THIS SITE HAS MOVED. Inkygirl posts are now part of DebbieOhi.com.
====
Debbie Ridpath Ohi reads, writes and illustrates for young people. Every once in a while she shares new art, writing and reading resources; subscribe below. Browse the archives here.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| My other social media. | |||
*NEW!* Also see my Broken Crayon resource
Writer comics by Debbie Ridpath Ohi are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
More details: Comic Use Policy
Welcome to Inkygirl: Reading, Writing and Illustrating Children's Books (archive list here) which includes my Creating Picture Books series, Advice For Young Writers and Illustrators, Writer's and Illustrator's Guide To Twitter, Interviews With Authors And Illustrators, #BookADay archives, writing/publishing industry surveys, and 250, 500, 1000 Words/Day Writing Challenge. Also see my Inkygirl archives, and comics for writers. Also check out my Print-Ready Archives for Teachers, Librarians, Booksellers and Young Readers.
I tweet about the craft and business of writing and illustrating at @inkyelbows. If you're interested in my art or other projects, please do visit DebbieOhi.com. Thanks for visiting! -- Debbie Ridpath Ohi
I am thrilled to be interviewing Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester about their new middle grade book, THE FABULOUS ZED WATSON!, which launches *today* from HarperCollins. You can attend the virtual launch party tomorrow (Jan.27) courtesy Glad Day Bookshop and HarperCollinsCanada: see the Facebook Event Page and Glad Day Lit TV page.
;)
I took this photo during the SCBWI Portfolio Showcase
From time to time, I answer a question on Quora about children's book illustration. I do this partly because I like to pay it forward but also because I find it a good writing exercise.
------
Q: "How do you become an illustrator or artist for children's books?"
My answer on Quora:
As the others who have answered this question so far have pointed out, there is no one right route to becoming a children’s book illustrator.
I recently got tagged on a post by someone sharing one of my writing-related comics on Twitter. I usually don't mind this, but this time I discovered that the person had purposely stripped out all of my copyright info, name of my comic, URL to my comic and my byline, THEN ADDED THEIR OWN BRANDING.
I am super-honored to have Inkygirl be the first stop on Josh Funk's SHORT & SWEET book tour! Not just because I'm a big fan of his Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast picture book series with Brendan Kearney and his other books, but also because Josh is such a great champion of fellow book creators, educators and indie booksellers. I met Josh through Nerd Camp Michigan years back.
Short & Sweet is the fourth in the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series. In this new adventure, Pancake and Toast fear they are going stale and visit Professor Biscotti, whose faulty gadget transforms them into toddlers, sending them on an adventure in the refrigerator. Praises so far include Top 10 Indie Kids Next List, and a *starred* review in School Library Journal! You can attend the virtual book launch party on Sept. 1st hosted by An Unlikely Story.
(Updated July 17, 2020 - also see reader comments in reply to the original post)
The quandary: You want to support someone's new book and as much as you'd like to buy it, you can't. Perhaps you can't justify the cost of the new book right now. Perhaps your author friend is prolific and has multiple books coming out, and you can't afford to get them all. Perhaps you have so many author and illustrator friends that if you tried to buy all their books, you'd need to sell your car first. Or your house.
Finding it a challenge to carve out time for your writing because of other work or life commitments? I encourage you to join me in my Daily Writing Challenge. Even 100 words a day adds up! I also have an Inkygirl Daily Writing Challenge Facebook Page.
One of my goals in 2020 is to not only be more diligent about writing something FIRST THING in the day, but also not to be so picky about what I write (social media posts don't count, though :-)).
Reason: Last year, I was always trying to work on my middle grade novel first thing in the morning. While my goal of morning writing worked sometimes, there were many mornings when I just had too much going on. I'd be distracted because I'd be on the road, or have morning appointments, be stressed about book illustration deadlines.
The best way to get young people to invest their time in reading is being willing to invest time in it ourselves.
At the beginning of every year, I reevaluate my reading habits. I love to read but sometimes I find that reading gets put on the back burner more often while other activities take priority. Sometimes these activities, especially family-related and work-related, NEED to take priority, but I find there are still ways to find more time to read. How do YOU make more time to read? Answer my survey here. I'll post results in this blog.
