A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT...

Meet Sarah...coming to a BOOKSTORE near you!

(not like tomorrow, or even next month...but she's on her way)

The book is called SARAH IN THE BUBBLE.

Sarah is a little girl who feels very different from everone else so she keeps to herself...inside a bubble. Her bubble protects her. It keeps her IN and the world OUT.

There is no mention in the book of WHAT Sarah is dealing with...maybe it is simply shyness, maybe it is a learning disability or some other affliction that keeps her seperated from her peers.

In the end...Sarah grows and beauty abounds.

A beautiful story of confidence and perseverence.

STAY TUNED!

Peace.

The birth of Betsy...

Well, Pennsylvania got 4 feet of snow in the last week. It's been a "warm and cozy" kind of week...with three kids with cabin fever, of course, so I didn't say anything about being "still" until last night, that is.

Everyone was whooped from being outside - my husband snow blowed (is that a word?), snow blew? Anyway, he BLEW the snow for 6 hours... 2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 2 in the evening. The 4 yr old was in bed and the bigger two were camped out on a bunch of comforters in front of the TV in anticipation of American Idol.

And the fire was burning!

So, there I sat, sketchbook in hand, legs draped over a sleepy husband and I drew...and drew...and drew...

And that's how "Betsy" was born! :)




I painted her this morning (just the first variation of her) while the kids buried each other in the flaky white stuff!

Now, Betsy needs a story...it's coming...I can SEE it in my mind - just have to get the words to the paper...what time is it? Nap time should be soon, right?! I LOVE MY JOB! Can you call something this fun a job? Maybe if I SOLD somethone on the rabadabbazillion characters lurking in my studio it would be! LOL!

But that's cool...they keep me company. They are quite fun. I'm serious.

Gotta LOVE a snowday! Or LOTS of them!

Peace.

New Books, New Characters, New Inspiration

I have been working hard on a couple NEW stories and a couple characters that go with stories I banged out a while ago. The illustration below is a rough draft of 'Sarah.' The book is called SARAH IN THE BUBBLE. Sarah is so shy that she imagines herself inside a bubble...she doesn't let anything get close enough to possibly pop her bubble.



Here is the final Sarah!

I just love her! She is exactly what I wanted to show as far as her meek personality goes. In this story Sarah overcomes her shyness in an unexpected twist that gives the plot a special Oomph!
This character was inspired by my 2nd child, my only daughter. She was so incredibly shy as a preschooler but has since grown into an amazingly sure-of-herself 'tween who is more self-confident than I was in my 20's. This beautiful story is my Emily's story...although she probably doesn't see it as dramatic as I have. But that's what makes Sarah's story so special!


I'm not sure who this boy is...he appears to be quite helpful, though...


That's the best part about what I do. The characters just come. My pencil follows and then pretty soon I am saying, "Wow! Very nice to meet you!"

We will see where these stories take me...
I am preparing a couple book dummies for the Illustrator's Showcase at the SCBWI Pocono retreat in April! I am SO excited to be going!

Have an amazing Tuesday!

Peace.

TVEC School Visit 2010 at OneTrueMedia.com

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

At the end of my presentation I read one of my latest manuscripts called FREE ROCKS FOR SALE. It's a simple story with a message of turning a 'grumpy' into a 'happy' and giving it away.

The children drew two cold, ugly, bumpy rocks and thought cold, ugly, bumpy, grumpy thoughts. We then thought of happy thoughts and turned our rocks into beautiful masterpieces that made us happy. The kids gathered from the story that 'happy' shouldn't be kept to ourselves, we should give it away.

I told them they could keep one of their beautiful rocks to remind them of our time together and FREE ROCKS FOR SALE but they needed to GIVE ONE away to make someone's day.

As the last class of the day waved goodbye, I received these BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECES!

Thank you Brianna, Alayna, Elle and Dayton!

And THIS is why I do what I do!

Peace.

It's National Authors & Illustrators Week!

If you are reading this blog - you love children and children's books. This week is an awesome time to celebrate those books that mean the world to you.

Maybe they make you giddy.
Maybe they make you think.
They might remind you of a special time in your childhood.
They may remind you of the person who gave books as gifts.

This week is a time to give back...thank an author and/or an illustrator for inspiring every child that picks up their book.

How many times have you heard a keynote speaker talk about his/her favorite childhood book? We may never know the magnitude our written word has on the world. But we can trust that there are children smiling because of something we wrote. That is AWESOME!

Head over to FACEBOOK and "friend" all your favorite authors! Send them a note and thank them for what they do!

I wanted to upload pics of illustrations I am working on and blurbs of some stories I am weaving but Blogger won't let me upload anything today. :(

Peace.

Meet Talia...

She's not particularly fond of vegetables...kids will LOVE the CRAZY lengths she goes to mask the green flavor...and they will howl at the unfortunately gross but FUNNY ending!

(without black line)

A one-of-a-kind story based on an old favorite.

Peace.

He needs a home...

I am in love with this little guy and he has a BIG story to tell. I am excited to be looking for representation as I currently have another manuscript and book dummy on an editor's desk.

His name is Jeremy and he collects rocks when he is grumpy. You will never believe what he does with them...