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STORY BRIEF: BackgroundIt is time – BK Publishing is calling all aspiring writers to submit short stories for Metz and Bop on the Trail of the Lost Tales, the second book in the Metz and Bop series. The publishers are motivated and passionate about creating book awareness and developing alluring, enchanting and affordable reading material for a wider South African audience. Metz and Bop on the

Fantasi Books/Boeke has a great opportunity for writers to create ghost stories. Click on the title above for more information.Also, see the link to Fantasi Books in the Websites of Interest below right.

Cash prizes for the best five stories. Click on the title above for details.

This afternoon I had the privilege and pleasure of attending a lunch given in honor of author/illustrator Steve Jenkins, who was in the Boston area promoting his latest book Living Color. I managed to swing an invite because I reviewed his previous book, Dogs and Cats for School Library Journal. I've been a fan of Jenkins since the release of Actual Size, (Houghton Mifflin, 2004,) and a trip to the library revealed a back catalog of other equally impressive books, all featuring his distinctive cut-paper collage illustrations. He talked about his research methods (his wife helps quite a bit) and how he selects the paper he uses. For Living Color, for instance, it was a case of looking through photos of animals and separating them by colors, making sure that there weren't too many of one type of animal over another. Evidently purple was a tough color to find, but I love what he eventually settled on (check out the long-wattled umbrella bird.)

Today's lunch was also a great opportunity for me to spend quality time with like-minded professionals who work towards getting fantastic books into the hands of children. Many thanks to Houghton Mifflin (if any of its reps are reading this!) for including me in a fine afternoon of good food and good company. And thanks to Steve Jenkins for signing my copy of his new book!