This year, I've signed up for Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge. I'm starting out with a goal of 100 books. This includes picture books, so I'm actually aiming for MORE than 100. In addition to being realistic, however, I also don't want to be tempted to speed-read. With picture books, for example, I want to start going through new and not-so-new picture books and read them more thoughtfully, both for enjoyment but also more analytically (how the text and illustrations interact, etc).
Anyway....I've updated my post below in case one or more tips might help others. You might also want to check out what parents suggested in my "Finding Time To Write (Even If You Have Kids)" survey.
1. I have multiple print books on the go, and keep them around the house. I usually have print books that I'm in the midst of reading in our bedroom, my office, living room, dining room, etc. Print books have the advantage over ebooks here in that just SEEING them reminds me to read them.
2. I read books on my iPhone. Yes, the screen is small but I enlarge the text to make reading comfortable. This is super-handy for reading when I may only have a few minutes, like when I'm in a line-up or waiting for someone. Or when I'm in a super-crowded subway train and am holding onto a support pole with one hand....but I can easily reach into my purse, pull out my iPhone and flip through pages with my other hand.
3. I read books on my iPad. I have an iPad Pro and find it a bit too heavy to hold for reading unless it's propped up somehow, but I find that using a pillow or my knees works fine. I prefer print books for the esthetic experience (turning print pages, feel of of a physical book etc.) but I do find that the backlit screen on my iPad enables me to read even in places with dim lighting. Some are ebooks I've bought, some are borrowed from the Toronto Public Library.
4. I read books on my Kindle. Because the Kindle is lightweight and loaded up with a lot of my ebooks, I can avoid angsting over what book to take on out-of-town trips ("I'm 3/4 of way through this book so if I finish it on the plane, what do I read next? Should I bring an extra just in case? But I'm trying to travel with just carry-on augh" etc.), I just take my Kindle and I have access to many books-on-the-go.
5. I listen to audiobooks. I remember avoiding audiobooks in the beginning because I never considered it REAL reading, plus I didn't think I could really enjoy a book by just listening to it. Then my husband played an audiobook (I can't remember the title...something about divers and scavenging in deep waters) on a long car trip and I was surprised to find it an immersive reading experience. The narration is important, though -- a bad narrator will totally turn me off a book, so I make it a habit of always listening to a sample first. I have an Audible subscription but I also borrow audiobooks from the Toronto Public Library. Whenever I'm at certain stages in book illustration, I listening to audiobooks as I draw.
SUMMARY:
As long as the story is good, I am willing to read it in any format. I do make a point of buying books from indie bookstores but I have found that my appetite for reading makes it impractical (from a budget standpoint) to buy all my reading material. The Toronto Public Library is a wonderful resource, with print and ebook and audiobooks available.
Also, I squeeze in reading whenever I can. While I'd love to save my reading stints for when I have an entire afternoon to curl up on the couch with a good book, reality is that if I always waited for The Perfect Reading Day, I wouldn't be reading nearly as many books as I do now. Before my recent eye surgery, I also found it a challenge to read a regular print book.
And as summer approaches, consider participating in Donalyn Miller's #BookADay Challenge!
SURVEY:
How do YOU make time to read? Answer my 3-question poll here.
OTHER RESOURCES ON HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR READING TIME:
11 Ways Busy People Make Time To Read - by Eva Lantsoght on Lifehack.org
The Best Way To Find More TIme To Read - on FS Farnam Street's blog
How To Read Even More In 2019 by Strand bookstore
5 Ways To Find More Time To Read - by Kristin Wong on Mentalfloss.com
25 Expert Tips To Reading WAY More Books This Year - by John Rampton on Inc.com
Now that my eyes are fixed (woohoo!), I have started reading print books again, in addition to other formats. I'm also reevaluating my reading habits. I love to read but sometimes I find that reading gets put on the back burner more often while other activities take priority. Sometimes these activities, especially family-related and work-related, NEED to take priority, but I find there are still ways to find more time to read.
I've updated my post below in case one or more tips might help others. You might also want to check out what parents suggested in my "Finding Time To Write (Even If You Have Kids)" survey.
1. I have multiple print books on the go, and keep them around the house. I usually have print books that I'm in the midst of reading in our bedroom, my office, living room, dining room, etc. Print books have the advantage over ebooks here in that just SEEING them reminds me to read them.
2. I read books on my iPhone. Yes, the screen is small but I enlarge the text to make reading comfortable. This is super-handy for reading when I may only have a few minutes, like when I'm in a line-up or waiting for someone. Or when I'm in a super-crowded subway train and am holding onto a support pole with one hand....but I can easily reach into my purse, pull out my iPhone and flip through pages with my other hand.
