Birthing HOLLY WILD!

Lots of possiblilites here. Decisions, decisions!

This will be the last post before I get Holly published. Let me just say what a lo-o-ong journey it has been. A much longer labor and delivery than both of my own kids put together!

So I am putting together a scrap book of the beginnings of Holly Wild (and I'm sure that there are more in notebooks from way back). It was fun to gather these up, like putting together a baby book for Holly--which is more than what I did for my own children's baby books. Sorry kids.

But in order to develop a character and know her well and draw her with ease it takes at least 100 or more sketches and then at least 100 more times ten. Easy peasey right? Enjoy my trot down memory lane!

EEKS! Too cute--too clean.

Sketch pads, note paper, bank slips, stationery,
receipts--all held Holly Wild concepts.

Lots of paper and COFFEE!

HOLY CREEPS! A breakthrough! I was sick at the time of the coffe stain sketch when I saw patterns in the chimney bricks. It simplified Holly's look. This is the very beginning of the Holly Wild look, but she NEEDS to be more lovable.

AHA! Holly is lovable and perfect. But wait--she is too young.
Back to the drawing board.

HOLLY H. WILD 8-20-11

I can understand Holly's look as I feel the same way. We are both ready for her to be a hit and get into print. Besides Kenny was seven inches when we started this and now he is five feet long.

So back to work. There are files to be wrangled and ISBN numbers and copyrights to be wrassled. The next time I write I hope it's to say, BUY the BOOK!

Critters and Pets and Holly, Oh, My!

As the deadline for Holly Wild is looming ever closer, I've been sketching, scribbling, and drawing and redrawing on paper and in Photoshop to get this book put together. So before my hand fell off, I took a break from the routine yesterday to go to the Detroit zoo with my daughter, her husband and my granddaughter, Kyah, who was visiting them.

Even though we did the zoo early because of the heat, we still got hot and found ourselves scouting about for the next blue water fountain to cool off. But the best cooling came from visiting the Dinosauria exhibit in the shady woods. As we gladly stepped back through the mists of time (enjoyed by everyone from 1 to 91) we entered the forest of giant, ancient herps! We had a fun time moaning and roaring at the animated rubber dinosaurs and posing in front of them. It made me think of some giant herps introduced in the Holly Wild book.

Gigantic toads on Beaver Island the size of squirrels!

Willy-Nilly, a small rodent pet.

Beaver Island is much like a Jurassic Park--only not with herps the size of T-Rex--but amphibians and reptiles. Giant toads and larger than average snakes have been discovered there in the last few years.

Castor canadensis, a modern day beaver.

Speaking of giant critters, we got to see a Capybara at the zoo. They must've been hot too, because they hit the beach and dove in the water. After the Capybara, our modern day beaver is next in line as the largest rodent. However, our acient beaver relatives would dwarf them both. Those bad boys were once the size of our Michigan black bears and roamed the shores in search of soft foods, not trees. 



As we walked along we got to visit the Bush Dogs. They are tiny little scrappers that look like shaved wolverines with stubby black tails. These lil fellers had a well-traveled grassy trail in their enclosure and were running their route when we spied a small rabbit eating clover near a stump in the their pen.

We wondered how long the bunny had been in there and how long it would be until the bush dogs discovered the critter. If their sense of smell and hunger was like Hunter, the hound in Holly Wild, it wouldn't be too long. Yikes! Run bunny, run.

Queenie, a not so wild dog.

It also got me thinking about how poodles were once used as hunting dogs and are now the size of rabbits and get dressed up in sweaters.

Of course we did visit the Herp House at the zoo.
Inside, we ogled the variety of snakes, turtles, and lizards
--from big gators to a dwarf caiman.

So after three hours at the zoo, four Ibuprofen, two quarts of water and a good night's sleep, I'm back in the chair working on the book today--just to get ready to hit the road north tomorrow in search of BEARS!

And did I mention that I forgot my camera at my daughter's house and I will have to DRAW the bears and wildlife we see?! Better rest my hand up again.

HOLLY WILD: Poking it with a STICK!

