I’ve had a lot of fun showing off giving out my new card to just about anyone that shows the tiniest bit of interest in what I do. But more than a few folks have asked why the monkey is wearing pants. Well, there’s a funny story that goes with that particular character design, so pull up a chair and set a spell.

A few months ago my three year old son started calling almost all of his stuffed animals “her”, “she” or giving them girl names. Now, I don’t have a problem with that, I’m more Alan Alda than Charlton Heston, and if he wants to explore gender issues with his toys, so be it. But I was curious, so I decided to ask him when the time was right.

Later that week we were going through the bedtime routine; read two stories, one last trip to the potty, back to bed for snuggling (awwww….). He decided he wanted the little elephant that I called Eubie but he insisted was Ellie. Great, thinks I, here’s my chance.

“Isaac, why do you think so many of your stuffed animals are girls?”

He picked up the elephant, turned it around so the back end was facing me and, with the sincerity that only a child can muster said,

“Look, Daddy, no bulbs.”

Yep, Isaac had gleaned that fact the boys have “bulbs” and girls do not (gosh they grow up so fast).

And that’s why the monkey wears pants. No snot nosed kid is going to tell me that Little Mister Monkey is really Little Miss Monkey ’cause he’s got no junk. And I’m not about to start drawing anatomically correct animals for kids. Besides, who wants to do that research? (Never google anything about animal genitals, I beg you).

I say we believe him.

My new promo cards arrived. Very happy with how they turned out (process shots are over in this post if you’re curious). Now to get folding 250 cards so I can hand them out in LA!

New cards are here!

I feel like Navin R. Johnson when the new phonebooks arrive.

Since the Reluctant Dragon wound down I’ve been busy prepping for my first national SCBWI conference in Los Angeles. Mostly that’s meant working on manuscripts, trying to lose weight (fail), shopping for presentable grown man fashions and readying a new self-promotional business card. Oh, there was a bit of homework for the Monday Writer Intensives with Bonnie Bader and Lisa Yee too.

Here’s a quick peek at the card design. (I’ll update this post tomorrow when FedEx hands them over). FedEx came through like a champ – check’em out.

I chose to make a fold over business card with contact info and “flavor” on the outside with a complete illustration on the inside. I worked up a version of one of my characters, Roz Wellington; Girl Believer. This version is actually a little older and farther along in her saga which is why she’s joined by a pirate space-monkey and Robot Number 5 (ah, backstory…. maybe someday this whole thing see the light of day).

Here’s the process between pencils and beginning painting.

process from pencils to painting, but not finished...

Here’s the finished piece.

Roz Wellington & Co.

And here’s the outside, front and back, of the card. I have a history of loving monkeys and a home-made catchphrase, “Put the monkey on it!”, so I couldn’t resist putting the monkey on the front right next to my name.

Put the monkey on it!

Yesterday was the last day of Kat Apel’s Month of Poetry challenge. Here’s my last pass, image above, words below. I think just about everyone in the U.S. is with my sentiments on our Winter season. Of course, with today’s new snow storms I may have to amend this with a wish for March to start. We can skip February all together. Right?

There’s a Cardinal

There’s a cardinal in the holly
looking like the King of Winter
and I’m so very ready
for January to end

One more thing…
I guess the month of poetry had me revved up for more. When I saw Mike Jung tweet about a haiku contest on Ellen Oh’s blog for Cindy Pon’s books, Fury of the Phoenix and Silver Phoenix, I was ready. I’m still under the influence of red birds apparently. Can you guess what this is about?

fury of red birds
anger rising over pigs
phoenix save the eggs

OK, last thing. I promise.
The picture above is a quick sketch using Art Rage. I’ve been experimenting with Manga Studio too. I like Manga Studio for initial sketching and drawing, but I need to give Sketchbook Pro a real test before fully committing. Any opinions out them?

Ho-ho-ho!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from my little snow family to yours.

After five years I guess you could say the snow family has become a tradition. If you want to see the earlier ones jump on over to Flickr.

Click to see a slideshow of the process. Then come back and comment, right?

Here’s my entry for the poster showcase for NESCBWI 2010. The theme for the conference is “Moments of Change” and I bounced through several serious approaches before deciding to go with my silly, silly gut. I’m chagrined I didn’t start earlier, but happy I can do this in one busy frantic day of focused activity.

Really looking forward to seeing all the posters on display. I’m usually blown away and rocked with feelings of inadequacy, but it’s great to see how other poeple interpret a theme.

I’m often asked how to get started with children’s book writing and what resources are available. Here’s the list I send out. It covers the basics and will guide you to more resources.

I find my status as “expert” pretty laughable, but expertise is relative. I might not be Jon Sciekza, but I have picked up a few things. I’m also very clear that I’m just starting out, and I know what I don’t know. Best of all, I’m not afraid to ask.

Groups

1. Join the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and…
2. Lean on your regional chapter for writing groups, local events and conferences. Here’s mine, New England SCBWI

Books

I picked up several books to help me learn the ropes and understand the basics of the business and the craft.

1. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books, 3rd Edition by Harold D. Underdown
2. Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books by Uri Shulevitz
3. The Encyclopedia of Writing and Illustrating Children’s Books by Desdemona McCannon, Sue Thornton, Yadzia Williams
4. 2009 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market by Alice Pope

There’s Always More

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but these are a good start. I’ll be back with more, especially online resources, soon.