Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Happy Book Birthday to The Santa Thief


     Happy Book Birthday to The Santa Thief! Just in time for the Holidays!

     It's winter in Girard, Pennsylvania and the pond is completely frozen over―ready for a young boy to go skating!―but Georgie's ice skates are too small. All Georgie wants for Christmas is a new pair of skates. But times are tough in 1920s Pennsylvania, and he gets the disappointing news Santa might not come this year. Follow Georgie as he decides to take matters into his own hands by stealing Santa's identity―and discovers what Christmas is all about. The Santa Thief is a heartwarming tale of boyhood set in 1920s Pennsylvania for children ages 4-8.

     Also check out the nice Kirkus Review of the book!


     Purchase through my website for a signed copy.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

2 Awards for The Egg Thief!


     The Egg Thief has been named Kirkus' Best Indie Book of 2016 AND is a Foreword Indies Finalist! Lots of cheering going on around here for Georgie!

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/issue/best-of-2016/section/indie/




https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2016/picture-books/

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Happy Pub Day Kobee Manatee: Shipwreck Sea Friends! PLUS PRIZES!

     Happy Pub Day to Kobee Manatee: Shipwreck Sea Freinds! The third book in the educational series is now available!

     This book is all about tropical fish that can be found around Puerto Rico and explores the SS Antonio Lopez shipwreck. Learn about a new fish on every page!


     Kobee Manatee Book 3 is endorsed by Fabien Cousteau​, internationally well-known for his historic "Mission 31".
"Kobee and his ocean pals are full of fun, adventure, and inspiration. They give the reader a better sense of the magic and mystery within our ocean world."
—Fabien Cousteau, oceanographic explorer and conservationist 
      Book 3 is also collaborating with The Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center (OLC) for this book release and they have set up some great prizes! Go to the webpage to find out how to get some awesome Kobee merchandise as well as some OLC Merchandise!



Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Happy Valentine's Day!


Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a little sibling love for you this time. Valentine's Day doesn't always have to be about romantic love. Love comes in many forms! Tell someone you love them today.


Friday, January 13, 2017

The Santa Thief - Coming Christmas 2017



     Coming in November 2017! The next book in the "Thief" Series! I can't wait to share this book with you all! Keep an eye out and I'll keep you updated!

Friday, October 7, 2016

The Coal Thief on Storyline Online


     After a loooong wait, I am so excited to share this video with you all of Christian Slater reading The Coal Thief on Storyline Online! What an honor to be included in this literacy program put together by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and BookPals.

     BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools) is a signature children’s literacy program of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. BookPALS provides union performers, gifted in the art of storytelling, the opportunity to give back to their local communities. Every week dedicated volunteers read to thousands of children in title 1 public school classrooms across the nation.

     And don't forget to take a look at the Activity Guides for Families and Teachers! Pass them on to your kids' classrooms!


     And P.S. No, I didn't do the animation in the video, and no, I didn't get to meet Mr. Slater. Everything was taken care of by the talented people from SAG-AFTRA.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Making A Postcard - An Act of Kindness


     I was recently given the "assignment" by my agent to create a new piece for a postcard mailing. The Agency does this 3 or so times a year (as we all should!!) and they usually like to give their artists some kind of theme or prompt to work off of. This time it was "an act of kindness". Very broad, and the possibilities are endless! These are great prompts for artists to run with and really make their own.


     Personally, I hadn't made a personal piece of art in quite awhile due to a lot of paid work, so I was excited for the opportunity to make something all for myself. I am usually the kind of person who gets going on a project pretty quickly and I have the problem of not spending enough time on the idea/concept of a piece and spend a lot of my time on rendering the final piece of art. This usually makes for a nice looking piece, but not with a lot of substance.

     So this time I gave myself several days (instead of maybe 1 day at most) to brainstorm and researching what my idea was going to be. I googled "acts of kindness" and "random acts of kindness" and got a lot of very simple ideas that didn't lend itself to a very good narrative idea. Things like writing a nice note to someone. Although that can mean the world to someone who needs it, it doesn't really read visually as a single piece or 2 pieces at most.

     I wanted to go for something a little more impactful and unexpected. Maybe something ironic? All I knew for sure was I wanted to draw animals – my favorite! So the question was what would a specific animal specifically do as an act of kindness. I came up with a few ideas, some usable, some not so much. In my research I came across a list of "acts of kindness" that listed "donating blood". I immediately thought of a vampire bat and laughed to myself at how ironic that was. I had my idea!!

     Now to sketch out my ideas in the sketchbook. I tried several ideas of how I wanted to tell the story. In the end, I didn't want a lot of action because, well, when you give blood, there isn't a lot of action. Instead I wanted a still image so people could read it more slowly and let the idea of it sink in.



     Then I picked a color palette. I knew I wanted to blood to really pop, so I let everything else in the image be cooler colors so they'd fall into the background compared to the bright red blood. I used the Adobe Kuler website to find my palette. It's a great site to make your own palettes or search for palette that others have put together. I also found some reference art that match the palette I was looking for.


After spending a lot of my time planning, and thinking, I finally got started on clean sketches, color sketches, and final paintings (done in acrylic). I'm happy how these turned out, and I think I have a better concept because I spent the time on the front end to allow myself to just think about it for awhile. Try it!