I have STAMPS available at The Greeting Farm!!


Big News! December 1st will mark the debut of my first three RUBBER STAMPS available through The Greeting Farm! Woohoo!
     All you stampers, scrap-bookers and card-makers out there have been so awesome sending me the wonderful designs you make with my coloring pages. (And you've been so respectful of my copyright guidelines - thank you!) But with all the designs you send me, you often ask 'when will your images be available as stamps!?'
     Well, I finally teamed up with the creative minds at The Greeting Farm and you can now purchase my
Library Mouse:

Victorian Reader:

and (drum roll please) Reading Fairy (my most popular image by far):

as RUBBER STAMPS!!!
     TGR did a great shout-out by way of introduction in their latest newsletter which you can read here. Yay! Need some inspiration? You can also see some wonderful creations made using my stamps HERE.
     I'm anxious to hear what y'all think - so please leave a comment!

This Into That


It's a sad thought, but some books do eventually see the trash heap, or a shredder, or... shivers. But not the books that find Jim Rosenau at This Into That. His books find new lives dedicated to helping other books... or sometimes just as art!
Thanks to Luan Stauss of Laurel Book Store in Oakland, California for the link!

True Blood


No, I haven't seen Twilight New Moon yet - although I'm sure I will. And I've only been able to sit through one episode of HBO's Tru Blood.

But has our addiction to Vampires gone too far? Soon we'll be able to drink the same 'blood' Vampires do, Tru Blood, when they don't want to feed on humans, that is. It's supposedly a lightly carbonated blood orange drink. Hm.

What I want to know is, is the drink high in iron?

Inkpop


Wow. Have you seen inkpop? It's a new forum created by HarperCollins to let their teen community choose which books they consider for publication - and it's a completely radical idea. Submitters post their books (finished or not) and readers comment. The most popular books move up in the rankings and once a month the top five choices are reviewed by the publisher. Talk about a new way to do things. And such different interaction with readers! They're reading and they're actually having a say on what will become a physical book. Trippy. Very, very trippy. Could this be the future of publishing?

Bunny Architecture


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
You know how I loves me some wonky houses at dulemba.com - like this, and this, and this (and maybe this too) - well, here's something to strive for...
Thanks to Cute Overload for the image.

Today I give thanks for all of you, my readers. Your support and emails have meant SO MUCH to me over the years I can't begin to express my appreciation. I hope you and those you love have a wonderful holiday!!

Thanksgiving - the real story

The history of our Thanksgiving holiday is a complicated one. Not all Americans celebrate it as a day of thanks. And if your school was like mine was when I was a kid, only a portion of the history surrounding the holiday was shared.

But despite the consequences that came about because Native people helped our ancestors survive their first years on American soil - there was, for a moment, true peace and good will.

As we give thanks for the things we value in our lives tomorrow, it's important to try to understand the nuances and history of this holiday. The National Museum of the American Indian has created some teaching materials to do just that - "Harvest Ceremony: Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth."

Thanks to School Library Journal for the link.

Coloring Page Tuesday! - Tofu Turkey

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     The holiday of elastic pants encroacheth.
     Gotta say, even though I'm not a vegetarian, it's the veggies that rock my boat at Thanksgiving - green bean casserole, root veggies, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, cranberry sauce. Okay, not all are veggies but you get my meaning. I'm all about the support dishes - yum!
     P.S. - Y'all feel free to change this turkey's message to one that works for your needs.
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send me your colored version (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages and subscribe to receive weekly alerts when new images become available.


     Click the covers to learn about my newest picture book, Soap, soap, soap and Soap, soap, soap ~ Jabón, jabón, jabón.