3. I read books on my iPad. I have an iPad Pro and find it a bit too heavy to hold for reading unless it's propped up somehow, but I find that using a pillow or my knees works fine. I prefer print books for the esthetic experience (turning print pages, feel of of a physical book etc.) but I do find that the backlit screen on my iPad enables me to read even in places with dim lighting. Some are ebooks I've bought, some are borrowed from the Toronto Public Library.
4. I read books on my Kindle. Because the Kindle is lightweight and loaded up with a lot of my ebooks, I can avoid angsting over what book to take on out-of-town trips ("I'm 3/4 of way through this book so if I finish it on the plane, what do I read next? Should I bring an extra just in case? But I'm trying to travel with just carry-on augh" etc.), I just take my Kindle and I have access to many books-on-the-go.
5. I listen to audiobooks. I remember avoiding audiobooks in the beginning because I never considered it REAL reading, plus I didn't think I could really enjoy a book by just listening to it. Then my husband played an audiobook (I can't remember the title...something about divers and scavenging in deep waters) on a long car trip and I was surprised to find it an immersive reading experience. The narration is important, though -- a bad narrator will totally turn me off a book, so I make it a habit of always listening to a sample first. I have an Audible subscription but I also borrow audiobooks from the Toronto Public Library. Whenever I'm at certain stages in book illustration, I listening to audiobooks as I draw.
SUMMARY:
As long as the story is good, I am willing to read it in any format. I do make a point of buying books from indie bookstores but I have found that my appetite for reading makes it impractical (from a budget standpoint) to buy all my reading material. The Toronto Public Library is a wonderful resource, with print and ebook and audiobooks available.
Also, I squeeze in reading whenever I can. While I'd love to save my reading stints for when I have an entire afternoon to curl up on the couch with a good book, reality is that if I always waited for The Perfect Reading Day, I wouldn't be reading nearly as many books as I do now. Before my recent eye surgery, I also found it a challenge to read a regular print book.
And as summer approaches, consider participating in Donalyn Miller's #BookADay Challenge!
OTHER RESOURCES ON HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR READING TIME:
11 Ways Busy People Make Time To Read - by Eva Lantsoght on Lifehack.org
How To Read Even More In 2019 by Strand bookstore
5 Ways To Find More Time To Read - by Kristin Wong on Mentalfloss.com
25 Expert Tips To Reading WAY More Books This Year - by John Rampton on Inc.com
Sarah McGuire and Fred Koehler were once both awkward teenagers who mostly grew out of it. Each draws on their unfortunate adolescence to write stories for young readers. They met at a writers conference and decided to get married. In common they share: love of travel and adventure, dogs over cats, and sci-fi movies. They most often disagree about Oxford commas, whether or not Florida has hills, and who gets the fuzzy blanket. You can find out more about Sarah at her website and Twitter, and more about Fred at his website and Twitter.
Sarah and Fred are not only both children's book creators with middle grade books coming out this month, but they're a married couple (they got married last year on St. Patrick's Day)! Here's some info about their new books, and the pros and cons of being book creator couple.
I've been using social media since before the term existed and though I am far from expert, I have learned a great deal along the way. I'm going to start posting some social media tips for authors and illustrators on my blog from time to time, in hopes of helping some of you avoid the (many) mistakes that I made.
Back in 2013, I posted an interview with Scholastic editor Celia Lee, who invited Inkygirl readers to submit picture book manuscripts for a limited time. Two book contracts came out of that, including Josh Funk's PIRASAURS! story (see my interview with Josh Funk and the illustrator, Michael Slack).
I'm delighted to interview the author of the other book that sold. Vijaya Bodach's story, Ten Easter Eggs, illustrated by Laura Logan, published by Scholastic in 2015. For those in the Mt. Pleasant, SC area, Vijaya Bodach will be doing a Ten Easter Eggs Reading at the local Barnes & Noble.
When I was a child, I remember looking around my school library and vowing to read every single book on the shelves. As a grown-up, I've discovered it can be a challenge sometimes to find time to read. I rarely get the luxury of reading an entire book at one sitting.
What I've learned: that it's not so much about finding time to read as making time to read. And as Stephen King pointed out in his On Writing book (which I'm rereading right now), writers need to make time to read. "If you don't have the time to read, then you don't have the time (or the tools) to write."
