized we had to be true to our inner chipmunk, you know?
Cutesy: Plus, all those flashing lights kind of wrecked my mascara.
Bob: Huh?
.
Billy: But your fans really want you to get back into the game. We heard that Alvin and his crew rejected an offer to star in “The Hunger Games IV: Acorn Atrocity”. Will you be lobbying for those roles now?
Cutesy: Our agent definitely wants us to consider it.
Blinky: Like whoa. It would be an awesome opportunity to showcase my six-pack.
Bob: I like noodles.
.
Billy: Do you think you’d like to branch out into other forms of entertainment? You know, become a triple-threat with a triple-threat?
Cutesy: We’ll always stick together, but we each have something special to give the world. Soon I’ll be launching my very own line of accessories called Chic Chipmunk.
Blinky: ABC wants me to be the next Bachelor.
Bob: I’m going to…wait…I forget.
.
Billy: How would you like to be remembered and immortalized by your fans?
Cutesy: We just want everyone to remember that chipmunks are people, too.
Blinky: I’d really like a street named after me.
Bob: I’d really like a nap. And a taco.
.
Billy: Oh wow, here comes Brangelina…so…SCRAM!
Cutesy: You know, we have a nickname, too. It’s “Blutesy”.
Blinky: I like it!
Bob: Hey, where’s the “Bob” in that?
.
Well, thanks Billy Bush, Cutesy, Blinky and Bob for the interview. And thanks for leaving behind an autographed copy of OH NUTS!
One lucky US resident will win it, just leave a comment to be entered! A winner will be randomly selected one week from today. Good luck!
And don’t forget to check out the rest of Tammi Sauer’s books. I mean, there must be a million of them now.
My goal on this blog is often to get writers thinking about exciting hooks for picture books.
Robots? YES!
Zombies? ERMMMFFF! (“Yes!” in zombie-talk.)
Frankenstein? AHHHGGGRRROOOOOWWWZZZ! (“You bet your sweet bippy!” in Frankenstein-talk.)
How about all THREE in one book? (Sorry, that one broke my translation tool!)
Well, Annette Simon already beat you to it!
ROBOT ZOMBIE FRANKENSTEIN is the story of two nuts-and-bolts buddies who try to one-up another. So I wanted to see how Anette one-upped a fabulous ROBOT idea to make it a triple-threat.
TL: Annette…umm…HOW?
AS: Robots and zombies may be getting some extra attention now (and for that I’m grateful!), but I think that from a kid’s perspective, they’re pretty standard characters. Like pirates, superheroes, and outer space invaders, they aren’t new subjects, just fun ones, and why not combine? My youngest, who’s now 18 and soon to graduate from high school, came to his fifth birthday party wearing a pirate hat, a tie, and a chef’s apron.
TL: In your book, the robots try desperately to one-up another. This is brilliant, as you’ll often see young children doing this. I remember dance class when I was seven, a girl told the instructor she practiced for an hour every day. Then came shouts of “I practice two hours” until I finally said “well, I practice TEN hours a day”. So funny. At the time I thought I was impressing everyone, but now I realize they knew I was lying. Do you have a childhood one-upmanship experience that gave rise to the ROBOT ZOMBIE FRANKENSTEIN story?
AS: Hmm. Tara, I pinkie-promised my sister I would not divulge details. (Let’s just say I won. All the time.)
I wish I had some fantastic backstory about this book. The truth is not glamorous: Robot and Robot showed up in little snippets as I walked, cleaned my house, grocery-shopped, and waited in car pool. They crept in from the fringes while I was busy querying agents with other stories.
But I do want to share something that may be especially dear to readers of your blog. These two cartoons by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman have smiled from my fridge for years. (You can tell they’re old by their colors.)
My youngest is about to head off to college, and I’m realizing I will have to find another excuse, er, reason, as to why I’m not more prolific. Or else just get my butt back in chair.
It’s still complicated.
