Me too!

Just came back from my neighborhood polling station! I have to say, it was easy as pie. There was NO ONE there. At first I thought, great no lines! But then I got scared, is no one in my neighborhood voting? This morning I had a school visit, and on the way saw another station with lines down the block... so hopefully its just a matter of timing. I hope. I really really HOPE.

By the way, did anyone else not get asked to show id? They never ask for it at my polling station, it kind of scares me.

PS. My fella Bruno went with me, it was his first time voting as he just became a citizen! Yippee!

Voted!

My apartment (four women) has been split 50/50 for this election, although I believe my other three roommates are all registered Republicans--who woulda thunk it in NYC! But in any case, we reached over party lines and three of us ended up going to the polling place together this morning at 8 am.
(edited to add: I'm so proud of Bindu, who just became a citizen and who voted for the first time today!)

The lines inside seemed pretty long:

But once we found out our district number, for some reason we were able to bypass most of the lines--the whole process took only about 15 minutes!

I didn't get an "I voted" sticker for some reason, but once outside I put my pin back on. If you look closely, you can see who I voted for, not that it's been a huge secret or anything:
It's an exciting day!

counted

I woke up at 6 AM today to go and vote. I have to drive off to Albany today for a school visit, so I thought I'd better go early and beat the rush. I didn't beat the rush. Like how the line ends in the sunrise? Symbolic, perhaps?

After about two hours of waiting, I voted...and I have the sticker to prove it!

Halloween!

So, I have no recollection of what I did for Halloween last year, which means I didn't dress up. This year, one of my New Year's resolutions was to dress up for Halloween. If I can't at least fulfill that resolution, then I'm pitiful.

I was struggling with what to be, and a couple of weeks ago a friend said, "You should use my idea! I had two ideas this year, so you should use the one I'm not using."

Her idea was to dress all in blue, put cotton clouds all over, and carry a spray bottle. Partly cloudy with a chance of showers! And of course, being the children's book person that I am, I immediately thought, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!

And that is what I was.

Here's me without the meatballs (but of course there's a chance of them later...)

(the sweatshirt I'm wearing has clouds all over it--although some of the clouds could actually pass as meatballs)

And here's me with the meatballs:

And at night, I went without the meatballs and opted for the spray bottle instead.

All in all, it was a great Halloween. I had a lot of fun glueing on all the cotton balls--I hadn't been that crafty since I was a kid. I'm inspired to dress up again next year and make my costume again.

Here's the group at work all dressed up. Can you name the costumes?

What did you dress up as?

Question of the week: Whats on your mind?

GRACE: For some reason, I have been thinking about moving to Portland, ME. I have only been there twice, but I keep thinking maybe it is the perfect small city for me to move to--fun, artsy and less expensive than where I am living now. I'm not planning on moving anytime very soon, but I am starting to make a list of places to look at where I could have a better/as good as lifestyle with a cheaper cost of living. Anyone have any suggestions?

ANNA: The election is just about all I can think about. I can't believe it is happening in a mere few days! Listening to NPR coverage of it all while I work has been such a big part of my day, I think I will actually miss it. But still, I can't WAIT to march into the voting booth and cast my vote.

ELAINE: I'm with Anna. What's on my mind? The presidential election, the smear and fear politicking of the McCain campaign, the sad state of our economy. I'm glad I have The Daily Show, Colbert Report, other programs, and Tina Fey to make me laugh about what's going on. Otherwise, I think I'd blow a gasket! Thank heavens for NPR and C-SPAN, too.

Here's a link to a funny video I watch at least once a day. The video is entitled The McCain Wander Mr. Puddles I Have Snausages. It cracks me up every time I see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Zt1krMprI

ALVINA: Yes, election stuff, definitely. Other than that, this past week I was trying to figure out what to be for Halloween--afterall, it was one of my more silly New Year's Resolutions to dress up, and by golly, I did. I'll try to post my costume tomorrow...

