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Hello! I'm Victoria Jamieson, a children's book author and illustrator. My first book as author-illustrator will be published by Bloomsbury in Summer 2009. Additionally, my illustrations appear in "The Gollywhopper Games" (Greenwillow Books, February 2008), and "Grandpa, What's that Sound in the Middle of the Night?" (Trellis Publishing, Fall 2008). By day, I work as a graphic designer at a major children's book publisher.
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As a woman, I am very strongly opposed to the photoshopping of already too-thin models that takes place every day in our fashion magazines. AND YET! I am now part of that industry as well! (the photoshopping, not the modeling. Mr. Lagerfeld, PLEASE stop knocking down my door). BEHOLD, my latest work:
(click all pictures for larger views)
I did this illustration for the fantastic
New York Road Runners Foundation, which supports after-school running programs in NYC and around the country (they're a blast to volunteer for, if you like to run & live in the NYC area). BUT! Santa was deemed too hefty, so I pretended I was working for Ralph Lauren and slimmed him down:
SCANDAL!! Just imagine the conflicted feelings of young Santas everywhere, not reaching for that extra cookie... Ha, ha- I kid, of course- I can totally see the problems with a corpulent running Santa. Where are the rewards for all of that healthy excercise? I also realized that I haven't drawn Santa Claus in 18-odd years?!? I used to draw him and Rudolph A LOT. And unicorns.
Here's one more I did:
Fun! Oh, and in case you haven't seen it, re: my last post about Roller Derby names, Betsy Bird at Fuse #8
has a list of names going and THEY. ARE. AWESOME. I'm into the ALL CAPS tonight.
...when the air is brisk, the leaves are changing, and a girl's thoughts turn to Roller Derby. You may remember this post and this one from year past, in which I talked about my love of roller derby and my ill-fated attempt to try out for the Gotham Girls. WELL, just imagine this- Portland has a recreational (wreck-reational) league! And I have gone to two practices and have not broken a bone! And what's more- recreational players get to choose a roller derby name! That means- yes- for real this time... I need a kid's book-themed roller derby name!! Please help! Let me know which one you like, or if you have other suggestions! Here's what I came up with so far:
Anne Surly
Marilla Cutthroat
Violent Baudelaire
Kat Hiss Everdeen
Mo Pain Willems
Knuckle Bunny
Scout Flinch
Boo Boo Radley
Edward Sullen
Greenwillow Category:
Ida B Sting
Chrysanthemaim
The following excellent suggestions are all courtesy of my friend Julia and her boyfriend Tristan:
Encyclopedia Frown
Green Eggs and Wham
Splat the Bunny
Pippi Longstalking
Madeleine M'Angle
Sarah, Pain and Brawl
Ramona the Grave
Nancy Screw (and the mystery of the missing tooth?)
Rohald Doll
Judy Doom
Makillda
What do you think???
My flying trapeze spider illustration is DONE!
(click for larger view)
*Whew*!! That took longer than I'm used to, but I really wanted to create a lush yet detailed environment. And now it's DONE! To reward myself for all of my hard work, I am planning on relaxing this weekend with Xanadu (rented from the library), re-reading CATCHING FIRE (bought from Powell's because I got tired of waiting for my copy from the library. TEAM GALE!), and by finally making the bird furniture for my birdcage like I've wanted to do forever. Hey, I work hard- I deserve it!
Happy weekend!
When last we spoke about current work-related things, I was busy working on my new dummy. Well, I'm happy to say that part is all wrapped up. For now. Next step? I wanted to do a finished piece from the dummy. Which piece to choose? Well, the vote was unanimous:
This was a vote that quite frankly, I wished to contest, because... this is the hardest illustration in my dummy. I feel a bit unprofessional saying that one piece is "harder" than another- I mean, did Michelangelo shy away from, say, painting horses because they were too "hard"? Then again, Michelangelo never painted trapeze-swinging spiders, did he? But all in all, the tricky perspective, the lighting I wanted, the X-treme close-up of the spider... This was going to take some time.