In my last blog, I mentioned that I was illustrating the science portion of the book. Simple science. No big gadgets or apps. Pure and simple Holly Wild curiosity and a good poking stick is all that is needed. In order to get in touch with nature, you need a few other good things like a good notebook and a good pencil. but that's it--anything else is mere icing on the nature cake. A hand lens, specimen collecting system (Ziploc bags and plastic medicine bottles) and you're in business.

A few tools of the naturalist trade

Speaking of getting in touch with nature and science, the "poke it with a stick" Holly Wildism has been around longer than she's been around. And since we are talking poking sticks, my editorial team would like me to touch on polite poking stick etiquette:

'Nuff said!

Science and nature study need not be complicated. Observation and experience is key. With homemade explorer kit in hand, I can't tell you how many trees I climbed, places I explored and how many snakes I tailed a kid. I grew up in a naturalist's heaven on five acres of pines, hardwoods and ponds and had a wild neighborhood of lakes and more woods--without NO Trespassing signs around. Ahhh--nature! Ahh-mothers! My mother had us kids watching out for wild snakes, wild badgers, wild cats, wild dogs and anything else wild that might harm, bite, scratch or otherwise maim us.

NEVER poke a snake, especially an EMR--just saying!

And, yes, we did grow up with Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes (EMR) and lived to tell the tail--so to speak. We knew the dangers and were careful. OK, we knew the dangers.

But in order to get kids outdoors and stay outdoors today, we need to have them out simply for adventure. Not for a specific study or learning purpose. They need unstructured time to make stick forts and eat lunch in them like explorers. OK, so explorers didn't have Kool Aid and chips, but by golly it helps add to that adventurous feel. Time outdoors for kids to collect things, dig for bones (been there--done that) and make fox traps (been there--done that and punished for it). It doesn't take much in the way of tools or cost much and the benefits are wild, crazy cool.

Notebooks hold feasther, fur, skin, leaves, and small bones nicely.

Kids (and us adults) need adventure without the push of a button or a beep of digital notes. Keep science pure and simple.

Keep it Holly Wild style and POKE IT WITH A STICK--politely! 

HOLLY WILD: The Countdown, Part 2

Even though I have been working on the "science" portion of the book right now (snake species, scientific method, tools), I wanted to introduce you to the book's lively characters. Each one is quirky, quaint and down right vibrant. These folks are the guts, the juice, the fire, and the glue--that help and hinder Holly with her adventure on Beaver Island.

Let the journey begin. And with every story and journey comes the good, the bad and ugly! First the good. Our hero, Holly needs a trusty team to help her on her adventures. Twins, Tierra and Sierra fit the bill and do a good job of keeping Holly on task. Holly's brother adds color--er--black, and ugly smell to the story. Brothers do that--proudly.

*Left to Right:  HOLLY, Boy (Holly's big bro) and the twins, Tierra and Sierra.



*Remember these faces as they are early illustrations and will change as we go along. Another clean-up act for me to do at the drawing board. Redraw the characters so they look consistent throughout the chapters.

Now, for more good. The twinkly, sparkly, nature-fairy kind. Aunt Kitty. The bigger the hair, the bigger the heart and the bigger the brain. Aunt Kitty is a sweet, smart, flower-loving naturalist with a warped sense of humor. Yikes!

"Tee-hee!" (good friends make the best characters!)

And one other good fellow who unknowingly helps direct Holly in her pursuit of saving Beaver Island--artist and storyteller, Charlie Bird.

(One never knows what kind of characters lurk behind bad art and balloons!
The lines of good and bad can often be blurred.)

And what evil are all these good folk battling? What, is right. That unwanted, unliked family who shows up like a noxious, spreading invasive plant specie that is impossible to eradicate. The Buckthorn clan. (Yes, that's where their names came from!)

Spoiled Ivy Buckthorn has been a thorn in Holly's side since the second grade. But what makes Ivy so delicious is you despise her the moment she walks on "stage". From her ponytail scythe to her sharp tongue, you can't wait until this Buckthorn specie moves on--far away.

