1) What is the working title of your next book?

I have two new paper books in progress, but today I'm featuring my latest interactive e-book apps that I published recently.

I'm the actor, writer, producer and director. I do the set-design, lighting, costumes, makeup, stunts, choreography and special effects. I'm also the cameraman, technical wizard, animator and I make the coffee.

If I hadn't already made more than 50 printed books I'd never have known how to make these electronic gizmos. They were awfully fun to make since I was completely in charge of everything.

An undersea page with dozens of interactive elements - including a hidden treasure and a whale!

3) What genre does your book fall under?

'Mousey the Explorer' and 'Piggles Goes to School' are interactive ebook apps.  They are totally different from a flat ebooks, where the only action is turning the pages and narration. An ebook app is a multi-dimensional structure that relies more on interaction than on a progressive plot dimension.

A first sketch of the clubhouse page.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

I think it was Charlie Chaplin who was the source of inspiration for my Mousey character in a roundabout way. It originally started as a mystery story with a very distinguished dour mouse. Anyhow, one thing led to another. I axed the mystery idea... and it turned into an explorer book instead.


Believe me, there is no structured rhyme or reason to creativity. One thing leads to another in an unpredictable way. That's why it's important to just do it and see what happens.

I love books and documentaries about faraway places... probably because in real life I never go anywhere. So maybe that's why it's an exploration book app.



4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I acted the parts myself using GarageBand and a USB microphone. It was tons of fun! The trick is to tune the voice from my regular non-descript voice into the high pitched squeaky voice of Mousey. Since I'm a natural born geek it wasn't too hard to figure out a filter that worked fairly well. Might I add that these technical skills enable some sophisticated app concepts. The complexity shouldn't be underestimated. I'm still not sure if the monetization is worth the effort though. I'm also learning Kwik2, which allows creating apps through Photoshop.


I still like paper books the best though. They too have their own magic and they seem to pay a lot more.



5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Mousey explores his way around the world to visit jungles, oceans, the arctic, outer space and solves lots of interactive puzzles on his way there.

6) Who is publishing your book?

InteractiveTouchBooks.com and Apple. I am my own publisher in that respect.



7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Three days. The thing about an interactive ebook is that the final writing happens last. This is similar to writing the script for a book trailer on Youtube. The images comes first and the words fit best afterwards.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

It's always good not to compare, in my experience.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Jenny Harris, Charlie Chaplin and Stuart Little.

This shows the process of apps from rough sketch to published book online.

Available from Interactive Touch Books.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

They might like the clubhouse page, where Mousey has to choose his gear for exploring.

Or they might like the jigsaw puzzle page, where Mousey asks the reader to put together jigsaw puzzles.

Or they might like the coloring book page, where Mousey colors in the adventures he's been on.

The Piggles app has lots of fun puzzles too. There's a witch to contend with, a goblin under a bridge, a pirate, a dragon and a UFO filled with fun aliens. Lots of fun.


The Next Big Thing Blog Tour continues next week on March 28th with Susan Miller and Jane Dippold:




Susan Miller



Jane Dippold

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Here's a fun site... Coffitivity.com http://coffitivity.com/

It's a simple soundtrack of a coffee shop atmosphere. It's supposed to increase one's creativity. I like it. But we'll see if it lasts. I hope they make it into an app so it doesn't need to be online.

I couldn't live without coffee or without a daily trip to my coffee cafeteria. I'm sure I'm still living a socially deprived life, which is one of the hazards of freelancing in my experience. What do you all do on a daily basis to keep from going off the deep end from the ISOLATION?

The doctors tell us that isolation and sitting are the worst things for one's health. But that about sums up the life of a freelancer doesn't it?

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I was intrigued and delighted to discover a local neighborhood 'Little Free Library' had appeared on my street... just steps from my studio! The premise of these little free libraries is that books are free to be borrowed and returned. What a charming idea! There are half a dozen of them around Seattle.

