Soooo… about a year and a half ago, Tony and I started thinking about making a book trailer for Harbinger. Since we live in LA, a lot of our friends work in movies, tv, and video games. So it seemed like a crime not to make a live-action, movie-style trailer. Plus, it’d be easy, right?? [...]
(100) DAYS OF HARBINGER
October 24, 2011 – 12:26 pm
Take a look at the countdown at the top of this page… 100 DAYS TILL HARBINGER, BABY! And we’re gonna live it up… with 4 months worth of Harbinger extras! 24 incredible illustrators and artists have created Harbinger-inspired artwork to give you a taste of Faye’s world (and to generally rub it in that they’ve [...]
Kid Lit Costume Party!
October 23, 2011 – 3:02 pm
In a follow-up to my post about community, I thought I’d share a few pictures from the Kid Lit costume party last night. Mischief was definitely afoot at the Wellesbourne Saturday Night! So good to see all these [...]
A writing cave full of friends
October 21, 2011 – 1:36 pm
Your writing cave can be a dark and lonely place. Unless you’re careful, you’ll end up huddled in a damp corner, trying desperately to light a fire, your own voice echoing against the wall. That is why a vital part of writing is finding a community. I will not deny that Facebook and G+ and [...]
ARCs!
July 22, 2011 – 12:27 am
Recently, a couple boxes arrived on my doorstep. Everyone was wondering what was in them. Those of us with opposable thumbs decided to investigate. We were all very excited. Ta-dah!!!!! Check out my G+ profile pics to see [...]
Happy Surprises and Covers!!
July 13, 2011 – 11:41 pm
Some of the best parts about getting your first book published are the surprises. The out-of-the blue, WOW, amazing stuff that you never even dreamed about cause you couldn’t even imagine it happening. Like: AMAZING blurbs by awe-inspiring authors… Tamora Pierce and Lisa McMann. Like: Getting an author profile on Goodreads that posts your blog [...]
Outside of Perfect
October 25, 2010 – 6:25 pm
I’ve spent the last month and a half revising my novel and I’m completely and totally in a revision daze. My head is thoroughly stuck inside my own strange fictional world. And I’ve been working hard to make it as real for other people as it is for me, as clear and believable and perfect [...]
Revolution!
August 18, 2010 – 4:26 pm
Recently, I spent an awesome long weekend at the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Summer Conference. Four days of chatting, listening, and dancing with a thousand other people who are used to spending our days in our caves perfecting sentences and sketches. This is a group of people who know that picture books [...]
Tough flowers
May 21, 2010 – 6:06 pm
The other day I visited the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. This is pretty much a stretch of hills in the middle of nowhere that is blanketed in orange poppies. It’s an incredible sight, reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz, with orange colored fields stretching into the distance. But the stunning thing to me is that [...]
Tears or Glitter?
April 25, 2010 – 5:19 pm
This weekend I had the privilege of hearing Kate DiCamillo (Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux) speak at the LA Times Festival of Books. She was one of those wonderful authors whose real-world presence is exactly the same as her writing presence. She speaks with the same quiet, humorous confidence that comes across [...]
One Penguin at a Time…
September 30, 2009 – 2:54 pm
Doesn’t this picture make you ANGRY! I mean how dare donkeys go to the police with their problems! Do they even pay taxes? What? Oh. What I meant was how dare William Steig portray the police as pigs! That is outrageous. And this poem… it just really gets under my skin. Clearly, it’s teaching materialism [...]
S.W.A.K.
September 23, 2009 – 7:04 pm
There’s nothing that captures the imagination like hidden surprises lurking in ordinary objects. Wardrobes that lead to secret worlds. Keys tucked into stone walls that open secret gardens. I spent my childhood, (okay, let’s face it… my whole life) looking for the mysteries that are right in front of our noses. So when I visited [...]
Laptop Noir: Part Deux
September 18, 2009 – 10:10 am
One broken hard drive. One stripped screw. One man with a mission… Laptop Noir: Part Deux Tools: Pliers, business card, hammer, screwdriver, drill. Time: 2 Days, 2 fed-ex packages, and 1 trip to Home Depot. Who: Previously mentioned Uber-Geek:Wizard of Ingenuity *No dogs were harmed in the making of this film*
SCBWI Conference ’09
August 13, 2009 – 8:43 pm
Another SCBWI Summer Conference come and gone! This year, I won’t bother to summarize what happened, since that’s already done so beautifully by the SCBWI ‘Team Blog.’ Thanks you guys! Instead, I’ll give an illustrated version of a few moments that really struck me. I’ve stolen most of the beautiful pictures and illustrations from other [...]
Collect Them All!
August 5, 2009 – 6:00 am
So… as I may have casually mentioned… THE SCBWI SUMMER CONFERENCE IS COMING! For me, this means checking out great stacks of books from the library, doing my homework on editors, and hitting the thrift store for clothes that say, ‘I’m professional, yet artsy, and you should give me a heap of money.’ I’ve never [...]
Comic-Con 2009
July 30, 2009 – 2:18 pm
Mid-July always feels like christmas to me. That is, if Santa was a Trekkie who loved kids’ books. July means Comic-Con and right on its heels comes the SCBWI Summer Conference. I can’t imagine any two events more saturated with great minds, creative talent, and genuine inspiration. So it was with a huge grin on [...]
Summer (conference) Reading
July 22, 2009 – 11:37 am
When I was a kid, my library, like many others, had a summer reading program. Every book I read racked up points towards stickers or McDonalds french fries or, my most coveted prize of all, the knotted pencil. How did they even do that?? It was the highlight of my summer and I always read [...]
Field Trip!
July 15, 2009 – 5:57 pm
There’s nothing like a field trip to break out of the routine and make some trouble. Today, a group of illustrator/writer friends of mine packed our lunches, got on the bus, and descended upon the best kids’ book store in LA. And by “the bus,” I mean our gumless, bully-free cars. And by “packed our [...]
Kite Tales RULZ!
April 1, 2009 – 11:54 pm
Welcome Kite Tales readers and other nefarious individuals! If you haven’t read the Spring 2009 issue of Kite Tales… hop to it. Especially page 24 (and 23). All the cool kids are reading it. You wanna be a cool, don’t you?
Dead Leaves and Surprise Guests
October 1, 2008 – 5:00 am
I’ve never been a gardener, but when I moved 8 months ago, my mom came out for my birthday and helped me plant a gorgeous garden. Purples and blues and pinks rioted in front of my house. I have to say I was a bit perplexed when I saw the result. It was beautiful, but [...]
