Well, now...I can talk about it.
I am currently working on the artwork for Rick Riordan's new book, The Red Pyramid (Book one of the Kane Chronicles). I am very excited about this because not only do I get to create the jacket art, but I was able to design the logo which was revealed this week in Publishers Weekly as well as Rick's own unveiling at the Texas Book Festival where he took home the prestigious Bookend award for his contributions to literature by a Texas author.
Now, I am sure I won't be able to post anything about the artwork for a long time to come, but the excitement is building. His last series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which I did all the cover art for, has sold over 7 million copies in the U.S. alone!
Needless to say, I am thrilled and honored to be part of his next series, The Kane Chronicles.

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November 3, 2009 is going to be a Percy day! First there is the release of this cool Boxed set of Hardcover books, and also is the release of the Deluxe Edition of the Lightning Thief with eight new color illustrations I did for the interior. Pretty cool!

Boxed Set
Deluxe Lightning Thief

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Today, September 30th officially marks the launch of my latest picture book, Fu Finds the Way. I am at my desk listening for cries of joy, fireworks and sounds of celebration, but alas it is quiet outside my window.
I will be doing several signings in the NYC area in November.


In other news I had the pleasure of meeting David Small as he was signing his new graphic novel "Stitches" at Powerhouse Arena last night. I also met his lovely wife, Sarah Stewart (Author of "The Librarian", "The Gardener", "The Money Tree" and several others) It was a great night, and I was lucky to get our very used copy of "The Librarian" signed by both David and Sarah.

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My new book was recently reviewed by Keplers. Did I mention that Keplers happens to be one of my Dad's favorite bookstores?


Fu Finds the Way - Kepler's Staff Review
This is an awe-inspiringly beautiful book that will beckon you to hold it tenderly in your hands and give it your full attention. Indeed, before the first
word is read you will be well on your way to "the way."

Young Fu is out in the rice fields quite distracted by his fantastic daydream when he accidentally flings a clod of mud onto the face of a fearsome warrior
named Chang. Incensed, Chang challenges young Fu to a duel. Terrified Fu grabs his father's sword and runs to seek training by the Master. But all the
Master has him do is pour tea! And then he orders Fu to pour tea again "with purpose," and again "with flow" and again "with patience." When the hour
of his assignation with Chang arrives, Fu, quite exhausted by his sleepless night pouring tea, forgets his sword but finds himself still holding the teapot.

What will he do? Pour Tea of course! Fu's loving tea ceremony has such intense focus and beauty that all else becomes irrelevant, including Chang's ire.
In our often frenetically multi-tasked lives, reading this book provides a peaceful and centering experience that explains the concept of single-focused
attention to the moment-a concept that is beyond the grasp or experience of so many of our children given the relentlessly wired, hyper-texted, multi-
calendar lives our families navigate every day.

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I recently got back from Louisville where I was a guest speaker at the Kentucky Reading Association Annual Conference. They held another great conference this year and I was happy to be part of it. I met some wonderful teachers who were really passionate about getting their students to read. I also had time to talk with Floyd Cooper about his work, as well as having drinks with fellow SCBWI'er Candie Moonshower.

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I am very excited about the new studio that my wife and I built at our country house. It used to be a commercial kitchen and a bedroom, and before that it was a dining room (back in the late 1800's). We had to hire contractors to put a new roof on because the old one was leaking, but the rest of the work we did ourselves. I even made my own moulding with some old pine boards and a router. The bookshelf in the library is a simple pine box, and I added sheets of stained beadboard to the back and some old oak moulding I found to dress up the front. It still needs some work, like a new floor and moulding and some other things, but we couldn't be happier.
We also had time to finish work on a library. I still can't believe I have a library now! Here are some pictures, and a nice shot of my daughter helping with the painting.

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I just got my hands on a few copies of my latest book, Fu Finds the Way, (Disney•Hyperion Sept 30) and I am thrilled. The printing was spectacular and check out what it looks like when you take the dust jacket off! Its a red silk cover with a gold stamp that I designed in the center.
Getting advance copies of my books always gives me a thrill. It's like Christmas!

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Lately I have been pretty busy. As you may know, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightning Thief movie is in production (see the trailer here) and the final book in the series "The Last Olympian" has recently come out, so the folks over at Barnes and Noble have been doing a slew of promotion using the artwork from the covers.
Check out this cool "Last Olympian Gift Card"
They have also created some cool trivia cards.
As well as this nifty journal.

But one of the most exciting things for me was the opportunity to illustrate a Deluxe Gift Edition of "The Lightning Thief". I had to put all my other projects on hold to work on it, but in the end it was totally worth it.
The book will have eight full color paintings of scenes from the book and will be cloth bound and come with a handsome slipcase. The best part is that I am told it will be available this November, just in time for that perfect holiday gift for the Percy fans!
I plan to do some promotional videos, but here is a small taste of what is to come... stay tuned.

