Posted By Vonna on May 21, 2013

For comic, sci-fi-and fantasy fans, Houston is the place to be this weekend. Comicpalooza will be at the George R. Brown Convention Center this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Several local children’s and young adult authors will be participating in the many literary panels that will be presented throughout the weekend. I will be moderating two events. On Friday at 1:00, I will be interviewing writer, editor and producer for the Doctor Who franchise, Gary Russell on The How and What of Doctor Who. Then on Sunday at 1:00, I will moderate a panel titled, What’s Too Big for Kickstarter? Besides the literary events and the dozens of artists who will be showing their work, the weekend will be packed with fun events. Murder By The Book will be there selling books for the event.

In other news, we also have an author/illustrator visiting this week:

May 23, Thursday, 5:00 p.m
Blue Willow Bookshop
John Rocco, Illustrator/Author

John Rocco will discuss and sign his picture book, SUPER HAIR-O AND THE BARBER OF DOOM. Every super hero gets his powers from somewhere. Rocco thinks his abilities come from his shock of red hair, and the longer it gets, the stronger he becomes. He even has a posse of super friends with wild hair of their own. Our hero is unstoppable–until the day he’s dragged to the super evil villain’s lair and robbed of his powers. How will he face his friends? Will he ever regain his super hero-ness? A girl who has been watching all along offers the gang a chance to save the day and get their groove back.

May 24-26, Friday-Sunday
Comicpalooza
George R. Brown Convention Center

Events that may interest writers or illustrators include:

Friday:
Comic Writing 101: Learn to write a script that is clear enough to be followed by an artist
The Good Habits of Good Writers
The How and What of Doctor Who—Gary Russell, writer, editor and producer of original novels, movie novelizations, magazines, audio dramas and TV series discusses the differences and challenges of writing for many mediums
Cut To The Bone: What Are Editors Really Looking For? Writers discuss methods for making their manuscripts “publisher ready”
Unexpected Heroes and Heroines: How Today’s Characters Are Changing…and What Is Driving That Change
You Wrote It, But Who Drew It: With Hayley Gompertz, Dotti Enderle, Mary D. Wade
It’s My Fantasy: Playing God and Building Your Won Fantasy World
The Challenges of Small comic Publishers: Join a frank discussion about how small comic publishers get distributed and get their comics into stores
And more!

Saturday:
Conundrums, Clues and Clever Killers—Oh, No! Focusing on the Mystery and Thriller genres
The Bumpy, Lumpy, No Good Road to Publication: With Deborah Frontiera, Dotti Enderle, Layne Riosely, Hayley Gompertz, Katherine Catmull
Indie and Small Press Publishing in the  21st Century:  With Emily Evans, Jason Aydelotte, Rose Moriarty, Camelia Amiri
The Weird, Wicked and Wild West: Do you like your westerns mixed with a little horror, sci-fi or fantasy?
Time Travel: Fiction, Feasability, Science …and Fun!
Creating Online Comics: The technical aspect of going digital with comics
Emerging Sci-Fi, Supernatural and Fantasy Authors Roundtable
The American Heroic Ideal
Representations of Gender in Graphic Literature
Vampires and Shifters: Why do We Love Them?
And more!

Sunday:
Writing Kids Books Isn’t Child’s Play: Hayley Gompertz, Dotti Enderle, Mary D. Wade
Steampunk Tips for Writers and Readers: Camelia Amiri
What’s Too Big For Kickstarter?
Middle Grade: Caught Between
YA Fantasy Panel
Writing Comics vs. Novels
Genesis of Creation: Where We Get Our Ideas
Turn That Movie Into a Book
And more!

The Annual Live Art & Auction will be held Saturday night from 7:30-10:30pm in front of Hall D on the third floor. All proceeds will benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Houston/Galveston. Be sure to bid on all the art created by Comicpalooza’s contributing artists for an amazing cause!

