By: Alan Silberberg,
on 4/13/2013
Time flies while you're staring at the calendar wishing your book would hurry up and be published!
The Awesome Almost 100% True Adventures of Matt & Craz is just a week away and I'm pretty excited about releasing it into the world! (Okay, North America - but it's a start!)
Here's Barry with some excitement to share about BOOKS! (and one in particular)
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 2/28/2013
Well it's almost March...which means April can't be that far off (31 days to be exact). And what happens in April besides baseball season kicking off (Go Sox!)?
My new book, THE AWESOME ALMOST 100% TRUE ADVENTURES OF MATT AND CRAZ will be published.
Here's the first trailer that I made!
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 11/14/2012
Time to add the newest cartoon to my WRITE ON! team. I think this one speaks to all writers who face moments of terror in the creative process!
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 11/10/2012
When Zach was 6 or 7 we got him his first pet, a uromastyx lizard who he named Spikey. Uromastyx lizards come from the driest, hottest and most barren parts of the world. They thrive under extreme conditions unsuitable for a lot of other lizard species.
Given our household is pretty extreme it was no surprise that Spikey thrived - even after the kitchen accident that cost him half his tail and the use of his back legs. Dude was a fighter.
Zeus and Spikey had a real love affair and Zeus would often go nose-to-nose with Spikey when we put them both out on the grass. Spikey wasn't exactly a soft and cuddly pet and I admit I wasn't head over heels for him the way I love Zeus. But he was a part of our family and had been with us a long time. He'd heard our laughter and felt our tears and now I say goodbye to him with the memory of the way he chased the crickets we'd feed him and how he'd stare into Zeus's eyes on a warm summer day.
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 11/8/2012
Having lots of fun making these little animations that celebrate the creative process with quotes from writers on writing.
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 11/2/2012
I hate to clean. I am a slob. There. I've said it. I am one of those people who functions quite well in clutter and my office and my computer reflect my taste for chaos. Maybe it's all an excuse. Maybe I'm just really lazy. All I know is I've been staring at dust bunnies in my office so long I've named them.
I was going through some disorganized files on my mac this morning and came across an old MILO cartoon I did for my website. I knew it was old - because the Milo in the last panel was the original design of the character before I worked with Aladdin art director extraordinaire, Karin Paproki, to make Milo a bit more accessible.
So here's my updated version of the cartoon - new Milo in place of the old. It's fun to see this again!
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 11/1/2012
To celebrate the kick-off of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) where zillions of writers around the world give up sleep and sunlight in the hopes of completing a novel in any genre - I'm creating a new series of Book-Toons that will hopefully give a kick in the pants to writers everywhere.
Inspiring words for writers - from writers.
Sometimes it helps knowing you aren't alone in the impossible task!
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 10/29/2012
Spent the morning playing around as I gear up to revamp my website. With THE AWESOME ALMOST 100% TRUE ADVENTURES of MATT and CRAZ getting closer to pub date (April 2013!) I think it is time to think about changing the look of my website.
I created this little teaser that puts all of my books into one small package. Not sure where to put it - so for now, this is as good a spot as any!
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 10/23/2012
Thanks to a wonderful group of writers and illustrators I had an inspiring weekend as one of the presenters at the SCBWI Canada East conference this past weekend in Ottawa. I was excited to give the opening keynote which I titled, "Hansel & Gretel Never Had Deadlines: My Writer's Process Getting Lost In The Woods". Using some cartoons of mine and many examples from my own publishing journey I gave a 50 minute talk (phew!) on the benefits of writing without always knowing where it is you are headed.
Here's a little animation I created when I got home from the conference that uses my closing lines as inspiration.
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 8/30/2012
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 8/17/2012
Taking a break from the fun of writing my *new* book, which is top secret stuff that I'm having way too much fun doing because I just got a batch of notes on THE AWESOME ALMOST 100% TRUE ADVENTURES OF MATT & CRAZ from my fantastic art director at Simon & Schuster (Karin Paproki you know who you are!)
Now I have a couple of weeks to move from my comfy chair ( dog on legs included)...
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 8/2/2012
Haven't ever shared this little book trailer I made for MILO.
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 7/31/2012
Yikes! Has it really been a year of "No Posts"? In case you're wondering - I haven't been in a caffeine induced coma, but caffeine consumption has definitely been in play!
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 8/10/2011
Phew! It's taken me a week to let it settle in. MILO won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award given out at this year's SCBWI annual conference!
