Holy lagomorphs, Batman! My book cover is up on Amazon:

I’m not sure if this is the really, truly, final version of the cover.

Here is Flo the Cat with a portion of the Expo booty we brought home (minus the things the kids absconded with instantly).
It’s in the process of being “organized.”

Yeah, that’s it. Organized.

This is my favorite non-book souvenir from the Expo-
I give you the DEATHLY HALLOWS BOOKBAG!

Thanks, Scholastic– that’s a rockin’ promo!
It turns out that a Deathly Hallows bookbag fits a flute and a music book very handily- we just tried that out.

The planets aligned and Eric and I were able to go to the BEA (Book Expo America) in NYC for a day.
We left on Friday afternoon, for the usually 3-hr. ride into the city. It took about 4 and a half hours this time because of traffic. Oh, well, you can never bet on what the ride will be like.

We walked down to the Landmark Tavern, where Fuse 8 had mentioned a Kid Lit Drink Nite. I haven’t been to the Landmark in a long time, so I thought it would be fun to check it out again. Here are some interesting scenes on the way there:

That bathtub window “decor” is about the creepiest thing I’ve seen in a while! But the diner sign was neat. There used to be a good diner between the Javits and the Landmark called, interestingly enough, The Good Diner. It’s a Starbucks now- wah!!

Here’s Eric outside the Landmark:

We were sort of late getting there, but saw the always effervescent and slightly wacky Meghan McCarthy and met Jeannine Garsee, a new YA author who’s book Before, After, and Somebody in Between is coming out in 2 weeks. Jeannine is also a full-time nurse, which I thought was fascinating. It seems so different, and mentally taxing, from writing! My editor was surprisingly there, too!
We had a good dinner while there, and 2, count ’em 2, cranberry juices because it was party time, oh yeah!

Here’s the view from our hotel that night:

We coulda had McDonald’s, DVDs, OR drugs at any time, they were all available 24 hours a day!
I woke up at 3:15, and yes! The shops were still open! So weird compared to the frog noise I’m used to at night.

Now, I have been to NYC many a time for shows. I have been to the Javits Center for the Toy Fair, Gift Fair, and Stationery Show lots of times.
But I have NEVER seen any show like this! It looks unassuming on the outside:

But look out, inside! This is the multi-tiered lobby:

Lots of people milling around, wondering where to go (like us) or devising a plan of attack (which seems impossible).
It’s hot in here, the Greenhouse Effect on a somewhat smaller scale. I think this adds to the confusion of the experience.
It also adds to what I like to call JCH, or Javits Center Headache, which I get every time upon walking in here. Is it the heat? The air? The complete sensory overload? I’m not sure, but I don’t leave home without Tylenol.

But, oh! The wonders within! Picture hundreds and hundreds of people handing you free books, often times signing them on the spot. Not just books, but bookbags, bookmarks, cds, catalogs, pins, magnets, all kinds of promotional things.

There were probably about 50 people signing books at any given time (probably more, now that I think of it). The “official” lines looked something like this:

Yup, there were a lot of famous people there, all with books coming out. There’s Tiki Barber signing, but the lines were very long for some people, and short for others- a real mixed bag of participants! I did manage to get a lot of signed books, but a sort of random assortment based on where we were at the time, and who was doing them at the time.
I have to say, I do like the totally random nature of this expo!
It is impossible to do everything you think you want to do here, but everywhere you go is interesting and unexpected.

No, we didn’t expect to see Dora the Explorer and Diego, but I am not the type to miss a chance at posing with a giant-headed cartoon character.
Speaking of which, we met Phil Yeh, too (hehehe):

Phil is a very fun, very chatty cartoonist who’s been making good, positive comic books for a looong time. He’s got a lot of ideas about spreading literacy and generally hopeful messages to kids to counterattack the commercial assault they are hit with every day.
Yay- I’m all for that, big time.
Check out his Winged Tiger website for lots of great comic book options for kids.

Here’s another unexpected sight:

Nope, we didn’t expect to see twin retired teachers who wrote abook about The Teacher Who Would Not Retire. Here are the fun Sustrin Twins and their book, which they signed to our twins!

Here’s the very well-regarded (in our house) author Valerie Tripp, writer of the American Girl “Molly” series, amongst many other AG books. We’ve got ’em all!

Also at the AG booth was Megan McDonald, who has written the new books for the not-released-yet 70’s doll, Julie Albright.

