Notes from the SCBWI LA conference

I posted my notes from the LA conference on my new blog. Check it out if you are interested. My take-away theme this year was, "building your career."

new blog, website, and portfolio!

When I got back from the LA conference, I started working on my new website, which was supposed to be a small, easy project. However, I changed to new servers and added a blog, so it didn't go quite as planned (there was a lot of head scratching while trying to figure out Word Press code and CSS). Then I just decided to wing it and guessed a bit while using my previous knowledge of html and Dreamweaver. 

The only really bad thing was that I lost all images that were on my old server, and it will be almost impossible to recreate most of them, especially the ones for the artist interviews.I don't have copies of all their art. I just uploaded it to use for the blog. FYI for anyone switching servers for their website: Apparently when you switch servers, you don't really have 10 days to do everything. You only have until you change the name servers and I did that right away. 

The good news is that:

My new site went live today! There are still a couple of things to be worked on, but the site is up and it looks soooooo much better than it did before.

I uploaded my new portfolio too! There will be new pictures more often (I think the last time I updated was a couple of years ago - hangs head in shame).

And last, but not least, I have a new blog! I decided to move my blog to my website so that everything is in one place and so that I can post more art.

I've started posting things about the LA conference. The first one was links to blog posts about LA (if you've blogged about it, send me the link[s] and I'll add them). The second one was about the Blue Moon Ball and my outfit. I'll be posting notes soon too. Probably tomorrow.

The best news of all is that Mom is doing well. She's started chemo, the pneumonia is gone, and she's optimistic. So am I.

where I’ve been for the last 7 weeks or so

The last time I updated my blog, I’d just gotten done with my comics class and Sheila had made her debut at the MoCCA comics festival and I was going on an unexpected cross country trip. What I didn’t say in that post was that my mom had just been diagnosed with colon cancer. At the time, I was a bit shell-shocked and couldn’t talk about it. I threw a bunch of stuff in a suitcase and jumped on a plane and soon as I found out so that I could spend a couple of days with her before surgery and then visit her in the hospital after surgery.

A couple of days before surgery they found something else, so she had to have 2 major surgeries at once (she was lucky they could do both with one incision). To keep her mind off of things, we went to an art exhibit, saw a play that was better than the version I saw on Broadway (I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change), and visited Betsy and Tacy’s houses (unfortunately not when Meg Cabot was there).

Mom’s surgery went well, but she’s had some complications since then (including pneumonia). Now she’s back on track, is having surgery today to install the chemo port and will be starting chemo soon – fingers crossed that everything goes well and she’s healthy again soon!!

I was going to update about 3 weeks ago, but then I *sprained my wrist, making it nearly impossible to **type, which also meant that I had to drop out of Linda Sue Park’s scene workshop in LA. I’m really bummed about that, but what was I going to do? “Um, I can’t revise during the workshop because I can’t do a lot of typing because I sprained my wrist.” Yeah, no. I don’t want to look like a complete idiot in front of LSP, plus the workshop would be a waste if I couldn’t actually do the revisions, and I’d probably just be worried about my mom starting chemo anyway.

It’s not all bad news though. My wrist is getting a little bit better (although not for typing). I’ve been able to make some art for my portfolio in LA, (yay) making sure to take lots of breaks and ice my wrist several times a day. I’m crossing my fingers I’ll get enough done in the next couple of days to have a decent number of images in my portfolio (hopefully 8-12). Almost everything is new, but a couple of pieces are reworked images from the past.

That’s all for now. I plan to catch up with everyone after LA or maybe in LA. Hope to see some of you there and I hope that you and your loved ones are all healthy! :)

*I didn't go to the doctor, but it feels like when I sprained my ankle. It also might be from overuse. Apparently it's not a good idea to do massive amounts of laundry, lift weights, and paint for 10+ hours straight, all in a 36 hour time period. The painting is what threw me over the cliff. My LA portfolio is digital art, not paint.

**Typing with 2 hands = ouch. Typing with 1 hand = slow.

Sheila's big debut, 14 wk novel, and a cross country trip

Sheila the zombie cheerleader made her big mini comic debut at the MoCCA comics festival last weekend. Yay!!!! It was lots of fun and very hot. There's a news report from the festival here, pictures here, and notes about the comics my classmates and I produced for the festival here (and a bit on the process of making Sheila's comic here).

And here's the cover of my mini comic:



I came into the class with a script, that changed a lot, and I had 2 weeks to put together the comic, including adding 5 pages at the last minute and doing most of the inking in one day. Wheee! It was exhausting, but so worth it!