First up, I got out my spider references. Maybe you thought spiders were ugly? Well, take a look at this mug:
AWWWWW! A little too cute, actually. I used this spider as my actual reference:
Then, I fiddled around with my black & white sketch in Photoshop to test out different lighting & color scenarios. Truth be told, I was a little worried about the X-treme contrast (dark to light) that I wanted to achieve in the painting, and printing out this little color study will (I hope) help me overcome any wimpiness I run into.
So, I printed it out:
...and transferred it to my waiting paper (gessoed and stapled to a board).
First round of color...
second round...
and third round.
With many more rounds yet to come. One of the (many) things I thought about while painting today was this: I think that one of my main attributes that led me to be an illustrator is being able to do something for hours & hours on end without getting bored (this was while I was painting the teeny tiny floorboards). When we were kids, my brothers & I had this wooden duck marionette puppet, and every time you turned around, its fishing line strings were jumbled up in a giant tumbleweed knot. For some reason, I really enjoyed sitting down- for an hour, or two- and untangling all of the knots. Even at the time, as a kid, I would think, "This is really tedious, and yet I'm enjoying it!" I'd say painting is more fun than untangling a bunch of fishing line, but still. The other thing I thought today was, "How did I possibly listen to the High School Musical soundtrack 3 times in a row WITHOUT EVEN NOTICING?!?, and will this cause some sort of psycological damage?" I guess I just had my Head In the Game*. Will I be painting again tomorrow? Bet On It!**
*Zac Efron, HSM
**Yes, that's right, sharp readers! "Bet On It" is actually from High School Musical 2! I have both soundtracks! Not #3, though- I wasn't a big fan.
What can cure an illustrator of her last-days-of-summer, I've-got-a-cold-that's-a-bummer, sneezy, wheezy blues? (I'll blame those cold meds tomorrow for making me write those terrible rhymes!)
Well, I'll answer that riddle: A lovely email from my editor at Bloomsbury, sharing this with me!
(click for a larger view)
I can't tell you what a thrill it is to realize that people whom I've never met are reading and enjoying my book! I am honored. And on the same page as
Matt Phelan, one of my favorite illustrators, to boot!
I've been putting off writing this post, because I was a little daunted by the big anniversary. 100 Posts! What to do to commemorate? I finally settled on a "Family Ties" type episode- the ones where they didn't feel like writing a new story so they just reminisced on times gone by. I HATED those episodes!
Anyhoo- wow, more than a year and a half since I started this blog! Here are some pictures from that first post, my ole painting studio in Brooklyn:
Oh, how I hated that apartment. Here's the comparison to my new Portland studio:
Old view...
New view.
And though times they are a changing: since that first post, I've gotten married, moved across the country, had my first book published, landed an agent, sold a second book... It's reassuring to see that some things remain the same. Remember this doozy of a sign from my old apartment building? (from
one of my favorite old posts):
I thought I had left all such signs behind me when we left New York. Imagine my delight in finding this sign outside a building just a few blocks away:
Just shows to go you. everywhere you go, peoples is peoples, and peoples make stinks. Here's to the next 100 posts!
This butterfly is a side character in the story I'm working on. It's funny, I can think and think about a character, but sometimes it's not until I draw them that I understand what they're really like. Maybe it's just the act of doodling- messing around and sketching different scenarios allows my mind to wander, and sometimes something just clicks. I read something interesting about Leonardo & his viewpoints on doodling recently... of course I couldn't find the book I read it in just now, but by googling "Leonardo da Vinci doodles" I tracked this down (from a website called
Archimedes' Droodles):
When Leonardo da Vinci needed to get his creative juices flowing, he sat and stared at clouds or rocks... "If you look upon an old wall covered with dirt or the odd appearance of some streaked stones", he once wrote, "you may discover several things like landscapes, battles, clouds, uncommon attitudes, humorous faces, draperies...". Da Vinci heartily recommended this 'new method' of invention as a practical technique for "opening the mind and putting it upon the scent of new
thoughts". The abstract, organic forms embedded in crumbling walls and hunks of stone, he believed, could be put to work as "terrestrial batteries for jump-starting the imagination
Inneresting, no?
