Wednesday, January 25, 2012

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?!!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

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!


Thursday, January 12, 2012

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...

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

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
216.696.6220