Sketchbook

I have been working on sketches for my new book, The Great Polar Escape, drawing and learning about lots and lots of polar bears lately. Fascinating fact: polar bears do not have white fur. Their outer coat is actually comprised of clear, hollow hair. We see it as white because of the reflection of light off the ice. Which is why they sometimes look like they have yellow fur in strong sunlight. Crazy right?!!

Upcoming Events!!

Currently my website is having a massive overhaul thanks to the lovely services of Denise Biondo (http://www.biondostudio.com/), which I will be revealing later this month :) But in the meantime I wanted to announce some upcoming events, so if you are in the area...

February

Friday, February 3rd

When Blue Met Egg Book Launch Party!

6-9 p.m.

Room Service Cleveland

2078 West 25th Street

Cleveland, Ohio

Saturday, February 18th

Bookstore event at Greenlight Bookstore

11:00 a.m.

686 Fulton Street

Brooklyn, New York

Tuesday, February 21st

School Event - Valley Vista School

North Royalton, Ohio

Monday, February 27th

School Event - Albion Middle School & Royal View Elementary School

North Royalton, Ohio

March

Saturday, March 3rd

Bookstore event at The Learned Owl Book Shop

11:00 a.m.

204 North Main Street

Hudson, Ohio

Tuesday, March 6th

School event at Woodland Preschool

Akron, Ohio

Friday, March 9th

Bookstore event at Barnes & Noble

10:30 a.m.

Crocker Park

198 Crocker Park Boulevard

Westlake, Ohio

Wednesday, March 14th

Storytime at YMCA

9:00 a.m.

Fairlawn, Ohio

April

Saturday, April 14th

Ohio Author Book Fair

Hudson Library & Historical Society

Hudson, Ohio

TBA

July

Saturday, July 21st

SCBWI Critique Meet Event

Barnes & Noble

10:00 a.m.

4015 Medina Road

Akron, Ohio

** This event is free and open to the public but RSVP is required, please contact Regional Advisor Victoria Selvaggio at vselvaggio@windstream.net**

Whew! Okay now you're in the know! I hope to see you there!

Blue's Playlist

So you know how YA authors always seem to include a playlist with their books these days? Well I decided picture book authors/illustrators should be able to do it too. Although most of these songs have nothing to do with Blue herself, this is the playlist I listened to, pretty much on repeat, when I was illustrating When Blue Met Egg. In honor of Blue's upcoming debut...

A-Punk - Vampire Weekend

After Hours - We Are Scientists

Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches

Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve

Brick By Boring Brick - Paramore

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend

Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine

Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z

Float On - Modest Mouse

Foundations - Kate Nash

Four Kicks - Kings of Leon

Gives You Hell - All American Rejects

Holiday - Vampire Weekend

Icky Thump - The White Stripes

Lasso - Phoenix

Little Secrets - Passion Pit

My Mathematical Mind - Spoon

Paper Planes - M.I.A.

Ready to Start - Arcade Fire

Sleep Through the Static - Jack Johnson

Time to Pretend - MGMT

Undone - The Sweater Song - Weezer

The Whole World - OutKast

Rock on!

Studio Rearrangement!

Apologies for missing my usual Wednesday post! I was knee deep in picture books and dust! Before I begin working on sketches for my new book I (for some crazy reason) decided to give my studio a makeover. Which sounded great in theory...but turned into a very stressful move. Said makeover took place yesterday. As noted in previous posts my studio is right out of Alice in Wonderland, in other words small...very small. So what did I do? I decided to try and fit my ridiculously large drawing table into my teeny tiny studio space. And shockingly enough it worked! Albeit after a lot of swearing, expletives, and sweat.

There is something to be said about the perfect working space. Before and after photos to come...

A Very Blue Party

Hello and Happy New Year everyone! It's finally 2012 which means that my new book, When Blue Met Egg, will be released in less than a month, just in time for Valentine's Day!!!! I am so very proud and excited for you all to meet Blue and her pal Egg. In fact, to celebrate Blue's birthday, I will be having my very first book launch party! So if you are in Cleveland in February....

My very Blue party will be hosted by the fabulous boutique Room Service Cleveland on February 3rd, 2012 from 6-9 p.m., I hope to see you there!!

2078 West 25th Street

Cleveland, Ohio

www.rscleveland.com

216.696.6220