Then there is rest of the Buckthorn clan, Mr. and Mrs. B (Fern and Alder) and their sniveling poodle pup, Queenie. Queenie is annoying and Mrs. B can be obnoxious, but it's the greedy Mr. B who is the bad seed here. And Holly must help Beaver Island

outsmart, outwit and outlast Buckthorn Builders in order to SURVIVE!

Even though no one is REALLY bad--everyone learns lessons on this adventure. And good vs. evil makes for a great tail--er tale. And everyone is needed to tell this story especially when the story has environmentally educational material in it.

The science is hidden among all the humorous antics and

adventure like a snake or herp in the grass! Which is the best way to learn.

Back to the drawing board for me. I have more good, bad and ugly species to illustrate.

COUNTDOWN to Holly Wild!

 So after three years in the making (even more if you count character development and research) HOLLY WILD:  Bamboozled on Beaver Island (a mid grade fiction) will become a reality. Rejected by Michigan publishers who I am certain only one even looked at, we are going INDY...as only Holly would like. After all, she is a do-it-yourself, explorer kind of girl. That's right. Indy (independent publisher-of self-pub). BTP, (Bear Track Press) who put out Lissy-Lost! (L2) in 2011 after she went OP (out of print) in 2010, is going at it again.

Each week I will blog on the progress of Holly Wild, the characters, the setting, the plot and how this indy book will be put together. So after twenty plus revisions, my editorial team decided to go with the new ms. (manuscript). And let me tell you how many gazillions of illustrations that girl HW (Holly Wild) has me doing.

Who is Holly Wild? Well, if you haven't heard or seen hints of her by now, she is a feisty, earthy (muddy, dirty, scraped-up), ten-year old, in hiking boots and auburn hair (she hates being called a red-head or maybe she hates it when her ultimate enemy, Ivy Buckthorn calls her that).

HOLLY H. WILD:  Curious, mischievous and always at my side. Did I mention annoying? (But, only to me.)

Holly's outlook and thoughts on life: "Just poke it with a stick and see what happens." Holy creeps, everyone knows that. This could also be the reason why she gets into jams and trouble so often.

HOLLY H. WILD:  Brave, creative, inventive and knows no danger--or at least doesn't recognize it.

Holly keeps me up at night, pesters me during the day and is more loud and needy than any BTP pet running around here. She wants kids (and parents) to know about herps, poop (scat is the polite term), and bones and gross nature stuff. She wants someone to hear her. She wants company--kids to GET UP, GET OUT and GET DIRTY--especially in Michigan's wild places with her.

HOLLY H. WILD:  Determined and focused (for maybe ten seconds)

Me. I can't wait until she gets what she wants and get this first book out. But, then I will have to start on book two, because she is already hinting at book three and wants to know where we are going for book four. Hold on Holly--one indy at a time. Speaking of indy if you the reader has ANY comments on ANYthing (the cover, design, or illustrations) please feel free to let me hear about them. I'm open to suggestions and criticism (although I'm not so sure how Holly will take it.)

Look out Michigan--this is one kid to watch for this September in HOLLY WILD:  Bamboozled on Beaver Island. She just might have your kids getting dirty, poking things with a stick and searching for "herps"and asking, "What does the H. in Holly H. Wild, stand for?)"

My Book an eBook

So after eleven years in the making, Lissy-Lost!, my first book written and illustrated by moi, has taken the digital leap to an eBook. 

"L2" (Lissy-Lost!) as my daughter so lovingly calls this book, is now available from Barnes & Noble for the mere price of $3.99. (And you can even download free eBook reader apps at BN for your PC, Android, iPad and Pod and more!)

When I purchased my Nook color I never really thought about having L2 go digital. But after getting the book reprinted I thought why the heck not jump on the bitmap bandwagon.

It started off as an experiment to see how it would go. I download books on my Nook every so often--OK all the time--but only to see how other books look:  illustrations, layout, overall feel. (OK, I love story.) But the L2 paperback book is glossy, colorful and can be flipped to pictures and passages. Pages can be dog-eared, bent and even colored in if you are six (my first book altering art pieces had coloring and signatures in them--Marie still laughs at me as I still sign my name in my books--in a family of six as a kid you had to claim your things).

