Lita will soon begin working on Yellowstone Moran. I’m getting a little nervous, because I am Yellowstone Moran! And I’m also the sleeping guy on the right, and I’m also the gunslinger on the left (but I couldn’t find that photo).
Tags: Thomas MoranNo Comments.
The next book out for Lita is Mogo, The Third Warthog, written by Donna Jo Napoli. This is Lita’s second project with Donna Jo. Here’s an image of the book jacket for Mogo:
And a closeup of Mogo—he’s a likable looking warthog, isn’t he?
The scheduled on sale date is July 1st.
Lita’s first book book with Donna Jo—Ugly—is coming out in paperback at about the same time. The cover for Ugly has been redesigned. It used to look like this:
But now will look something like this:
This last image is just a mock-up. I’ll miss the ducklings in the lower left, but I like the blue sky and the new title font!
Tags: Mogo · UglyNo Comments.
I saw a couple of nice on-line reviews of One Thousand Tracings yesterday. One at the Cybils site and another at The Well Read Child. Also, there’s a great podcast review at Just One More Book, done earlier in January. I’ve visited Just One More Book a few times and I really like the site - there’s another good podcast with two of the Cybil panelists for Non-Fiction Picture Books here.
Tags: No Comments.
I’m continuing to work on editing one story in California (I head home tomorrow!) while Lita works on two different stories in New Hampshire. All three (picture books) are accepted—at three different publishers. Two books are in the post-acceptance-editing phase, and one is in the final-drawing phase. The balancing act for a writer-illustrator with all the shifting left/right brain activity is formidable! I’ll talk about the different book phases at some point—as soon as I learn what they all are…
But to continue with the editing checklist, here are some of the things to consider when looking at the micro view (from The Artful Edit):
I have my favorites.
As a reader, I tend to like clarity, continuity, and beginnings. I think this bias is appropriate for the types of books Lita is working on—historical based, or science based picture books. As an editor I try to be a good reader. The difficulty (for me) is then to communicate effectively, and constructively, back to the writer.
Tags: No Comments.
I’m in California this week and Lita’s back in New Hampshire. I brought a manuscript that Lita’s been working on, to see if I can read it carefully and identify any problems. I’ve been reading this particular ms so often that it feels like I’m self-editing. And self-editing is no easy task.
I’ve also been reading The Artful Edit by Susan Bell on this trip and it has some good advice about two different views of editing: macro editing and micro editing. My basic process is to read through the manuscript while concentrating on just one of the aspects on the following macro editing list:
I’m naturally more of a micro editor. I’ll talk about the micro view next time.
Tags: No Comments.
I try to do a decent amount of research before inflicting technology onto Lita. She’s been using an iMac since early 2006 and we both love it, but she has an older Dell laptop that she uses for travel and presentations and we’re looking to replace it with a MacBook Pro. The dilemma is that Apple is probably about to introduce updated models soon and I’d like to wait until that happens. The other problem is that they are expensive!
The Dell isn’t that bad - but it’s probably about 3-4 years old and it’s starting to feel very slow. It seems like it takes 5 minutes when booting up to actually get some program - like word or email - to start up. The other issue is that Lita’s gotten used to everything on the iMac so whenever she switches to the laptop, everything is different, and sometimes things go wrong at inopportune times, like in front of class of 5 year old kids.
I guess I should also admit, it’s really me that wants the MacBook Pro. And that new wireless time capsule thing looks nice too…
Tags: TechnologyNo Comments.
Alison at ShelfTalker posted her Morris Medals yesterday. Alison is the children’s book buyer at the Wellesley Booksmith, which is one of the three nicest independent bookstores within a few hours of our home. The other two are The Toadstool Bookshop in our town of Peterborough, and the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vermont. Anyway, Alison’s list is impressive in its quantity of categories and number of selections in each category. But she has good taste. I bought a copy of Shaun Tan’s The Arrival at the Wellesley Booksmith based on a little note of Alison’s, taped to the bookshelf, that said something like, “this book is amazing”. And she was right - it’s an amazing book.
We just heard that One Thousand Tracings was chosen as an ALA Notable Book! And where did we hear it first? The Miss Rumphius Effect
I read Dear Genius, The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom several months ago, or was it several years? Anyway, Ursula Nordstrom was the director of Harper’s Children’s Books from 1940 to 1973. She worked with Maurice Sendak, EB White, Margaret Wise Brown, Garth Williams, and many others. It’s an excellent book - her letters are delightful.
Ursula carried a crumpled note in her purse and often pulled it out to share with her authors and illustrators, and she reread it to herself at her most tired and disillusioned moments.
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.”
Tags: No Comments.
