Archive for June 2010

It has been a number of years since I released a self-published, limited edition sketchbook. Actually it was back in 2003 when I was a guest of honor at the Gencon Game Fair. There, I did a retrospective sketchbook to coincide with the exhibition showing a decade of illustrations I’d done for role-playing and collectible-card games.

I am about to release a NEW limited edition sketchbook, this time marking a decade of creating books for children. With The Search for Wondla’s release fast approaching (Sept. 21), I thought this would be the perfect time to create a new sketchbook sampling the visual development that went into the characters, artifacts and settings.

With slick layouts from award-winning designer John Lind, Simon & Schuster has produced a beautiful two-color, 32-page limited edition sketchbook which we will give away FOR FREE at upcoming summer conventions. And we are going to start with this weekend’s American Library Association Conference in Washington, DC (June 24-29th).

Simon & Schuster will be holding an in-booth reception for Wondla at 3:30 this Saturday, June 26th (booth #2644). The first 200 friends to stop by will receive a signed advanced reader’s copy as well as the limited edition WondLa sketchbook.

If you cannot make it to the ALA conference this weekend, don’t fret. Our next big giveaway will be at Comic Con International held in San Diego on July 22-25th. I have also set aside a number of copies to give away on my site and on tour this fall. But hopefully I’ll see some of you this weekend!

Simon & Schuster Audio, along with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers announced today Teri Hatcher will narrate The Search for WondLa, by award-winning author and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi. Hatcher is best known for her roles as Susan Mayer in “Desperate Housewives” and Lois Lane in “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her role as Susan Mayer in 2005. The Search for WondLa will release in September, 2010.

Tony DiTerlizzi’s books have met with enormous success, from his award winning picture books to the bestselling The Spiderwick Chronicles. The Search for WondLa will follow a similar track, with three novels over three years.

“From the start, I wanted a woman, preferably a mother, to lend their voice to the audiobook of ‘The Search for WondLa’ – and Teri has the perfect talent to bring it to life. I have been a fan of hers since the “Lois & Clark” television series and was thrilled to hear she was on board. Her multi-dimensional performance in the feature “Coraline” was fantastic. Her voice and acting skills are smart and nuanced – exactly what you want when listening to a fairy tale set on an alien world.” – Tony DiTerlizzi

Recorded in Los Angeles last week, Hatcher brings DiTerlizzi’s fantastical creatures and magical landscapes to life, introducing listeners to an incredible new world full of unique characters that children will become attached to.

“As a mom and huge fan of the author, I was honored to lend my voice to bring this magnificent story to life. It’s an exciting adventure for any child to hear, with heartfelt lessons about love and relationships, friends, trust and courage.  The Muthr/daughter one is especially beautiful. Tony has created powerful and colorful characters, you can’t help but love or love to hate. It was a pleasure to be a part of this audiobook production.” –Teri Hatcher

I’ve been selected as a judge for a very cool contest — the 2010 PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest where children (ages K-3) across the country were encouraged to submit their original stories and illustrations. The folks at PBS Kids culled through the over 25,000 submissions and I am lucky enough to select the finalists for the 2nd and 3rd grade submissions (awesomeness!). These young writers and artists have done a fantastic job! It has been tough to pick just one winner each.

Best of luck to all who entered, I am thrilled to see such creative little minds hard at work imagining new tales for the next generation.

PS – If you didn’t submit this year, you should seriously consider it for 2011. Check out the website — the winners will be posted there and they have all sorts of cool stuff for kids who like to write or draw: PBSkids.org