Coloring Page Tuesday - Reading Witch

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     So how does a witch curl up with a good book? On her broom of course!
     Have you ever done that? You're so in to what you're reading, you just can't put it down, no matter what your doing?
     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!
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SCBWI Southern Breeze Fall Conference '08

     Wow, what a fabulous weekend. Roomie, traveling buddy, and fellow illustrator, Liz Conrad, and I kept running through the experience on the ride home and all we could say was how perfect it had all been.
     The drive to Birmingham was rainy, but warm smiles met us upon our arrival. We've been doing this for a while now, so the conference has become an excuse to hang out with wonderful friends.
     The Friday night parties were a fun kick-off. There we met our visiting speakers: Martha Mihalick, editor from Greenwillow; Andrea Welch, editor from the new Beach Lane Books; Laurent Linn, Art Director from Simon & Schuster; Paul Fleishman, award-winning author; Harold Underdown, author, editor and mentor to so many; and Lindsay Davis, agent at Writer's House. I had the great pleasure of getting to know them as the weekend progressed, and found them all to be such warm, intelligent, and talented people. I wish I lived in New York (or California) so I could actually hang out and get to know them better!
     Since Liz was Laurent's angel for the weekend, we especially got to spend a good amount of time with him and I feel like I made a new friend - what a genuinely kind and wonderful person!
     I didn't take ONE picture - gads! (If anybody else did - please share and I'll post links!) So, I hope you'll enjoy a quick video of Feist on the Sesame Street set - home to Laurent for many years. (Click the image.)

     My talk, "An Illustrator's Guide to Self-Promotion (on the Cheap!)" went well, as did our informal portfolio critiques. I was also able to enjoy several other sessions...
     Paul Fleischman equated writing to creating found object sculptures - another of his passions - during his keynote address. Two great quotes: "Serendipity is one of the four food groups"; and "Readers don't realize when they're picking up a book, they are just picking up the tip of the iceberg." So true!
     Laurent talked about the various categories of picture books, focusing on GLASS SLIPPER, GOLDEN SANDAL, (written by Mr. Fleischman, illustrated by Julie Paschkis). This is a Cinderella story told by tying together the various versions from all over the world. Did you know that every culture in the world has a Cinderella story? If you follow my blog, you probably know how fascinated I am by folklore history like this - it's part of why I was so excited to illustrate my first picture book, THE PRINCE'S DIARY, a Cinderella story from the Prince's point of view.
     Laurent also focused on LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN, written by Marisa Montes, illustrated by Yuyi Morales. This is currently my favorite picture book - I keep it on my desk for inspiration while working on my next picture book, "Soap, soap, soap!"
     Martha Mihalick talked about "Worlds within worlds" and also referenced several of my favorite books. It always amazes me to learn new things after attending so many conferences - but sure enough, Martha gave me a new way to describe setting through the people within it. I also enjoyed learning more about Greenwillow (one of my favorite houses). They take chances and turn out some of the best work out there. They also like author/illustrators, so of course I'm a bit biased!
     Andrea Welch gave tips for following up on sent manuscripts and also talked about her new company, Beach Lane Books, headed up by Allyn Johnston. When Harcourt was purchased by Houghton Mifflin, and the west coast office shut down, everybody worried about the future of Allyn Johnston and her talented team of people. From the outside, it was obvious they wouldn't be allowed to fade, but from the inside I'm sure it was an incredibly stressful time. Happy to say, they did indeed land well. Simon & Schuster offered Allyn her own west-coast imprint and Beach Lane Books was born. Keep an eye on them as they will be doing great things!
     An unexpected treat of the conference was to discover three of the students from my "Creating Picture Books" class at the John C. Campbell Folk School were in attendance. It was one of the best classes I ever taught and to see Emily, Dale and Brooke following up on their new found passion made me feel like a proud Mama!
     In fact, illustrator, Brook Lauer is somebody to keep an eye on. Her 3-D style is completely unique and wonderful and I'm certain we will be enjoying her creations in book stores before long.
     Another illustrator to keep an eye on is Anthony VanArsdale. Anthony got in touch with me about a year ago, and I've been a fan ever since. This was his first SCBWI conference and he actually won the illustration contest - what a start! It's been a joy to talk to Anthony and sort of take him under my wing. Many authors and illustrators did this for me when I was starting out, and I always try to pay it forward. Of course, I find this is common in the world of children's lit - we are a highly supportive bunch!
     Claudia Pearson hosted the Fall-apart party this year and we had intriguing conversations about the subtle meanings some creators hide in their works (or not so subtle). What a great philosophical finish to a great day!
     Thanks to all the volunteers who kept the conference running smoothly, but especially to our Southern Breeze heads Jo Kittinger, Donna Bowman, and to Richelle Putnam, who's tireless efforts continue to make Southern Breeze the BEST region of SCBWI!