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I came across this article yesterday. The first family was at Fort McNair on June 25th to stuff 15,000 backpacks with books for children of military personnel. The two books given out were "The Penderwicks" by Jeanne Birdsall, and "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan (with cover art by John Rocco!!!!). Pretty cool.

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This one is for the follow up to Jake Ransom and the Skull King. Don't know if I can tell you the title yet, but it has something to do with a sphinx. The painting hasn't been approved yet, but the art director liked it, and that's good enough for me.

Working on a picture book right now, and it's a wordless one. Still in the book dummy stage and I can't wait to start working on the final art. Just got notes back from my editor and, as expected, they were good ones. Now back to the drawing board.

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I just returned from Minneapolis where I had a fabulous time signing books and giving presentations. I saw some old friends and met many new ones. The folks from Disney•Hyperion were there in force and had a great booth set up for us. I forgot my camera, sorry no pictures. Signed books in the Anderson Bookshop booth with Patrick Carmen and Judy Schachner and they were fun table mates. We had quite a slew of folks come by to have books signed and they sold every last copy of Wolf! Wolf! and Moonpowder.
The last night we had terrific dinner at the COSMOS restaurant and I enjoyed talking, eating and drinking with Ally Carter, LeUyen Pham, Alan Sitomer, Gordon Korman and Jaime Adoff.

Now back to reality...time to get my butt in my chair and get some work done.
Hope to see you at BEA at the end of the month!

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It has been a while since I've blogged, facebooked, twittered (no, I don't twitter)...whatever, so I figured it was about time I let you know what I've been up to. Since I last blogged, I have been working on a new picture book that I hope to complete this summer. I will post some things when it's done. Also I have been gearing up for the release of my newest picture book, Fu Finds the Way, which releases in September. My publisher (Disney•Hyperion) and I have created a very cool poster which is a whopping 18"x24".

I will be signing posters at the upcoming International Reading Association Conference next week in Minneapolis. I will also be giving a talk with the legendary children's book creator, Gerald McDermott, and I am very excited to meet him.

Besides the poster for "Fu" we have created this very cool postcard, actually 4 postcards in one. Be sure to stop by the Disney•Hyperion booth at Book Expo America in NYC on March 29th as I will be there signing galley copies of "Fu Finds the Way".
Here is the postcard:

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make custom gifts at Zazzle

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Here is a new young adult jacket painting that I did for a book called Jake Ransom and the Skull Kings Shadow. I had fun with the Mayan theme, as it is a book about time travel, archeology and adventure. Like a young Indiana Jones.

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Lot's of news...Here is the latest book jacket I have illustrated. It's called the Giant Slayer, and it is a wonderful story/fairytale. I am happy with the final art and I can't wait to see the finished book.

In other news...drum roll please...I have finished my newest picture book, Fu Finds the Way. It will come out in the fall of 2009 (not sure of the exact date yet) but I am very excited about it. Disney•Hyperion (the Publisher) went all out with the production. It is being printed on beautiful paper, with a cloth (yes, real cloth!) interior jacket. I started this book in 2001, shelved it, started sending it out in 2005 and got a few nice rejections, and now finally after seven years it is complete. Here is a mockup of the dust jacket...
And lastly, I was thrilled to find out that my art from Moonpowder, that was in the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators was chosen to go on a traveling exhibition throughout the US along with 39 other pieces.

I am now hard at work on the artwork for the final installment of Rick Riordan's bestselling series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It is called "The Last Olympian" but I am pretty sure I won't be able to post anything on that until the book comes out in May. I read it though, and Percy fans will not be dissapointed.

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I am happy to say that Moonpowder has been accepted into the Society of Illustrators "Original Art Show". Stop by the gallery between October 18th-Nov 26th at Society of Illustrators, 128 East 23rd st. (between Park and Lex.) NYC. There should be a plethora of great art to inspire us all.

Right now I am busy trying to finish the paintings for my latest book "Fu Finds the Way" coming out in the Fall 2009 by Disney•Hyperion.
Needless to say, I am way behind, but hope to have it finished before the holidays kick in.
I will be heading to Louisville this weekend to speak at the Kentucky Reading Association Annual conference. Brian Selznick will also be speaking, so that should be fun.
And lastly, here is a very nice article in SCBWI magazine that Sam Wasson wrote about me. Thanks Sam!

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Here is a couple pictures taken by Chris Swain of my reading at Every Picture in Los Angeles. Sitting with his lovely wife and daughter during the signing.

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Here is the final art for the Dormia cover I painted. I am really happy with the way it came out. Also, here are two of the latest paintings for "Fu finds the Way".