NOTE: This is an updated version of a post I made a while back. For those illustrate as well as write, feel free to use my free picture book thumbnail templates.
So many people think that short = easy, especially when it comes to picture books.
And while yes, it's easy to crank out a picture book manuscript in terms of wordcount, writing a picture book story that a publisher will want to acquire is an entirely different animal.
At this point, I can imagine a number of you leaping up and saying, "You shouldn't worry about the market! Just write the story that you were meant to write!" I partly agree.
However, if your goal is to be PUBLISHED, then I strongly advise you to go to local children's bookstore and library; I guarantee you will save yourself much heartache and wasted effort. Familiarise yourself with what's being published. Let yourself fall in love with some of these picture books and then ask yourself why you enjoy them so much.
A few common mistakes that new picture book writers make:
p>
Back in May 2013, I posted an interview with Celia Lee, an editor at Cartwheel Books / Scholastic, and Celia invited Inkygirl readers to submit manuscripts for a limited time; apparently Celia received over a thousand submissions (!). A couple of years later, I met Josh Funk at nErDcampMI and found out that he had sold one of his picture book manuscripts to Celia as a result of my Inkygirl post, and it was being illustrated by Michael Slack.
I'm thrilled that my books have been translated into French, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese, and am grateful to the Curtis Brown Translation Rights department for all their help. Jonathan Lyons and Sarah Perillo have kindly agreed to answer a few questions for me about the picture book translation rights process at Curtis Brown.
Barney Saltzberg is the author and illustrator of close to 50 books for children, including Beautiful Oops!, Arlo Needs Glasses, Andrew Drew and Drew, and the bestselling Touch and Feel Kisses series with over one million copies in print. Not only that, but he's also recorded four albums of music for young people (!). See the children's concert clip later in this post.
I was lucky enough to meet Barney at ALA earlier this year and more recently discovered his BEAUTIFUL OOPS!...I can't believe I missed this wonderful book before! Those of you who've seen my found object art demos can guess why I fell in love with this book.
(Updated September 18, 2015)
The quandary: You want to support someone's new book and as much as you'd like to buy it, you can't. Perhaps you can't justify the cost of the new book right now. Perhaps your author friend is prolific and has multiple books coming out, and you can't afford to get them all. Perhaps you have so many author and illustrator friends that if you tried to buy all their books, you'd need to sell your car first. Or your house.
Debbie Ridpath Ohi tagged authors, community, finances, illustrators, promotion in Feature articles, Promotion & Marketing
(Updated February 9, 2016)
So many people think that short = easy, especially when it comes to picture books.
And while yes, it's easy to crank out a picture book manuscript in terms of wordcount, writing a picture book story that a publisher will want to acquire is an entirely different animal.
At this point, I can imagine a number of you leaping up and saying, "You shouldn't worry about the market! Just write the story that you were meant to write!" I partly agree.
However, if your goal is to be PUBLISHED, then I strongly advise you to go to local children's bookstore and library; I guarantee you will save yourself much heartache and wasted effort. Familiarise yourself with what's being published. Let yourself fall in love with some of these picture books and then ask yourself why you enjoy them so much.
A few common mistakes that new picture book writers make:
(Also see advice for aspiring picture book authors from my Simon & Schuster Children's editor, Justin Chanda)
- Not reading many, many picture books before they try writing their own.
- Talking down to kids, using a style and language that comes across as awkward and lecture-y.
- Writing what is basically a short story rather than a picture book text. If you don't know the difference, you need to read more picture books.
- Assuming that the illustrator's job is just to draw what is in the text, and therefore including lots of detailed art notes ("Sandy's hair is blonde and her eyes are green, and she is sitting half-crouched with her hand reaching out for the rabid squirrel" etc.).
- Including lots of physical details in the text that could be shown in the illustrations, or left up to the illustrator.
- Assuming that a picture book story HAS to rhyme. Writing a good rhyming picture book is very difficult. Don't use rhyme as a crutch.
- Not reading their story out loud to make sure it IS fun to read out loud.
- Having a story that is overtly message-y, pushing a lesson the author want young readers to learn. This is a very very VERY common mistake.
- Assuming that because their grandchildren / niece / neighbor's child / students loved their story, that it's ready to send out to publishers.
