Fairytale Town

Fairytale Town was a blast: great weather, great audience AND I got to sit on a throne. Really, what more could a person ask for? Here are a few shots from today's ScholarShare author event: me doing a bug dance with the kids, reading, answering questions and being mobbed for fun giveaways. After my presentation, the lovely Kristi Yamaguchi took the stage.

If you are in the Sacramento area and have children, you must stop by this amazing place. We had to drag my girls away.







Illustration Friday: Mesmerizing

Checking in with a quick Illustration Friday. Whenever the new chicks in the neighborhood hatch, they spend some time in a little coop. It is like a feature presentation for the dogs -- they sit in rapt attention with noses through the chicken wire for hours on end. Happy Saturday!

Bookplates

My custom bookplates have finally arrived! If you'd like a signed and/or personalized bookplate, please send me a SASE along with the name(s) for personalization. Please email me for my address.

Illustration Friday: Swell

Groundswell: okay, maybe it's not exactly the true meaning of the word...

I had some fun playing with pencil and photoshop rather than my usual pen and watercolor. I'm including both of my experiments. Happy Friday!




Illustration Friday: Remedy



Hi everyone! I had fun working on this week's IF with my daughter. (Mine above, hers below.) I explained to her what remedy meant and she immediately drew a chocolate ice cream cone. Is there any more perfect remedy than ice cream?! I am humbled. :)

I haven't been blogging as much as usual for the last month or so. We are attempting to sell our house. The process of living in it, staging it and keeping two kids and a dog at bay has taken up its fair share of time. Fingers-crossed for a quick and smooth transition so I can get back to more painting and drawing.

In the meantime, I have a guest post over at the Guide to Literary Agents blog. We're also giving away a copy of my book -- just comment on that blog post for a chance to win. Happy weekend!

T-Shirt Giveaways

Congrats to both Janel and Seekingzeal! I've decided to send BOTH of you a t-shirt. Please email me at bethanie (at) aquapup (dot) com with your mailing address as well as which size shirt you would prefer: extra small (2-4) or small (6-8).

For those of you in the Bay Area, I'll be at Books, Inc. in the Marina this Saturday (June 11th) at 11:00 AM. Please join me for a reading and activities for kids. Spread the word!

Illustration Friday: Asleep...And Some Photos!

For some reason, I've been thinking about symbiotic relationships lately. What happens when the bird who cleans the crocodile's teeth falls asleep on the job?

On a completely unrelated note (as far as I can tell), I want to share a few photos from my book party last weekend. What fun! My good friend, Gina Risso, took wonderful photos. I've thrown in a few from other sources as well. By the way, if you like the Buglette t-shirts the kiddos are wearing, leave a comment on my previous blog entry. I'll be giving one away!

What party would be complete without aphid juice?

Cupcake scavengers (another one behind the lemonade, too.)


Ladybug cupcakes: red velvet, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Yum! 

My "little" brother entertains the crowd.
Reading while being upstaged by a two-year old (my own).




I've learned that I make very strange faces when I sign books.

The kiddos (and some adults!) made Buglette antennae.

Me with my brother and sister-in-law

Someone is wearing a lot of stickers.

Giveaway winners and another giveaway!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered the giveaway for my picture book, BUGLETTE, THE MESSY SLEEPER! Following are the winners. Congratulations! (We didn't reach 50 so I'll hold onto that original piece of art for another giveaway.) Please email me your mailing addresses (bethanie (at) aquapup (dot) com) and we'll get your books in the mail to you:
Jill
Nichole
Portia
Ben



Also, for those of you with little ones in your lives, I'm doing another BUGLETTE giveaway. This week it's a t-shirt (very fetching with jewels, as modeled by my daughter!). Just leave a comment on this post on or before June 3rd. I will give away one t-shirt, 100% cotton, screen-printed. I have size XS (2-4) or S (6-8). Good luck! As with the last contest, I can only mail to the US. I'll announce winners here on June 8th.

Soon, I'll be posting some photos from my launch party that took place at Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA this past weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, the crowd was wonderful AND we sold out of books!

Finally, now that my "30 Lessons Learned" is over, I will likely take a bit of a hiatus from the weekly blogging. Hopefully I will be doing more Illustration Fridays. I'm also in the middle of another couple of projects -- still learning lessons from those and DEFINITELY learning quite a bit about post-publication "stuff". I will likely put together another series soon. Feel free to chime in if you have any suggestions. :)

Happy Birthday Buglette (and a Reading List)

Today is Buglette's birthday! I'll be visiting some great blogs next week for a virtual book tour. In the meantime, don't forget to leave a comment on last week's post for my book giveaway.

In honor of my little bug and her escapades, following are some of my favorite books with themes that are similar to Buglette. I hope you might enjoy some of these titles (along with Buglette, of course) for a hefty dose of not-so-quiet sleeping and unusual but uber-lovable little characters:

Not-so-quiet sleep books:
Bear Snores On, Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
Goodnight Gorilla, Peggy Rathmann
The Napping House, Audrey and Don Wood
Little Hoot, Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace
Roar of a Snore, Marsha Diane Arnold and Pierre Pratt
How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight, Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, Mo Willems

Books with little heroes and heroines:
Song of Middle C, Alison McGhee
Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty
Olivia, Ian Falconer
A Carousel Tale, Elisa Kleven
April and Esme, Tooth Fairies, Bob Graham
The Curious Garden, Peter Brown
Clever Jack Takes the Cake, Candace Fleming


Happy reading!

30 Lessons Learned, #30: Keep it simple (It's Giveaway Time!)



I am very excited to announce that I'll be giving away signed copies of Buglette, The Messy Sleeper. I promise to keep it simple, in the wake of reading this blog post (check it out for a good chuckle).

Just leave a comment on THIS blog entry on or before May 21st. That's it! You don't need to jump through any blogging, Facebook or Twitter hoops. Winners will be announced here on Wednesday the 25th. I will be giving away one signed copy of Buglette for every 10 comments I receive, up to 50 comments. If I receive over 50 comments, I'll add a framed original illustration to the giveaway as well. Winners will be chosen from a random drawing. I can ship only to the US. My apologies to friends abroad. 

So, go ahead and comment below. Your comment can be as simple as "I want a book". Please spread the word!

Thanks to those of you who have stuck with me from the beginning as well as all newcomers. Don't forget to check back here Wednesday, May 25th for a list of winners AND another fun giveaway.

30 Lessons Learned, #29: Be Ready for a Lot of Questions

After the illustrations and manuscript were finalized, I received a marketing and publicity questionnaire from Random House that included questions like: how many Nobel Prizes have you won? Okay, that might be a small exaggeration, but it WAS eight pages of questions about my background, my education, my motivation, my honors, my media contacts, etc. As a first time author, it was daunting.

But, I slogged through and I am happy that the document forced me to think. It made me consider all aspects of my life and how they might relate to this new path as a writer and illustrator. It made me consider interview questions that have come up again and again. It gave shape and weight to my aspirations -- that felt good!

Here is one recent interview, this one is with California Readers. It covers some ground that (amazingly), I haven't covered in my blog ramblings.

PS, Giveaways will begin next week. Check back next Wednesday for details. :)