Brian Denham—Artist
Sean ‘Cheeks’ Galloway— Artist
Brent Peeples—Artist
Marat Mychaels—Artist
Jolly R. Blackburn—Artist
Dirk Strangely<— Artist
Yanick Paquette—Artist
Nathan Hamill— Artist
Scott Tolleson—Artist/Toy Designer
The Sucklord—Artist
Sam de la Rosa—Artist
Bernie Wrightson—Artist
Matt Frank—Artist
Bob Layton—Artist
Thom Zahler—Artist/Writer
George Pérez—Artist/Writer
Julie Bell—Illustrator
Boris Vallejo—Artist
Michael Golden—Artist/Editor/Art Director
Joe Jusko—Award-winning Artist
Renee Witterstaetter—Writer/Editor/Publisher/Colorist

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Category: Illustrators, KidLit Author/Illustrator Events, Writing |
Tags: Blue Willow, Illustrators, Murder By The Book

Posted By Vonna on May 16, 2013

Last weekend, Houston had a special opportunity to celebrate a beautiful picture book with both the author and the illustrator. Sherry Garland and Layne Johnson joined forces to bring us the launch of their new historical picture book, VOICES OF PEARL HARBOR.

VOICES OF PEARL HARBOR is the fourth book in Sherry Garland’s VOICES series. The first three are VOICES OF THE ALAMO, VOICES OF GETTYSBURG and VOICES OF THE DUSTBOWL. Each of these is a forty page history presented through sixteen first person narratives.

Sherry said it takes about a year to research and write a VOICES book. After research, she develops the characters. Real people are easier but some characters need to be created to bring the story to life. The things these created characters say are trued, but the characters are fictional.

Sherry starts with a lot of characters, then narrows it down to sixteen favorite character voices. For this book, the characters voices progress from before the attack on Pearl Harbor until 2001 with a girl talking about her grandfather.

Pelican Publishing Company sent the sixteen voices—all in a timeline of the events—to the Arizona Memorial to see if they would be interested in carrying it in their bookstore. They said yes, but they wanted more civilians included. Sherry rewrote the story, arranging the timeline to fit the new characters. The manuscript was sent back the Arizona. This time, they liked the characters, but were reluctant to sign on until they knew who would be doing the illustrations.

Sherry went to the SCBWI illustrators page and reviewed each illustrator. She made a list of possibilities. Layne Johnson was on that list. (Layne has always been interested in World War II; as a teenager, he painted the Battle of Midway on his bedroom wall with Testor model paints!)

Working with her new editor, Katy Doll, Sherry convinced Layne to sign onto the project. Layne, who is a stickler for accuracy in his illustrations, undertook the arduous job of going to Hawaii for research. (His wife and mom went along for moral support.) In each painting, the technical details of ships, planes, uniforms, weather and even directions are all historically accurate. From each of Sherry’s sixteen voices, Layne had to choose one moment from that character. Layne said it took him about a year to complete the illustrations.

Layne and Sherry worked together (unusual for an author and illustrator) to get the text to work with what Layne needed to illustrate. This was delicate work because they didn’t want to damage the integrity of the voice Sherry had created.

VOICES OF PEARL HARBOR is now carried in the Arizona Memorial bookstore. It is also in the National Museum of the Pacific War, in Fredericksburg, Texas. Of course, we are privileged to have it right here in Houston at Blue Willow Bookshop.

You can read Sherry’s thoughts about the launch on her blog. Thank you, Sherry, Layne and Blue Willow Bookshop for sharing the launch of this great book with us!

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Category: Authors, Illustrators, Picture Books |
Tags: Authors, Blue Willow, Illustrators, Picture Books

Posted By Vonna on May 13, 2013

I hope all the moms out there had a lovely day Sunday. I had a very nice weekend, starting off with attending the launch of Sherry Garland’s and Layne Johnson’s new historical picture book VOICES OF PEARL HARBOR at Blue Willow Bookshop. It was a fascinating event, and a rare opportunity to have a book signed by both the author and the illustrator. I’ll put up a post about it later this week. Saturday night, I finally got to Austin to see the new digs of Dragon’s Lair Comics and Fantasy. Nice place! Even the resident cats seemed happier. 

