WHAT WILL MY STORY BE? is out! It’s been a long, long journey to publication day. I thought I’d share how the story came to be – inspired by my daughter and our chosen family. My book launch event and signing (first in 2 years!) is this Saturday at Bel and Bunna’s bookstore in Lafayette. I hope to see you there!
Also, I’m auctioning an illustration portfolio review to support the We Need Diverse Books organization.
Thank you for your support of my stories and art!
Tomorrow is Misty’s book birthday!
I was reflecting back on the whole process and it surprised me how fast this came together. At the end of last year my agent called me with a potential project. It had been a rough year end and hearing about the potential to work on my first kids book lifted my spirits. From the very beginning I knew that working with Hugh Howey would be a treat. As an illustrator, my job is to translate the ideas in someone else’s head and that can be a challenge. Hugh was clear in his vision but also trusted me and left plenty of space for my ideas.
Working with an author who is nice and sincere is wonderful. The project had a few minor hiccups, but even through those, he and I shared the common goal of making the best book possible. Â I feel very fortunate that my first kids book experience was so overwhelmingly positive. And I’m thrilled with how it looks – I worked very hard on each spread. I hit more layers on my photoshop files than I’ve ever had before (over 100) with complex backgrounds and I am so proud of Misty. Looking back, I can’t believe we signed the contract in February and by the end of August the book was ready for print!
If you pre-ordered you should receive your book tomorrow. If not, there are still copies available.
Also it was announced that LeVar Burton himself chose my illustration for the Reading Rainbow calendar – I’m so thrilled to know that he liked my work enough to include it!
That’s it from me – happy Monday ^_^