Things have been a little hectic around here in Peninsula. Within the last two months: my agent came to town, my parents drove cross country for a visit, I had my first gallery show, a new book sold, and the holiday season to prepare for (more on this later). Whew! Just typing all that was exhausting! It has been a little busy to say the least. So if I were a major TV network I would say: "Here's what you missed last week (or should I say last two months...)
My wonderful agent Mary Kole came to town for a SCBWI conference here in Cleveland. It was so great to see her! One of the things that no one ever tells you when you get involved in the business of children's books is that you don't get to meet most of the people you work with on a regular basis, especially if you don't live in NYC and aren't able to go to conferences. Mary has represented me for just over 2 years and that was the third time I have ever seen her. So needless to say it is a treat to see her in person! I also had the opportunity to meet Andrew Harwell, who now works at HarperCollins as an Associate Editor, but when I met him (via email of course) he was still working at Dial Books for Young Readers at Penguin. When I sent in some of the final artwork for Blue, it was temporarily misplaced, which you can imagine gave me a mild heart attack! Andrew tracked it down and made sure it arrived safely to Penguin. For that I will always be thankful. Andrew was absolutely lovely and it was so wonderful to meet him in person!
Next, my mom and step-dad drove 2,700 miles from San Jose, California to Peninsula, Ohio. They are crazy for driving that far!! I don't think I could ever be in the car that long. But it was so great to see them and spend some time together. My mom, who I have posted about before because of her gallery of tattoos that feature my book characters, finally got to see the F&G for When Blue Met Egg. I dedicated the book to her, which she didn't know, so it was really special to be able to show it to her in person.
My first gallery show! So cool! There is this amazing gallery here in Peninsula, The Log Cabin Gallery, that does seasonal shows with all local artists. They have a winter show opening next week which I highly recommend checking out if you are in the area. I did not feature any originals from my books, but I did have four original pieces hang, one of which sold, as well as a bunch of books. When I brought my framed originals in, Diane (who owns the gallery) asked me why I didn't sign the pieces before I framed them. I just looked at her and said "I'm an children's book illustrator, we don't sign the originals." It never even occurred to me! Shows how much of a fine arts newby I am! It was so much fun to be a part of and to meet all the other artists who work in the area. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to show there again in the future.
I had a new book sell! I posted about this after the Publisher's Market Place announcement, but I have been working on revisions with my editor this last month, so that has kept me a little busy. More than likely we will be changing the title, which I will share when we decide on it, but for the time being we can just keep calling it The Balloon Thieves. More to come on this process in future posts...
And finally, the holiday season. For those of you who don't know I have a side business, Borrowed & Blue Handmade Paper Creations, creating stationary, wedding invitations, and just about everything else on paper. I know it's a stretch for me right...working with paper. I seriously think I have more paper in my house than a recycling center or a paper mill. Anyways, it is that time of year when I have to get my life together and design new holiday cards, invitations, and stationary sets. So that has kept me incredibly busy lately:
Okay, so that pretty much wraps up all the excuses I had lined up for not posting anything on my blog. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know :)
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