I'm on the Dance Floor at Word Disco

I'm happy to be contributing to the writing group blog, Word Disco. Each month there is a new theme for posts about craft or the business of creating books. Check out my latest post under the theme of "Inspiring Speeches."

Speaking of inspiring speeches, tonight I gave a presentation to the students at Nossi College of Art about getting started in freelance illustration. My theme was "Peanut Butter plus Determination: How to build a freelance foundation." Hopefully all my graphic explanations of the hard work and amount of PB & J you eat as a young freelance artist doesn't scare them into accounting.

Kid Lit Tid Bit Round Up

At the moment the drawing table is overrun with sketches not bound for the blog so I decided to do a round-up of some of the cool kid lit news blogs I've read in the last couple of weeks. I've wanted to do this for a while, and maybe I'll start once a month doing it (maybe I'll also learn how to reupholster a chair, properly do eye make-up, and grow completely organic blueberries.... but I digress.)

Since a creative network is crucial to both starting and maintaining a life in this business, I find blog hopping a great way to do this. With no further ado here's my cool tidbits from this week:

For an interesting peek behind the curtain at Penguin, read this interview with Guiseppe Castellano. Also don't forget to follow his #arttips on Twitter.

Scroll down on the same blog to read Kelly Light's start up story. It's real life, not the Hollywoodesque I-graduated-art-school-and-then-picked-up-this-book-contract-on-the-street-and-then-danced-perfectly-with-Seth-Rogan.

Then check out Eliza Wheeler's tips on gearing up for a book launch

Then for some fun read Tara Lazar's continuing tilt with Barnes & Noble. It's got everything... Breakfast Club! Snoopy! Ryan Gosling!

A little reading on my desktop

The Monstore is Open for Business!

A shout out to PiBoIdMo creator, Tara Lazar, as her book, The Monstore, releases today! It looks like a great fun book for kids and I can't wait to request my copy. As a debut author she can definitely use the help of discerning parents. Check out her blog on how and why and help The Monstore find a home at the monster bookstore (aka B&N.)

Orni-theology

If dinner tasted good tonight it was a miracle because in the middle of cooking squash casserole, the Fry and Sprout burst into the kitchen shouting "mommy mommy I think we need to help this baby bird!"

They had found a tiny, featherless hatchling that had fallen into the mulch by our deck. While the squash boiled over, I spent 20 minutes getting the baby bird back in the nest under the 12 foot high eaves of said deck. During the rescue, Fry christened the bird "Cuteson if it's a boy, Cutsie if it's a girl."

Cute-son/sie was reunited with a sibling in the nest but I didn't have the heart to tell the kids' relieved faces how nature usually works this out.

Instead I had a flash of insight that this might be a good time to throw in a little bit of faith. Unlike mothers who have it all together, these insights are not an everyday occurence for me so I figured I'd better grab it. We sat on the stairs and asked God to return Cutsie/Cutson's mother to the nest. During the course of this 45 second conversation with God, Fry changed the bird's name 5 times: "it's Cuter mommy, no I said Curter... I mean Curtis and Chris if it's a girl. I mean Chrissy. Curtis and Chrissy. Except I meant Cu...."

At this point I interjected that God probably knew the bird's name. Nevertheless Fry ended with "please bring the mother bird home and make sure she asks You for his name. Amen." So we're hoping for a tiny miracle under the eaves of the deck. A tiny miracle with the correct name.