Halloween

Check out Lynd Ward's illustrated version of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. Amazing wood cut engravings! Plus that type! I think I'd buy this book just because of the type alone...if I could afford it.

Thanks Fuse #8 for the link to this post. Go there! You'll see a number of wonderful interior spreads.

Wednesday Links

For an inside look, and a wonderfully detailed post by editor Alvina Ling on how illustrators are chosen head over to

The Blue Rose Girls

For some wrap-ups on the Rabbit Hill Festival of Literature check out these great blogs.

The Blue Rose Girls
Wild Rose Reader
Art Words Life

Thanks Alvina, Grace, Elaine, and Jennifer!

Wednesday Links

Have you headed over to the Cybils (the premier Web awards for children's literature) to nominate your favorite book of 2008 yet? Don't forget to do it by October 15! You can read the rules here. Remember, once a book has been nominated it's in. No need to second that nomination.

I'm looking forward to nominating a book this year. Last year I had the honor of being one of the judges in the fiction picture book category, and felt it would be wrong to have a favorite going in. But not to worry. Others liked a certain book just as much as I did. It made it to the finals! With the first-round panelists narrowing it down to these outstanding finalists, it was a fierce battle. But in the end, a well deserved win went to The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County.

Pam Coughlan, the organizer of the 2008 Cybils fiction picture book category, sums it up best. "A good picture book is a pleasing merger of text and artwork. A great picture book is a celebration of story and illustration, with lasting appeal for kids and/or adults. The best picture books completely excel in art, story, kid-friendliness, and adult appeal."

Check out these links for all the previous winners.
2006 Cybils Awards
2007 Cybils Awards

Illustrator Intensive Coming up!

The workshop with award-winning author/illustrator Pat Cummings is tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to meeting her, hearing her advice on my piece, and seeing what all the other participants have come up with. I think that's one of the biggest benefits, learning tools, of a workshop like this, getting to see how everyone else handles art direction, and just what that art direction is!

And for all of us writers, Pat is also holding a Writer's Roundtable while she is in town. What a great opportunity to get to work on both the illustrating and writing sides of the business! This SCBWI-AZ sponsored event takes place tonight. You can read more about it on the events page of the SCBWI-AZ website.

It's going to be a busy next few days! We have one more local event coming up this Monday featuring bestselling author-illustrator Bruce Hale. "Make Your Story Unputdownable" A Session for Middle Grade Writers. The registration for this event has been expanded. You can still register if you send your check today and contact our regional adviser and let her know.

Wednesday Links

Read a Banned Book!


Join Random House in the fight against censorship. Celebrate your First Amendment right. Read a banned book! Check out the list of banned books Random House has put together. You'll be amazed at what you see. Their First Amendment First Aide Kit site features interviews with banned authors, strategies for teachers, librarians, and booksellers to stand up to censorship, and tips for talking about these issues.

Just the other day my daughter noticed I had Lois Lowry's The Giver sitting out. She told me it was "a really good book." My kids had read it in school. I'm so glad our local schools have not succumbed to censorship. That's the banned book I'm going to read. How about you?