- Their story won't easily fit into a standard picture book format (eg 14 pages instead of 32 or 40 pages, etc.). While it's possible to sell a non-standard format picture book, it usually costs the publisher more money....making them less likely to want to take a chance on a first-time author.
- Adding their own illustrations. If you're a professional illustrator and you're sure your style suits the story, then go for it...but be aware that publishers usually prefer choosing their own illustrators.
- Not having a unique twist or concept. It's ok to write another "Don't give in to peer pressure. Be yourself!" story as long as you do something different and fun to show editors how your story will stand out in the marketplace. Again, READ MORE PICTURE BOOKS and you'll see some great examples.
- Writing in the style of picture books that they remember reading as a child. This usually happens because they're not familiar with picture books being published today. Again, I recommend going to your library or local children's bookstore and READ MORE PICTURE BOOKS.
As you might have guessed from the above, my main piece of advice for aspiring picture book authors is to READ LOTS AND LOTS OF PICTURE BOOKS. If you don't like a picture book, ask yourself why. If you love one, figure out why. Make notes about wordcount and format. Analyze pacing and page turns. Enjoy the illustrations, look at how they complement and enhance the text.
And if you do read lots and lots of picture books and still find you don't really enjoy them, ask yourself if you should be writing one.
If you're looking for extra inspiration, I strongly encourage you to read some of the great "Why Picture Books Are Important" essays in the Picture Book Month website. If you're new to the genre and are looking for an overview of the basics of writing, illustrating and publishing children's books, visit Harold Underdown's The Purple Crayon website.
Good luck!
------
Do you disagree with any of the above? Do you have anything to add? Any other related topics you'd like me to write about? Feel free to share in the comments section.
I've been gradually updating my FAQ, including answering questions I'm frequently asked about getting into the business of writing and illustrating children's books. Here's the most recent update:
Q. You've talked about having a writing and/or illustration mentor. Do you have any advice about how I can find my own mentor?
Background to my own mentorship experience:
One of my first writing mentors was Lee Wardlaw, a Santa Barbara children's book writer who was kind enough to read one of my first novel manuscripts and critique it for me. Then she worked with me on the manuscript and eventually recommended me to her agent at Curtis Brown, Ginger Knowlton. Ginger became my agent.
I will always be grateful to Lee, who agreed to read my mss after hearing about me from my father-in-law, a friend of hers.
In illustration, I entered the SCBWI Illustration Portfolio Showcase in 2010 in L.A. and won a Mentorship Program Award. That was a different type of mentorship: as part of the program, I receive 15 minute sessions with each of the six Mentors that year. I also received permission from some of the Mentors to send them occasional questions and updates after the convention.
There is no formal application for the SCBWI Illustration Mentorship Program -- everyone who enters the Illustration Portfolio Showcase at the annual SCBWI conference in LA is considered. Here is information about the 2012 SCBWI Illustration Mentorship Program.
CANSCAIP also has a Mentorship program for aspiring children's book writers and illustrators.
How to find your own mentor:
- Decide why you want a mentor. Are you looking for specific advice? Someone to recommend you to people in the industry who might help you? etc.
- Start by asking for one (possibly two) piece(s) of specific advice. That way you can see how the information is delivered, if it makes sense to you, whether your personalities are a good match, how receptive the person is to helping you. Avoid starting with a mega-long detailed e-mail that will require a lot of time and effort to answer.
- Choose a mentor you truly respect. When you approach them for advice, explain why you are asking them specifically. Flattery helps :-) but only if it's honestly given.
- I'd advise against saying you are looking for a mentor. That implies a ton of responsibility/commitment upfront and will probably make them uncomfortable. Understand that asking someone to be your mentor is like asking someone to go steady; DON'T ask unless you already have a good relationship with that person, because it puts them in an awkward position.
- Remember that it's okay to have more than one mentor.
- Don't waste their time. Don't ask them for advice that you could have easily looked up yourself online.
- Don't assume that everything your mentor suggests is right for you. You still have to think for yourself.
- If your mentor tends to always make you feel bad about yourself, get away from them!
- If someone's advice works for you, let them know. They will appreciate the thanks and will be more likely to want to help you in the future.
- Don't take it personally if someone doesn't have time to help you. Good mentors are often very busy.
A few suggestions about where to meet potential mentors:
- Small writing or illustrator groups that interact regularly in person or online.
- Local writers' or illustrators' organizations that meet regularly.
- Conferences, then keep in touch afterward.
- Writing classes.
