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.