Good stuff coming up this week:

Wednesday, May 15, 5:00 p.m.
Blue Willow Bookshop
Christopher Healy, MG Author

Christopher Healy will discuss and sign his newest novel for kids. THE HERO’S GUIDE TO STORMING THE CASTLE is the second in Christopher Healy’s funny and action-packed middle-grade series. Prince Liam, Prince Frederic, Prince Duncan, and Prince Gustav, the charming princes from the fairy tales of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Briar Rose, saved the countryside from an evil witch in THE HERO’S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM. And now, they have to save the day again, by keeping a magical object from falling into the hands of power-mad warlords who would use it for evil.

May 15, Wednesday, 7:00 p.m.
Blue Willow Bookshop
Rachel Hawkins, YA Author

Rachel Hawkins , NYT best-selling author of the Hex Hall series, will discuss and sign her book, SCHOOL SPIRITS. Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy’s mom decides they need a break.

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but soon discover a series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school. Izzy is determined to investigate, but assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who’s always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt?

May 16, Thursday, 5:00 p.m
Blue Willow Bookshop
Eoin Colfer, MG Author

The NYTimes best-selling author of the Artemis Fowl series, Airman, Half Moon Investigations, and more, Eoin Colfer, will discuss and sign his novel for kids W.A.R.P.: THE RELUCTANT ASSASSIN.

Riley, a teen orphan boy living in Victorian London, has had the misfortune of being apprenticed to Albert Garrick, an illusionist who has fallen on difficult times and now uses his skills to gain access to victims’ dwellings. On one such escapade, Garrick urges his reluctant apprentice to commit his first killing. Riley is saved from the grisly act when the intended victim turns out to be a scientist from the future, part of the FBI’s Witness Anonymous Relocation Program (WARP). Riley is unwittingly transported via wormhole to modern day London, followed closely by Garrick, a nineteen-year-old FBI. Together Riley and Chevie must evade Garrick, who is determined to track Riley down and use the timekey in Chevie’s possession to make his way back to Victorian London where he can literally change the world.

Friday, May 17, 7:00 p.m.
Brazos Bookstore
Kosa Ely, Author/Illustrator

Also,

Saturday, May 18, 2:00 p.m.
Blue Willow Bookshop
Kosa Ely, P Author

Author Kosa Ely will discuss and sign her picture book, THE PEACEABLE FOREST. In this ancient parable from India, a forest-dwelling hunter learns cruelty has consequences and compassion has rewards. Kosa Ely adapts this traditional Indian tale into an inviting narrative that presents the universal golden rule in a new and appealing way. Anna Johansson’s richly detailed illustrations evoke the animal kingdom and enchanted forests with fine lines and luminous colors.

Monday, May 20, 7:00 p.m.
Blue Willow Bookshop
Brandon Sanderson MG/YA Author

Brandon Sanderson, author of THE WAY OF KINGS and MISTBORN series and the writer who completed Robert Jordan’s WHEEL OF TIME series, will discuss and sign his book, THE RITHMATIST. Joel is a normal kid—he’s the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, where he can only stand on the sidelines and watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice. When some of those students start disappearing from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood, he knows he must do something to help. Everything points to a Rithmatist as the culprit, but what can Joel do against a rogue sorcerer? Assigned to the professor investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery, one that will change their world—forever.

Please remember to always check the sponsoring bookstore or organization’s website for updates and other important information about these events.

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Category: KidLit Author/Illustrator Events |
Tags: Blue Willow, Brazos Bookstore, Illustrators, MG Authors, MG Books, Picture Books, YA Authors, YA Books