I'll be doing a series of posts in the future on the making of my mini comic. I'll have more details and more pictures then.

14 Week Novel - Final Week and Final Thoughts
This is the last week (seven more days to work)! If you're not done yet, type faster!! :) I'm not done yet, but I'm hoping in the next week I will be much further along. I have some travel days and usually work well at the ariport, so I'm hoping to have some real progress in the next week or so. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to post the last 2 weeks, but it wasn't possible with my class (but the project for class was the same character from my novel, so I was still working). My final thought on the 14 week novel, is that 14 weeks was too long for me. I kept thinking of all the time I had left and didn't get as much done as I would have with a shorter deadline. Also, the intensive class I've been in the last 2 weeks made me realize that setting a shorter goal and trying to stay off the internet or limit my online time until it's done is a good idea and one I'll try again. I hope that the posts were helpful to read and that you were able to make progress on your projects. Let me know how your projects are going if you have time to comment!

Cross country trip - I was going to come back and start blogging this week, but I'm heading across the country on an unexpected trip instead. I'll be gone a week or so and will try to check in, but don't know if I'll be able to with everything going on.

Holy Homework Batman!!!

I'm taking an intensive comics class (read updates and see pictures here). So far it's a great class, but there's a ton of homework, so I probably won't be around much for a couple of weeks. I'm crossing my fingers that I can get everything done when it needs to be done (tonight's homework is iffy).

The best thing is that I'm doing a Sheila the Zombie Cheerleader mini comic! And I got new medicine from my doc yesterday, so hopefully I'll be better and have a finished comic by the end of class. There are a couple of other comics I might try to get done too, but I don't think it'll happen. Sheila is very demanding.

14 week novel, wk 11: follow your own path

Last week I asked other writers to weigh in on writing novels. If you haven’t already, check out the excellent answers that everyone gave on both blogs: Live Journal week 10 , Blogger week 10. Thank you so much to all the authors that commented!!!

It’s week eleven and we’re almost to the finish line …

Goal for week #11: Follow your own path. Find a way to work that works for you, whether it’s the 14 week novel, NaNoWriMo, fast drafting, slow drafting, BIC, or your own process.

What’s my path? The last couple of weeks I’ve been fighting a cold and unable to work (or worry) about my WIP the way I usually do. It’s made me realize that the way that I write might not fit well into the 14 week novel challenge, and that’s ok. I’m glad I did it because I like trying new processes, and it might work for someone else. I’m going to continue with it until the end, because I think it’s still a valuable exercise and it helps me to keep working on my projects. And anything that keeps me moving forward is worth it.

Why isn't it working? I think it’s because I need time to let my ideas percolate; they aren’t always ready when I want them to be. Or it could be because I’m not a one-project person, even though I’d like to be. I’m a multiple-project girl and I need to (finally) embrace that craziness. As long as I’m working on something and working towards the finish, that’s good for me.

What is working? I have learned to stick with a project (like Sheila the zombie cheerleader), even when I need to stop and work on another project for a while. For instance, I finally figured out a novel that’s been bugging me for a while and has been everything from a PB to a comic strip. The next few days are going to be devoted to writing it all down. Then I’m going back to working on Sheila’s story and taking a intensive comics class to help me learn more about writing and illustrating graphic novels.

What process works for you? How long did it take you to figure it out or are you still trying to find your process?

doctors, medicine, old characters with new lives, and cookies

I’m back from the doctor. Don’t worry, it’s not the swine flu. I didn’t think it was, but with the news lately, I thought it would be good to reassure everyone that the piggies haven’t gotten me, well other than the ones on my toes and the character in one of my books.

My doctor is a bit like Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) from NCIS (he could be a Jimmy look-a-like, although a few years older). I’ve been going to my doctor before NCIS existed on TV; I didn't just pick him because he looks like one of the cast members. Just like Jimmy, my doctor likes to talk about interesting medical things, whether it’s what I’m there for or not and non-medical things (a lot like Jimmy and Ducky on NCIS). It always makes it fun to go to the doctor, because I never know what we’re going to talk about. Today we talked about jury duty, since that’s where I got my cold, and since my doctor had recently did jury duty too.

He gave me a couple of prescriptions (here’s where I channel my grandma) … one of them was $50, for five pills! That’s $10 a pill! And we have prescription insurance! Grama used to complain about the cost and tell us that she counted her pills to make sure they were all there. I totally get what she meant now.