Seth Godin at TOC


Seth Godin, "10 Bestsellers: Using New Media, New Marketing, and New Thinking to Create 10 Bestsellers" at the 2009 O'Reilly Tools of Change Conference for Publishing.
     Y'know, I've thought of this speech so many times since I first heard it. I've quoted it, I've told friends about it. And it's pretty much changed how I think of books. So I figured it was time to share it here.
     And between this and a conversation I had with friends the other day - I don't think there's any technology out there that is going to replace the book. I do, however, think that how we think of books will change. Of course, in the end it all comes down to content - and for writers, that should lend some sense of empowerment and security. Now if we can just figure out how to make a living at doing what we love!

GelaSkins - Create your own mobile art


I've been following GelaSkins for some time now. Partly because I think their product is a cool idea (art you can attach to your cell phone or laptop), and partly because they feature some really interesting artists. Well now they're representing all of us. You can now create your own GelaSkin. How cool is that? You could have the cover of your book on your laptop, or a family photo on your cell phone. Or you could just get a skin by some of their wonderful artists. I like using the images for my iPhone wallpaper. Pretty groovy.

How I Work


I recently received an email from Cathy F. asking about my current equipment set-up and method. It's been a while since I talked about it, and I recently upgraded, so I thought I'd reply publicly....
     For those who have any idea what this means... I currently work on a Mac Pro Tower OSX Version 10.5.8, 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor, 10 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 Memory (the tower is beyond the end of my desk - somewhat hidden) with a 9x12" Intuos 3 Wacom Tablet and dual monitors (one is an Apple Cinema Display). I often lean my Wacom tablet against the edge of my desk like I would a drawing pad - I like that it keeps my head up rather than leaning over a drawing table. My foot rest was made by my Grandmother - I love it. I use Adobe Photoshop CS4 and while I still have Painter IX, I've been staying in Photoshop lately - playing with all their cool new brushes.

     My scanner/printer is behind my chair on top of one of my filing cabinets, and our music server is behind me. Along with my bulletin boards which play backdrops in my YouTube videos, and "Winnie" - my favorite teddy-bear growing up (I crocheted him that sweater). Oh, and I used iMovie and Photoshop to create my book trailer for SOAP, SOAP, SOAP.
     As for method - I still often sketch by hand - with separate elements all wonky over a page. I scan and arrange my compositions in Photoshop. Although more and more I'm drawing directly into my computer (in Photoshop). I work at 100%, 300ppi, usually in RGB and switch to CMYK later (this is a carry over from working with Painter which in my version doesn't support CMYK). I send my art files to my Art Directors either on DVD, via FTP or through YouSendIt.com.

     This is an example of the manuscript, thumbnail sketches and those wonky all-over-the place sketches from my latest picture book Soap, soap, soap. Once finished, I hold them together with a bulldog clip and keep them in a bureau drawer in my office closet.
     As far as my website - I designed it myself in Photoshop and upload everything through Dreamweaver. I lean on that program VERY heavily. I still host through directnic.com although I may be asking too much of them lately.
     I send out my weekly "COLORING PAGE TUESDAY ALERTS" and my every-now-and-then "e's news" using YourMailingListProvider.com.
     So, that's it - this is my cave and where I play. I love my space, and my toys and sharing them with you!

My SCBWI Speakers Bureau Video is LIVE!

At this summer's SCBWI National conference in LA, several of us had the opportunity to shoot video to be posted in the new SCBWI Speaker's Bureau. Mine just went live! Have a looksie... (hubbie says I'm a goof). Click here to learn more about my speaking engagements! :)


Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2009


The New York Times recently put out their list of "Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2009" - in their opinion. Some of the choices I whole-heartedly agree with (like "Tales from Outer Suburbia" by Shaun Tan - above), but as usual, some have me stumped. What's your opinion?

Savannah Children's Book Festival Wrap-Up

The weather was perfect, the crowds were huge. It couldn't have been a better weekend for book lovers and readers at the Savannah Children's Book Festival this past weekend.
     Friday evening the Live Oaks Library threw a low-country boil with some of the best shrimp I've ever had. They also let us illustrators loose in a special corner of the kids library - we got to draw on the walls. That knight needed a dragon by golly!