Megan also writes the Judy Moody series, so this was a pretty big occurence according for our girls.
I also happen to be excited about the 1974 doll, I just might need that one myself- if only for the miniature bell-bottoms and ponchos!
Ah, sweet childhood.
I am not sure how I feel about 1974 being referred to as “historical”, though. Does that make me an antique? Hehe.
It’s actually brilliant. They will capture the imagination of not only all the girls out there, but the MOMS.

Shout out to my awesome Critique Group!! Looky what I found:

Here’s the CarolRhoda/Lerner Books booth, with both Joe’s and Anne’s books on display. I didn’t even notice the poster until I saw this picture, Joe! Anne’s books just so happen to have about 5 different award bookmarks sticking out of them!

And there’s Becky’s book, Morris and Buddy, in the Albert Whitman booth! It’s the first time I have seen the real book, and it’s a beautiful thing!

It was really fun seeing friends’ books out there…just rounding a corner, and going OH!! I know that book!
Also seen at the Expo:

Many people exercising their rights to secure rights!
Not quite sure what kinda deals were going down in there, since we didn’t attempt to go in.

I was feeling a bit MAD by the end of the show, in the insane sense.
As fun as it is, I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
How do people do THREE DAYS of this??
If you go to the Book Expo, you will end up like this:

That was a pretty nasty sidewalk, but I couldn’t stand up for one more second with the 100-lb. bags on my shoulders.
The pretzel guy in front of me was laughing, but I didn’t care.
I would definitely do it again, though!

We had a yard sale at my mother’s house over the weekend. Not your run-o-the-mill yard sale, oh no. One with a whole bunch of my aunts and uncles, some of whom are antiques dealers. So the stuff was GOOD, and it ended up being a bit of a swap meet amongst us collecting types. Thanks to Uncle Larry for finding these beauties:

Now that’s GOOD ART! I love these panels, which must have come from a carnival booth in the 50’s.
He also had a clown panel, but clowns are evil.
Everyone knows that.

Just got back from the springtime funfest known as the New England SCBWI Conference! This is the first time lovely husband Eric (also an illustrator/designer) came to the conference with me. Somehow he eluded the camera for the whole conference! We went to different sessions operating on the “divide and conquer” theory of info gathering. Well, sometimes, anyhow!

At top you can see Marilyn Salerno, Conference Director, informing us about the cornucopia of events about to unfold. But how could we have known that THIS would unfold:

That’s writer/illustrator Anne Sibley O’Brien and her editor at Charlesbridge, Yolanda LeRoy performing. They regaled us with the musical version of the emotional rollercoaster of book acceptance and contract negotiation, in true full-blown Broadway style.

Zowie- I must say, I did NOT expect that! And they were GOOD! Very, very brave of them- but they are both clearly multi-talented!

But that wasn’t all, no-

This is the one-and-only Sid Fleischman performing a magic trick on Janet, a willing but wary “volunteer” from the audience. She survived! And then it was time for:

Oh, yeah- rockin’ writers and illustrators, and a few kids with some very fine moves! Good music was on tap, like “YMCA” and “Dancin’ Queen” (possibly requested by a certain Disco Goddess who shall remain nameless).

Morning came early after that, but keynote speaker Bruce Coville was first up- and you simply CAN’T sleep thru that- he was totally funny and engaging, ocasionally jumping on chairs to prove a point. I seem to recall Laurie Halse Anderson saying at Whispering Pines that “if you get a chance to see Bruce Coville speak, do it.” Now I know what she meant! Sorry, I was too far back to get a picture! Next up:

Here’s Anne Sibley O’Brien again, this time in a slightly less musical atmosphere, talking about graphic novels. She’s done an interesting book that is a synthesis of a traditional picturebook and a graphic novel called The Legend of Hong Kil Dong: The Robin Hood of Korea. She’s a very good speaker; friendly and casual. She made a good point- graphic novels are a good bridge between traditional books and stuff like TV, video games, internet, etc. for today’s media-driven kids. Books that can move along sequentially hold their attention more by “making” them flip that page!