TL: Did you give your robot characters names as you were creating them? What do you think their names really are?
AS: I did kinda play around with names. For awhile, I thought of Robot and Robot as Cy and Borg, then Cy and Henry (Henry = the measuring unit of inductance– sounds smart, huh?) or Hecto (a computer measurement for 100). My fabulous editor, Mary Lee Donovan, sometimes nicknamed them Watson and…Isaac? Asimov? Chip? I can’t remember. In story discussions, we called them Purple and Green. In the end, they each said, “I, Robot.”
I hope one day the robots get a pet; I have a fun long list of pet names.
TL: Is there anything your robots wanted to be, but they didn’t get the chance to transform themselves? Anything cut out of the final version that you wish would have remained?
AS: As far as cutting-room-floor material, here’s a spread that didn’t make it. But, should Robot and Robot one day go trick-or-treating…
Well, folks, you can one-up your friends by not only winning a SIGNED COPY of ROBOT ZOMBIE FRANKENSTEIN (which is a *perfect* Halloween read), but by also winning cool robot chest iron-ons! Impress your friends, neighbors, and local Kindergarten classes!
Just leave a comment to be entered. A winner will be randomly selected one week from today!
Annette Simon says that when she was in kindergarten, she was named Best Artist in her class. When she was in the third grade, she won her school’s Fire Prevention Week poster contest. After she graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, Annette earned awards as an advertising creative director. Now, she writes and draws for young readers. Simon says she could not feel more honored. Learn more about her books at AnnetteSimon.net.
Geesh, you’d think I wouldn’t forget about my own book contest. But I plead summer brain. It’s all mushy with Slurpees and Sno-Cones. Maybe I should plead brainfreeze then, too!
So without further ado, the red guy on the front cover is named DUSTER!
While no one guessed the exact name, Wafa Musitief guessed DUSTERS, so she wins an original signed monster sketch by illustrator James Burks!
But wait! We added a second prize for a random winner. And that winner is Jarm Del Boccio!
Congratulations Wafa and Jarm! I’ll be emailing you shortly.
Once again, thanks for subscribing to my blog. Rest assured there will be a lot more prizes coming soon. You’re bound to win one eventually. And if you don’t, I’ll treat you to a Slurpee. Brainfreeze is an awesome way to float through summer.
One of my favorite quirky picture books is OTTO GROWS DOWN by Michael Sussman, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to learn that Michael has a new YA novel, CRASHING EDEN. Well, Michael is crashing my blog today and he’s leaving behind a paperback copy just for you.
“Dr. Suss” (as I like to call him) is a prolific, versatile writer who has published books in diverse genres. So I asked him how he shifts gears to different formats and what obstacles he faces in doing so.
TL: Michael, you’ve written medical books, picture books, and now a young adult novel. How did you adjust from writing one genre to another?
MS: The toughest shift was from writing nonfiction professional books on psychotherapy to writing fiction. About 20 years ago I first tried my hand at a novel. Looking back at that manuscript, I cringe at how stiff and wooden my writing was—especially the dialogue. Thanks to practice and critiques from writer’s groups, my next novel was considerably better, although it too went unpublished.
After reading hundreds of picture books to my son, I decided to start writing for children. That transition was a breeze. Writing for kids totally freed my imagination and allowed me to be much more playful and fantasy-based. The result was OTTO GROWS DOWN, a story about a boy who becomes trapped in backwards time.
In writing for young adults, I benefited from having already spent years honing my novel-writing skills. There were, however, two major differences. It was a stretch to write with the voice of a teenager, and that took a great deal of revising to get right. Secondly, I had to revisit my own adolescence, and that was no picnic!
TL: Which genre is your comfort zone?
MS: When it comes to writing, I’m such a perfectionist that I’m not sure I have a comfort zone.
Writing picture books is probably easiest for me, since the sky’s the limit when it comes to letting your imagination run wild. In terms of novels, I think I feel most comfortable writing thillers and mysteries, especially with a comic edge.