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I know the month is only half over but I have been busy. On July 31st I had the amazing opportunity to read both Moonpowder and Wolf! Wolf! in the Sculpture Garden of the Museum of Modern Art. Right after the event, I jumped on a plane to Los Angeles to speak at the SCBWI summer conference. I saw lots of old friends and met a bunch of new ones. Had a great time hanging out with, Yuyi Morales, Jim Averbeck, Adam Rex, Dan Santat, Christian Hill, Pat Cummings, Namrata Tripathi (my fabulous editor) and many others.
During the conference I snuck out to go do a reading and sign books at Every Picture Tells A Story. It was a dual show of my art along with the great Greg Hildebrandt. Sort of an odd pairing, but he was a swell guy and we had a great time. A lot of my LA friends were there and that made it extra special.
Highlights of the conference:
-Yuyi Morales's acceptance speach. It was poetic, heartfelt and she received a well deserved standing ovation.
-Trying to scalp drink tickets with Dan Santat. enough said.
-Bruce Coville gave an amazing talk. Go see him speak if you can!
-I really enjoyed doing the portfolio and manuscript reviews.
-Signing books between Adam Rex and Mark Teague. (also a lowlight when my line dwindled and there's seem to be endless. I was like Moses parting the Red Sea.)
-Meeting Dilys Evans and discussing the art of children's books with her. She was very enthusiastic and supportive of my art and gave me some terrific advice that was well camouflaged in a compliment. Thanks Dilys! I will make sure my books have room to breathe!

After the conference I flew home to do a signing at Barnes and Noble in Union Square. It was fun because some folks from my writers group were there, as well as my Dad.
Now, back to work...

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Recently my wife and daughter went on a trip for 2 weeks leaving me by myself in our old country house. I had plenty of art to do for my next book, but I was aching to build something with wood. It felt like a manly thing to do. And I desperately needed to do something manly. With tools! So here is how I built our new dining table. The dimensions are 8ft long by 42" wide and 31" high. If I were to do it again I would make it 30" high.
First I found some great old oak baseboards that were stashed away in the attic of our house. they were slightly warped and filled with nail holes and covered with stain. I would have guessed them to be over 100 years old.I used a belt sander ($60.00 at Home Depot) and gave all the boards a rough sanding to remove the old stain and grime.
Next, using pony clamps, I glued the boards together one at a time. Allowing 6 hours for them to dry between boards. It was important to alternate the clamps (one above and one below) to keep the boards straight. I know, I know it's not that way in this picture, but I was trying to straighten out a warp that was already in the boards.
once all seven boards were glued together, I filled in all the cracks and nail holes with stainable wood putty.
Then I started some serious sanding. First with 80 grit, then 120 grit and finally 150 grit sand paper.

The next thing was to add end caps to both ends of the table top. Not only was this for aesthetic reasons, but it also helps strengthen the table and allows for all the boards to swell and contract without cracking or warping as much. First I cut a straight edge along the ends of my glued boards. Then I drilled 1/4" holes in the end of each board...
and using a little metal point shoved into the hole I could make a mark on the end cap where I needed to drill the matching hole. Once the holes were drilled on both sides I glued in the dowels to connect the boards. then the entire end cap fit into the dowels and was glued and clamped for six hours. I repeated this process with the other side.
Next I finished the end caps with some nifty oak plugs to give it a nice look. You can buy the oak plugs already made. Drill the hole, hammer them in, and sand them down. Presto!
Next I started to build the legs. I used pine for the legs because I wanted the legs to be a slightly different color than the top or the apron that goes under the top.

Once I had the legs glued and doweled to the apron sides, I fitted the whole base together. This was a dry fitting though (no glue) because I needed to take it apart to bring it to my loft in Brooklyn. It never would have fit in the door otherwise.
Here is the table assembled. I put three oak buttons in the side to represent my wife, my daughter and me.
Then I started staining. I used Minwax combination stain and urathane. This would give it color and protection.

In between each layer of stain and urathane (sp?) I rubbed the surface down with a very fine steel wool. This made it smooth like butter! Although my arms felt like they were going to fall off!
here is the finished table in my loft. A proud moment for me as I have not built anything from wood since I was about 12 years old.

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A sketch for a new book jacket for Houghton Mifflin called Dormia. This is a wraparound jacket. I should have the final painting up in a couple weeks. In the meantime I will post some more "Fu" paintings as I get them done.

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Here are a couple of nearly finished paintings for my next book. Can you tell what it's about?

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I had a great visit to the Melrose School in Jamestown RI a couple weeks back. The kids were great and had fantastic questions. We discussed bookmaking, making theme parks and what it might be like to ride in a rocket! Just today, in the mail, I received this fabulous poster signed by all the kids. I have to share a poem that one student named Lily wrote:

Moonpowder is magical,
Moonpowder is the best,
Helping and pleasing little kids
When they lie down to rest.

Thanks Lily! And a big thanks to the fabulous Librarian, Lisa Casey, and all the students of Melrose School!

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I heard through the grapevine that Robin Williams had read "Moonpowder" at the recent "Time For Heroes" Celebrity fund raiser in LA. After scouring the internet for actual proof of this momentous news, I found some photos.

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