Ok, and late add... After I posted this entry, I scanned a bunch of my first-draft sketches so I can put together a dummy. I'd like to really concentrate on composition & light in this book, so I did some photoshop mock-ups of lighting situations... Here's one. Like I said, I was getting kinda itchy 'cause I couldn't share what I was thinking for a while (like, physically couldn't share), so -- this is what I'm thinking!
Hey, look what I found in the park the other day:
A fairy flute! No unicorns have been summoned yet by playing it.
In other news, work on my latest project is going well!
Doesn't that picture look creepy? Like I'm looking at my sketchbook with those weird "Silence of the Lambs" night goggles?
Anyway, I am at the frustrating yet enjoyable stage of being excited by how things are going, but completely unable to share this excitement with anyone. I can't show anyone my drawings- they all look like the scribbles you see above. I can't really talk about the story... "And then the fly says- get this, he says, 'It doesn't help'. Believe me, it's a GAS." No, it's all in my head for now. I think that's why I feel a sense of urgency at this point- in my head it's a good story with lush and interesting illustrations, but it won't do anyone any good until I get it down on paper. And, what if the things I put down on paper don't match up with what's playing in my noggin?
Another interesting thing about working on this project has been this: This is the first project I've worked on as a real, honest-to-goodness full-time illustrator. My other two books I developed while I had a full-time job. I worked on them at night, during my free time- my hours to do with as I pleased. Now, I get to work on this during regular work-a-day hours. Like, instead of heading to a meeting at 10 am, I'm in my PJs watching "Fame" and calling it research (and it most assuredly was). Believe me, I am not complaining about watching musicals in the mid-morning; it's just an adjustment in thinking from "This is something I am doing in my hours of leisure" to "Holy shnikeys, this is like, my JOB". Which means, I am also a leeeetle bit more worried about how it will be received ("Will my agent like it?" "Is this a good idea, or have I been wasting my time?" "Can I please please PLEASE keep doing this full-time and not have to get another day job?").
The only thing I can do is to try & push those concerns out of my head as much as possible, and throw myself into the project whole-heartedly... and hope for the best!
Friends- I do not like to hide anything from you. And thus, I am presenting a glimpse into my creative process for my current project, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure it will make me look like a raging lunatic. Like, in movies when a sexy investigative team breaks into the apartment of the suspected killer and they find all sorts of crazy newspaper clippings papering the walls, the floor covered with photos of eyeballs cut from fashion magazines, and books with every 43rd word circled in red.
First up, when the saucy female investigator looks through the pictures on my camera, she'll find that I like to photograph scenes from movies that I watch on my computer:
(ahh, the incomparable Julie Andrews! Did I ever tell you the story about when I saw her in the lobby of HarperCollins- she looked like an angel- and when I went upstairs & told my boss, I started to cry? Remind me to tell you sometime- it's a classic.)
As the detective-ess is trying to puzzle out the connection between Julie Andrews, A Chorus Line, and random photos from Broadway documentaries, her thoughts are interrupted by the deep rumble of her partner's voice.
"Suzie", he growls, "You'd better come take a look at this".
"Pages and pages of insect drawings... notebooks filled with incomprehensible scribblings... and most troubling of all, this toy stage and creepy make-shift bug models. We're either dealing with a highly unstable character, or..."
... and then they'll turn around to see that I'm actually sitting in the living room, since I don't like to leave the apartment all that much when I'm at this stage. They'll take one look at my funny headband, my shabby housecoat & the bowl of cereal clutched in my hand, and they'll high-tail it out of there... and leave me to my musings.
I am a happily married woman... but I think I may be in love.
And love, thy name is... Chicken Dance.
This is no puppy love, either. Sure, it's everything I'm initially attracted to on a surface level... Funny, check. Heart and gumption, check. Generally pleasing appearance, check. But what really moves this book beyond the level of mere infatuation for me is this:
Much like a good relationship, this book makes me want to up my game.