So now that L2 is out there floating on the waves of electronica, how do I market it?  Any suggestions?  I have read a few blogs and such going over the same problem or challenge. Blog about it, tell folks on FB...umm I ran out of ideas. Why? Because my brain is usually in CREATE mode NOT market mode and moves on to the next shiny thing. 

I have a book signing at our Pinckney Library next week and will have books there to sign and do a small program for kids and I will mention the new "eL2". But how do you sign an eBook? Collect signatures in a drawing program? I did download a kid's coloring program on my Nook and actually thought about having Ruth McNally Barshaw of Ellie McDoodle fame sign her name with her finger and draw her Ellie at the Comic Jam in Chelsea last week.

Will my next book be an eBook? Perhaps not. I like the paper. Heck, L2 is a 30% post-consumer waste and the printer supports the Plant a Billion Trees Program. But with Holly Wild, or HW, you will be able to stick it in a pocket, it will need no batteries or charging and can get it wet in a tent on a dark and spooky, stormy night. And I want kids to draw in it, fold it, color it--interact with it. Make it personal and sign their own name in it. Afterall, reading a book is a personal experience.

Like we writers, illustrators and editors said when we met over a month ago over dinner, we (the public) won't be handing down eBooks to Grandma's grandkids when she dies or saying fondly, "Oh, that was Grandma's favorite app! Who gets it?" There will be no wear and tear and aging of these eBooks. My daughter and I collect old, old kids books and run and fight over who saw what first when we shop for them. I can't see this happening with eBooks. (AND the names and coloring of pictures in those books make them more so endearing.)

Sign my Nook drawing program?

I love my Nook because I do love books. I still use our local library (mostly for a pickup point for MEL books) and even request books from them on my Nook. I'm not right, I know. But my Nook is handy--a portfolio, email and FB at a WiFi touch and I can pull it out and jump into a book at any time--and the kid drawing program occasionally soothes my artist ADD--but give me paper or a paper book anytime for pure fun.

I still love the creating process of sketching and drawing and try to stress this to folks young and old that I meet. After I sold a book to a family last weekend at the Ann Arbor Artisan Market I showed them the sketches I did while doodling and how they became the final illustrations for the book.

I'll always like the primitive feel and smell of pen and pencil on paper. And to draw with a Nook finger is a bit like an Etch-a-Sketch. So I can't see doing any eBook signings anytime soon.

But if you purchase a copy of L2 online at Barnes and Noble, I'll email you a bookmark!

But if you want the old-fashioned paperback it is available for purchase at many fine stores listed on my website.

People Watching at the Market

What does an artist/illustrator do when they can't hit the woods to study wildlife? They study and sketch "People Life" while sitting in a booth at an art show or artist market. People watching.

It's a fun change of pace from birdwatching. And people can be just as entertaining and colorful too, as they go about their nesting, food gathering and flocking activities!

And sometimes illustrators need illustrations of "extras" for backgrounds.  An interesting array of characters, footwear, hats, clothes and characters are set before you.

(Music making, talking, looking and watching specimens)

Varied body types, ages, cultures are all on parade. Enjoy. Get in on their fun. What are all of these people talking about? Pick up snippets of conversation. What is happening? From these sketches you can see that it is summer. Just like "field notes" in the wild, date your sketch.

(Food and art gathering activities and specimens on the move.)

What was the weather like? This was a hot Sunday. Sunglasses, shorts and sandals? Even the day of the week can tell alot about how people dress. How people carry things goes beyond paper or plastic. Backpack, belly pack or bag? How do they move. Are they coming home from church, shopping, going fishing...

(Get front, side and back shots before the flock senses danger and scatters.)

(Flashy male specimen with plumage)

...or selling their art?!

Whatever the occasion take time to take notes. As you People Watch, you may get people watching you watching others. It's a great conversation starter. People are fascinated by someone putting pen to paper.

Go to the beach, go to a fair, go to a farmer's market. Get out and people watch and draw them before they know it.