Well, hi there.
It’s been a while since we last talked.
Let’s do a quick catch up…
The Big Apple
A few weeks ago I spent a few days in NYC.
Maybe you remember that the last book I illustrated won an award? I wrote a post about it, here.
I was invited by the John Burroughs Association to their annual luncheon, where I got to meet the other authors and illustrators who were being honored. Best of all I got to meet Becky, who authored our book. We had never met in person before, so it was very fun to be together in real life. Too bad we don’t live near one another because I’m pretty sure we would be friends. We even had to give some brief remarks, which was only slightly nerve-racking. Mostly because I didn’t really plan for it much ahead of time. But all went smoothly, and it was a fun time. The event took place at the Yale Club, and we got to stay there as well. There was even a dress code. Fancy!
Some other things we did in the city…
We went to a stand-up comedy show in a barbershop. Five stars.
We ate what some consider to be the best NYC pizza. I can confirm that it was very good.
We visited the JP Morgan library where I got to see the Beatrix Potter exhibit. Yes, as in Beatrix Potter, the ORIGINAL children’s book author/illustrator. It was full of so many of her sketches, and original paintings for all of her classic books, like Peter Rabbit.
She was very drawn to nature and loved to draw. She started her career as an illustrator by designing greeting cards, and then went on to write and illustrate picture books. I felt such a strong kinship with her as I was walking through the exhibit and reading about her life. It was delightful.
We also made a stop at Bemelman’s Bar in the Carlyle Hotel, which had been on my NYC to do list for a while. Why? The walls in Bemelman’s feature the most delightful mural, which was painted by Ludwig Bemelman, himself. You might know him as the one who wrote and illustrated the classic Madeline books. It had so much character, and was very classy, and I could have stayed in there for hours.
And then, right before we had to jump in a cab to the airport, the stars aligned and I got to meet up with my literary agent, Hannah. Our schedules in the city only overlapped for a couple of hours, but everything worked out and we got to see one another in person for the first time. It was great. We had a fantastic chat. My only regret is that we didn’t take a photo together. We parted ways right in front of the steps of the big NY Public Library. Seriously, what were we thinking? A missed opportunity if I’ve ever known one.
Next time!
The Big Pitch
For the past bunch of months I’ve been working (very hard) on my own author/illustrated picture book. It’s about to be pitched to publishers.
Gah!
I’m hesitating even mentioning it, and I don’t want to say too much about it at this point, because I don’t want to jinx it. But a lot of time and effort has gone into trying to make a seed of an idea into hopefully what is a funny, clever, and timely story.
It’s gone through so many steps and iterations so far. When I say I’ve written a story, what I really mean is that I’ve been trying out so many different dialogue and narration styles, storyboarding, working on the pacing, trying to figure out the pagination, refining, making sketches and re-working compositions, refining, designing the characters and developing the illustration style, refining, narrowing down the color palette and hoping it all works together. Plus some more things.
At this point I’ve been second guessing SO many aspects of it knowing that very soon it is going to land on the desk of editors who may or may not like it. My imposter syndrome has been kicking in strong lately and my brain keeps saying “how is anyone going to like this crazy story that I came up with in my head, and will want to print thousands of copies for people in the real world to buy, and read to their kids, and keep in their homes?”
Luckily my (previously mentioned) agent is the absolute best, and has been nothing but encouraging and excited about what we have developed. I’m so glad we are on the same team and that I have her to lead me through this whole submission process.
Anyway.
That’s happening very soon, and it seems sort of big.
I’ll keep you posted.
What’s going on in your world?
Are you excited about watching the summer Olympics? (I AM.)
Have you read any good books lately that you need to recommend?
Tell me some news!
I'm excited for your book!!!!
I can’t wait for the Olympics! Allie and I just watched the gymnastics trials tonight!