Along with my prescriptions, I got some chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, because you know the old saying, “a big chocolate cookie makes the medicine go down.” No wait, maybe that was, “a spoon full of sugar.” The two guys behind the counter looked at my cookies, and their conversation went something like this:

“Oooh, those are the dark chocolate cookies.”
“You mean the good cookies.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“You have to have them with milk. Cold milk, not warm milk, like some people like.”
“Warm milk? No. You have to have cold milk.”

At this point, they are off in milk-and-cookie land and I didn’t have the heart to tell them that I like my cookies sans milk (it dilutes the chocolate). For some reason it made me really happy that they approved of my cookie selection. Maybe it’s because they were saying, “if you eat chocolate cookies, it will make you feel better.” I want to believe that, because this might not be the first batch of cookies I’ve eaten since I got sick.

Being sick hasn’t been all bad. The head cold wouldn’t let me concentrate on anything for long, so I thought about old stories and characters, my current WIP, and new stuff I want to do in the future. I started thinking in pictures again, which is easier and more creative (for me) than trying to think about how I’m going to write the story. And I finally figured out two projects that have been plaguing me for a while. Yay! (Finally!)

Project One
Then: During a portfolio review a couple of years ago, the art director picked one image in my portfolio and wanted to see a PB dummy with a new story – she didn’t like the other images or the original storyline.

Now: I combined the scene in the picture with an old idea that I couldn’t figure out and it works now! It’s probably too late to sub it to her, but I’m going to draw it out and see what happens. I’m just happy that I thought of a plausible story to go with the picture.

Project Two
Then: Many years ago I had an idea that I just loved, but couldn’t make work. I tried it as a PB, chapter book, MG, and comic strip. I even subbed it to a children’s book publisher (before I had a clue about subbing or children’s books).

Now: I combined the old idea with some characters that I drew last year (that I couldn’t find a story for). Not all of the characters made it into the new version, but I think the ones that did work well with the new plot and story idea. I think it’s going to be a young MG graphic novel. I’m trying to get as much of the story written as possible before next week, when I start my comics class and go back to my WIP graphic novel.

With my new medicine, chocolate cookies, new and improved projects, and NCIS reruns, I’ll be feeling better in no time (I hope). 14 week novel post later tonight.

Happy Anniversary to my sweetie! We started dating 10 years ago today and were married 4 years ago today.

still sick, doctor tomorrow

Sorry I haven't been around much or answering comments (yet). I'm still sick, but I'm going to the doctor tomorrow (thanks to my DH for telling me I had to go).

I blame the perfume-y lady at jury duty because after sitting next to her, I started getting sniffly. (Other than the cold I got, jury duty wasn't that bad ... except for the smelly lady. I'm glad I didn't get put on a jury though. I would have had to call in sick.)

Update tomorrow after I see the doc.

Art Day Interview: Illustrator Kristi Valiant

Today’s Art Day Interview is with illustrator Kristi Valiant. Read on to find out more about Kristi and her art.

Q: How did you get started illustrating for children?
A: While I was in art school, I had an internship at a small children's publisher. Then during my senior year, I won an illustration contest to illustrate a leveled reader by Seedling Publications. Those were my first steps into children's books.

Q: Tell us a little bit about the recent book you illustrated.
A: Cora Cooks Pancit is my latest book; it just came out last month, in April, 2009. It's a multicultural picture book written by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore and published by Shen's Books. In the story, Cora wants to cook but usually gets stuck with kid jobs. When her older siblings head out for the day, she's finally allowed to be Mama's assistant chef and learns how to make pancit, a Filipino noodle dish. The recipe is in the book, and it's super yummy!



Q: What are you working on right now? Do you have any other books or art projects you’d like to talk about?
A: Today I'll be painting an illustration for Highlights magazine. I love Highlights, so this is an especially fun project! I've had a lot of work lately, including interior illustrations for two chapter books, covers for six chapter books, hundreds of black & white line drawings for educational materials, and yesterday, I turned in sketches for an educational project for McGraw Hill. All this work is a huge blessing! But I'm still making time to work on my own picture book dummy that I'd like to start submitting to agents soon. I took part in NaPiBoWriWee last week, and now I have 7 more picture book rough drafts that I'd love to start revising as well.

Q: Do you do non-children’s book art (licensing, fine art, etc.) or art just for fun? Is that art similar or different from your children’s book art?
A: I license card designs and illustrations for Christmas cards every year. Some of those illustrations are in my children's book look, but some are very different. I've also illustrated in a fashion vector style for a fashion magazine and a high-end clothing store.