The characters and books I write tend to (attempt to be) funny. Dan Santat's illustrations are that, and more... he also manages to make each page beautiful. And strikingly composed. With interesting & engaging light sources. And a real sense of setting and atmosphere for this story. In short, he didn't stop at making each picture simply funny- he made each one a pretty stunning work of art. And oddly enough, the fact that the illustrations are beautiful only seem to make them even MORE FUNNY.
As an illustrator, I am usually drawn to the artwork in a picture book first. But
Tammi Sauer's text is top-notch. I may be biased, though, because I love nothing more than a good pun, and her text is full of them. When the chickens run out of time & have to "wing it" at the talent show... well, consider me chuffed.
Oh, and there's even a
website! Besides being a fantastic book, Chicken Dance is a fantastic example of a thoroughly modern picture book. By that I mean, it reaches beyond the rectangular corners of the book form. The book has a website. The website has music videos & dance lessons. The author photos take the form of CD covers, complete with playlists. For authors & illustrators looking for publicity venues for their books, Chicken Dance is a great source of inspiration in thinking outside the coop.
Alright, my love-fest is over. Time to hit the hay and dream of Elvis Poultry...
WHEW! Well, our whirlwind trip to the Big Apple is over and done with, and the heat has finally let up enough for me to do something other than whine about how hot it is- so here it is, the week in review!
First up, here's a photo of my agent and editor at our "Getting to Know You" lunch:
And here's a picture from that evening, when my agent and several of his extremely talented, all-around awesome & friendly illustrators got together for drinks:
What, you would like to see those pictures? Well, I would, too! Unfortunately, I am THE WORST when it comes to remembering to pull out the ol' camera when fun times are afoot. That's why I was fired from my high school position as Historian of the Keyettes club.
Some things I DID manage to document:
So, I agonized for several days about what to wear when meeting my agent & editor for the first time. I had to strike that all-important balance of classy, yet creative, but not CRAZY creative, but still sophisticated, and something that wouldn't show sweat stains on a summer day in New York. Not easy, when one's wardrobe is limited, to say the least. This is what I came up with. See, Mom- I think it's dressy enough.
Oddly enough, I also remembered to take some pictures at the wedding we were in town for! Aren't they a beautiful couple? Congrats, Max & Sophia!
It seemed like every time I turned around, I saw the Statue of Liberty. I don't remember seeing it that often when I lived in New York. When we were kids, my mom had us sell lemonade, and then we sent the proceeds to the Statue of Liberty (I guess they were refinishing it sometime in the 1980s?)- and I still feel a special kinship, like I have a tiny bit of ownership. Like, 75 cents worth. BTW, I thought of a great idea this morning- Statue of Liberty-shaped toothbrush! Fame and fortune, here I come!
Oh, and these are some paintings I did last week, as a wedding present to our dear friends Nicole & Keith. No, not the couple who got married this weekend- N & K actually got married a year ago. I like to make people sweat it out for their wedding gifts. Anyway, I finally gave them their pressies this week: (click for larger view)
Portraits of their dogs, Otto & Gilda Rednor. I think Otto came out much better, but I guess it's not like Gilda will really see the difference. Here they are in their framed glory:
And there you have it! A fun week of friends old and new- but I'm happy to be back in PDX, nose to the ol' drawing board.
The hubsters and I are heading out of town this week for a cosmopolitan & chic trip to NYC! Since I don't want to leave anyone in a lurch ("Lordy, don't leave your lady in a lurch!") (Strangers With Candy fans, anyone?... Anyone?)- and since I don't know how to do this "remote-auto pilot-blog publishing" thing (do I look like Steve Jobs to you?) here is what I'm going to do. I'm going to break this post into Daily Doses, and it's up to you to restrain yourselves & only read a post a day. It's a Daily Dose, not a Daily Double! Then you won't have to go without for the week!
MONDAY:
Big news today folks, BIG NEWS! Big, FANTASTIC news!