TL: How did you get the idea for CRASHING EDEN? What made you decide to tackle the YA genre?
I started trying my hand at fiction about twenty years ago. I wrote a psychological thriller and a comic mystery novel, neither of which were published. I developed severe writer’s block, which was immediately relieved when I began writing for young children. Looking back, I think I was working out unresolved issues from my own childhood. Next I turned to writing for young adults. Consciously, I chose YA because the market was hot! But unconsciously, I believe I realized that it would give me the chance to work on issues from my mostly miserable adolescence.
The genesis of CRASHING EDEN began with the title, which had floated around in my mind for nearly a decade. I’d been interested in world mythology for many years, and especially intrigued by the widespread myths suggesting that humans have degenerated from an ancient state of grace, symbolized by Paradise or the Golden Age.
I began to wonder what might happen if we were somehow able to recapture the state of mind supposedly experienced by people before the Fall. What if a device could be built that altered our brains in such a way that we felt like we were back in the Garden of Eden?
This led to speculating about how the God of the Old Testament might react to trespassers in his Garden. That’s where the story takes a controversial turn.
TL: What an intriguing premise! So, what YA reads have really stuck with you? To which books would you compare your style?
MS: My favorite YA novels are Phillip Pullman’s trilogy, FEED by M.T. Anderson, UNWIND by Neal Shusterman, and MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD by Francis X. Stork.
I’d like to think my style is unique, although I’d say it’s strongly influenced by two of my favorite novelists: Tom Robbins and Christopher Moore.
TL: How do you hope readers will react to your book?
MS: My ideal reader loved OTTO and is curious about the title of my novel. She’s intrigued by the notion that the widespread myths of a Golden Age were based on something real, and by the idea of returning to Edenic consciousness. She feels empathy for my troubled protagonist and gets caught up in his many dilemmas. She enjoys the humor and suspense of the story and finishes the book in one sitting. Then she recommends the novel to all her friends, posts glowing reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and sends a copy of the book to her uncle, the filmmaker!
TL: Ha, ha! Don’t we all wish! So, with all those genres floating around in your head, do you ever experience writer’s block? If so, how do you overcome it?
Yes, I’ve definitely had periods when I couldn’t write a thing and couldn’t come up with a single idea. It feels awful. With other types of work you can just phone it in, but not with writing.
With mild writer’s block, I can overcome it by exercising, being in nature, taking a hot bath, meditating, or simply taking a break from writing. With more serious cases, it takes some psychological/emotional exploration. The blockage may be due to depression. It may stem from avoiding something that you need to write about. In one case, my writer’s block evaporated when I shifted from writing for adults to writing for children!
TL: I love that. Writing for children definitely frees the imagination and lets you go places adult fiction doesn’t.
Thanks to Dr. Suss for offering a paperback copy for me to give away! Just leave a comment to enter. You get one entry for your comment plus an extra entry for each share on social media, just let me know in a separate comment! A winner will be selected in one week. Good luck!
Want it now? Crashing Eden is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords.
And visit “Dr. Suss” online because he’s hilarious and talented (and a good friend)!
OK, so you know that I love monsters. Can’t get enough of them. Well, my friend Tiffany Strelitz Haber is here today with a monster of a story—her debut picture book, THE MONSTER WHO LOST HIS MEAN!
Some of you may know Tiffany as one of the two rhyming geniuses behind The Meter Maids (with Corey Rosen Schwartz). If you don’t, you have to check out her site, which is all about writing in rhyme. Don’t make me slap you with a citation!
Before we get riffing with Tiffing (yeah I can call her that, it rhymes), you MUST take a look at the extraordinary trailer for her new book. The Danny-Elfman-like original music, the animation—it’s all so monstrous and so much fun!
TL: THE MONSTER WHO LOST HIS MEAN is about a monster who loses his ‘M’. You know I host Picture Book Idea Month every November so I’m obsessed with the origin of ideas. Where did this idea come from?
