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SCBWI-LA Summer Conference photos are coming.

  Uploading . . .

   Uploading . . .

In the meantime, if you are viewing this in my blog at LiveJournal, scroll down to the bottom to see photos from the 2008 Summer Conference. When I post 2009 pictures, the new entry will bump last year's off the page. How perfect is that.

:)
r

Some kind of post will follow. For now I just wanted to say . . .

I won the category of Middle Grade Fiction today, at SCBWI-LA Writer's Day!

Chocolates and Candies More Delicious Than Ever!

“Months and months went by,” Grandpa Joe went on, “but still the factory remained closed. And everybody said, ‘Poor Mr. Wonka. He was so nice. And he made such marvelous things. But he’s finished now. It’s all over.’

“Then something astonishing happened. One day, early in the morning, thin columns of white smoke were seen to be coming out of the tops of the tall chimneys of the factory! People in the town stopped and stared. ‘What’s going on?’ they cried. ‘Someone’s lit the furnaces! Mr. Wonka must be opening up again!’ . . . But no! The great iron gates were still locked and chained as securely as ever, and Mr. Wonka was nowhere to be seen. . . . But there was no question at all,” said Grandpa Joe, “that the factory was running. . . . What’s more, the chocolates and candies it’s been turning out have become more fantastic and delicious all the time.”

—Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

SCBWI-LA Summer Conference photos are coming.

  Uploading . . .

   Uploading . . .


r

I have an idea.

A couple friends recently told me their favorite post in this blog was when I illustrated that "Fortunately, Unfortunately" story. (Haha, thanks!! That was really fun.) So, during weeks where I haven't posted anything by Friday, I'm going to share art (either that's very old or new), hopefully to keep you entertained. (This will be embarrassing for me, which, by my best guess, is what you will actually find entertaining.)

Here is the the first Quiss comic I ever did, a small stack of which I recently stumbled across at my parents' house. Did you know I used to be a cartoonist? Me, neither; I forgot! I did these in ninth grade to entertain friends, and, eventually, our high school newspaper asked me to do a couple for them, too. I had no idea why they were interested, but it was very pleasing.

Original Quiss Comic, #1 (20th Anniversary Edition)

7 Things to Do Before I'm 30
An original Lifetime movie
Written by Duane Poole
Directed by Paul A. Kaufman
Starring Amber Benson
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
9:00 pm - 11:00 pm PST/EST

Pretty, charming, and weight-challenged (at least as she sees it) LORI MADISON (Amber Benson) is a month shy of the big 3-0 when her life implodes. Losing her job, her New York apartment, and her boyfriend in a single day, she goes home to a Colorado resort town to stay with her bigger-than-life mother and supportive brother until she finds some direction. In her childhood bedroom, Lori discovers a list she made as a kid -- "7 Things To Do Before I'm 30" -- and realizes she hasn't accomplished a single item. So she looks to the past to provide a map to her future, resolving to do everything on the list...with only one month to go before her thirtieth birthday. In the process -- through adventures comical, romantic, and daring -- she gains confidence, finds her true romance, and resolves a long-standing emotional issue with her mother, whom she's blamed for her lifelong weight problems. Ultimately, Lori not only becomes the person she'd always hoped to be, but discovers she's actually been that person all along and just had to open her eyes.

Congratulations, Amber!

No theme this week. I'm feeling all kinds of lazy. So let us plumb the internet itself, sans rhyme or reason, and come up with tasty tidbits in and of themselves.

This one comes from Adrienne at What Adrienne Thinks About That. Her boss apparently sent it to her. Those of us in the profession can relate. And I was delighted to see that it also displays a death-by-closed-stacks portion that is reminiscent of a movie my husband made in college.



In the realm of "oh, THAT's how it's done!" I bring you an explanation for how graphic novel illustration works via computer. Like the Bone books? Of course you do. You are a beautiful, intelligent, highly motivated individual. As such, you will enjoy this view of coloring in Thorn from the books. I just think that it's cool that you get to draw on the actual screen.



Julie at Children's Illustration recently had a small tribute to Bill Baird and Company over at her site. First off, it's very interesting to watch pre-Muppet puppets. Plus the song is fairy trippy in and of itself. Betcha you won't see the iron lung coming, though.



How come no one names their daughters Cora anymore? I think Cora is going to have a second coming. GO CORA! Julie, I should note, also located this neat interview with Brian Selznick about his latest. You may have heard of it. It's something something Hugo something, I think.



Which led to me to the discovery of this Expanded Books website. And that, in turn, led me to the discovery of something the Buffy fans amongst us will find odd. Look! It's Tara! Writing books! The book itself isn't all that thrilling, but it's nice to see Amber Benson getting work of one kind or another.



We'll do a 180 after this and show the direct opposite of horror novels with an interview with Rosemary Wells. Anyone who has ever worked with Ms. Wells will tell you that the woman is... a pistol, let's say. Yes. That sounds about right. A pistol. Well, here she is doing the sweetness and light bit.



Pistol, I say.