Here’s our Photoshop and Painter Guru pal Carlyn Beccia during her presentation called “Digital Painting: Dirty, Lazy Pixels.” I find Carlyn’s work fascinating, not only for it’s gorgeously grungy excellence, but for how freakin’ different it is from mine! We use some of the same programs, but oh Lordy, in very different ways! She loves that well-worn “dirty” look that serves her book extremely well- it’s all about the gritty, bygone days of the circus, previously blogged here. Bonus! She somehow managed to do this session with a dislocated shoulder- way to go, Carlyn!

The afternoon keynote on Saturday was Sid Fleischman, who has been writing for at least 70 (70!!) years. There are not too many people out there who can give you an overview of publishing that spans that long; right thru WWII and beyond. Needless to say, things have changed a LOT, but Sid’s still there in the picture, actively writing. Now that’s inspirational.

Well, whattya know! I won a door prize!

Here’s me and Shennen with my prizes. Killers and naughty schoolgirls! YES!! Perfect for the girl who draws bunnies and writes for 3-year-olds! I guess this is, once again, nature’s way of telling me to read more YA books. I won a big batch of them at Whispering Pines, too!

Here’s Sunday’s keynoter Cheryl Zach at the podium. Cheryl always wanted to write books that were compelling, that kids wanted to read under the covers after they were told to go to bed. She gave us a good overview of the genre, which was interesting to me because I have never read or written mysteries per se. But now I realize that some books that pull you along actually have mysterious elements in them.

Here’s Mark Peter Hughes, Sid Fleischman, and moi, getting my books signed. I believe that is Jacqueline Davies in the lineup, too.

Mark gave a FABULOUS hands-on session about plotting a middle grade/YA novel. I am glad I went to this, despite my lack of writing for this age group (see: bunny writer, above). Knowing the how to jack up the angst of your protagonist thru suspense and how to satisfyingly resolve conflict in your story- well, it’s all good. Eric went to this session, too- high marks from Team Dubois! Another good session that Eric went to was the one John Bell gave about dialogue. You’ll need to revisit that one again, John, so more of us can hear it, too!

That’s Laura Fry, Shennen Bersani, and moi, giving the thumbs up for a good conference! It was great meeting new folks and seeing friends again while soaking up some inspiration.

Alas, now that I have spent my night blogging, I need to put the inspiration on hold for a few days and get a bunch of work done! Wah.

Don’t you just HATE it when you have to sell off your frog and snake collection?
This is a promo pc from last year…sorry I don’t have new piece this week-deadlines loom!

I just found out that Lloyd Alexander died. He was truly one of my childhood heroes.
The Chronicles of Prydain blew me away as a kid, I loved them so much.
Ironically, a few days ago I found a neat little project that I did when I was about 10 (roughly the same age that my own kids are now).
Here it is, my very own High King Card Game!

It was fun rediscovering this for a few reasons. It shows that I was already into making “products” at that age (earlier, actually). I am sure that I got out of some other kind of report or boring project by offering to do this instead. It also shows what my art looked like at age 10 or 11, which I really wanted to show my kids.
Sometimes they ask me “Why can’t I draw as well as you?”
To which I say, “Because I have been drawing for 35 years!”
This little card set is proof positive that they already do draw as well as me, at the same age, if not better.

It also shows that I was obsessed with The Chronicles of Prydain, which they fully understand, too.
There are a lot of good things about having kids, and it’s particularly fun watching them read the same books and seeing their reactions.
They often make me want to revisit old series and re-read them, or read new ones that they like.

Who out there hasn’t yet read The Chronicles of Prydain?
Try them out if you haven’t, you won’t be dissappointed.

A few months back I did the art for a Hooked on Phonics production called Read, Rhyme and Clap. When I opened up my Children’s Book-of-the-Month Club mailing today, I was surprised (and glad) to see a big promotion for them. Check it out:

My illustrations are on the DVD with the fox on the front. I did the Muffin Man sequence. You know the Muffin Man, right? He lives on Drury Lane, wherever that is. The DVDs are well done- they have expanded on the rhymes to include cute little vignettes with real children, and also with these 3-D characters on the covers. Nice little multi-media presentations for younger kids.

I also did art for the book version of Muffin Man- not sure where or when those will turn up!

This is my ode to the best neighbor ever, Mr. Rogers.
He was quite a big hero of mine as a child, and still is.

It’s a fast-paced world out there, kiddies.
Sometimes you just have to slow down, put on your sweater, and feed the fish.
Oh, and the occasional trolley trip to the Neighborhood of Make Believe never hurt, either.

Who’s with me??