     Here I am with Joe Davich of the Georgia Center for the book, and my kind hostess Janet Langford:

     I also got to hang with talents Miss Rosa, Kyle Puttkammer, Antonio Sacre, Charles R. Smith Jr., Michael White, Dave Biedrzycki, Lucy Nolan, and Laurel Snyder.
     It was also cool to see our Storybook Look show at the library - and Liz's work.

     I spoke twice on Saturday. Hubbie says I'm a goof - I have no idea what he means....

and the day was a huge success for everybody, including the SCBWI Southern Breeze tent run by Daniel Powers, Susan Spain and PJ Shaw. We all had dinner that night (with Daniel's wife Silke too). What a great, great day.
     Sunday, Stan and I wandered around downtown, found a great breakfast place, then meandered home. *sigh* All weekends should be this good.

Want to get a feel for what the festival was like? Kyle Puttkammer shot some great video of his Galaxy Man table and the fantastic crowds. See it HERE.

Coloring Page Tuesday! - Turkey Chef

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     Thanksgiving is coming! Are you going to cook a feast? What's your favorite dish?
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send me your colored version (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages and subscribe to receive weekly alerts when new images become available.


     Click the covers to learn about my newest picture book, Soap, soap, soap and Soap, soap, soap ~ Jabón, jabón, jabón.


Check out this fantastic card by Vicky G.!

SOAP is the featured book trailer on FiledBy!


Have you heard of filedby? They're trying to build a database of all authors and I signed up for my "free" page (you get more features if you pay). Well, the guys at filedby have been showing me some serious love and I'm so flattered. My page on their site was featured in their latest email newsletter and my book trailer for SOAP, SOAP, SOAP is the featured trailer on their home page right now!
So, have you checked out filedby? What do you think????

Cory Doctorow Does it Again

Have you heard of Cory Doctorow, author of the smash YA, LITTLE BROTHER (2008), and creator of BoingBoing? Well, he's been turning publishing on its head for some time now. And he has a new book coming out, WITH A LITTLE HELP. Once again his marketing approach is ... unconventional to say the least. Of course, that's the point. Read about his marketing strategy for WITH A LITTLE HELP at E-Reads: What Can Publishers Learn from Cory Doctorow? And follow up with the sales progress at none other than Publishers Weekly: Doctorow's Project: With a Little Help.
     Whether you agree with his methods or not, you have to pay attention. He's paving new ground.

Need Books? We The People Grant


Per School Library Journal, here's a grant opportunity to apply for this year's collection of books (this year's theme is "A More Perfect Union") from the National Endowment for the Humanities: We the People Bookshelf Grant Opportunity. The collection will be distributed to 4,000 K-12 schools and libraries. Deadline is January 29th, so git on it! Very cool.

Guest at Cynsations and Happy Accidents!!

Woosie - big day on Thursday! I was once again a guest blogger at Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations. This time the subject is "Writing Bilingual Books." It's a specific genre with specific needs, but it's an exciting market right now. I hope you'll go read!

Miss my first guest blog post? Read about My Marketing Strategy: The Snowball Effect at Cynsations. See my shout-out for Cynthia here.

I was also interviewed by Greg Pincus at Happy Accidents about my new iPhone Picture Book App, Lula's Brew!!


     Learn about my bilingual picture book Paco and the Giant Chile Plant ~ Paco y la planta de chile gigante - click the cover.

     Click the iPhone to learn about my new app - Lula's Brew!

Speaking at the Savannah Children's Book Festival!



     I'll be speaking at the Savannah Children's Book Festival, this Saturday! ... November 14th in Savannah, Georgia (2 times: 12:00pm in tent #10 and, 3:00 in tent #12). If you live nearby, I hope you'll come join me!

     Click the cover to learn about the book I'll be featuring, Soap, soap, soap and Soap, soap, soap ~ Jabón, jabón, jabón.