Sarah C Campbell took some great pics you can see here!

Illustration Friday: Late

I think I showed a portion of this piece once before, but here's the whole thing. Dad is running late, but luckily he applied good parenting language he learned in Ready for the Day! (part of the ParentSmart/KidHappy series written by Stacey Kaye) and everything went smoothly!

Sproing!

I only include the videos that make me laugh out loud. Well...

Thanks to Cute Overload for the morning smile!

Paco is a Moonbeam Children's Book Award Semifinalist!

WOW!!!
     Paco and the Giant Chile Plant, written by Keith Polette, illustrated by Yours Truly, Raven Tree Press March 2008, has made the short list - it's a semifinalist for the 2009 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards (out of 1,085 entries)!! The announcement was made through Independent Publisher - THE Voice of the Independent Publishing Industry. (Click the announcement and scroll down to category 9 - "Picture Book - 4-8 Year Old").
     What is an Independent Publisher? Wikipedia says this. It's basically a small publishing house (not a self-publisher) that isn't part of the giant conglomerate world of publishing houses. They make up about 50% of the overall publishing industry and often specialize in niche markets.
     My publisher is Raven Tree Press, specialists in bilingual picture books and an imprint of the ESL publishing company Delta Systems. They have been enormously supportive of me, my career, and Paco, and will publish my first picture book as author/illustrator in late 2009 or early 2010, "Soap, soap, soap! ~ ¡Jabón, jabón!"
     I've really enjoyed working with Raven Tree - so I'm thrilled for all of us! Y'all keep your fingers crossed Paco goes all the way!

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



   Update - Paco is a bronze medalist - woohoo!!

Coloring Page Tuesday - Pumpkiny Ghost!

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     Have you figured out your costume yet? Tell me what you're going to be this Halloween!
     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!
     For more coloring pages, go here.




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Ooooo pretty!! Look what Diane Ward sent in! How'd you get those cool light dots Diane?

Southern Festival of the Book

     I was invited to speak at the Southern Festival of the Book in Nashville, Tennessee this past weekend - what a treat!
     When I lived in Chattanooga, I occasionally had to travel to Nashville for business and always enjoyed the town. It's architecture is early 20th century - completely charming. The town is clean and kept up with flowers everywhere and so much is right downtown in walking distance, Hubbie and I were really looking forward to the trip. (Here he is being goofy...)
     The drive up was stunningly beautiful of course, and the venue for the book festival was literally right across the street from our hotel. So, we parked the car and walked everywhere - nice. Here's the venue before the crowds arrived - pretty.

     My first gig was Saturday morning on the children's stage. It was still nice and cool with a huge fountain right next door. Fabulous author/illustrator/designer Linda Ragsdale worked her magic to create the most perfect children's stage I've ever seen.
     I read Paco and the Giant Chile Plant and everybody had fun saying "¡Aye Caramba!" Of course, I quizzed the kids on the Spanish they learned during the reading and gave away sombreros to those who answered correctly. Here I am with the sombrero winners.

And here I am signing art, books, and sombreros...!?? (never done that before!)