I have a new book deal!!! My new picture book will be published by
Dial! Oh, happy, happy day! I am over the moon with excitement, as I have always loved Dial's picture books. My trip to New York couldn't come at a better time, as I'll get to meet both my
agent and my editor for the first time! Plus, how chic does that sound?!? I'm jetting to New York to meet with my agent and editor. Shopping at Bergdorfs? Dahling, I would LOVE to, but I do have to dash to lunch with my agent and editor. More to come on this news, for sure!!!
TUESDAY:
Um, yesterday was kind of a big news day for Victoria Jamieson Illustration. I think it should count for 2 days. I mean, my last 2 posts were about 1) my US Weekly subscription, and 2) the books I took out of the library.
WEDNESDAY:
Funny story about the word "Wednesday"- I never misspell it now. I consider myself a fairly good speller, but for some reason I used to think it was spelled "Wednsday". So sure was I that I spelled it that way in my "thank you" email following my interview at HarperCollins many years ago. Boy, was I kicking myself all weekend, thinking I really blew my chances at my dream job! Luckily, I guess they didn't consider spelling to be all that important for a design job. *WEWH* (*see, I tried to misspell "whew" there).
THURSDAY:
Do you live in the greater Tampa/St. Petersburg area? Are you looking for a fun, imaginative party for your child? Look no further!
Joanne is a dear family friend, and I did these illustrations for her new business brochure. Storytelling at its finest!
FRIDAY:
Boy, this week just took forever, didn't it!
Well, even though I have one new picture book in the bag, so to speak, this is not a profession wherein one can rest on their laurels. I am working up ideas for my new NEW picture book as we speak. I'm in the "inspiration" stage, and am reaching such new levels of nerdliness in my research that even I feel uncomfortable talking about it. Like, REALLLLY nerdy. Here are some of the tools of my current inspiration:
SATURDAY:
SUNDAY:
I think we've all earned ourselves a rest. I know it's my "I don't have to run day". See ya'll next Manic Monday!
Thanks to a tip-off from a friend and former colleague, I've added a "Subscribe" button over there yonder to the right of my blog. Not nearly as exciting as the year I had a subscription to US Weekly, but still. That was a really great year.
BTW, this "friend and former colleague", Chad Beckerman, is a highly talented book designer and art director- yet another of those colleagues that made me re-think my vocation!
Check out his blog for a nice insight into the daily life of an art director.
You know you're a nerd if... You return home at 11 am on a Saturday with 3 library books, a DVD about insects & a package of Red Vines and think to yourself, "This weekend is going to be AWESOME". Oh, and it was. Here's what I got:
a) This is the first book in a long while that got me right from the cover. I dunno, it just tickled me! Besides the clever yearbook format, I like that the model has a funny expression, and that she's pretty but not in an overly model-y kind of way.
b) Back when I worked at Greenwillow, it was open season when a new Last Apprentice manuscript came in. The ol' Xerox machine worked overtime those days, with everyone wanting their own copy. And I should know,
my "office" was right next to the Xerox machines.Anyhoo, somehow I missed this ms, but now I get to read it with illustrations! A rare treat.
But I haven't read either of those books yet, because I was too excited about this:
I LOVE THESE BOOKS. They are poetic, beautifully written, and fantastic adventure stories. If you attended Herm's & my engagement party, by any chance, you'll know from our Newlyweds-type quiz show that I want to name our first daughter Sapphire because of these books. Then you probably shouted at me, "That's a stripper name!", because that's what everyone seems to say. Well guess what, "Vicki" doesn't exactly scream "classy" at first blush either, but I made it work for me.
Moving on, I was first attracted to this series by the cover for Book 1:
This is a HarperCollins title, and I remember discussing this jacket back before it was a book (before my days at Greenwillow, too). By "discussing", I mean, OTHER people were discussing, while I was taking horribly unorganized "notes". This jacket was designed by Chris Stengel (now at Scholastic), and it struck me then that some people are passable and can function in their role as book designer (me), and some people elevate the profession into a true calling and an art (Chris). (and others). (too numerous to mention).