Fuse #8 - Children's Lit Blogger on Blogging


Great article in SLJ, This Blog's for You: Ten of the best blogs for folks who take kids' lit seriously (but not too seriously), written by the infamous Elizabeth (Betsy) Bird, Children's Book Librarian.
     I've been following Betsy's blog Fuse #8 for YEARS now and she's turned blogging and children's book reviews on their head in that time. In this article she talks about the beginning of her blog, her favorite blogs to follow now, and the impact of blogging on the children's lit world in general. Good read.

Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street!!


Double post today because it's all good stuff! Sesame Street turns 40!!! And you can see a celebratory montage of some of their favorites clips at HULU.com. It kicks off with Andrea Bocelli.

Coloring Page Tuesday! - Wise Owl

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     Every wise owl knows, reading is the path to wisdom.
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send me your colored version (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages and subscribe to receive weekly alerts when new images become available. Click here to see how this week's alert looked to subscribers.


     Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book, Soap, soap, soap and Soap, soap, soap ~ Jabón, jabón, jabón.


Look what Lorraine made!


Look what Rufus made for Operation Write Home:

Technical Difficulties

My hosting company is upgrading their servers right now (should be finished some time Tuesday) so please forgive any functioning delays or slow page-loads at Dulemba.com until they're finished. This is temporary - I promise!
P.S. - If you are actually subscribed to Coloring Page Tuesdays you should have received this week's coloring page without interruption.

Featured Author in Kidsville News!

Do you read Kidsville News? In several of their regions across the country I am featured in their "Dear Author" segment this month to help promote Soap, soap, soap and general hygeine - very important during this Swine Flu season!
     Thanks to Kim Norman, friend, author, and editor, for the fantastic shout-out!
 (Click the image below to see a larger version.)

I Love You too!



Thanks to all my readers at dulemba.com - I .... what Mishka said!
(Thanks to Cute Overload for the link.)

My Marketing Strategy: The Snowball Effect at Cynsations!

Friday I had the honor of being a guest blogger at Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations! She asked me to share my marketing strategy. And since I get a lot of questions from you guys about exactly that - I hope you'll go have a read:
Guest Post Elizabeth O. Dulemba on Marketing - The Snowball Effect.
     But that's not all! Cynthia is also giving away a signed copy of SOAP, SOAP, SOAP (all-English or Bilingual)! Click Here to enter the drawing! (Told ya there would be more giveaways!)
     Cynthia Leitich Smith is the author of the FABULOSO novels TANTALIZE and ETERNAL. (Click the titles to view some very cool book trailers.) As well as RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME and many others.

     Cynthia and I met at the SCBWI LA conference a few years back and I have so appreciated her support of my career. She's also one of the most popular bloggers on children's lit today. So look around and learn more about her!


     Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book, Soap, soap, soap and Soap, soap, soap ~ Jabón, jabón, jabón.

National Bookstore Day!


National Bookstore Day is tomorrow!!! It's sponsored by Publishers Weekly to help drive traffic to bookstores as sellers gear up for the holiday book-buying season. And what better way to show love than to share a book? Go visit your local bookseller this weekend!!!

MG vs. YA?


The authors at MiG Writers recently shared a FANTASTIC post about the difference between MG (Mid-grade) and YA (Young Adult) fiction: MG vs YA fiction: What's the Difference?
     It includes this funny cartoon by Debbie Ohi. Remember Debbie? She did that awesome comic strip of me during my Soap, Soap, Soap blog tour?
     So, if you ever wondered what age range your novel falls into - maybe you'll find an answer there!
     (Thanks to Anastasia Suen for this heads up... )

Kirby Larson's NUBS (THE TRUE STORY OF A MUTT, A MARINE, AND A MIRACLE)

Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery have created a story about a wonderful dog who finds the perfect human, but goes through some serious trials to stay with him (Major Brian Dennis). I dare you to keep a dry eye as you read NUBS (THE TRUE STORY OF A MUTT, A MARINE, AND A MIRACLE). Today, I ask Kirby about her latest picture book (which is already getting RAVE reviews).