TSH: I have always been a very visual person when it comes to words. Even as a kid, I loved the concept of homonyms, acrostics, acronyms, spelling words backwards, and even looking at them upside down. One day I started thinking about the letters in the word MONSTER, and what they might actually stand for if the word MONSTER was an acronym. From there the concept just grew and evolved, and “The Onster” was born!
TL: We’re also all about characters names on this blog. Did “The Onster” have a name before he lost his M?
TSH: Ya know…that’s a great question. I like to think that he only really found any identity at all after he lost his M. Before that he was just…well… generic, nameless, and not nearly as cool—Monster. Bleh.
TL: The Onster cooks brunch at one point in the book. I’m a foodie like you, so what’s your favorite brunch food?
TSH: Hmm…for me, picking a favorite food is kind of like bending a spoon into a perfect figure eight using just my toes (almost impossible). But in the interest of quasi-decisiveness…I’ll go with a tie. EITHER: Perfectly toasted onion bagels slathered in whipped cream cheese, lox and just a few rounds of raw, red onion…OR…a dim sum extravaganza.
So…What’s YOUR favorite brunch food? Tell us and be entered to win a signed ARC of THE MONSTER WHO LOST HIS MEAN!
You get one entry for commenting and then one entry for every place you share—blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Just let us know where you ONSTER’ed!
Tiffany Strelitz Haber is the author of two rhyming picture books: THE MONSTER WHO LOST HIS MEAN (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, July 17, 2012) and OLLIE AND CLAIRE (Philomel/Penguin, 2013). She will eat any food she is served, be it fried witchetty grubs on a stick or calf’s brain ravioli, and loves to be high in the air or deep in the sea. Tiffany lives in NJ with her two little monsters, Jack Dalton and Travis Hawk. Like her on Facebook. If you don’t, Tara will sic the monsters on you.
Today is the release day for THE EMOTION THESAURUS, and as part of the launch, Becca and Angela from the Bookshelf Muse are hosting Random Acts of Kindness Towards Writers!
Move over, I’m jumping on the bandwagon! (Yes, it’s a Radio Flyer. And the band is Maroon 5. And I have to smoosh in close to Adam Levine.)
Think about your fellow writers today and how they have helped you to achieve your literary goals. I have critique partners, blog followers, other bloggers, plus published authors and illustrators to thank. All those who have befriended me on the path to publication–people I didn’t know who offered that boost of encouragement when I most needed it. (And boy, do I need it A LOT! Why are we always so hard on ourselves?)
Come on, what other professional community is so awesome?
So as part of the kindapalooza today, I’m giving away a picture book critique. Just comment below to be entered; one entry per person by midnight tonight, but you can claim the prize at any time. It’s my way of giving back today.
And if there were any way I could shove a chocolate lava cake through the ether, you know I’d be giving that away, too. You’re just that incredible, writers!
Ever heard of the picture book THE LOUDS MOVE IN? It’s one of my all-time favorites, with a cast of unique characters like Miss Shushermush, who eats quiet meals of leftover mashed potatoes. When the Loud family moves onto Earmuffle Avenue, the chaos begins and friendships are eventually [noisily] forged.
Ever since I read THE LOUDS I have been a huge fan of author Carolyn Crimi. So when I heard about her newest book PUGS IN A BUG, and then saw the illustrations by Stephanie Buscema, I nearly fell off my chair with an attack of acute cuteness. Punch-buggy green! Gotcha!
PUGS is a “catchy canine counting book” with a jaunty joy-ride rhyme and a groovin’ get-up-and-go beat. It’s so much fun to read aloud with its twists and turns in language—and in the road. Chugging along, the pugs meet up with a pooch parade, so there’s not only pugs in a bug, but bulldogs in a taxi and poodles on skateboards. This book proves that it’s not always about the destination but the journey. Beep, beep! Bow wow! I know you want to win it now!
