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by Ruth McNally Barshaw

Ruth McNally Barshaw grew up in the Detroit area. When she was little she wanted to be an artist. She thought books were written by companies, not real people, so she didn’t want to write books. She changed her mind in 2002, and three years later connected with a fabulous agent who sold the first Ellie McDoodle book to Bloomsbury Children’s Books. Then it became a series.

She is the author-illustrator of the six Ellie McDoodle Diaries (often compared to Diary of a Wimpy Kid). She’s the illustrator of Leopold is Lost, by Denise Brennan-Nelson, due out in 2015 with Sleeping Bear Press. And she is author-illustrator of several other picture books currently in various stages of development.

She and her writer-husband Charlie frequently take their story creation workshop on the road to schools, libraries and conferences. Otherwise you can find them at home or at a local bookstore, writing.

View Ruth’s artwork, books, and workshop details at RuthExpress.com and connect with her on Twitter @ruthexpress.

You can win a signed-and-doodled copy of Ruth’s latest Ellie McDoodle book! It’s not a picture book, but it does have art on every page.

This prize will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for this prize if:

1. You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
2. You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
3. You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge. (You will have to sign the PiBoIdMo Pledge at the end of the event.)

Good luck, everyone!

 

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Today on the Mixed-Up Files...of Middle Grade Authors blog, I posted an interview of Ruth McNally Barshaw, the amazing author/illustrator of the Ellie McDoodle series.  She shared an awesome writing and illustrating exercise that I can't wait to try, and wait until you see her giveaway!

Tomorrow afternoon, two lucky people who comment on the Mixed-Up Files site will not only win an autographed and personalized paperback of her newly reissued Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel book, but Ruth will draw a sketch of each winner with Ellie, and will also create a version that could be used as an online avatar, like this wonderful sketch she drew of herself.

Most of our contests are only for people who live in the US and Canada, but anyone can enter this giveaway!  If winners live outside the US or Canada, they’ll still receive the sketch.  Instead of the autographed book, Ruth will give them a peek at a few digital pages from the next Ellie book, Ellie McDoodle: Most Valuable Player, a work in progress that will be published in Spring, 2012.I had so much fun interviewing Ruth.  She's such a sweet, helpful, down-to-earth person.  She always has so many gems to share, and I love how easily she let us all into her life.  Growing up, my mom always wanted everything to seem perfect when we were out in public.  When I first became serious about writing children's books, I thought that I'd have to try not to show my fears or flaws in public, and I'm so glad that there are people like Ruth who show me that I can can let my writing friends know that I'm a little nervous when reading a new project to one of my groups for the first time.  Or when I finish polishing up a project, there's a part of me that wonders if I'll ever be able to write something as strong as that manuscript again.  It really helps to be able to share this part of me, too, instead of locking all my insecurities away.  Talking about it makes the obstacles much easier to overcome, and I'm grateful to have so many amazing writing buddies to share this journey with. 

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I was thrilled to interview Ruth McNally Barshaw, the author and illustrator of the popular Ellie McDoodle series on my latest From The Mixed-Up Files...of Middle Grade Authors post.  Wow--Ruth is such an inspiration, and shared so much wonderful advice, how she broke into the business, and a fantastic exercise that's great for adults and kids to use when fleshing out a character.  You'll also see three sketches and some info for the 4th Ellie McDoodle book, due out in Spring, 2012.


Leave a comment on the Mixed-Up Files site to enter to win a personalized Ellie book...and Ruth said she'll even add some surprise sketches inside each book!  Two winners will be chosen on Thursday, February 24th.  I can't wait to see who will win these two awesome prizes.  

Ruth's sketches are amazing--and she has tons of them on her website.  Here's one Ruth drew of herself that I included in the interview.  

I've been busy working on my MG revision--it's getting really close to being done.  Wahoo!  I'm hoping to post more about the Miami conference soon, but it takes me a while to organize my notes and type everything up, and I've had to concentrate on my revision, the interview, my critique groups, and the FL SCBWI listserv first.  A new listserv will be coming out soon...with news about the celebration for the opening of the movie Beastly, based on Alex Flinn's incredible novel.

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Ruth McNally Barshaw is a children's writer and illustrator. She's the creator of the Ellie McDoodle book series. Ruth has compiled a treasure trove of her sketch-diaries of both past experiences and SCBWI conferences she has attended. To peruse them, click here . They are definitely worth the read.

> Ruth's blog, Ellie McDoodle

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Hey, everyone, and Happy 2008! Once again, I (Carl) hope you had a good holiday break. I sure did. Now it's back to school, huh? Do you all like this first day back or not? Some don't because they've had such a good time during the break; others get bored, miss their friends, and are ready to get back. Me? I enjoy what I do, so I don't mind. Well, in any case, here are some books to enjoy:

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