When Mem Fox Came to Minneapolis

Though it feels like a year must have already passed, it was just two months ago that the wonderful author, Mem Fox came for a visit to Minneapolis. We had never met before this visit and yet we had just published a picture book together: Tell Me About Your Day Today, so there were lots of reasons to celebrate!

 Telling the story of illustrating Tell Me About Your Day Today

Our first meeting was at Wild Rumpus Book Store. It quickly filled with lovers of children's books and we took the stage. First I told the story of how I painted the pictures, then Mem read the story two times through. The second time the audience joined in for "The who, the what, the why, and the way..."

Mem Fox reading Tell Me About Your Day Today. 

Author and Illustrator together at last!

The second day of Mem's visit was a huge welcome party given by the rich and creative children's literature community of Minnesota gathered together by friend and author, Debra Frasier. Authors, illustrators, book sellers, librarians, teachers, and professors of children's literature brought food and stories to share. Mem made so many new friends. At the end of the party she said she could not wait to come back!

The party was ready and waiting for the guests to arrive.

Everyone brought delicious food to share.

The wondrous Debra Frasier welcoming everyone!

Books and flowers decorated the party.

Mem Fox and Susan Richardson, wondrous school librarian!

Mem Fox and Marion Dane Bauer,  wondrous author!

Mem Fox with a new fan!

The last day of Mem Fox's visit to Minneapolis she spoke at the University of Minnesota for Book Week 2012. Everyone who listened to her read her books aloud was transported to a world of magic where stuffed animals talk, pirates cry, and Koala mamas love their babies.  I could listen to Mem Fox read picture books for hours and hours. She truly knows how to bring words alive.

Mem Fox and our editor, Allyn Johnston

When Mem Fox came to Minneapolis I made a new friend. I hope she comes back next year!

Catching Up!

What a winter/spring it has been in my studio! Fiercely painting toward a deadline, I had to say no to friends, school visits, walks, gatherings, coffee breaks. I was tied to my painting wall and made it! The interior art went to the publisher for my book When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky  on time! I will write more about that book later. I am still recovering.

I am now turning my focus onto a book I illustrated Tell Me About Your Day Today, written by Mem Fox. It comes out the beginning of September, so it is time for me to update my website (not yet, don't look yet!), put together an activity guide to go with it, put together mailings, and in general, wrap my head around a book that I finished painting nearly a year ago. That is the interesting challenge of publishing for me. Unlike theatre or circus where all of your preparation and hard work are immediately appreciated with applause and bravos, there is a pause of about a year between finishing the paintings and manuscript for a picture book. Plenty goes on in that year! I receive mechanicals and proofs from the publisher along the way, as well as f&gs (folded and gathered copies of the book-- not yet bound) and my publisher is extremely busy with preparations to market the book and get it out into the world... as am I, now that I have some breathing time. So stay tuned... lots more to come on Tell Me About Your Day Today!

Cooper catching on the Flying Trape

While I have been illustrating on deadline, my family has been very busy too. Circus Juventas just finished its annual extravaganza--The May Shows, where nearly all of their 900 students, age 3 to 21, perform in the Circus arena in full make-up and costume. The hard work of students, coaches, and volunteers is put into motion to present an astounding, amazing, and beautiful show. My son rigged up in the rafters for every show and would catch Flying Trapeze in the end! With the May Shows over, it is time to get ready for Circus Juventas' summer show: SHOWDOWN. This means it is time to finish painting the sets and it is time for Cooper and all of the Summer show performers to kick in to high gear with rehearsals and practice. So glad I made that deadline!

Oberlin Spring Back, Ruby dances!

In the midst of the book deadline, I did take a quick break and drove with my family to and from Oberlin College in Ohio, where my daughter studies dance and choreography. She performed in two dance pieces. One of them she choreographed and danced a solo in. How could I miss this? It was fantastic-- we even got to view it two nights in a row in different places in the theatre. I loved seeing the dances from different perspectives. It was also great to see where she lives and meet some of her friends. 

Deadlines can unbalance one's life, but I am so glad I took some time to see Ruby dance, watch Cooper fly. This weekend I gardened. Finally I am finding time to smell the roses again.

Dog-Days of Winter

Beach Lane Book logo and sign
created by the author/illustrator Marla Frazee

When the cool days of autumn turn into the cold days of winter, I welcome the coziness of being inside my home and studio. The double layers of storm windows are a quiet relief from the lawn mowers of summer and the constant noise of planes overhead and freeways nearby. But by the end of February, the air inside begins to feel stale and the constant rattling and throbbing of radiators wakes me too often in the middle of the night. I want to throw open the windows and let the fresh air in, but the thermometer is still reading only 21 degrees. So these are the dog-days of winter for me, when I begin to sing this song in my studio and dream of traveling to a warmer climate. I am in the midst of a deadline for a book, so there are no getaways allowed, but I can dream, can't I?

I have just finished a book with my publisher, Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The book is called, Tell Me About Your Day Today and it is written by Mem Fox. I will write more about this book in future posts, closer to when it comes out next September, but right now all I want to share is my love for Beach Lane Books, a studio where two California editors work. It is a magical place where pictures and words come together to become gorgeous picture books and sometimes adventurous chapter books. I visited there last January and this is what I saw:

A pail and shovel on the steps to the studio.

A cozy entryway with an excellent message
for everyone in the publishing biz.

A table for work with colored chairs that seem to say:
"Sit here!" "No, here, sit here!"
and a window to see the sea from.

Shells on the windowsill.

A bike and books, lots of books!

More books and a bulletin board just waiting...
for the perfect pictures, quotes, and postcards!

Flowers, hummingbirds, and yellow finches!

Yep! When Minnesota's spring is still at least two months away, this is where I wish I were right now.

Where do you wish you could be right now?