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We're cranking hard to finish the sequel in time for the L.A. Times Festival of Books. Thought you might like to see the initial cover sketches by Elisabeth Alba. I love watching ideas turn into reality.  In the sequel to The Monster Realm, the story takes us to new parts of Lanodeka. To expand the map, I gave Elisabeth Alba this rough sketch and some notes.  And here's what she created from that mess!  She's amazing. Visit her site to see more of her work.
And be sure to get the sequel when it comes out. As you can see from the map, there's even more adventure this time! Sorry for not posting in so long. I've been working hard on finishing the sequel to "The Monster Realm." My editor had a lot of edits! In the meantime, here are a few of the new chapter illustrations from the new book. As always, Elisabeth Alba did an amazing job.  To celebrate Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I thought I'd share our Star Wars inspired holiday card. This is from way back in 2007. Hanako (left) is Leia and I'm Amidala. Hope you all have a great holiday!  We looked at the map (two weeks ago) and the cover (last week). But what about the fonts? I never thought about fonts before. Then I had to pick one for the cover! My dad's a designer, so he showed me a bunch of different fonts. Here are a few I liked. We finally settled one called Galahad. It just felt right. Last week, we took a look at the map. This week, I thought you might like to see how the cover went from a few rough ideas to Elisabeth's final painting. Check out more of Elisabeth's book cover designs on her website.
I thought you might like to see this slideshow. Here's how we went from my rough idea for a map to Elisabeth Alba's final artwork. She's amazing. Want to see more maps of faraway places? Elisabeth has drawn a bunch! Check them out at her website.
Here's a link to the Origami Fireworks tutorial.
In the tutorial, they fold several sheets of paper at once, but I think it works better if you fold them one at a time. Fireworks make take several tries to build, but it's worth it! For you movie fans: above my left shoulder is Ray Harryhausen's Ymir (poor Ymir!) from 20 Million Miles to Earth, and Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still ("Gort, Klaatu barada nikto!") I love This Is Colossal, a website of wonder from all around the world! I don't know how Christopher Jobson finds so much amazing stuff. Take a look at this Short Story Vending Machine. I wish there was one of these at our train station!  Yesterday I watched one of the greatest silent films, _Safety Last, starring Harold Lloyd.  I’ve seen some of Charlie Chaplin’s films. My family used to go to The Cinefamily every Father’s Day to see The Kid. And I’ve watched several Buster Keaton movies (The General is my favorite.)
But I had never heard of Harold Lloyd, the third great American silent film comedian. After watching Safety Last, I want to see more of his films. Get it from you library or rent it online. It’s hilarious! |
Nara DuffieTeen fantasy novelist and TEDx speaker. I love nature, books, movies, origami, singing, cooking, knitting, roller coasters, dogs, and a lot of other things. 
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