Anyhow I immediately signed off a couple of my own very local books and added them to the 37th Ave. N.E. 'Little Free Library' with great pride. They were both written and illustrated just a half block away... so it's hard to get more local than that! lol!

I have a hard time giving away my books to neighbors for some reason. I find the idea a bit embarrassing... not sure why. But to give away books to the neighborhood is easy and fun.

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 Sometimes I think all illustration is landscape painting in one form or another. So often an entire story is wrapped up in a particular place. Anyhow, I was pleased with how the painting in this piece turned out.

Blakelock and Ryder were the best painters of moonlight. But I think they both went mad. Eventually Blakelock became so poor he wound up painting portraits of dollar bills in oil paints.

When I was in high school I'd spend hours at the National Gallery in Washington looking at the Ryders and Rembrandts.

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Favorite new french things:

Book: 'My Father' by Jean Renoir.  An amazing book about Renoir, the painter.  It's one of those fabulous first hand accounts that really makes you feel like you've lived with the original impressionists.  The stories about the peasant life in Montmartre are fabulous.  I share Renoir's feelings about things - architecture - women - the simple good things in life.  A treasure of a book. Hard to put down.

Movies:  The Well Digger's Daughter & Romantics Anonymous - fabulous french movies.   

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Rough sketch to finish art... as always there is something lost - something gained. I always look back at the rough and find the thing I miss most about the finish and go back and change it. Just now lookin 

The artist is never happy! What a life of self-inflicted misery we artists create. We demand something that can't be achieved... and no one else but us even knows what we're complaining about.  C'est la vie.

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Today's cloudy day is lightened by some 2-color fun. I rarely work in 2 colors - since everything is full color these days. But there is a complicated art to making the most of it I'd imagine. I know some artists like Barbara Cooney (in books like Chanticleer) were just brilliant working in this limited color range.

Mabye I'll get the hang of it...

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Here's a work-in-progress with an apt title that might be 'After ALA'. The dazed attendee staggers away discombobulated from sensory overload. Lol!

It was fun to see all the new styles of artwork that are being selected...

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No, that's not the halftime concession stand at the Superbowl... that's the lobby on a quiet morning at ALA-mid-winter.

Now I know why I work at home alone in slippers. I'm glad I steeled myself for rejection ahead of time... it came in handy. It's an uphill battle when you're trying to foist yourself off as a creator of picture books in the middle of the clearance sale at Macys. I did have two or three books on the racks there, if you dug deep enough you might have seen them. 



So many books... so many middle-men! I still wonder what all those guys in suits do? We lowly authors just create books from the blank page.

Whew! Too much stuff! I had to get back to my quiet cafe to relax.

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I was quite pleased with how this new technique came out in print from Ladybug magazine. What I like is how it has both detail and looseness - implied action and precision.

Digital art challenges one with both technical and artistic thinking. I'm finally starting to get the hang of it...

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I was looking around my studio and noticed all the things that have gone obsolete... and all the things that are not obsolete.

Telephone: obsolete
Tape Player: obsolete
Cassette tape: obsolete
Answering machine: obsolete
Fax machine: obsolete
Acrylic paints: semi-obsolete
Giant photoshop manual: obsolete
Children's books: hopefully not obsolete
FedEx: obsolete

Pencil: Not obsolete
20 year old cardboard light box : Not obsolete

Imagination: brand new every morning

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Wrestling with a new project... and as always I like the rough sketchy line more than the line that is legible. I'm experimenting to find a way to combine the actual initial rough sketches with the finish

Indesign really helps with changing everything 25 times. Maybe that's all an artist is... 100% indecision with the certain knowledge that what they're looking for actually exists somewhere. Somewhere else.

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I was feeling inspired by a trip out to the art museum... so I did this sketch of a memorable scene on my bus trip yesterday. A woman with a baby who was fast asleep stood through the whole trip.