When people ask me, "Will you be my mentor?"
I've had aspiring writers and illustrators ask if I'll be their mentor. In almost every case, the question comes from someone I have just met, or have never met. Some offer to pay.
My answer: With my own career just starting to take off (my first children's book was published in 2012) and multiple book deadlines coming up over the next few years, I lack the time to be a proper mentor. I also find that the older I get, the more curmudgeonly, and I get impatient with those who ask basic questions whose answers could be easily found online.
While I don't have time to be a formal mentor, however, I do what I can to encourage aspiring writers and illustrators, especially those whom I like. I also try to summarize things I've learned along my career path and post them online, like my Twitter Guide For Writers and Illustrators.
I no longer have one formal mentor. Instead, I learn from several, especially the people I work with. I also am learning so much from my writer and illustrator friends, and share what I can with them as well.
Don't stress if you can't find a mentor! Attend conferences and other events where you can meet others in the industry. Form meaningful relationships. Share your own experiences and what you've learned.
Related resources:
How A Writing Mentor Can Help You - by Julie Rayl
How to Find (And Keep) A Mentor In 10 Not-So-Easy Steps
You can find the above entry in my FAQ entry: How do I find a writing or illustrator mentor?
UPDATE: To see sample illustrations, final covers, photo of me meeting Ms. Blume in person, see DebbieOhi.com/judyblume.
So in Part 1 of my Judy Blume news, I mentioned that I was thrilled to be illustrating the covers of the seven middle grade editions of classic Judy Blume novels that are being reissued by Simon & Schuster Children's.
Well, that's not all.
Just got word that I can make this public: I am also excited to be illustrating the covers of three Judy Blume classics that are being reissued as chapter books AND PROVIDING THE INTERIOR ILLUSTRATIONS AS WELL.
These books are Freckle Juice, The One In the Middle Is The Green Kangaroo and The Pain And The Great One. (***Edit May 12, 2014: Hardcover editions come out June 3rd, paperbacks on May 27th, 2014***)
My history as a Judy Blume fangirl:
Like many others reading this, I'm a longtime fan of Judy Blume's work. Her books reassured my younger, angsty self that I wasn't the only one having all these bizarre thoughts and feelings and impulses. I was way too insecure and introverted to ever talk frankly about many of these topics with anyone. Books like Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret comforted me, helped me gain the confidence to ask questions, to not feel so much like a freak. Reading her books, it seemed as if Judy Blume knew me.
My sister helped introduce some of Judy Blume's work to me, like Deenie. Ruth read the book just before she was diagnosed with scoliosis herself, and told me later that Deenie's experiences with wearing a Milwaukee Brace were very similar to hers. "Except I didn't have a guy fall in love with me while I wore mine. :-)"
At the SCBWI Summer conference in 2011, Judy Blume was on the faculty and I was struck by her down-to-earth good humor and easygoing manner. I was too nervous to consider approaching her during the weekend, but as I was about to head off to the airport, I came across Richard Peck and Ms. Blume in front of the hotel. On impulse, I asked if they minded if I snapped a photo and they kindly agreed:
Fast-forward two and a half years later. LOOK what Judy Blume tweeted a few days ago:
I have, of course, printed this tweet out and put it up in my office. I'm also going to print out and laminate a smaller version which I plan to carry around with me FOREVER, to remind myself that childhood dreams sometimes do come true.
How I became the illustrator of Judy Blume's revamped middle grade & chapter books:
On Dec. 19, Justin Chanda (my editor at Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers and also publisher) emailed to see if I was interested in auditioning for a book project "of great proportions" but that also had a very tight deadline. Intrigued, I said I was interested. Here is a transcript of the email exchange that followed...
---- Transcript begins ------
9:07 pm, JUSTIN:
Did you perhaps read Judy Blume growing up?
9:08 pm, ME:
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGHOMHOG
OMG
9:10 pm, JUSTIN:
Ok good. We'll talk tomorrow morning.
9:11 pm, ME:
OMGOMGOMGIMGOGGGGG
Very much looking forward to chatting tomorrow
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
---- Transcript ends ------
What I needed to do: come up with cover illustration sketch ideas for three of the books. Justin and I brainstormed and I also had notes from brainstorming sessions that took place at S&S Children's with Namrata Tripathi. Thanks also to some of my Torkidlit friends (whom I swore to secrecy) and a few others for helping me come up with some extra sketch ideas.