Oh, and here's book 2. Also, the second book in the series is just as good (if not better?) than the first. I've been almost scared to read book 3, I love the first two so... but so far, so good!
Anyway, that was my weekend, in a nerdshell. How was yours?
(click for larger view)
I've been ever-so-slightly obsessed with insects recently. They're just so WEIRD! For example, on my aforementioned roadtrip with the 'rents, my mom & I exited the car at one point to take some pictures of Mt. Hood. Whilst hangin' on the roadside, my mom poked her finger at something that looked to be fuzzy, but turned out to be wet & slimy. We both thought it looked like trucker spit, but it was far too abundant to be the work of just one trucker, however talented. After conducting some research I now know the truth: it was a spittle bug. At first I was relieved to learn it was not human spit we touched, but not for long. The spittle bug gets its name from the bubbly foam surrounding it, which is not saliva, but urine & other bodily secretions which it whips into a foam with its legs and abdomen. Apparently it's a defense mechanism, because even other bugs don't want to go pawing through that stuff. See what I mean? You can't make this stuff up.
Dear readers, I'll admit it: I have been avoiding self-promotion like the plague. Now, Bloomsbury has a top-notch marketing team and they've done a terrific job so far. However, most authors I know put in a lot of legwork on their own, too. So far, I've left the extracurricular marketing to my personal PR team, aka, Mom and Dad. (BTW, Mom, did Oprah's people ever call back?) I KNOW that one has to be brave and present oneself to local bookstores and libraries- but I've been putting it off... and off... and off. Until I realized what was holding me back:
Lack of a good crutch! I'll just do what I always do in times of trouble- let my drawings do the talking! Somehow I feel much more at ease with something I can hand out to folks as I meet them. Plus, why not put those graphic design skills to good use?!
This is the week, I can feel it! I'll print these puppies out, and then I head... Into the Wild.
Check eet out
here! Or, I can save you the trouble and just show you the new images I put up on my website:
Switching out the images in my portfolio is about all my limited web skills allow me to handle. I am currently taking a Flash class so that I'll be able to really jazz up my website in the future. Of course, last week in class I barely managed to animate a bouncing ball, so it may be a while before I add the funk to Vee Jay Dot Com.
So guess where I just so happened to stop on my road trip with the parentals last week?
You got it... (fictional) Forks! Aka, St. Helens, Oregon.
Here's me intruding on someone's private property. Oh, don't worry- there was a sign saying it was OK to take pictures. I am doing the "Bella Scowl", in case you are wondering.
Was this where they bought their prom dresses? Hard to tell, with the magic of Hollywood. I am doing the Bella Scowl again.
And inexplicably, recreating the famous "alleyway scene" is the one where I'm laughing! Keep this one for the blooper reel!
My husband is now legally bound to take silly photos with me.
And just to prove I'm not a literary snob:
One-eyed Willie! Or, I guess I could still be a fictional character (Where's Waldo).
I can tell it was a good vacation, because now I am a-itchin' to get back to sketching & painting!
Could this be the best week of my life? First, I land the
agent of my dreams. Now, I see that I am steadily climbing the ranks in my run for the office of Curly Girl Ambassador!
If you'd like to support me in my run for this prestigious office, you may vote
here. It's time to get off that "'Straight' Talk Express"! Yes We Curl! * (* any resemblence to actual campaign slogans is
clearly unintentional).
Plus, the parentals are coming in to town today, and we're planning a trip into Goonies and Twilight territory (or, the "Oregon Coast", as some like to call it) to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary! You are an inspiration, Mom and Dad.
So, have a good week, everyone!
This is Part IV in the continuing series: Me, Trying to Fix My Dummy So I Can Get an Agent.
Well, it looks like this is the grand finale, because guess what...
I HAVE AN AGENT!!
And this really is a dream finale for me, because I landed my dream agent:
Paul Rodeen of Rodeen Literary. The talent of the illustrators he represents is a wee bit staggering- I have admired many of them for years. A fellow Rodeeni (??) had an interesting blog post this weekend:
Lauren Castillo talked about her excitement & terror she felt in handing in her finished artwork for her book. I drank of this same terror/joy cocktail this weekend! It's funny how something you desire so greatly can bring such fear once you actually get it!! Let's just say that I did a lot of sketching this weekend, spurred by my desire to have a knock-out follow-up project to this one.
