More Wombat Art
Another adorable sketch of Wombat for the upcoming Wombat Underground by the hugely talented Charles Santoso. This is pure essence of Wombat–dig, dig, dig!
Wombat Art!
So excited to see some sample art from the talented Charles Santoso for WOMBAT UNDERGROUND. Love the richness of the colors and the contrast between under- and aboveground!
That Night: A Spooky Halloween Story
photo by Igor Tigor
Here’s a chilling little tidbit for your Halloween Eve.
Read MoreI woke up in bed and I had to pee.
You know how it is. You lie there for a while, thinking you don’t really have to go that badly. You try to brace yourself for the rush of chilly air that envelops you once you throw the covers back. The slap of cold against the sole of each bare foot when you set it on the floor.
But I couldn’t hold out forever. Finally I forced myself out of bed and hurried to the bathroom. I didn’t even turn on the light.
When I was done, I felt my way along the dark hallway back toward my room. I heard my mom snoring. My dad rolled over in bed and sighed.
My dog brushed up against my leg. I reached down to pet him and felt the scruff of fur on the back of his neck, right where he liked to be scratched. His cold nose bumped my knee.
Back in my room, I burrowed under the covers, wrapped up in warmth again.
That was when I remembered that our dog died last summer. We buried him in the backyard under the maple tree.
So what was it that brushed up against me in the dark?
I guess I’m going to have to open the door to my room and find out. Especially since there’s a lot of noise coming from my mom and dad’s room.
All that screaming.
Taia Morley to Illustrate A PANDEMIC IS WORLDWIDE
Delighted to announce that the talented Taia Morley will be illustrating A Pandemic Is Worldwide! I love Taia’s work; it’s warm and rich and childlike. I thinks she’ll bring a nice balance to this serious topic.
Writing With Pets
Tessie thinking, “Yeah, your character development needs work in Chapter Three.”
I think all writers’ households should have pets (barring allergy issues and such). There are definitely good reasons to keep furry family members around, such as:
1) They make great, noncritical first readers, as long as you’re willing to read stuff out loud (which you should be doing anyway, since it’s a great way to catch errors or moments of awkwardness.)
2) Long walks are good for thinking out complicated plots, and dogs help with that.
3) It’s important to read a lot to keep up with the field, and cats help with that by insisting–insisting–that you settle down in the comfy armchair with a cup of tea so they can sit on your lap and purr.
4) They are good to hug after rejection letters.
So I’m pleased to announce that, as well as Karma the Puppy of Infinite Appetite, we now have a new furry family member: Tessie. She is still quite shy, but crept out of hiding this morning to sit on my lap in the comfy armchair, so I think she’s going to be great addition.
Read MoreKeith Mallett to Illustrate Brown Is Warm
Illustrator switch! Erin Robinson was on board to illustrator my upcoming picture book Brown Is Warm, Black Is Bright. Sadly, she had to drop the project.
Happily, a new illustrator has just signed on–Keith Mallett, whose glowing colors and expressive faces will bring a lot of joy and vivacity to the book. I can’t wait to see what it will look like!
Read MoreEditing Explained
I’ve been working on a new project this week–copyediting another author’s manuscript. I’m really enjoying getting into the fine detail this entails. (Can you introduce a line of dialog with a colon? Does the cat say “mrow” or mrow? Do we talk about the duke of Mantua or the Duke of Mantua?)
It led me to think that I might explain a bit about the different types of editing a book goes through.
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Editing. This is the stuff people generally think of when they think of a book editor. An editor looks at the shape of the overall book–the plot arc, the character development, whether the climax is satisfying or falls flat. She’ll also niggle about word choice, repetition, sentence structure, and that kind of thing.
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Copyediting. This is the final stage before the a manuscript goes to design. It’s a very careful, detailed look to make sure the manuscript conforms to grammatical standards and standard spelling and house style. Where do the commas go? Should that be a colon or a semicolon? If a character flips through a pile of paper, is she rifling or riffling? A copyeditor also checks consistency (does a character have red hair in chapter three and brown hair in chapter seventeen?) and chronology (oops, the author accidentally put forty-seven days in September).
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Proofreading. The final stage of all. A proofreader checks over a manuscript once it has been designed. In the old days, when books were actually set in type, a proofreader was checking to be sure that the printer had not introduced errors during this process. Now, when books are produced electronically, a proofreader serves as a final set of eyes to check those pesky commas and to verify that all of the copyeditor’s changes actually got made and that the formatting didn’t go wonky during the change from manuscript to book.
I like to think of it this way. The editor makes sure the book is good, the copyeditor makes sure it is correct and consistent, and the proofreader makes sure no little details were missed.
(FYI: Yes, you can use the colon, but do it sparingly. Either “mrow” or mrow, just be consistent. The Duke of Mantua. The character who flips through the papers is riffling.)
Read MoreSarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Readers will treasure the blossoming friendship between opposites in this whimsically illustrated tale. Short chapters and plenty of action make for an accessible and appealing reading experience. . . . Touching and inspiring.”
—Kirkus Reviews