I had been warned that I may not get the job, so I knew that there was a good chance I'd be working through the holiday season and still get passed over, but I couldn't say no. I mean....JUDY BLUME!!!
Shortly after I began sketches, however, the Toronto ice storm hit and we lost power in our house. My friend, Cathy Rutland, came to the rescue and offered to let me stay at her apartment until our power came back on. Jeff (MY HERO) took a break from trying to keep our water pipes from freezing and moved my scanner, iMac, Wacom stuff and other hardware I needed over to Cathy's apartment.
Meanwhile, Justin and I were in constant touch. He and I were exchanging emails, sketches, feedback on sketches pretty much every day throughout the holidays except for Christmas Day and New Year's. [Correction: Justin reminded me that we actually did exchange email on New Year's as well. :-)]
Because the books were coming out in April and they had not yet found the right illustrator, timing was tight. I estimate I drew over 150 sketches during that time and sent Justin 50 of those. When everyone else got back after the holidays, I continued the brainstorming and sketching process with Justin, Dan Potash, Namrata Tripathi and Lauren Rille.
Side note: I've noticed some mistakenly think that I did the cover redesign. I want to emphasize that Lauren Rille did the wonderful new cover designs, not me. I just provided the illustrations.
Up to this point, I had mainly been focusing on hand-drawn sketches that I scanned into Photoshop, but Dan Potash asked if I could redraw some of their favorites into vector-line style. This wasn't my usual illustration style but I love creative challenges. :-)
Finally we came up with some cover samples that were good enough to send to Judy Blume, and then I waited to hear if she liked them or not. This is when I posted the following on Facebook:
The waiting was AGONY. I was such an airhead at home, forgetting where I put things, only half paying attention to what was going on around me. I burned meals. I also put dish soap in the rinse agent compartment of our dishwasher....there were suds everywhere! Jeff was incredibly patient. :-)
Justin called me on January 16th, 2014. I remember noticing the 212 area code and immediately thinking newyorknewyorkohpleaseohplease and then picking up the phone and JUSTIN TOLD ME THAT JUDY BLUME LOVED THE COVERS YAAAAAAAAY *AND* that they wanted me to also do the interior illustrations for the three chapter books. (!!!!)
I freaked out. I became aware I had started screaming at Justin, tried to calm down and be professional, but then started screaming again. At one point, he had to reassure me that "Yes, this is really happening." After the call, I immediately called Jeff at work and screamed at him and then I emailed my sister and my agent at Curtis Brown, Ginger Knowlton (by that point my throat was sore from all that screaming :-)).
Some of you may have seen my "Blooming" found object doodle recently:
The material came from a congratulatory bouquet of flowers from my friend Cathy, who said they were blooms for my Blume news. :-)
And this brings me to why I can't attend SCBWI-NYC this coming week:
Because the chapter books are coming out in May, the deadline is tight. Cover details are still being tweaked. And I've been madly working on the b&w interior illustrations, which need to be finished in the next couple of weeks. I'm using a much looser illustration style for the interiors; I'll post samples when I can.
I had to cancel my trip to NYC and the SCBWI Winter Conference and have been working through weekends and many evenings, turning down social invites. Jeff treks down to my basement office every once in a while to check on how I'm doing. He and I have been getting takeout a lot lately.
But every so often I'll force myself to press pause, sit back and appreciate the moment. I AM ILLUSTRATING BOOKS BY JUDY BLUME.
JUDY BLUME.
My husband has gotten used to me sending him random texts during the day consisting of just the following:
Early in the process, Lauren Rille and I were chatting about being Judy Blume fangirls, and how absolutely COOL it was we got to read and reread Judy Blume books and say it was part of work.
One thing I noticed as I was rereading her books: Judy Blume books are as relevant and inspiring now as they were years ago, dealing with universal issues and feelings while growing up. At the L.A. Times Festival Of Books, Judy Blume had advice for grown-up fans of her work who want to introduce their children to her books.
"First, invest in one with a new cover," she says. "Even if you like the old, original covers. Second, don't give it to them. Just leave the books strategically placed around the house and then occasionally say: 'Oh no, you're not reading that -- you're not ready for it yet.' " Heh.
You can find out more about Judy Blume and her work at JudyBlume.com, including tips for aspiring writers.
Meanwhile, I'd better get back to work. THANK YOU for all the kind words, congratulatory messages and encouragement. They are so much appreciated.