Q. You've done it again Kirby - you've written a story that brought me to tears. How did you first hear about Nubs?

A. It was all thanks to Mary. We loved collaborating together on Two Bobbies and were looking for another project. She was convinced that we could find a story similar to the Bobs, but this time set in Iraq and, five minutes after she made herself a note to that effect, her husband walked out of his home office with a newspaper article about Nubs and Major Brian Dennis. He said, "I think this is a story you and Kirby would like." She called me and we got on it immediately. Since Brian was still deployed in Iraq, it took us a few months to make contact with him. But in June 2008, after he had returned home, we flew to San Diego to talk with him about the possibility of writing the book. Nubs fell in love with us -- partly in thanks to the Bow-Wow-Wonie Mary brought him -- and that sealed the deal as far as Brian was concerned.

Q. This is an unconventional picture book with all the photography and military geography. Did it present any interesting obstacles to create?

A. I doubt there is a book written that doesn't require wrestling with obstacles! ;-) The biggest challenge was that, if we had only known what Nubs had up his sleeve, we would have fitted him with a camera so that we'd know what he saw and experienced during his 70 mile trek across the desert! We had photos of every aspect of the story except the journey. The second biggest challenge was for the Little Brown art director, Patti Ann Harris, who had to work her magic to convert all of those amateur snapshots to resolutions/quality levels that could be printed in the book. We have no idea how she accomplished this huge task but we're certain it has earned her sainthood. For Mary and I, the biggest challenge was gathering both photos and the permissions to use them from Brian's team, which was dispersed after their mission.

Q. Have you met Nubs? Tell me about it!

A. We have met Nubs who is much smaller in person than you would think. He looks like a German Shepherd but he is much more petite. He's not all that much bigger than my neighbor's beagle (and certainly slimmer). Mary and I drove up to Brian's house and Nubs greeted us at the door. As I mentioned above, Mary charmed him with the doggy brownie and from that moment on, he was our buddy. He is very sweet and smart and oh-so handsome.

Q. This is a wonderful companion book to your last one, Two Bobbies. Do you plan to do more books about rescued animals?

A. We do plan on writing other books together and we know they will continue in the nonfiction vein and feature animals in some way, but perhaps not necessarily rescued animals (though, to be accurate, Nubs was as much rescuer as he was rescued!). Right now, however, I have a book deadline looming so we've put our joint work on hold for a bit.

Q. How have these stories affected you?

A. They have affected me in countless ways, but I'll share three. First, I gained a new appreciation for how animals can help us be the best we can be. Second, we receive emails every single day from people impacted by these stories -- most of them adults. I have been amazed by the way these books created with children in mind have touched readers of all ages. Third. . .well, I'll attach a photo to answer that. After 34 years of married life without a dog, we now are owned by one.

I want to thank Little Brown for making a generous donation to the ASPCA as part of their participation in this book, and Mary Nethery for being the Charlotte to my Wilbur. And I want to thank you for this chance to chat!

Kirby

Thanks so much and I can't wait to tell everybody about Nubs!

Thanks again to Kirby Larson for appearing, courtesy of Provato Marketing, for other stops on the tour please check www.provatoevents.com.

Coloring Page Tuesday! - Leaf Canoe

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     We're well into the browns and oranges and yellows of the year. Leaves float to the ground and have all sorts of uses you may not have known about...
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send me your colored version (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.


     Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book, Soap, soap, soap and Soap, soap, soap ~ Jabón, jabón, jabón.

COMBO by Blue and David Ellis



WOW. In a similar vein to the Strawberry Swing animation for Coldplay, this one goes even further. AMAZING. It loops twice if it gets too long for you. (Thanks to Cheryl Noll for the link.)