So Carolyn and Stephanie are both here today to talk about the creation of PUGS…and yes, you can win it!
TL: Carolyn, are pugs your favorite kind of dog? Do you own a pug? Why PUGS?
CC: I actually love all kinds of dogs. I met a Newfoundland yesterday that I was ready to take home with me. Alas, she was a big dog and probably would not have fit in my car. But pugs are probably my favorite. They’re the comedians of the dog world. When I walk down the street with my pug Emerson people laugh. I kind of love that about him—he brings laughter with him wherever he goes.
Not that he cares about that. All he really cares about is food. If he had to choose between me and a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken I’m afraid there would be no contest. KFC would win, paws down.
Not only do I own a pug, I also own a VW Bug. It’s even green, just like the one in the book. I came up with the entire idea for PUGS IN A BUG the very first time I took Emerson for a ride in my car. That was way back in 2001. I still have both the pug and the Bug. I highly recommend both!
I’ve attached a pic of Emerson for your amusement.
TL: Aww, I love Emerson! His tongue is hilarious.
So you had the idea for the book over 10 years ago. How long did it take you to write it?
CC: Boy, I wish I had a timeline for this book, but I don’t have a clear idea of when I wrote the first draft. I don’t think it was submitted until 2003. Of course the whole submission process takes forever and a day. I also probably revised it a bunch of times to no avail. Then I think it took a while to find the right illustrator.
In other words, same ole same ole.
My first drafts don’t usually take long at all. Maybe just a couple of days. It’s the many revisions I do that take years. Yup, years. I’ll put something away for a while if it doesn’t sell right away. I’ll take another look at it years later and will sometimes be able to see the changes that need to be made. Sometimes I can’t see how to change it. I have a lot of unsold manuscripts lurking in my computer just waiting for the day when I can fix them.
I often tell new writers that this is not a microwave career where you stick in a hastily written manuscript and a six figure income pops out thirty seconds later. It takes oodles of revisions and a lot of “thinking time” to polish a manuscript into submission-ready form.
TL: I remember you once said that an illustrator never does what you imagine—they do far better than you ever could have imagined. What did Stephanie do with PUGS that really surprised you?
CC: Lots of things!
She gave them all hats, which I love, especially since I have been known to, um, dress up my pug on occasion. This lends a distinct personality to each pug. Genius!
Something else that surprised me was that two sweet little birds appear on every spread. (TL: Can you find them below?) That’s the kind of thing kids love to follow in a book. Also, toward the end a rascally squirrel jumps onto the back of the Bug, unbeknownst to the pugs riding in it. So fun! Stephanie has added so many details like this. It’s the kind of book that has endless surprises in the illustrations. I’m still finding things in it that I hadn’t noticed before!
TL: Stephanie, what drew you to PUGS IN A BUG?
SB: When I got the manuscript for PUGS, I was thrilled with the subject matter (I love drawing and painting animals) and was immediately drawn to it! The story had so much room for play, color and lots of fun character designs. I’m a big fan of Carolyn’s work, so it was an honor to illustrate one of her books.
TL: What kind of tricks do you use to keep so many similar-looking characters diverse? Did you name the Pugs as you drew them?
SB: I didn’t name them, but I did add in little pug accessories so that the reader would know each pug was different (and so I could keep track, haha)!
TL: LOL! Yes, I love all the little details like the bow ties and hats, although I confess the girl with the flower in her fur is my favorite. Or maybe it’s the cool jazz dude. Or the one with the pink horn-rimmed glasses. Oh, I can’t choose!
What was your favorite spread to illustrate?
SB: I have to say, I enjoyed most of the spreads. I think my most favorite spreads to paint were the pages at the beginning of the book. It was really fun to push myself with the landscapes and scene changes. If I had to chose one? I think the spread with the 3 pugs driving into the city was my favorite to paint. The entire book was painted in gouache and cel-vinyl (animation) paints on watercolor paper.