I used to sketch on subways in Art School in NYC. I'd never do that now... so I work from memory instead. In his book 'John Sloan on Painting and Drawing' I was amazed to find out that John Sloan did most of his paintings from memory!

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Happy Holidays! Here's wishing all 4 of my blog readers a very happy holiday season.  May you catch some elusive butterfly dreams and have a topping new year.  Isn't it amazing how we all continue on through the years?  

I'm sure the reason that Robinson Crusoe kept up his journal is that he had the complete isolation of working at home and being able to focus his thoughts without distraction... even though he might have been desperate for a little distraction to entertain him.  Sometimes we just have to do everything ourselves.  

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I finally got an iPad... a mini. It's fabulous. I was thrilled to finally see my apps on a screen larger than my iPod.

I am drawn to the simplicity of the process of creating ebook apps. This photo captures that simplicity... from the first idea to the sketches to the finished art and the audio. All in one quick creation... (about 4 weeks actually).

Finally, like magic, the 'Publish' button makes it all real.

Or are these pesky little gizmos really real I wonder?
Time will tell...

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Needless to say, being a Pirate was always my favorite Halloween costume. No contest.

Lucky me, I get to relive the glory of my favorite costume in my new ebook app. But in this version the characters all get to talk and bop around the screen and they have to find out clues to change the pirate. lol!

I still sting with indignation from the day my 2nd grade teacher took me aside and told me I couldn't wear a ribbon on my pirate costume! GRRRRRR!

Funny how those little things never go away.

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It will be fun to see if I can find any of my Washington christmas books this year. Who knows, maybe there will be a few around.

Last year's book signing at Costco was fun. But this year... hmmm... haven't had any inquiries from interested bookstores.  I need a doppleganger ( a paranormal double of a living person) to do the book publicity... because as it is I simply don't have the time for it.

And I'm not the least bit ready for my own little Christmas, though I notice other people seem to be getting ready for it. The truth is I only like Christmas once it's over.  So... Christmas is like a runaway freight train bearing down on us with a relentless deadline.

Ho, ho, ho... the tree is my favorite part.

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When a book-maker gets a book in a box on the porch it's always a thrill to open it up and see it 'for real'... finally. This same rule applies to e-book apps... only more so.

I had the long awaited opportunity to download my 1st copy of 'Piggles Goes to School' onto my iPod touch.

To savor the experience I quietly stole away to my favorite cafe to plug in my headphones and push the 'Read to Me' button on my iPod.  On the scale of the quiet joys of book-making this first reading rates up near the top. It's the first time ever that you get to be 'the reader'.  I was not disappointed - in fact I liked it a lot. 

This new book is an actual book, whereas Mousey the Explorer was sort of an improvised idea on a theme.  'Piggles Goes to School' has an actual storyline, plot, resolution and all that. 

On his first day of school Piggles worries about everything. But Piggles learns to think for himself as he outsmarts dinosaurs, a witch, a goblin, a UFO, a dragon and a pirate. Filled with puzzles and interactive fun, Piggles loves school once gets there.

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Well Piggles is pleased... he seems to have misplaced the 'W' - but he does not miss it much.

:0)

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It's that time again... Halloween! It's just such a rich topic to create images for. Something about barns and haylofts and hoe-downs. I saw that amazing PBS program 'The Hayloft Gang' and it reminded me of this old illustration I made years ago.

I'd never seen 'The Hayloft Gang' before, but it's got everything that's good about America in it. That's what I think.

p.s. Now I'm adding in the voices to my new app. It's interesting how it calls for a whole new set of skills. Theatrical and voice articulation. Too bad my voice sounds like a paper bag full of sawdust with a head cold. Oh well... Garageband helps.

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One reason I like digital coloring so much is that it's unpredictable... therefore more interesting. I think it's a fun game of cat and mouse to take a chance on a new brush or try a new technique. There's always the undo button.

So on any given day, the digital artist is free to try whatever they like. Today I've been choosing those natural media brushes that start around 750 pixels in size. It's always interesting to see what they might do!

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