So Yay!, and thank you to all of my early readers of the dummy- you know who you are.
And because I always feel like I'm cheating if I don't post an image: here's a quick illustration I did this weekend.
I don't know about you, but I'm not loving it! I'm still submitting it for
this contest for Curly Girls, though. I could be a Curly Girl Ambassador! Take that, Jon Scieszka!
Oops, that's a Napoleon Dynamite quote! Well, the painting was a big hit:
Well worth all the hard work. I spent like 3 hours shading the upper lip. Oops, another Napoleon Dynamite quote!
So, my "eureka" moment of a week or so ago was followed by a flurry of non-stop picture-making. I tend to get a little obsessed when I'm on a roll, and neglect other obligations (cleaning, proper nutrition...notice the Red Vines at the top of the picture). Here's a picture of my "think tank", aka "nest of mess & disorder":
I do all of my painting at my nice drawing board, but I like to be comfy when I'm working the ol' gray cells. So, I've gotten the dummy to a point where I am pretty happy with it. Now I just have to... show it to other people!! Gulp.
Luckily, I have a project to keep me from thinking too much about how other people will see it... for now. My husband's birthday is on Friday, and for 4 YEARS, he has wanted only one thing for his present... Get ready for it... A painting of himself as Napoleon, with a rearing horse in the background. Yes, I thought he was joking, too. But then he kept talking about it for 4 YEARS. And not just during birthday season, either. So now that we're legally bound, I figured it was finally time to give him what he wants:
If anything can take my mind off of the critiques to come, I think Napoleon's "mom trousers" should do it.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, he already has ideas for the next decade of birthdays- including, but not limited to: Tarzan holding hands with a monkey, St. George slaying the dragon, and one that he just calls "Outer Space". Yes, he's a weirdo, but that's why I love him.
You may remember that a few weeks ago I posted, in the parlance of after school specials, a "very special blog entry" (see:
"Pugs, and a Confession"). In this post, I lamented my writer's block as I was trying to re-work a dummy that I thought I had finished. Well, Hallelujah, I finally had my breakthrough, my Helen Keller moment. W-A-T-E-R! All of the pieces suddenly fit into place! I could see the light through the dark tangle of my story lines! Now I am possessed by a fever to get all of the new sketches done, so I can SEE what is going on in my head. I am also in a fever to pass this version on to my trusty friends & colleagues, to see if it really does make sense or if I have just been in solitary confinement with pigs for too long (too early for Swine Flu jokes?)
Here is a sneak peek at one of the sketches, one that doesn't reveal too much of the story:
There is an interesting
blog discussion going on at Firebrand Literary about what motivates authors (and illustrators, I'm extrapolating) to keep working, when there's no guarantee that their work will see the light of day. For me, it's (party) this- the joy of struggling with a story and characters that you've had in mind for weeks (months? years?), and finally having a breakthrough moment, when everything seems clear and all is right in the world.
Until the next round of revisions comes in , of course.
That's BEA ROCKS THE FLOCK, not BookExpo America. That hasn't happened yet, silly!
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Fun! Oh, and in case you haven't seen it, re: my last post about Roller Derby names, Betsy Bird at Fuse #8 has a list of names going and THEY. ARE. AWESOME. I'm into the ALL CAPS tonight.
Two things come to mind after reading this post:
1) I was once told by a publisher to give an adult Latina character a fuller, curvier form (a "duh" moment for me considering the proud body type of most Latinas).
and...
2) Once in high school I drew a crying kid on Santa's lap for the holiday issue of my school paper, and they had me Photoshop a seam on Santa's leg because it looked like he wasn't wearing any pants.
Ha ha, I LOVE that Santa story! Oops, looks like I'm still into the ALL CAPS.
Well, you know how I feel about corpulence, so I appreciate the Santa slim-down.