The Book is Born!

Yay! Hooplah! Celebration!

Holly Wild came home this week. What a long journey it has been for that kid--and me--and Bear Track Press!

A list of thank yous go out to Marie Rust and Lisa Ramlow--Team Taylor!

Thanks to Karin Fish--for fielding all of my InDesign questions--

and teaching me about 'em' dashes--and stuff.

To Kathleen Dougherty--thanks times ten. She has taught me much in the

nature realm for the last almost 30 years!

To my SCBWI Critter Crit group for looking over my ms. and

giving their helpful crit--times two!

Thanks to all!

So before I head off to Mackinac Island this weekend for the annual SCBWI-MI Fall Conference for Illustration Boot Camp, I've made sure that I've gotten all my ducks in a row. Holly's book has special buttons on my website to order books and here on my blog. She also has a Kid's Page with cool stuff for kids of all ages and her own Facebook page to keep you informed.

 And there will be school/libraryprograms, book signings and more in the future!

And you can bet Holly will have something to say about Mackinac Island in the future!

HOLY CREEPS! It's A Go with HOLLY WILD!

HOLY CREEPS! Holly H. Wild is ready to go--to press that is! As we speak, her story, her games, her activities and her words are rolling along the press. In fact, she will be showing her face to the world as of next week! So there's STILL a LOT more to do to get ready for bringing her home. We at Bear Track Press are all so excited, but no one more than me.

Just who is HOLLY H. WILD?  She's a cross between Raggedy Ann and Charlie Brown with a hint of Peppermint Patty and Lil Orphan Annie thrown in. OK, so maybe not, but she kinda looks like a combo of all of those. Holly is her own kid, with her own style! A tough and tumble, redheaded geek in hiking boots and hat who likes snakes and is ready to take on the world.

She's HOLLY H. WILD and she's awesome, times ten! She's fearless, brave, creative, bright, loyal and curious and--OK, she's a bit stubborn and clutsy, but that's because she is in a hurry to see the world and tell it to others. It's a dang good thing she has a Team like Tierra and Sierra Hills to keep her on track.

Holly may trip and fall, but she always get back up.

These last few months, weeks, and years of writing, revisions, illustrations and redoes, copyrights, ISBN and Library of Congress numbers and bar codes and setting up the files of the hundreds of illustrations is cause for CELEBRATION! Whew! To give you an idea, when we started writing Holly's story, Kenny was seven inches long and now he is five feet long! It's about time Holly comes to life! It's about time to celebrate her Wild appearance.

What does Holly have to say about all of this?
"Get UP, get OUT and get Wild!"



WATCH for Holly's arrival next week by following and liking her on Facebook. She will have her own page and fun stuff for kids to do. Kids can follow Holly and can become a GeEK (Geo Explorer Kid) and learn more about the nature world. Watch for Holly's fun promotional stuff, too.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Holly-Wild/174022782675624

HOLLY WILD:  Bamboozled on Beaver Island will be available for $12.99 at www.loritaylorart.com or Bear Track Press: http://www.beartrackstudiosllc.com/bear_track_press.html.