Q: When someone else has written the text for a picture book or novel, how do you decide what scenes and details to draw?
A: Picture books by definition tell part of the story through pictures, so I try to pick out parts that can be expanded upon to tell a deeper or funnier story by "reading" the illustrations. For example, in Cora Cooks Pancit, I added a dog to the illustrations who wasn't mentioned at all in the text. He follows around the main character and keeps bringing more and more toys hoping the little girl will play with him. She ignores the dog all the way through the book, until the very end when she's lying on the floor playing tug of war with the dog. I don't draw only what the text says for picture books, but novels are a bit different. In a novel, the whole story is told in the text and the illustrations usually just show the action or feeling of what's already told.



Q: Can you explain your art process?
A: I work all digital nowadays. I still have lots of great paints and materials from art school, but my mac and wacom tablet are my favorite tools now. I sketch in Photoshop using the wacom tablet and electronic pen. I move around parts of the sketch and resize and redraw until it's ready. To paint, I use some fun Photoshop brushes that I've downloaded and I've manipulated to look like pastels or watercolor or acrylics or whatever medium I want this painting to appear to be done in. My personal taste is to steer away from creating artwork that looks airbrushed on the computer. Photoshop allows you to play around a lot with their brush creator, so I use multiple brushes as I paint. I work in separate layers, so I can move or edit certain parts of the painting if it's not working. Working digitally allows for so much freedom while painting - I love it! If you're working with traditional paints and you mess up, sometimes you can't fix it, and you have to start over. But working digitally allows me to experiment along the way and if something isn't working, I can delete that layer, or recolor just that area very quickly without it looking retouched. The undo button has become a huge part of my process!



Q: What is your favorite color?
A: Cobalt Blue (I've painted my office/studio cobalt blue and yellow with artwork hung all around - it's so energizing!)

Q: What childhood art supply brings back happy memories?
A: Colored pencils. The Museum of Children's Art in Oakland, CA has a show right now called Then & Now. It shows a current picture book illustration next to a piece of art created by that artist when they were a child. I have pieces in that show and my childhood piece is a colored pencil drawing I did in 5th grade.



Q: Do you have a favorite childhood picture that you remember making?
A: I created the childhood picture I have in the Then & Now show in class in 5th grade. I had finished my schoolwork early and the teacher let me draw. I drew this girl in colored pencil and thought she looked like a photograph. Of course, as you can see, it didn't. But I was proud of it, and got in trouble showing it to everyone around me - they were still working on their schoolwork.

Q: Did you always want to be an artist when you grew up?
A: Pretty much, yes.

Q: Do you use models / source pictures or do you draw from your memory/imagination?
A: All of the above. With source pictures, I have to be careful I don't infringe on anyone's copyrights, of course.

Q: What gets you through an illustration you’re having trouble with?
A: Chocolate and my husband or mom pointing out what's wrong with the illustration.

Q: What illustrated book(s) do you remember from when you were a child?
A: When I was little, I was fascinated with the illustrations by Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone in Dean's Mother Goose Book of Rhymes. I still am, and I own two copies of that book now.

Q: Is there a children’s book illustrator whose work you gravitate towards in the bookstore now? (You can list more than one.)
A: LeUyen Pham, Holly Hobbie, Adam Rex, Christopher Denise, Amy June Bates, Jen Corace, Adam Gustafson, Elena Kucharik, and more.

Bio: Kristi Valiant loves dancing, cooking, red walls, monkeys, penguins, and mice, all of which can be found in one or another of her children's books. Kristi's newest book is a multicultural picture book she illustrated called Cora Cooks Pancit. She's illustrated dozens of leveled readers and hundreds of black and white line drawings for educational materials. Kristi graduated magna cum laude from Columbus College of Art & Design with a major in Illustration. She grew up in Wisconsin, studied in Ohio, moved to Texas, spent a summer in China, and now lives in Indiana with her husband. You can see more of her artwork on her website: www.kristivaliant.com or on her blog: http://kristivaliant.blogspot.com

Thanks for the interview Kristi!

All images in this post © Kristi Valiant.

novel writers: new, experienced, or not yet started

I'm still fighting a nasty cold I picked up at jury duty last week, so instead of the regular 14 week novel post, I thought I'd ask for comments and opinions from anyone that's written a novel (or novels), is writing their first novel, or hasn't yet started writing but wants to.

Feel free to share any insights or aggravations about novel writing, or answer the questions below (if you like questions):

* What made you want to write a novel?

* What's the one thing you wish someone had told you before you started writing your first novel?

* What author would you most like to have coffee with, and what questions would you ask them?

* Have you ever tried a new format, POV, or genre that was different from what you usually write? Did it work?

* What obstacles have you faced in writing your novel(s) and how did you overcome them?

As always, whether you're on the 14 week novel plan or not, keep your BIC, and happy writing!