Invented Images

This story begins in the middle – with the shipping of the 13 color illustrations and cover art for my 4th children’s book for Sylvan Dell Publishing, “Fur and Feathers“, by Janet Halfmann (author of “Little Skink’s Tail“, our first collaboration).  I just got word that all the drawings arrived at their destination safely  so i can breathe a sigh of relief and now my job is largely done, at least until the book itself is printed and bound and i can start officially sharing it (at book signings and school talks and various conferences).  I say we are in the middle of the story because the whole thing began earlier this year (around March/April 2009) and won’t come to it’s ultimate (hopefully successful) conclusion until nearly the end of the next one (Fall/Winter 2010).  It’s really a lengthy process getting words and pictures into finished book form – and kind of a fascinating one, at least from my perspective – so i thought it might be interesting to chronicle the whole affair from beginning to end.

Unlike my first two protracted blog entries, however, i shall attempt to keep the “Fur & Feathers” account a bit more concise.  I love this ability to write and describe and share the creative thought process but i realize i do have a weakness for verbosity.  I also know if i make the entries too long no one will read them (or they will doze off in the middle or worse, start skimming).  I know i certainly tend to skip articles that look too long, and completely avoid recipes of too many ingredients and instructions.  However, despite being aware of my long-winded tendencies i’m not going to promise brevity… only that i’ll try to keep these particular entries contained in smaller, easier to read, segments.

So we shall call this first account (in the “Fur & Feathers Category”)  the “F&F Intro”, even tho it takes place 10 months after the actual beginning of events.  And to further the out-of-kilter continuity the attached cover illustration doesn’t technically enter the narrative until 5 months later, but i thought we needed a visual image to start the tale  (and it does – eventually – become the approved cover design, so i’m giving a bit of a preview to up-coming events in the hopes of pricking your interest).  Welcome to “The Fur & Feathers Journey”….. or….

Fur & Feathers: How It Becomes A Book

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 12:04 pm and is filed under Fur and Feathers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.