     The SCBWI Booth looked great, and I stopped by to say "hi" to my friends in the Mid-South region, Tracy, Candie, and Patricia.
     I then participated on a panel of authors and illustrators with various ways into the business. Friend and author of the ParentSmart/KidHappy series (I illustrated) was there with me, which was lots of fun. Stacey is so cool. Several audience members asked me questions after the session which I enjoyed.

     During our book signing, I ended up sitting next to an adult author with an enormous signing line (intimidating), but being children's book people, we had no idea who he was so looked him up in the program guide. Well, geese. It was Richard Price, creator of The Wire, for which he won the 2007 Edgar Award. I heard him a while back in a great interview with Teri Gross. He seemed like a nice guy - uber successful, and exactly what you expect a wildly creative writer to look like.

     Afterwards I enjoyed Sherman Alexie's talk. Diary of a Part-Time Indian is truly one of my favorite reads of the year.
     I caught up with Hubbie who was watching our Georgia Bulldogs kick Tennessee's ... anyhow.
     I left at halftime to attend a talk on writing mysteries by Alan Gratz and Tracy Barrett. Alan's mysteries are modern-day adaptations (sort of) of Shakespearean plays, and Tracy's books are play-offs of Sherlock Holmes. They're both so talented, is was fun to hear their obvious confidence with a subject matter they love. It was also good to see Alan and his wife Wendi since they've now moved to the mountains of North Carolina.
     I was pretty wiped out by the end because I'd actually been fighting a cold most of the weekend, so Hubbie and I decided to skip the author party and headed to a local, famous Italian restaurant - Dimo's. It was wonderful!
     Sunday we had a quick breakfast in a local diner, and hit the road. We took a quick detour in Chattanooga to see my old house (hasn't changed much) and have lunch in my old stomping grounds. I had to call my girlfriend who I used to hang with back them and tell her where I was. She asked if all the same old people were hanging around. "Of course," I said, "and none of them have aged. (Not!)" It's so funny - when I see somebody from my past, I always want to say, "You aged too!? I thought I was the only one!"
     Anyhow - it was a great weekend. Thanks to Hester Bass for putting me on the SFB radar, Emily Masters for organizing the event and Linda for a wonderful children's venue. I'd love to visit again someday!

Hoberman new Children's Poet Laureate!

Mary Ann Hoberman has been tapped by the first ever US Children's Poet Laureate, Jack Prelutsky, to carry the mantle forward for the next two years. You can read more about it at Publishers Weekly.

e's news - October 2008

I just sent out the latest version of my newsletter "e's news" - are you subscribed? Maybe you read my blog through facebook, jacketflap, or some other blog reader? Well, just for you, here's a run-down:

EVENTS:
     If you'll be in Nashville this weekend (October 11th), I'll be speaking on the children's stage at 9:30 am during the Southern Festival of Books. I'll also be on a panel discussion at 12:30 pm. (Click the banner for details.) There will be lots of great speakers, and the festival is FREE to the public, so I hope you'll stop by!
     Next weekend (October 18th) I'll be talking about "Self-Promotion for Illustrators" at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Southern Breeze (Southeast region) Fall Conference in Birmingham, Alabama. If you're interested in creating children's books yourself, the SCBWI is a great place to start - this is the organization that ties us all together.
     I'm having a great time in my new role as SCBWI Southern Breeze Illustrators' Coordinator. Read about our first ever Portfolio Workshop last weekend - it was a huge success. Meanwhile, planning for our Illustrators' Showcase which was picked up by the Southern Arts Federation to travel the South for two years is moving forward smoothly - more on that soon!

BOOK NEWS:
A shout out for the new All-English and All-Spanish versions of Paco and the Giant Chile Plant

AWARDS:
Big wahoos for Ready for the Day!:

Ready for the Day! named an Association of Booksellers for Children's (ABC) Top Title for Back to School in their 2008 ABC Toolbox!

Ready for the Day! has been selected as an iParenting Media Awards Outstanding Product for 2008!

