Next BIG Thing: Blog Tour May 1, 2013 13:04 2 Comments

The Next Big Thing blog tour, which first started in Australia, brings awareness to authors and illustrators and their work by way of their blogs. Many thanks to the lovely and wonderfully talented author Trisha Speed Shaskan for inviting me to participate. Her latest book TRULY, WE BOTH LOVED BEAUTY DEARLY! THE STORY OF SLEEPING BEAUTY AS TOLD BY THE GOOD AND BAD FAIRIES illustrated by Amit Tayal will be published in August. I’ll answer some questions about my latest work, then pass it on to a few other authors/illustrators. Now, onto the questions! 1) What is the working title of your next book? My next two soon-to-be released books are Owl & Friends and Frog & Friends. They will be published by Price Stern Sloan in June 2013. 2) Where did the idea come from for the book? I really love wood grain textures and even offer a line of cards printed on actual birch wood veneer made from sustainably harvested trees. I wanted to incorporate scanned wood textures into my illustrations which led to the initial idea of some sort of tree book. I also love surprise endings in books (and movies for that matter!) and came up with a concept that put the two things together. 3) What genre does your book fall under? Board Book 4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition? For these particular books I imagine animated shorts (they are board books after all) with Morgan Freeman's friendly, soothing voice over narration. That man could read a telephone book and I'd hang on every word! lol 5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? A board book series that introduces young children to the joys of nature's cutest creatures and their natural habitats. 6) Who is publishing your book? Price Stern Sloan, an imprint of Penguin Group. These are the same folks who publish the beloved Mad Libs series. Cool, eh? 7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript? It's hard to say because the books were originally written as a single picture book and then was broken down into two board books. I would say the very first draft of the picture book version took about a couple of weeks. However, I'd like to add that I usually let ideas simmer in my head for months (if not years) before I actually put it down on paper. 8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Board books are one of my favorite genres as a book lover and a sweet spot for me as an illustrator. A lot of the Eric Carle books teach practical lessons about nature in a fun and colorful way and there are also the "IN MY" series by Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich that also deal with animals and their habitats. 9) Who or what inspired you to write this book? Children and nature - there is just SO much cuteness in both I can hardly stand it sometimes! 10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest? Each book contains a fold-out final page that reveals a fun surprise ending. Thank you so much for stopping by! The Next Big Thing Blog Tour continues with the following 2 wonderful authors/illustrators who are also represented by my extraordinary agent Teresa Kietlinski of Prospect Agency: Annie Bach will talk about her latest NIGHT-NIGHT, FOREST FRIENDS (Grosset & Dunlap/Penguin)               Brooke Boynton Hughes will talk about her upcoming BABY LOVE by Angela DiTerlizzi (Beach Lane Books/S&S) and CUPCAKE COUSINS by Kate Hannigan (Hyperion/Disney)           And last, but not least, Stefan Jolet will talk about his upcoming CINDERELLAPHANT by Dianne de las Casas (Pelican Publishing Co.):                 xo-Joyce