TL: Do you do any Photoshop or computer work once your paintings are finished?
SB: Nope, I work 100% traditional. Sometimes we’ll have to clean up a little spot here or there, and of course in the proofing stage if something isn’t bright enough we’ll bump it up. But other then that, I don’t use Photoshop in the art stages at all.
TL: How do you hope readers will react to the illustrations?
SB: Like any job I do, I always hope the readers enjoy the visuals and pick up on the sense of joy I get out of painting a book.
TL: I think that is totally obvious with this book—the bright color and playfulness just jumps out and slaps a seatbelt on you. Sit down and enjoy the ride!
Carolyn, you have published so many terrific books—WHERE’S MY MUMMY?, HENRY & THE BUCCANEER BUNNIES, DON’T NEED FRIENDS—and now PUGS is added to that list. Can you even pick a favorite?
CC: Well, I have to say based on the writing alone, I like my book DEAR TABBY the best. I love all my books, but I think DEAR TABBY is the funniest. And while I don’t believe in heavy-handed message books, if you read the last page you’ll know my philosophy of life. More importantly, I had a ton of fun writing it!
TL: And those are the best books–the ones that gave the author the most pleasure often give the audience the most fun. Your joy and enthusiasm shine through.
Thanks, Carolyn and Stephanie! I know everyone will have a blast with PUGS…so let’s give them a chance to win it!
See the pugs on the cover above? Which is your favorite? And just what *is* that pugs name? Name that dog! (Which also happens to be another book illustrated by Stephanie.) I hope you come up with names as creative as Carolyn’s nicknames for Emerson: Sir Scratch and Sniff, Mr. Wiggle Butt, The Mayor and Circus Dog.
You get an extra entry for each share on social media—just mention it in the comments.
Comments close the end of April 30 and a random winner will be chosen shortly thereafter.
Good luck and thanks for stopping by!
Beep, beep! Bow wow!
Visit CarolynCrimi.com and StephanieBuscema.com to learn more about their books!
Thanks to everyone who visited Salina Yoon’s post about her newest and most challenging novelty book, KALEIDOSCOPE. The winner of the signed copy is:
DONNA SHEPHERD!
Congratulations, Donna! Be on the lookout for an email from me…
Didn’t win? No worries. There’s more giveaways coming in the next two weeks. Yes, it’s a busy Spring over here! Here’s a sneaky peekie (what my five-year-old calls it):
Ame Dyckman and Dan Yaccarino’s BOY + BOT
Sarah Frances Hardy’s PUZZLED BY PINK
Carolyn Crimi and Stephanie Buscema’s PUGS IN A BUG
Ammi-Joan Paquette & Marie Letourneau’s THE TIPTOE GUIDE TO TRACKING MERMAIDS
It’s a Picture Book Palooza!
Plus, don’t forget, if you’re not already subscribed to my blog via email, join today to be entered into a SEPARATE “new follower” three-picture-book-prize-pack giveaway on April 1st (EXTRA YARN, BOY + BOT, ARNIE THE DOUGHNUT). I’m not foolin’! Just enter your email address in the left column.
Me announce winner of ME WANT PET contest.
But first, if you a parent/caregiver/teacher with picture book kids, subscribe to blog (see left column). Me have more book contest soon. Comment on this post if you new subscriber and you can win THREE PICTURE BOOK PRIZE PACK (BOY + BOT, EXTRA YARN, ARNIE THE DOUGHNUT)! Me pick winner APRIL 1. THIS NO APRIL FOOL’S!
Now ME WANT PET winner.
It be Anna, age 9! ConBATulations!
Now me show you more great pets!
Isaac, age 6:
This Kid Erik, age 10:
Josie, age 8:
Jordan, age 6:
Renn, age 5:
Me and Tammi Sauer thank all kids who draw pets!
Maybe Tammi write SEQUEL!
OOGA!
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 