Happy New Year, everyone! We have a winner in the book-and-plush giveaway contest! Drum roll please……..JONATHAN! Congratulations! I will contact you through the comments so that you can give me your mailing address for shipping. Thanks to all who entered!!

At least one person has asked me, “Why haven’t you had a book launch??” Well, good question haha… But I am going to do a virtual book launch! The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is offering its members the opportunity to get the word out from their site. It will go live on December 1st, so I hope you will check it out!

In conjunction with the book launch, I am doing a book giveaway. The prize is a copy of I Love You More Than Moldy Ham, plus a hand sewn plush monster to go with it.

To enter, leave a comment below telling me the grossest thing you’ve ever eaten! Doesn’t that sound like fun? The contest will run from December 1st – 31st, and the winner will be drawn at random from all entries on January 1st. I will send the winner a reply message for address information.

Doesn’t that sound great? Let’s do it!

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed for a podcast! It’s called Storybook Spotlight, run by the super-nice Karen Santhanam. We talked about my new book, I Love You More Than Moldy Ham, my twisted career pathway, and my ability to move one eye independently of the other. There was a lot of nervous laughter on my part, but other than that it went pretty well!

You can check it out here: http://storybookspotlight.com/59

I see here that it has been a year since my last blog post. Dearie me. Well, here is what has been happening in Slugland, briefly.

First of all, I have a new book out! Just released (well, in August), it is called I Love You More Than Moldy Ham. It is the touching tale of a rotund monster on a quest to make dinner for his mother, and is filled with delightful bits of mucous, head cheese and, of course, moldy ham.

Cover

Whistle as I trudge along. Squirming insects join in song.

I love you more than mucky feet, more than squelchy things to eat!

Check it out on Amazon or Barnes and Noble! And if you like the book, feel free to leave a glowing review there haha…

I was just interviewed over at The Writers’ Rumpus about the book and about some of my influences etc. It was a fun interview, so give it a look if you are so inclined! http://writersrumpus.com/

The other thing I have been spending time on is oil painting. I had my first group show at Bowersock Gallery in Provincetown, MA this summer, and it went well, yay. I have really been enjoying this – the style is quite different from my illustration so hopefully by stretching myself this way I am increasing my little gray cells. Here are a couple of examples:

Funny Action

Cryptid Encounters

A Deadly Game

The Cheesiest Shall Reign

You can find more examples on my website here.

And once I finish the latest one (Twinkie Terror) I am working on, it is time to start ornaments! Hoo boy. Running a bit late on that…but it will get done!

And there you have it, finally – an update!! I would promise to post more frequently, but I know better…

Wow, I see it has been a year or so since I posted on my blog…oooops. But here is something! Check out Kidlit Creature Week at http://www.birchtreepub.com/kcw/ All kinds of people are submitting pictures of creatures they have drawn/painted. Should be fun!

Picture book tag: The Next Big Thing!

The Next Big thing Blog Tour has been traveling around the world visiting authors and illustrators and talking about their latest projects. My lovely friend Jeannie posted last week and tagged me to go next. First, check out Jeannie’s entry at http://www.jeanniebrett.com/news and her fantastic work at www.jeanniebrett.com! Then keep reading for my post. Or vice versa

Ok, here we go!

1. What is your Next Big Thing? Or your latest Big Thing?

I am going to talk here about my book, Ten Creepy Monsters, which was released in the fall. However, I also have a book coming out next fall, written by my cohort Deborah Lee Rose, called The Spelling Bee Before Recess. (see my last blog entry!)

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

I have always loved monsters! When I was a kid I used to watch all the old classics with my dad – Frankenstein, Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Wolfman. I watched Dark Shadows every day after school. I asked for a ring for my index finger for christmas one year so I could be like Barnabas Collins. I loved movies with giant mutant things in them, like THEM! (giant ants), The Beginning of the End (giant grasshoppers – starring a very young Peter Graves), and Night of the Lepus (terrifying giant bunny rabbits). I had a poster of Bela Lugosi on my wall right next to the Beatles and the Monkees… So it is only natural that I should finally do a book all about monsters!

3. What genre does your book fall under?

Picture book.

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

Oy. Let me see….How about just a couple of them. Well, of course Bela Lugosi would probably have to be the vampire. Although he is dead now, which could make for difficulties in filming. How about Marty Feldman for the hunchback? The witch – I think maybe Carol Kane. And the goblin/kid… I would have said maybe Freddie Highmore, but he is too old now, so how about that kid from Modern Family?