VISITS:
     The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) has made it easier to find authors available to speak in your area through their new SIBA STARS site. I'm proud to be one of their beta testing authors, so check it out!
     An author or illustrator visit can be a profound experience for students, and grant money is often available, so if you would like to invite me to speak at your school or event, learn more at http://dulemba.com/index_visits.html
or email me at elizabeth@dulemba.com.
     If your school still can't afford the whole-hog affair, I am now offering Virtual Visits using Skype! Let's make technology work for us in an interesting (and less expensive) new way!

And of course I talked about all the freebies I give away at dulemba.com like Coloring Page Tuesday. Hope you subscribe to get this info first-hand!

Quentin Blake in Action

     This is a fascinating peek into the process of a master in our industry - I highly recommend you check it out!

Coloring Page Tuesday - Witchy Pumpkin

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     It's October and time to get ready for my favorite holiday!! What are you going to dress up as this year?
     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!
     For more coloring pages, go here.






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



Oh Wow - look at this great pumpkin from Diane Ward. Thanks Diane!

SCBWI Portfolio Workshop!

     I've been the Illustrators' Coordinator for the Southern Breeze region of SCBWI for a few months now and boy has it been exiting! I mean, how could I top our first Illustrators' Gallery Show being picked up by the Southern Arts Federation to tour the South for two years?
     Well, yesterday's Portfolio Workshop was all about helping those just starting to wade into this crazy business of children's book illustration. We held it at my favorite independent children's bookstore, Little Shop of Stories. Helping me pull everything together was Co-regional Adviser for the Southern Breeze, Donna Bowman (who is behind the camera in all of these shots).

     Several masters in the industry dropped by to offer encouragement and support (and hang with fellow illustrators). From the left are: Mark Braught, Bill Mayer, Rick Lovell, Loraine Joyner, me, and Laura Knorr.
     And here are the men being silly . . .
     But the big star was our keynote speaker,Loraine Joyner, Art Director of Peachtree Publishers.
     Here I am with Loraine and two of Peachtree's latest books, "Trick or Treat on Monster Street" (written by local author, Danny Schnitzlein, illustrated by Matt Faulkner) and "The Story Blanket" (written by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz, illustrated by Elena Odriozola).

     Loraine started her talk by pouring out the collection of postcards and illustration promotions she had received over just the last month. It was an impressive pile! Then she let the audience go through them picking out the few they would keep as potentials for future work - and what a learning experience it was! Obviously many samples just weren't up to snuff, while many pieces were good but not appropriate for children's books. Others came in beautiful packaging which often-times outshone the work within. Loraine said she wished she could send notes of thanks to every artist who sends samples, because she obviously gives them all serious consideration and as an illustrator herself, knows the work we put into what we do. But it was scary how many samples were good but didn't fit any existing projects - and if Loraine couldn't use that illustrator's work, she can't realistically respond. (It would take too much time away from an already hectic schedule.) We often hear how getting a job can be like kismet - the right sample crossing a desk at the same moment the perfect manuscript match arrives. There's a lot of hit or miss which has nothing to do with an illustrator's skill level.
     In all cases, it took Loraine's trained eye about two seconds to know if a piece was something she wanted to hold onto or not - it was a real eye-opener to what illustrators are up against when trying to get work.
     Along with the run through of promos, Loraine did a 30,000 feet-type review of the portfolios presented. She spent a few minutes with each one (more time than most illustrators' work gets with any Art Director), and although she was gracious, it was quickly obvious which portfolios made a strong impression on her. Again, it was interesting to see how quickly Loraine was able to process the work and form her opinions - the sign of a truly experienced Art Director.

