Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Link Back the Love

Link Back the Love is the brainchild of wife, mother, and creative entrepreneur Holli Conger. Check out this link to see all of the cool stuff she dreams up. Today she has a post on her blog, a girl who creates, titled "A Day in the Life" check it out later today and see what she's up to next. (Here's the link) She sure is one creative girl! Is there a blog you like to visit everyday? Head over to Link Back the Love, grab the link back logo, and link away!

Update:
What I like to See in an Artist Portfolio
.
While I'm at it, here's a link to a great post from editor Cheryl Kline over at Brooklyn Arden. She has a lengthy post on exactly what she's looking for when viewing an illustrator's portfolio.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

It's Ten O'Clock. Do You Know Where Your Art Is?

It could be here. And you don't even know it. Imagine your dismay as you browse the bookstore shelves, flip through the pages of an art book, and find work you created in print. Maybe there are even some interviews your wrote, right there, printed word for word. Now imagine all this happening without your knowledge or permission, let alone your profit. It happened in this book.

I know the feeling. Last fall, while searching the web, I stumbled across one of my images being used without my permission as part of a performance art display. It's an awful feeling knowing how hard you worked on something and ending up with no credit or payment for your work. In my case the images were removed from the website, but the public performance couldn't be taken back. The damage was done. Someone else's name was now associated with my work. Period. But what might be even worse, is the mixed reaction from the public. Many artists were outraged and supportive. But some people seem to think “imitation is the highest form of flattery” when in this case it is downright stealing.

Read who it's happened to on the following blogs:
Darren Di Lieto
Luc Latulippe
Jonathan Edwards


Here you can see a gallery of all the images 'used' in the book. See any you know? Please spread the word. And don't buy this book!


Update: Add to the list:
Jeff Miracola
(He does a great job of explaining what all has happened on his blog.)

Thanks Jennifer and Drawn! for the heads up on this.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Spring in the Desert!




The timing and amount of rainfall we had this winter made for a prime wildflower display in the desert. For the last couple on months something has constantly been in bloom. I've managed eight trips out to a spot close to home, yet secluded enough to feel like you're out in the wild. Every trip has been an amazing burst of color, but this one in March proved to be the most spectacular. I took my Mom out for the day to celebrate her birthday. When I headed into the middle of this Poppy field to get a good shot, I felt just like I had stepped into the movie The Wizard of Oz. It made me wonder if Poppies really would make me sleepy! No, they didn't. But they sure made me want to linger.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

I Rock the Drop!


YALSA and readergirlz are partners in Operation Teen Book Drop (TBD). To celebrate April 17, 2008, Support Teen Literature Day, they have organized a massive, coordinated release of 10,000 publisher-donated YA books into the top pediatric hospitals across the country!

You are invited to join in the fun and share your love of reading. Celebrate teen lit day by leaving a book with a TBD bookplate pasted inside, in a teen gathering spot in your community. (Stop by the readergirlz website to print out a bookplate.) Place it where the book will be found, taken, and read. (i.e. a coffee shop, the park, your school, a bus stop.) Imagine the fun someone will have when they find your donation! This is the same day all 10,000 publisher-donated books will be dropped in pediatric hospitals across the country, and it is the same day authors and readergirlz worldwide will release their own books into their communities just as you have.

Special thanks go to Dia Calhoun, Lorie Ann Grover, Justina Chen Headley, and Mitali Perkins readergirlz divas/authors! And to Sara Easterly for spreading the word.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Welcome to Our House 2008








It's that time of year again! Time to register for the annual SCBWI Arizona Welcome to Our House Conference. Join us on Saturday May17th in sunny Scottsdale at the Chaparral Suites Resort and Conference Center for a fun-filled day that includes:

Guest Speakers
Q & A Breakout Sessions with Faculty
First Page Panel
Sample Illustration Panel
Published Book Cover Slide Show
Continental Breakfast
Boxed Lunch
Networking
Door Prizes
Manuscript Reviews
Portfolio Reviews

Sit back, soak up the sun, and gather advice from featured speakers:

Regina Griffin Executive Editor- Egmont USA
Kat Kopit Associate Editor - Roaring Brook Press
Alexandra Penfold Associate Editor - Paula Wiseman Books at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Laurent Linn Art Director - Simon and Schuster
Jamie Weiss Chilton Associate Agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Update: Regina Griffin will be unable to attend. In her place will be:
Gretchen Hirsch - Associate Editor - HarperCollins Children's Books

This can be all yours for a modest fee. Just visit the SCBWI Arizona website, print out the registration, and drop it in the mail. Be sure to check out some of the highlights from last year's conference here. Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

IBBY and Poetry
















In honor of International Children's Book Day* and National Poetry Month I'm sending you off to a few of the blogs I frequently visit that just posted leads on some awesome children's books. Enjoy!

Brooklyn Arden
Chicken Spaghetti
Cynsations
A Fuse #8 Production
Just One More Book!!
Kids Lit
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Wild Rose Reader

*Thanks go to Elizabeth for the lead.