LIBBY: I've never been this eager to vote! I'm wishing I'd done it early, but I wanted to do it on the day, to be THERE when our history finally (after decades of wrong turns) changed  for the better. But I'm not as confident now as I was. And so the superstitious part of me is wondering how I will protest if votes aren't counted fairly or polls are so crowded that some people can't vote: play the Jimi Hendrix  "Star Spangled Banner"over and over at top volume; run out into the street banging pots and pans and screaming; march on Washington with old friends who did it decades ago and new ones who are (like me) going for the first time? But I will do something. And if Obama and Biden win, I will, too; my days of being part of the problem are over. 

Pad Thai and writing

A couple of weeks ago I became obsessed by learning how to make  Pad Thai and Pad See Yew. My first attempts were awful -- in fact, when I served up the first plate of Pad Thai I thought:

"This looks absolutely disgusting."

It tasted terrible, too.

But I ate it anyway, wondering what had gone wrong and what to do differently the next time. It took about six tries, but I finally produced a plate of Pad Thai that was (if I do say so myself) good. Now, I can make it for other people.

At around the same time, I gathered up the courage to show my agent a novel that had been dismissed by my best friend: "Don't work on it anymore, no sense throwing good energy after bad." (She writes for TV and while they are "in the room," beating out scripts, they're blunt.) Feeling the whole time as though I MIGHT be wasting my time, that maybe the novel was really awful, I rewrote it anyway.  

But I didn't show it to my agent until I was far enough into my NEW novel not to be devastated if she too hated it (of course, I knew she wouldn't SAY she hated it -- but if she didn't think it was publishable, that would be the same thing). She said she  loved it. I could hardly believe it at first, then energy and confidence and determination surged in. That one comment restored my confidence in the story and made me determined to make it the best it can be. 

Meanwhile I was still trying the Pad Thai -- and that's when I thought: hey! When  I cook, I wait until *I* like the dish before I make it for other people. I don't invite them over and experiment (the draft my best friend read was really really rough). It's always tempting to show things early, so you don't waste your time, but there aren't ANY guarantees in this business, you just have to like the idea enough yourself to make the writing and time worth the risk. Until something is DONE, no one else can judge it anyway. 

I also don't think "Oh, I'm a terrible cook"  blah blah if something I make turns out badly. I either:

* decide the dish isn't worth making again (as in the scallops with blueberry mayonnaise from a cookbook I won't name -- GROSS!) 

OR 

*figure out what I did wrong and keep trying until I love it.

btw if anyone is interested in the Pad Thai method that worked for me -- the result of reading many recipes and as you've seen, many tries, let me know and I'll post it. With pictures and detailed directions. If only writing were as easy!

POETRY FRIDAY: Halloween by Mac Hammond

I won’t be at home this weekend. This afternoon, my husband and I will be leaving for Keene, New Hampshire. My husband plans to do some hiking on Saturday while I’m attending the Keene State College Children’s Literature Festival. This will be my last year serving on the festival’s advisory board.

Since I won’t be home for the holiday festivities, I thought I’d post a Halloween poem.

HALLOWEEN
by Mac Hammond

The butcher knife goes in, first, at the top

And carves out the round stemmed lid,

The hole of which allows the hand to go

In to pull the gooey mess inside, out -

The walls scooped clean with a spoon.

A grim design decided on, that afternoon,

The eyes are the first to go,

Isosceles or trapezoid, the square nose,

The down-turned mouth with three

Hideous teeth and, sometimes,

Round ears.

You can read the rest of the poem here.

********************

At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original political list poem about all the folks, including Joe the Plumber, who are out on the campaign trail for a certain candidate.

Sylvia has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Poetry for Children.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

seabiscuit

Seabiscuit is out this week! Check it out. I'm working on a webpage for it - www.meghan-mccarthy.com/seabiscuit.html

Also, I'm adding some coloring pages for the astronaut book, so check them out - go to the books page
www.meghan-mccarthy.com/books.html and click on the book.

Also, I've collected a lot more "street art" so stay tuned for that:





And I'm working on some new songs (when I feel up to it, i.e NORMAL). This is a rough draft of something I want to work on and polish up and turn into a real song:
www.meghan-mccarthy.com/die_anyway.html

Oy. Lots of work to do! And I feel sick all the time because I'm catching every germ on earth! Constant diarrhea for 3 days! Yay! Just thought you'd like to know....

meghan

when children's books and pumpkins meet

George and Martha say Happy Halloween! My friends and I had a little pumpkin party to celebrate the holiday...

rabbit hill

Over eight years ago, a lady caught the eye of the director of the Westport Public Library.
"May I help you?" she asked the woman who was staring intently at one of the patron donation tiles on the wall.
"Oh, it's just that I so wished that we had been the one to sponsor this Rabbit Hill tile," she said, pointing to the decorative tile honoring Robert Lawson, "Because we live at Rabbit Hill, Robert's Lawson's old home and studio, now."

"Oh," the director said, "Well, maybe we can think of something else."

And that something else was the Rabbit Hill Festival of Literature which is one of the best children's literature festivals I have ever been to. It was definitely an honor to be a part of it-- I was on the impressive (but intimidating) roster of:

Mo Willems, EB Lewis, David Wiesner, Steve Jenkins, Nick Clark (Founding Director of the Eric Carle Museum) and Barbara McClintock. Let's count the Caldecotts, shall we? I think there's about 7 in there, add a Geisel, mix it up with some NY Times Best Illustrated...it is pretty amazing for me to be in the same sentence with them, let alone in the same picture.

But everyone was so friendly and nice that I quickly got over my intimidation and actually had a great time. And I got through my speeches, even a brand-new speech I wrote up just for the occasion (all about the inspirations behind my stories and art style). Yes, like a cat with a million lives, I survived public speaking yet again!



***
Read Elaine's write-up HERE for a blow-by-blow run-down!

Web site preview for Old Red Shoe

Lately I've been busy with building a web site for my book What Can You Do with an Old Red Shoe?, which comes out next April. Something about making web sites is immensely satisfying. I guess what I like about it is how utilitarian they have to be. I've always liked making books too for that reason too, art with a particular purpose.

Anyways, thought I'd give you all a sneak peak of what the book is going to look like. I uploaded some of the spreads onto the web site here. The design of the web page is still in the works, but you can see how the book is laid out with all the artwork and text in place! (There have been a couple revisions since this version btw, so pages are not completely finalized...)

Matchmaking: finding the perfect style and illustrator for a text

This past Saturday I was down in Arlington, VA for the Mid-Atlantic SCBWI conference. It was a wonderful, smoothly-run event.  I was asked to give a talk about how illustrators are chosen. For those of you not familiar, SCBWI stands for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and I have to say, this is the first time I've ever been asked to address the "I" in SCBWI. Which is why I started my talk by declaring, "There IS an I in SCBWI!"

I also declared that the audience was about to witness a historic moment, perhaps more momentous that having the first black president or first woman vice president. They were about to witness my very first presentation with Powerpoint!

Every talk I give, I think, "I'm going to do a Powerpoint!" but of course never end up pulling it together. Well, this time I was talking about illustration, so I HAD to do it. And I did. And it was pretty fun preparing and choosing the images, although I have to say, it took a long time to do.

Anyway, I won't post the whole talk, because it's quite long, but here's a sampling:

There are generally three types of projects that we may need to find illustrators for. The first and probably most obvious is for a picture book text. The second is for a novel cover—oftentimes a cover is photographic, and we tend to use stock photos a lot, but sometimes we really do want the perfect illustrator to capture just the mood and image we want. And the third project that we’d commission an illustrator for are interior illustrations for a novel. Generally, this is for middle grade chapter headers, or chapter books where the illustrations are more integrated, but it’s becoming more common to also have illustrations in young adult fiction, such as in Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

As I was preparing for this talk, I was realizing that calling it “Matchmaking” perhaps wasn’t the most accurate analogy. There’s matchmaking involved—you’re trying to match the text with the perfect illustrator, and hope it results in a loving marriage of picture and word. However, how I really feel when I’m trying to find an illustrator for a project is more like a casting agent trying to find the perfect actor for a movie role.

At Little, Brown, picture book art is generally driven initiated by the editor, or in other words, the editor is the casting agent, while for cover and interior illustrations it’s the designer that’s the casting agent, although in both cases the editor and designer will work together to make the decision.

Generally, the editor and designer will come up with a list of possibilities individually, and then meet to compare lists, and then come up with a master list which will then be approved by the publisher. At this point, I would also ask the author if he or she had any suggestions for illustrators, or had a vision for what style they envisioned. It's very rare for an author to have actual consultation or approval over an illustrator choice, however, but of course we want the author to be happy with the illustrator we ended up going with.

Now, I’ll be talking about two picture books and three novels today and the process we went through in order to find the perfect illustrator. I think this examples will help you understand the process of how this all works.

The first picture books I’ll be discussing is Jerry Spinelli’s I CAN BE ANYTHING! (This is a tentative title—as of this past week, it had been called WHAT SHALL I BE?)

Jerry’s picture book is a simple poem outlining all the fun things one can be in the world. And what I love is that it isn’t really a book about jobs, it’s more of a whimsical look at the things you can do. Here's a sampling:   

When I grow up,

what shall I be?

 

Of all my many many jobs,

which one will be the best for me?

 

pumpkin grower

dandelion blower

 

paper plane folder

puppy dog holder

 

puddle stomper

apple chomper

 

tin can kicker

mixing bowl licker

... 

Because Jerry Spinelli is a well-known author, we didn’t feel that the illustrator would also need to be a “big name.” I suppose this is like when you have a movie with a big star like Tom Hanks, you may not necessarily need another star of his caliber in the movie to drive the audience into the theaters—instead, you can have a little more freedom in casting that up-and-comer or B-list star, like Ellen Page or Jason Bateman.

But because the text was so simple and straight-forward, but also imaginative, we felt that we needed someone very creative who could bring another layer to the book—therefore, we didn’t want a complete newcomer. I guess you could say that we wanted a character actor—someone whose skills are proven. Like William H. Macy or Philip Seymour Hoffman before they became big stars.

Like casting, picturing an illustrator style is like trying to envision a certain actor in a role. Sometimes the matches seem fairly obvious, like Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire or Kate Winslett in a Jane Austen movie, but sometimes it’s a bit of a stretch at first, like Adam Sandler in a drama or Charlize Theron in Monster.

Anyway, I won't go more into specifics, but I will give a sneak peak of the final art for this book--we ended up choosing illustrator Jimmy Liao, whose books from Taiwan we've adapted for the U.S. children's market: Sound of Colors and The Blue Stone.

Here are a few spreads:

The book will be published at the beginning of 2010. 

And then here was the end of the talk:

So, to summarize, when we’re thinking about possible illustrators for a project, there are several things we consider. What is our budget? How well known is the author? Do we want to pair a famous author with an up-and-coming artist? Or a newer author with an established artist? What tone and style lend itself to the story? How long would we have to wait for the illustrator to have room on his or her schedule? Have we worked with the illustrator before, and do we want to work with him or her again?

I asked another editor at Little, Brown what she considers when trying to pick an illustrator, and this was what  she said: 

I consider where the illustrator is in her career.  Is the artist a seasoned pro or someone new who we could build on our list?  I evaluate whether the artists’ technique will have broad commercial appeal or if it will be better suited for the library market.  And, I consider how accessible the artwork is for our target audience of kids between the ages of three and six.  Lastly, I evaluate what the artist can bring to the story—humor, emotion, warmth, and so on.

In terms of the places we look for illustrators, I think all editors and designers have their own personal art file, some more organized than others. Mine is simply a folder where I throw the postcards and tear sheets that I like. Others might have their organized by style or age group. Many of us tack up postcards of our favorite images. There are also reference books such as PICTUREBOOK and WORKBOOK—these are huge, thick books where an artist would pay a certain amount per page to be included. I’ve also used the brochure from the Original Art Show that the Society of Illustrators in NY produces every year.

And then, of course, there’s the internet. Everyone I spoke to mentioned checking out both artist rep sites, as well as blogs. One of our editors really loves searching through www.etsy.com, both to shop, and to find talent. Our Senior Art Director loves the illustrator blog Drawger. And a lot of people said that they love just following links—they might find the blog or website of one artist they like, go to their links section, and just keep exploring, going from one artist to another, bookmarking sites that they like along the way.

For novel covers, many of the designers look at websites for editorial artists as well, because they tend to be able to do jobs very quickly, while a picture book artist may be completely booked up with book projects.

So, what should an aspiring illustrator do? I think the #1 thing you can do is to make great art! If you’re interested in picture book illustration, make sure that you have children and/or animals in your portfolio. It’s also a good idea to include two or three pieces that feature the same characters, so an editor and designer can see that you’re able to maintain characters throughout a book. Another editor mentioned that she always looks to see if the artist can capture emotion.

One designer recommended having at least a few pieces that are stylized in a unique way, even if that technique is not representative of the bulk of your work, because if there’s a style that’s uniquely yours, it’s bound to garner attention, and then people will also see your other work.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, postcards are a great investment, because they’re relatively cheap to produce. Send them both to editors and designers, because we do both use them, and if we like your art, we’ll both look at your website and keep your art on file—you never know when it might turn into something.

And speaking of websites, if you’re an illustrator, you HAVE to have a website. If you don’t have the budget to build one, then just use one of the free blogging services like blogger and start posting illustration samples. Start linking to other artists and authors and have them link to you. 

And that concludes my very first talk with Powerpoint. I will leave you with this quote from Emile Zola who said, “The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.” So work hard and keep on, and I hope to someday play matchmaker with your art.

And that's it! Any questions?

Real Meltdown (Real Children # 7)

This really happened. I wasn't there, and neither was the woman running the store the day I was there and took this photograph:
"But I heard about it," she said. Her tone implied that it had been quite a scene.

We'll never know the rest of the story -- did one of Savannah's parents make her write that apology? Did she do it on her own? What made her have the melt-down? How old was she? (And maybe some of you know the asnwer to this one: is it usual for children old enough to write letters to scream and cry in public?) But, maybe part of the fun of being a writer is that you don't need to know the answers; you just need to be interested enough to ask the questions.

School Visit Tips

So I just finished my 3 week school visit marathon, finishing in Houston. I had never done visits that continually for such a long duration before...it was kind of trial by fire. But it went great, and I feel like I am a better, stronger presenter because of it. However, here are some little tips I learned on the way:

1. Flats are your friends.
I tend to wear heels when I visit schools because I am so short and I feel self-conscious when I have to look up at a fourth grader. But by the end of week two, I gave up the heels and ballet flats became my shoe of choice.

2. Sugar-free Ricola drops
My voice started to give on day 3, and I anxiously scoured the web for voice-saving advice. I learned that Broadway and opera singers swear by sugar-free ricola drops...it works! I was constantly sucking a drop, which made photos of me not the most flattering, but my voice lasted the whole way.

3. Keep well-watered
Losing my voice was a primary concern, I quickly learned that not one, but two bottles of water should be kept nearby at all times. Even at the slightest hint of dryness, gulp that water down.

4. Know where the bathroom is
Which goes hand-in-hand with tip #3

5. Have good press info on your website, including high rez photos
Because you never know when you might be facing yourself super large:
(Like how it says," boo!" right next to me? I was scared.)

6. Have back up
Projectors and computers are finicky, sometimes they don't work on cue. I usually project the pages of my book when I am reading, but I also have a "big book" version that I use in a pinch. It's not as good as projected images, but it gets the job done.

7. Love your iphone
or blackberry or whatever PDA you have, because it is perhaps the most important thing that connects you to your life at home. And because you are presenting all day, most things will have to be e-mailed or voice mailed--things that will inform you on what you are doing tomorrow.

8. Enjoy yourself
Sure, school visits is work and exhausting but they are also an amazing exercise of seeing your books come to life. When kids are thrilled to meet you and excited about your books, one realizes that the books we make do have a purpose outside of the studios we create and the publishing business we work within. And it's a great, grand purpose, one that makes living out of a suitcase for three weeks worth it!

Wedding painting finished

Apologies for not finishing this post last week as promised! Here is the conclusion of the painting I posted about here, a gift for a friend who recently got married. These are her pets Janie the lab and Splash the cat.

Sketching in their clothes:



Refining figures and outfits:



Building pattern on dress and flowers (based on her actual dress and bouquet):



Finished it off with some daisies and bubbles, again based on the actual wedding:

Carle Honors and Original Art Show

As I mentioned in the yesterday's Question of the Week, I've been a bit obsessed with politics recently, and am also a little burned out from my 4-part series on Wabi Sabi. So, today I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Here are some pics from the Carle Honors a few weeks ago. There's a wrap-up of the evening over at Fuse #8 (including a blurry picture of me and Peter Brown, who was our guest for the evening), so I won't say more except to say it was a lovely event. Maurice Sendak was honored, and strangely enough, the shrubbery was fittingly fantastic. Here I am posing with Max from Where the Wild Things Are:

Peter with one of the wild things:
Even the leaves had eyes!

****

And then last Thursday was the Opening Reception of the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators. Little, Brown had a record seven books chosen for the show, and I had my personal record of three books that I edited, including Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein and illustrated by Ed Young (which you are all infinitely familiar with by now):
(thank goodness we even had original art to display!!)

The Blue Stone by Jimmy Liao:
and Sergio Makes a Splash by Edel Rodriguez:

And here is fellow BRG Meghan McCarthy's fabulous piece from Seabiscuit: The Wonder Horse:

If you live in the NY area, be sure to check out the exhibit, which will be up until November 26th--it's free! And it's truly magical seeing the beauty and diversity of the art displayed.

Question of the week: How are you procrastinating?

GRACE: I keep window shopping via the internet at Chinese dresses, even though I have no place to wear one to. A bit much for a book signing, don't you think?

ANNA: Looking at handmade birdies by Ann Wood. Amazing. Check them out here!

LIBBY: Dawdling. One thing leads to another. It's hard to even remember at the end of the sequence what all the little activities were.....and they do seem at the time like fascinating activities, though really they could probably be categorized accurately as "getting organized" or, even more accurately, "doing nothing"--unless they really get out of hand and morph into a redecorating project. Next month I'll pay attention, make a list, and report back -- unless realizing I'm doing it makes me stop. It could.


ELAINE: Reading political blogs; watching C-Span, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, etc.; and writing Palinoems--poems about Sarah Palin.

ALVINA: Like Elaine, I've become overly obsessed with this election. Some of it depresses me and makes me cry, but thankfully some of it makes me laugh. Oh, and I've also reverted back to my college years and started playing Tetris on Facebook way too much. It's so addicting. Must. Stop. Although one quick game wouldn't hurt...

POETRY FRIDAY: Two Poems for Daughters

My beautiful twenty-eight-year-old daughter has been much on my mind lately. When I came upon the poem Daughter, written by Minnesota poet James Lenfestey, it struck a cord inside me. I thought I’d post it today along with What Is Supposed to Happen, one of by favorite poems by Naomi Shihab Nye. I included Nye’s poem in a memory book that I made for my only child before she went off to college.


Daughter

by James Lenfestey

A daughter is not a passing cloud, but permanent,

holding earth and sky together with her shadow.

She sleeps upstairs like mystery in a story,

blowing leaves down the stairs, then cold air, then warm.

We who at sixty should know everything, know nothing.

You can read the rest of the poem here.


What Is Supposed to Happen
by Naomi Shihab Nye

When you were small,

we watched you sleeping,

waves of breath

filling your chest.

Sometimes we hid behind

the wall of baby, soft cradle

of baby needs.

I loved carrying you between

my own body and the world.

You can read the rest of the poem here.

********************

At Wild Rose Reader I have two original acrostic poems that I wrote for Halloween.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Becky’s Book Reviews.

********************

J0E THE PLUMBER

signings and such

I did a signing this weekend for 2 days (ugh, crazy trying to fit everything in!!!) I have "google alert" with my name and I found this on a blog:

Art Festival

Not much to report except that Meghan McCarthy had a booth next to the library that said "award winning author" and the Internet reports that she is indeed now a semi-famous children's book author. She is now easily the most successful person I know who went to Clayville Elementary School.

I have no idea who wrote it but it cracked me up!

Okay, I'm sick today. DO NOT get a flu or pneumonia shot when you're on high doses of immune suppressants. I've been having fevers, chills, black outs, shortness of breath, chest pain... you name it. THIS SUCKS. I've been trying to go about things as normal but that only makes things worse.

See some of you at the SOI show? I'll be there. If I pass out and you know who I am then tell the EMT I'm on steroids. It's important that they know.

meghan