5. What is a one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Ten monsters gather on a dark and stormy night, and disappear as the evening progresses and the numbers count down from ten to one.

6. Who published your book?

Abrams Books for Young Readers.

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

Actually, the first draft didn’t take too long – a few days or a week? That is the first draft, however. Much polishing was required, off and on over many weeks. And the pictures, of course, took longer – a couple of months for sketches, more for final sketches, 4 – 6 months for the paintings.

8. What other stories would you compare it to in your genre? 

These questions are getting harder! Maybe By the Light of the Halloween Moon by Kevin Hawkes  or 10 Trick-or-Treaters by Janet Schulman  It has the same kind of countdown going on, but it isn’t quite as dark.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

LIke I mentioned before, my dad was a big influence on my sort of dark and twisted bent. I dedicated the book to him. Besides that, I have a group of writer/illustrator friends who kept pushing me to “let my freak flag fly,” as one of them said…

Oh, and may I just add, I considered it my duty to inform the youth of the world that vampires do not sparkle or shimmer in the sunlight. They burst into flames and turn into a pile of ash.

10. What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Hidden in the book are references to those old monster movies – For example, the name on the rowboat is from Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the vampire has a towel from “Bats Motel,” a reference to Bates Motel in Psycho.

Also, readers could check out my book trailer I put together!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ2xOIJetto&feature=youtu.be

And there you have it! If you can’t find my book online, it will be restocked in time for Halloween, never fear.

Now, I would tag someone else for this blog tour, but unfortunately I couldn’t find anyone to participate, haha… So instead I am going to just mention some new books by people I know who don’t blog, and you can just check out their books!

1. First up, Jane Cowen-Fletcher and her sweet book Baby Be Kind, released last fall:

2. Next, Deborah Lee Rose – my partner in crime on the 12 Days books – and her new book about the most adorable baby koala, Jimmy the Joey: the True Story of an Amazing Koala Rescue.

3. And lastly, from Timothy Young, whom I met at the Baltimore Book Festival last fall, I Hate Picture Books!, just released last week!

Thanks for reading this, and hope you enjoyed this small part of the book blog tour!

Yes, it is I, the Worst Blogger on Earth. It has been many moons since my last post. Yikes. But here we go, trying once more to keep you all up to date on my so-exciting news….

Ten Creepy Monsters came out last fall and did pretty well (I think. I haven’t gotten any sales reports yet.) But my editor did mention that they would probably reprint it next fall so that is certainly a good sign! Plus, a publishing house in Germany is going to do a small printing in German next fall, wheee!

In other book news, I finished the art for a new story by Deborah Lee Rose, my partner in crime on the Twelve Days series. Whew, it was a long haul, with many delays, but it will be released next fall. Below is a sneak preview of the cover!

Low res image of part of the jacket for The Spelling Bee Before Recess

Now I am trying to come up with a story that my editor says “should be something boys like; something smelly or yucky or gross.” Hahah, sounds good to me! Unfortunately, he also says it has to have a “hook” that will make people buy it… So now I am trying to think of holiday-related yucky things. Or counting smelly gross things. Or something.

I just signed up to attend the NESCBWI conference in May. For those of you not “in the know”, that is the New England chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators – whew, quite a mouthful! I’ve never been to one of these before, but I am hoping it will give me some inspiration! Just hanging around with all those people should help. Unless it just makes me feel hopelessly inept. In any case, I will be taking workshops in how to do a graphic novel and how to make your rhymes work, among other things. Should be interesting!

So that’s it for now, folks! I will try to do better in the future….ha!

Thank you! It is nice to know my work can make people sick Just joshin’ – I am glad you got a good laugh. I am working on this year’s ornaments now – bats and alligators! I will post pictures when they are ready to be seen…

Thanks again – it was certainly nice to hear from you!

Thank you! It is nice to know my work can make people sick Just joshin’ – I am glad you got a good laugh. I am working on this year’s ornaments now – bats and alligators! I will post pictures when they are ready to be seen…

Thanks again – it was certainly nice to hear from you!

I saw “When Vegetables Go Bad” on Friday in Abacus in Portland, Maine and laughed myself sick.

Enid is one of my all time favorites – - but all of your intricately done, totally whimsical work makes November one of my favorite months as Abacus pulls out your ornaments. My sister-in-law is happily waiting for a belated birthday present. I started giving them to her as gifts, and she is as charmed by them as I am.

But this multiple piece work do beat all!!

I saw “When Vegetables Go Bad” on Friday in Abacus in Portland, Maine and laughed myself sick.

