Tag: children’s books

Have you worked with an illustrator yet? Here are 12 Tips

Working successfully with an illustrator   I have used several artists, depending upon the project.  I have had wonderful response from my illustrators (free-lance) and as a team we get the job done!
David White has done several covers for me, most prominent and recent the newest in the World of Murder series.

The illustrator for my children’s books is brilliant in a different way.  He reads the story as I write it with clear instructions (from me) on where I want the illustrations placed in my story book.  Then he creates all these different perspectives that I would never have dreamed about.  They are truly wonderful.

So I thought I would share these tips, with you, about working with another artist.  Hopefully they are helpful as you work with your ‘image-maker’.

Tip #1:  Be patient.

Tip #2: They are artists, much like you, so they are sensitive about their art.

Tip #3:  Don’t push them; they have a time-table that might not be yours.  I do state my time-table in the beginning of a project and get some assurance that they will try to meet it.

Tip #4: Be patient.

Tip #5: Be certain that you give them at least two credits in your publication, book or script. I routinely credit them on the back (exterior) cover and on one of the first pages in the book.

Tip #6:  Pay them the most that you can budget.  Remember the old adage: ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’.

Tip #7:  Because I am on a budget; I state my rates (per size of image) right up front.  Be honest.

Tip #8: Be patient.

Tip #9:  Don’t be afraid to use students at an art school.  I have used them (or graduates) from the Savannah College of Art and Design.  They are fresh, have the newest technology, and are the most excited by the project.  Do I occasionally meet a ‘prima dona’?  Who, without any work history, without any credits of any kind, without any life experience, behaves as if they work for a big city design firm, expecting top dollar and……. are confused when you don’t see it that way. (sigh) Yes,  I have!

Tip #10: Try to be as clear as you can on what you want in the image.  Don’t be afraid to tweak the work as you and your illustrator work together.  My illustrators appreciate the second set of eyes.Journal for Creative Writers

Tip #11: Pay the illustrator promptly.  As I have my illustrator working as I write; when I receive final images I pay him as we go along.  I don’t make them wait until the project is finished to be paid.

Tip #12: Be patient.
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Researching Fairy Tales

fairy tales, books for children, children's books,bullying, literacy   When I decided to add some of the classic characters (from fairy tales we all grew up with) to my fourth fable,  I was amazed at the fascinating information I found….

I had so much fun researching characters like Little Red Riding Hood (Rhonda Rider in my story).  Where she originated..oh yes, way before Walt Disney was a twinkle in his Daddy’s eye.

While creating  “Bertie, the Bookworm and the Bully Boys”  I wanted to pay special homage to the classical fairy tales, by having some of the characters appear in my story and chat briefly with my friends in the Fabled Forest.  As seen here in this illustration, Druscilla, Cinderella’s stepsister, has stumbled into the Fabled Forest’s clearing. Continue reading “Researching Fairy Tales”

Don’t forget to go back and……

writing, process, writers, styleI was recently working on my blog, and fiction that I had written over a year ago  I realized as I cut and pasted excerpts from my writings (in preparation to posting on my own site, www.poetrysoup.com and other sites) that with all the flurry of editing, rewriting, deleting, (I have grown to love my delete key)  and proofing I rarely  stop to enjoy the final product. 

And when I do go back, it’s always with an editor’s eye and I am very critical.  I could have done so much better!  Do you ever feel that way?

So as I was organizing and doing the housekeeping that a web site requires, I took a moment.  As  I chose and inserted excerpts, I stopped to just enjoy the poetry of the words, the dry humor in a line of dialogue, or a quip from one of my fictional characters…. Continue reading “Don’t forget to go back and……”

Cheets, the Effervescent Elf

I haven’t talked about Cheets, the lovable elf for some time and less about the book I wrote just for him.

Cheets was the first character to hop into my brain one morning at 3AM.  By the time I had stumbled to my computer he had introduced me to several other of his friends in the fabled forest.   I began the series with Emma’s quest to help an enchanted unicorn, Rainey. After the ‘Exciting Exploits of….’, Stanley,  the Stalwart Dragon ran away from home and, lost, ended up in my forest.  The fourth book, ‘Bertie, the Bookworm….’ is the story of the reading group being plagued by BULLIES.

children's plays, kids, stage plays, new

“The Exciting Exploits of an Effervescent Elf”, with beautiful full color illustrations. Available here, www.amazon.com and your local book store.

In this stand alone sequel to Emma and the Lost Unicorn, Emma is held captive in Patsy, the Banana Spider’s web. Continue reading “Cheets, the Effervescent Elf”

Skip to the Head of the Line

bookstoreMy book store is just a click away!  USE THIS CODE 336699 AND GET 10% OFF of any BOOK purchase UNTIL November 31st.   The Web Site has a new feature: you can now buy an autographed copy of any book directly from the author using your Visa, MasterCard through PayPal. And you don’t need a PayPal account to use it. It’s so easy!