     Watching the crowd as they leaned in, I wished I had had the same experience when I was starting out. It can be a tough dose of reality, but through Loraine's comments and their own time with the individual portfolios the students were able to see how other illustrators presented their work; what worked and what didn't; the amount of images Loraine would look at before moving on (6-8 tops); and what made an impression and what didn't. They were able to get a sense of what the real world's reaction will be to their work.
     One of the most important responsibilities an artist has is to develop an objective eye for their own work, and this is why this exercise was so important. It's always easier for people to objectively judge somebody else's work for which they have no emotional attachment. By consciously judging others' works, we develop a language of critique which we can then gently turn on our own work. It's not an easy thing to swallow and can take years to develop - especially after a lifetime of friends, relatives, maybe even teachers telling a person how good an artist they are. Unfortunately, that doesn't pay the bills or put food on the table.
     I strongly believe you don't do artists any favors sending them out into a cut-throat world of free-lance with unrealistic views of their own work and potential. And I believe this experience was educational and illuminating for all - leaving the young illustrators better prepared to attack the market from a knowledgeable standpoint.
     Rick Lovell, SCAD-Atlanta Illustration Program Director, did a round-up of the event on the SCAD blog with his own unique perspective. I encourage you to check out his post. (He also got some great pictures including the full line-up of portfolios...)
     As he mentions in his round-up, we definitely plan to do this again - perhaps annually. We'll be coordinating it a bit more with SCAD as the workshop seemed especially profound for their students.
     Thanks so much to Loraine for sharing her knowledge and experience - she was the perfect professional to address this audience. Thanks to Little Shop for sharing the space, to Donna for being such a help, and to all those who helped carry chairs and supplies up and down the stairs (these legs are getting rusty!). I love being able to pay-it-forward like this. There was a hole, a need, and to be able to create that exepreince for the next generation of illustrators about to enter the real world was an honor indeed.
     Several of us went to dinner afterwards joined by one of my "Creating Picture Books" class students, Brooke Lauer Mitchell and her husband Daniel. We had wonderful discussions about the philosophies behind our business which ran late into the night. Illustrators love to talk their craft! And we are tight. This is a tough business to be in, and yet it's driven by passion which creates a sense of solidarity. And goodness knows, a strong support system of friends and peers is vital to one's success in the world of children's book illustration.

Read my article How to Present Your Portfolio Like a Pro.

Illustration Friday - Sugary

     Here in the south "give us some sugar" means a kiss or love. This is a crop from the cover art for "Ready for Bed." It's very sugary. :)

The 2008 Cybils Awards - Open for Nominations!

The Third Annual Cybils Awards are open for nominations! Per the website...

How Can You Participate?

Nominations for the third annual Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (the Cybils) will be open Wednesday, October 1st through Wednesday, October 15th. The goal of the Cybils team (some 100 bloggers) is to highlight books that are high in both literary quality and kid appeal. The Cybils were founded by Anne Boles Levy and Kelly Herold.

This year, awards will be given in nine categories (Easy Readers, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fiction Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Novels, Non-Fiction Middle Grade/Young Adult Books, Non-Fiction Picture Books, Poetry, Young Adult Novels). Anyone can nominate books in these categories (one nomination per person per category). Nominated titles must be published between January 1st and October 15th of this year, and the books must be in English (or bilingual, where one of the languages is English). To nominate titles, visit the Cybils blog (http://www.cybils.com/) between October 1st and 15th. A separate post will be available for each category - simply nominate by commenting on those individual posts. If you are not sure which category to choose for a particular book, a questions thread will also be available.

Between October 16th and January 1st, Cybils panelists (children's and young adult bloggers) will winnow the nominations down to a 5-7 book short list for each category. A second set of panelists will then select the winning titles for the different categories. The winners will be announced on February 14th, 2009.

Do I have any books that qualify for nomination this year? Why, as a matter of fact I do! {{blush, blush}}

     Paco and the Giant Chile Plant ~ Paco y la planta de chile gigante

AND


Ready for Bed and Ready for the Day
(Learn more about my latest books by clicking the covers!)

hint, hint... :)

More Motorcycle Logic - Difficulties

     I mentioned earlier that my hubbie is a long distance motorcyclist and one of his favorite websites is Adventure Rider where people post amazing photos of their motorcycle adventures around the world. Recently they've become wise as well in this thread on m-m-m-motovation. I think this is just as helpful for writers and illustrators: