Leg #1: Melbourne

     




I'm now in Sydney for the third and final leg of my trip to the other side of the world. I haven't had much free time (that I haven't filled with seeing the sights, that is), so I'll just cover my first leg in Melbourne in this post.

I left on Wednesday evening, May 4 in NY, and arrived in Melbourne after an over 24-hour travel time on Friday morning, May 6. Overall, it wasn't a bad time--had the seat next to me empty for both my flight to LA and then to Melbourne. I managed to sleep quite a bit, and also read and watched a few movies.

I was picked up at the airport by my friend and former colleague Antonella (an Australian who married an American, Chris. Antonella worked at Little, Brown in the production department) and her two young kids Ali and Thomas. We stopped at a cafe in the airport for coffee and a bite to eat.

Ali (with a straw mustache)

my veggie roll

Thomas

my first cup of coffee in Melbourne. I needed it after my 24-hour journey!

 We headed into Melbourne to walk around and see the sights:

Stopped for lunch--I had a meat pie! (as I knew from my last trip to Australia ten years ago, meat pies are very popular and common in Australia...)

my first meat pie in Melbourne

I stayed with Chris and Antonella in their home in Geelong (a city about an hour from Melbourne). In the morning, I went for a run along the river.

magpie (saw many of these on my run)

saw lots of these signs, too. Didn't see any snakes, though! Thank goodness.

That afternoon, we went around the corner to a local school's "fete". The kids went on rides and got their face painted while us adults ate sausage and watched.

Ali and Thomas, looking quite serious for children who have just had their faces painted!

On Sunday morning, Mother's Day, we participated in a 4K walk to benefit breast cancer research. Aside from it raining at the end, it was a lovely walk.

these are actually BATS hanging in the trees in the park. (grey-headed flying foxes to be precise)

And then, after a nice brunch, we hopped in the car to drive on the Great Ocean Road.

driving (on the wrong side of the car) on the Great Ocean Road.

Antonella in the back seat with two sleeping children.

We ended up in a town called Lorne, where we stepped on the beach, played in a playground, and stopped in shops, including three bookstores.

Hey, look! FADE TO BLUE by Sean Beaudoin! In a bookstore in Lorne.

On the way back, we stopped by a golf course to see kangaroos in the "wild"--if seeing kangaroos on a golf course counts as the wild...

We ended the night with a huge fish n chips feast--an imported, but popular Australian cuisine. We had flake, which apparently is shark.

fish and chips. and a snack called "dim sim".

On Monday, I headed into Melbourne on the train to meet with author Karen Healey (Guardian of the Dead) and her Australian editors at Allyn & Unwin, Eva Mills and Susannah Chambers. (Karen is a New Zealander who is currently living in Melbourne.) Publisher Eva Mills gave me a quick tour of the offices, which were in a charming Victorian building. It felt quite homey, really.

Karen, Susannah, Eva, me

We went to a lovely lunch where we talked about the differences between Australian publishing and US publishing (the titles are different, mainly--senior editors there don't acquire books, they "just" edit. Commissioning editors and publishers acquire, and usually pass the book on to editors to do the juicy, hands-on editing. The Publishing Director in Australia would be the equivalent of Publishers in the States. Publishers in Australia are more equivalent to Senior and Executive Editors in the US.) We also talked eBooks, and also discussed the growing effect the website Book Depository (an Amazon competitor in the UK that offers free shipping) has had on the Australian book market.

After lunch, Karen and I walked to Lygon Street (down back alleys and through a park) where we had coffee and dessert.

nutella and strawberry pizza with ice cream on top!

Then it was back to Antonella and Chris's home for a home-cooked meal, and then my whirlwind Melbourne trip was over--it went much too quickly! I do hope to be back again soon.

Overall, I'm enjoying the trip immensely, meeting great people, seeing beautiful sights. It took me about three days to get over jetlag, and I'm still not used to being so far ahead in terms of the time difference (14 hours! I'm writing this around 5:30 pm on Monday evening, and it's around 3:30 am Monday morning in NY. I'm writing this from the future!).

Some tidbits:
-don't try to get into the front passenger seat of a car on the right side. I did that twice.

-raisins are called sultanas here. Raisins do exist here, but they are a bit bigger/plumper than ours.
-if an Australian ask if you're from Canada, that means they like you. Or, they've learned that Canadians get offended if thought to be American.
-Australians call treating for drinks, meals, etc. "shouting"--if you're out drinking with a group of six, you can expect to have six drinks, because each person will be expected to shout a round.
-Australians drink a lot.
-candy is called "lollies"--as in, "Can I have another lolly?" asked Thomas. "Can I have a lolly if I finish my dinner?" asked Ali. :)
-The $2 coin is small and fat, the $1 is larger and thinner. (it's the opposite in New Zealand, which was confusing)
-The temperature here is about the same as it is currently in NYC, but as it's late Fall here, the days are very short.

Next up...Auckland! To be continued...

from the BRG archives: What makes us so qualified to write for kids?

I ask myself this question a lot. I also often ponder who knows what kids will like and why and then I ask if it’s possible to entirely determine what the picture book age will like at all. Do authors know best? Do editors know best? Librarians? What about those pesky reviewers? Consider the picture books you liked as a kid. Why did you like them? Was it the story? The illustrations? Was it the way your mom or dad read to you? Can an adult read to a child in a certain, excited way that will make them like the book despite the so-so storyline? I asked my mom why she never read us kids Dr. Suess, for example. She said “Because I never liked Dr. Suess. I read to you kids the books that I liked.” Then again, as I recall, there was a book that my little sis LOVED that I know my mom got bored with pretty quickly. It was called Bear By Himself. None of us could figure it out… yet she loved it.

SO many things go into what influences kids… the same as adults. They watch TV and then want the next superman book. That’s why they can’t be trusted to pick out books for themselves at the bookstore! I’ve watched them in action.
Mom says—pick out one of these books that you’d like Mommy to read…
Kid—goes straight for the spinner rack
Mom—Honey, no, not Scooby Doo
Kid—Ignores mom and continues pulling out Scooby Doo books
Mom—Honey you’re making a mess. Please put the books away and come sit down so we can read a story
Kid—continues making a pile and starts shoving Scooby Doo books in mom’s face
Mom—shakes head
Kid—knocks down the whole rack of books and booksellers come running.
Mom—gives up on reading a book and lets kid buy a sticker book
Hmmm, maybe kids aren’t reading at all! This is why authors are poor!

Anyway, one thing I do know—children’s book authors are in touch with that inner child. They REMEMBER being a child probably better than most people. They will never forget their likes and dislikes. It’s not enough to witness your kid doing something cute and then turn it into a story. Kids don’t want to read about themselves all the time. They want to live out their fantasies… get out their frustrations… and so on. Let's just hope all those parents aren't buying sticker books!

Originally published September 14, 2006

luna's sea

Okay, I am not a very actively social person. If I am not going to school visits, I like to stay at home and write or paint in my pajamas. So the fact that I've been running around to San Fran, having Red Egg parties and (gasp!) talking to people is pretty unusual. And to add to my unusually social calendar, I went to Mystic, CT to see the opening of my friend Linda's show Luna's Sea. It's a children's theatre show with the Mystic Aquarium, it is all about a girl's adventure under the sea. Linda produced, designed and created it:

It was an absolutely beautiful show. Some of you might remember Linda as a fellow children's book illustrator (with books like this) but recently, she's been edging away from books for the more expansive format of theater. After seeing this show, I can see how it's a natural progression. Her show is like a children's book come to life:

Actually, I think it might be better than a children's book, at least for Linda! I could see how illustrating a book seems so limiting compared to a show like this. Theater is so much more expansive and there is more scope for a talent like Linda's to create scenes like this:


The photos don't do it justice, here is a small clip--which also doesn't do it justice but is a tad better:

And when I say Linda created it, I really meant it. She (with help, of course) made all the puppets that grace the stage. It was pretty amazing. When watching the show, you are transfixed by these underwater creatures.

And when the lights go on and you go up close, you realize how ingenious the puppets are! You can see more behind the scenes and all the work that went into the show at the Luna's Sea Blog. It's rather awe-inspiring to see that it's all a creation of bubble wrap, plastic lids, paint and foam:

I think this one looked particularly like Squatchie:

But as I said, it was a beautiful show. You don't want to miss it! If you are anywhere in the area (Mystic, CT) I encourage you to go see it! Maybe I'll see you there, because I'm definitely going again.

(Linda, creative genius & me)

Luna's Sea
Performances Every Saturday
at the Cornerstone Playhouse
in the Olde Mistick Village
April 16 thru Oct 2011

Greta in The New York Times!

Great news: A Photo for Greta was reviewed in this Sunday's New York Times Book Review, along with Grandma's Wedding Album (they called them both "heartfelt and personal" books about family photography). Yay! An excerpt:

"Alter’s paean to paternal love, strong despite the demands of the road, is at the same time a portrait of an only child who yearns for the limelight of her father’s attention. When Greta’s dad gives his daughter her own photo shoot, 'It was the best day she could remember.'"

A Photo for Greta is out today!

At last, A Photo for Greta is out in stores, hurray!

We've talked a lot in the past about the quiet birth of of a children's book, how you work at a story for months and years and when it finally comes out it can be a little anticlimactic. Trumpets do not sound unless you, yourself, get a trumpet to play. But today does feel kind of special. Maybe its because this is a personal book I wrote about my dad or maybe sometimes you just need to find a reason to celebrate. Or maybe I am just very excited to be back at work at last after many months of being at home with baby. But I am excited.

I've been working at redesigning parts of my web site, and just launched a page for Greta here. There you will find a curriculum guide, art activities based on the book, coloring sheets and some other goodies. There is also a handy new feature where you can click on thumbnails of the illustrations for a closer look. Take a look and let me know what you think! And stay tuned for a Father's Day book giveaway coming soon...

Q&A with Designers

Greetings from Melbourne! Well, Geelong, to be exact. I've been here since Friday morning, and am slowly getting over jetlag. I'm staying with old friends who used to live in NY and am having a great time--getting a taste of what normal life is like, combined with a bit of sightseeing, too. Today I'm off to Melbourne to have lunch with author Karen Healey and her Australian editors at Allyn & Unwin.

Before I left NYC, I arranged a Q&A with two of our fantastic Associate Art Directors at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Thank you so much to Tracy Shaw and Alison Impey for answering some questions! Note: they both answered these questions independently, but I loved arranging this so it seemed more like a conversation--I thought it especially telling that they answered question five in the exact same way.

1) Please list five books you've designed in the last two years.

Alison:

The Time-Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky; Huntress by Malinda Lo; You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin; Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes; Reckless by Cornelia Funke.

Tracy:

Bunheads by Sophie Flack, Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce, The Daughters series by Joanna Philbin, Jane by April Lindner, The Duff by Kody Keplinger

2) When you're coming up with concepts for a novel cover, what are the steps you go through?

Tracy:

I start with reading the manuscript and making notes along the way of anything that catches my attention, maybe a visual detail or poetic description. Anything that strikes me as interesting, no matter what it may be. I meet with the editor to discuss what he/she is envisioning for the book's positioning and audience. I then mock up rough covers using anything I can to get my ideas across, from stock images to random magazine ads or even sketches I do myself. I also try to come up with mood boards if the concept is hard to show, to convey an idea without the actual final image. If necessary, I pick illustrators or photographers whose work best matches the overall mood or feeling I'm trying to get across.

Alison:

I usually meet with the Editor before I read the manuscript. This initial meeting is quite brief and the goal is to make sure I understand all the necessary positioning details and expectations for the book. What is the target age group? Does it have more boy or girl appeal? Is it literary or commercial? These are just a few of the positioning questions we'll discuss. 

I love sitting down to read a manuscript for the first time. I don't usually take notes while I read, but as soon as I finish reading I make a list of all the themes in the book. I focus on the mood and tone of the book and jot down everything and anything that comes to mind. I then collect imagery and inspiration that supports the list. This becomes my "mood board" and my point of reference once I begin sketching and concepting. I find it's helpful to keep a brainstorming trail so that I can always go back to it when I get stuck or concepts don't get approved. You often cycle through the concepting process more than once before you get something approved.

3) What is the most unusual place you've found inspiration for a cover?

Alison:

I enjoy browsing bookstores and seeing what's new, but when it comes to searching for inspiration I like to go to places where I can be more indirectly inspired. I can't think of anything that unusual, but I like getting away from my computer and heading to art galleries and museums. I also like looking a fashion and art magazines. Sometimes it is simply the color or the composition of something that inspires me. I also love cosmetic stores, particularly Sephora for packaging ideas.

Tracy:

Sometimes an image will pop into my head in the initial read of the book and I won't be able to forget it, no matter how many other ideas develop. But the weirdest places I've found inspiration would have to be either a chewing gum ad or a perfume sample label.

4) You both have designed novels and picture books--do you have a preference on which type of project you enjoy working on most? How about Middle Grade vs Young Adult?

Alison:

They are very different design projects, and honestly, I like both for that very reason. At the moment I work on mostly novels, both YA and Middle Grade. Compared to picture books, I find novels to be more conceptual projects. You really do feel like you're staring at a blank canvas when you start thinking about the cover for a novel. Picture books are more about the development and art direction of the interior before you even begin to think about the cover. As for Middle Grade vs. YA, I find you can be a little edgier with YA, but I must admit I like both. I like having a mix of projects. I wouldn't want to only work one or the other. It keeps things interesting.

Tracy:

Picture books are so much fun to work on - the interaction with the illustrator and seeing original artwork up close is incredible, and being able to merge the story with the images is such a poignant development in the process. They also serve as a nice break from the challenges that come with designing novel covers. But I'd have to say novels are my favorite, they allow the designer to be more involved in the concept and creation of the cover image.

With that said, I happen to like YA better than middle grade, only because I'm more comfortable with it. For me, middle grade is a tough genre, being in between picture books and teen dramas with more adult content.

5) What are your greatest challenges in terms of your job?

Tracy:

Making everyone happy.

Alison:

Making everyone happy. Ultimately I want the author to be happy, but it's also necessary for the editor, sales, marketing, etc. to all be on board with your idea. It's incredibly subjective and a lot of times your favorite ideas end up on the cutting floor, but that comes with the territory and you develop a pretty tough skin. 

6) What do you like best about your job?

Alison:

Working with incredibly creative and passionate people. I love being part of the storytelling process. You might not judge a book by it's cover, but the cover does play a huge part in whether or not you pick it up in the first place, and hopefully once you do you feel like the design enhances your reading experience.

Tracy:

When you figure out a perfect way to design a cover so it lets the book shine, that really is an awesome, satisfying feeling. Also, being able to hire new artists, they have so much enthusiasm. It's contagious.

7) What does a typical day in the office look like for a designer?

Alison:

Well, it definitely begins with a cup of coffee. It's really a lot of juggling. You always have a lot of projects that are at various stages of completion, so while it may seem like every day is about coming up with great new cover ideas, a typical day also includes a lot of follow up with artists, editors, production, etc. It's busy. 

Tracy:

A typical day involves correspondance with editors and production, checking on the various stages of my books, scheduling meetings, organizing photo shoots, and oh yeah, trying to squeeze in time to concept. That can be the most challenging when what you need is just time to think.

8) Anything else you'd like to add?

Tracy:

This is a job where you have to put yourself out there, and the insecurity and doubt can be overwhelming. But it's also what makes the work so gratifying and why I'm still doing it after eight years.




Alison:
Thanks, Alvina!

Thank you Alison and Tracy! I love hearing how people work--I learned a lot!