Enid is one of my all time favorites – – but all of your intricately done, totally whimsical work makes November one of my favorite months as Abacus pulls out your ornaments. My sister-in-law is happily waiting for a belated birthday present. I started giving them to her as gifts, and she is as charmed by them as I am.

But this multiple piece work do beat all!!

Here is a new sculpture I just finished for a show at the George Marshall Store Gallery in York, ME. The show is in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of Stonewall Kitchen and so is food-related. I haven’t done a multiple-piece sculpture for a very long time, haha, so it was a challenge at first… But by the time I got to the painting/embellishing stage, I was having a good time! I think I should start doing some more of these things.

So. We all have known them. Good vegetables lying quietly in our vegetable bins, peacefully existing amongst their peers… We look in at them; they look perfectly fine. And then, one day, with no warning… they have turned on us. Yes, they are VEGETABLES GONE BAD!!

Lock up your sons and daughters; the vegetables have gone bad!

Here is a new sculpture I just finished for a show at the George Marshall Store Gallery in York, ME. The show is in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of Stonewall Kitchen and so is food-related. I haven’t done a multiple-piece sculpture for a very long time, haha, so it was a challenge at first… But by the time I got to the painting/embellishing stage, I was having a good time! I think I should start doing some more of these things.

So. We all have known them. Good vegetables lying quietly in our vegetable bins, peacefully existing amongst their peers… We look in at them; they look perfectly fine. And then, one day, with no warning… they have turned on us. Yes, they are VEGETABLES GONE BAD!!

Lock up your sons and daughters; the vegetables have gone bad!

The artwork is DONE! Woohoo!! Well, almost done – I still have the cover to do, but we haven’t even discussed that yet. I am delivering the pictures to Abrams tomorrow – let’s hope it isn’t torrentially raining when I go…. They say it is supposed to rain every day I am going to be down there, oh sigh. But what the heck. While I am there I am going to the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the met, and the Harry Potter exhibit in Times Square! And we have big plans for sushi and french fries, yaaay!

Doing the Batty Bat!

The artwork is DONE! Woohoo!! Well, almost done – I still have the cover to do, but we haven’t even discussed that yet. I am delivering the pictures to Abrams tomorrow – let’s hope it isn’t torrentially raining when I go…. They say it is supposed to rain every day I am going to be down there, oh sigh. But what the heck. While I am there I am going to the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the met, and the Harry Potter exhibit in Times Square! And we have big plans for sushi and french fries, yaaay!

Doing the Batty Bat!

Ok, I finally finished the second spread…

Only 14 more spreads (28 pages) to go… ai yi yi!

Ok, I finally finished the second spread…

Only 14 more spreads (28 pages) to go… ai yi yi!

Ok, I have finally started the paintings for my monster book. Here are some photos of my meager progress:

So the photos are not so great, haha, but you get the idea! I think it is done, although I might feel like I have to add more leaves or something. Or maybe not!

Ok, I have finally started the paintings for my monster book. Here are some photos of my meager progress:

So the photos are not so great, haha, but you get the idea! I think it is done, although I might feel like I have to add more leaves or something. Or maybe not!

One of my yeti in lederhosen has been featured in this really fun blog, ionlylikemonsters! You should check it out – but be forewarned, once you start looking, it is hard to stop!

(This is not actually the one featured, but very similar!)

As the new year starts, I am going to have to get serious about my monsters, meaning I really really have to get to work on the paintings for “Ten Creepy Monsters.” Yes indeed. And I probably should update my website, but somehow find it hard to get started…

I will try to keep you all updated on my progress with the book!

One of my yeti in lederhosen has been featured in this really fun blog, ionlylikemonsters! You should check it out – but be forewarned, once you start looking, it is hard to stop!

(This is not actually the one featured, but very similar!)

As the new year starts, I am going to have to get serious about my monsters, meaning I really really have to get to work on the paintings for “Ten Creepy Monsters.” Yes indeed. And I probably should update my website, but somehow find it hard to get started…

I will try to keep you all updated on my progress with the book!

Well, as you can see, I did manage to get my studio cleaned up for the big day! This year’s event was a big success – thanks to everyone who came to the mill!

Well, as you can see, I did manage to get my studio cleaned up for the big day! This year’s event was a big success – thanks to everyone who came to the mill!

Ok, this was my studio two days ago. Will I be ready by tomorrow??? Stop by the mill and see!

Ok, this was my studio two days ago. Will I be ready by tomorrow??? Stop by the mill and see!