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 2/27/2011
Eeesh! I am embarrassed by the time lapsed since my last post - but to be fair, I have been hunkered down (with Zeus in my lap) working to finish the first draft of the "new book" which is due right about...NOW.
But even with the final chapters in sight, my train of thoughts has been derailed by the BEST NEWS EVER... MILO: STICKY NOTES & BRAIN FREEZE just won the 2011 SCBWI Sid Fleischman Award for Humor!
This is a really bid deal for me and I am still hyperventilating from the news (and it's been a few days since I heard). The list of past winners is beyond amazing and it befuddles my wee brain to think that I am in the company of Lisa Yee, Donna Gephart, David LaRochelle, Gennifer Choldenko, Sara Pennypacker, Allen Zadoff - but most humbling, is the man who received the first honor, the amazing Sid Fleischman. Wow!
What makes this extra sweet for me - not only was I able to combine my text with my cartoons, but MILO tells a very personal story. It's the story of loosing a parent when you are young and the ways a young adolescent goes about trying to remember his mom, even through the fog that has settled inside him. It's a heart-warming story, and yes, I've heard some tears have been shed reading it.
But I'd always set out to write this book with a sense of humor leading the way - and to have that side of me, and Milo recognized proves that I was able, in my own way, to highlight that a painful life event doesn't have to wipe away the funny parts. It truly can be a tandem dance between the sadness and the laughter because that was always my own experience...and now it's Milo's too.
Thank you so much SCBWI for honoring the funny and heart-felt part of me that is MILO.
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 12/7/2010
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 10/25/2010
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 9/16/2010
Well it's official.
Tuesday, MILO: STICKY NOTES & BRAIN FREEZE had it's real-live book birthday and I couldn't just sit on my butt at home. No siree, I had to have visual proof that the book was actually IN bookstores. Besides, I was too excited to actually stay home and write and so I drove downtown and hit the trio of book sellers there.
First up, Indigo books - a huge chain of stores in Canada. I went to their "flagship" downtown Montreal location. This was my very first stop and I was filled with excitement...anticipation... and ultimately, DISAPPOINTMENT!
Like Old Mother Hubbard, I went to my bookshelf, careful to follow the alpabetical path to the "S" names. To my horror - "Silberberg" did not exist. I quickly accessed one of their nifty search kiosks and what I found was...."zero available in this store". Oh, fortuna how low you have spun me!
Lucky for me - another chain store was just up the street. And so, hat in hands, I trudged off to visit the equally huge Chapters bookstore (owned by the same company as Indigo I might add).
I walked into the basement level kids' section with trepidation. But what did I see? The familiar BLUE COVER and white lettering! Eureka - MILO EXISTED!
Now I'm usually a shy guy - but there I was gleaming at the bookshelf, camera in hand, and it wasn't long before a helpful bookseller asked if I needed anything. I told her I needed to wish my book a Happy BookDay and she eagerly obliged!
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By: Alan Silberberg,
on 9/14/2010
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 8/17/2010
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 7/24/2010
I have always marveled at the people who can point easily to the perfect days in their lives and say without pause, "That was the best day." I mean, I'm a writer. Ask me to point to a miserable day and I can deal out a dozen or so in a heartbeat.
After Milo and I sweated through clean shirts and baked under the July haze - we got to the theater and sat through the hysterical musical. Everyone says the puppets are "so racy" - but even Milo thought the show was kind of tame. I guess that's what watching so much SOUTH PARK will do to a kid's brain!
We went inside and rode the elevator to the 4th floor. Stepping off the elevator the first thing I saw was this wall of M
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 7/15/2010
It's getting pretty real. Milo's publication date is actually something concrete to me and not some distant date that has no meaning. Still - September is just far enough away and no one wants to start thinking about that season that comes after summer. (Shhhh...pub. date is Sept. 14) But I've got the date circled on my calendar!!
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 7/3/2010
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 6/13/2010
I may not win the award for most frequent blog posts - but I do hope to snag a blue ribbon when it comes to having great guests drop by for a little one-on-one chat. Jill Murray is not only a friend and fellow Montreal author she is also the voice and code behind the wonderful kid-lit writer site Y-Eh!
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 5/16/2010
I recently wrote about being a Facebook newbie, and to be honest I'm still pretty green when it comes to poking, friending and deciding whether I want to comment on someone else's decision to like "Big Bang Theory" or "100 things I never want to eat".
0 Comments on AWARD-WINNING WEEKEND as of 1/1/1900
0 Comments on MILO BOOK LAUNCH as of 1/1/1900