Scripts about bullying and other teen issues.  Great for the

Ten Minutes to Curtain, Vol. I, II, & III
Ten Minutes to Curtain, Vol. I, II, & III

classroom!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiction.  The new mystery series, ‘The World of Murder’ with Detectives O’Roarke and Garcia.artofmurder_cover (2)

 

 

WOW.BanW._wow (3)Don’t miss “Women Outside the Walls” 

 

 

 

 

and”Wild Violets“fiction, women, flappers, prohibition, San Francisco, roaring twenties

Continue reading “Skip to the Head of the Line”

Self-published Authors! We are in Good Company!

peterrabbitIt was just a few short years ago that  being self published was a dirty word.  People would call your work a ‘vanity book’ or a ‘one book wonder’.  You would have to warehouse 10’s of thousands of inventory for your book and then schlep it around as far as you could.  All of that is in the past!  We can hold our heads up high, write our work and get it in the hands of our readers for, sometimes, as little as a few hundred bucks.  If you don’t hire a graphic designer for the cover, then publishing is literally FREE.

Now here’s the “Good Company” I claimed………….

How Beatrix Potter self-published Peter Rabbit
The aspiring children’s writer was fed up of receiving rejection letters – so on this day in 1901 she self-published a certain book about a naughty rabbit

So you think self-publishing is a 21st-century phenomenon? Continue reading “Self-published Authors! We are in Good Company!”

Teachers! Do a PLay in Your Classroom!

bullying, bullies, high school, middle school, teens,one act, short stage play  There are 26, ten minute plays to choose from in this collection of single plays.  Most address real life issues facing our tweens and teens today. NO sets, NO costumes.  Five are dedicated to different forms of BULLYING. Check out the titles here at my book store.

A couple of years ago I heard from teacher friends that most arts programs were being cut.  Anything that the teacher wanted to do was funded out of their own very meager pockets.  So I developed these single short plays and priced them cheap.  (6.50)

There is also a ‘collection’ of 10 minute plays under one cover. short plays, children's plays, teens, tweens, young actor, short plays for the classroom‘Ten Minutes to Curtain’.

Available at www.amazon.com

All are ‘G’ rated.

 

teen run aways, running away, teenagers, classroom, short plays cyber-bullying, bullying, girls who bully, teen violence, short plays for teens

texting and driving, teen texting, short plays, high school, middle school,  shy, shyness, conceit, bullying, high school, middle school, teenagers,short plays, small casts, one act plays for the young actor

‘Bertie, the Bookworm and the Bullies’ FREE on Kindle today and tomorrow!

children's story books, fairy tales, bullying, literacy, new books for kids    FREE TODAY AND TOMORROW!!!  Click here to get yours: 

Available on your Smartphone, Kindle, Nook!

 

Bertie, the bookworm is the fabled forest’s elder and teacher. Every week he has a spelling and reading circle where everyone is welcomed. Slam, the badger and his gang of bully boys are forever teasing, disrupting, and bullying Bertie and the group of faeries and woodland creatures. Pansy, the pixie is a new character in this third of the Fabled Forest series. She is a defender of reading, truth, and Bertie. Cheets, our beloved elf from past books joins the wrong crowd and his friends are worried that he will become the newest member of the Bully Boys.

Continue reading “‘Bertie, the Bookworm and the Bullies’ FREE on Kindle today and tomorrow!”

‘Brave’…Brilliantly Written…an Overdue, Alternate Ending to Prince Charming

braveI don’t really know why I’m writing about this topic…could it be because the writing for “Brave” was so exceptional?...filled with double entendre like the Mama Bear fighting to protect her ‘cubs‘.  Once in awhile I enjoy a good Disney animated film. And I hadn’t seen the advances of animation in a long time, so I rented ‘Brave’.

We all know the timeless, underlying theme, the girl is looking for her Prince Charming.  Her Prince finds her, usually rescues her and they live happily ever after. Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Robin Hood, The Little Mermaid, the list goes on and on.

God knows that’s how I was raised; that my Prince Charming would come someday and I too would live happily ever after.  After all, when all was said and done, every movie (in my days of growing up)  had an underlying story with this result and girls of my decade pretty much sat back and waited for HIM.  Now, fifty  years later and three husbands ago, I finally achieved some wisdom and the fact is there are NO Prince Charmings  and all three men that I married were just as human as I was. What a huge expectation I put on them! Continue reading “‘Brave’…Brilliantly Written…an Overdue, Alternate Ending to Prince Charming”

More from the Opera Singer/AudioBook Narrator/Producer (part 2)

In Part I, I told you how I got started formatting my existing books into audio books with the help of my producer/narrator Carin Gilfry. Here is the rest of Carin’s story.

audio books, books for kids, fairy tales
Carin as Estrella in Life is a Dream at the Santa Fe Opera

Carin Gilfry, narrator: I always knew how each character should sound by the way the dialogue was written. Cheets in particular, the mischievous and very effervescent elf, quickly became my favorite. I always wanted to be a Disney princess, but in reality, I think I was more like Cheets as a child. Eager, loud, and always wanting to be everyone’s friend. I always intended to narrate books when not in a production, but I actually narrated EEElf, while in rehearsals for Offenbach’s La Perichole with New York City Opera. It worked surprisingly well. Though, I did get locked in a hotel closet, trying to find a quiet space to narrate… Adventures of audiobook narration on the road!children's books, audio books, the fabled forest, elves, fairies Continue reading “More from the Opera Singer/AudioBook Narrator/Producer (part 2)”