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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.  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.
I just started Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. It has such a great first line, I went back and checked the first lines of some other books I love. If these first lines make you want to read more, get the book!
There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife. Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman On a cool Monday morning in early April 1925, Ida Bidson, aged fourteen, carefully guided her family’s battered Model T Ford along a narrow, twisting dirt road in Elk Valley, Colorado. The Secret School, by Avi In 1864 Caddy Woodlawn was eleven, and as wild a little tomboy as ever ran the woods of western Wisconsin. Caddy Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J. K. Rowling. Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. Winnie the Pooh, by A. A. Milne Fifty years before the war to end all wars, a boy played hide-and-seek with his friends in a pear orchard bordered by a dark forest. Echo, by Pam Munoz Ryan There was once a little princess who — “But, Mr. Author, why do you always write about princesses?" The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald Out there in the cold water, far from land, we waited every night for the coming of the fog, and it came, and we oiled the brass machinery and lit the fog light up in the stone tower. The Fog Horn, by Ray Bradbury “Eh, Tree-ear!” Have you hungered well today?” Crane-man called out as Tree-ear drew near the bridge. A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkein In 1899, we had learned to tame the darkness but not the Texas heat. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly Oh, didn’t I feel sorry for myself when the Wabash Railroad’s Blue Bird train steamed into Grandma’s town. A Year Down Under, by Richard Peck It was always August when we spent a week with our grandma. A Long Way from Chicago, by Richard Peck Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house. Coraline, by Neil Gaiman In the Tickman kitchen, late on a summer afternoon... Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo The tropical rain fell in drenching sheets, hammering the corrugated roof of the clinic building, roaring down the metal gutters, splashing on the ground in a torrent. Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton So Mom got the postcard today. When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool In was Old Bess, the Wise Woman of the village, who first suspected that the baby at her daughter’s house was a changeling. Moor Child, by Eloise McGraw  I just found out that The Monster Realm received a Moonbeam Bronze Medal for Pre-Teen Fantasy!
There are a LOT of great books on the awards page, including non-fiction and beautiful picture books. Check it out. Maybe you'll find your next great read. Thanks to everyone at Moonbeam! I'm so happy to announce that Elisabeth Alba, who created the cover, map, and chapter illustrations for The Monster Realm, will be back for the sequel! Check out more of her amazing work.  I was struggling with rewriting my second novel. Sometimes it helps to get some inspiration from another writer. Jason Segel just published his second novel (with Kirsten Miller), Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic. I’m reading the first book in the series, Nightmares! I’m really enjoying his writing—creepy and fun at the same time. Jason was in town to talk about his new book. That sounded like just the thing I needed! So we headed out to the New Roads School in Santa Monica. Jason was interviewed by Rico Gagliano. Jason was funny, honest and inspiring. He wrote these books to help kids face their fears, and shared stories from his own life when he was scared. During the Q&A, I said, “I’m a writer too.” “That’s great,” he said. “Do you have any tips,” I asked, “for what to do when the last thing you want to do is write?” Here’s what Jason said: I was unemployed from twenty-one to twenty-five… And I decided the only way I was going to make it was to write. And it was really hard for me sometimes because it wasn’t something I was totally interested in. But I made a deal with myself that I was going to sit in front of the computer three hours a day. No matter what. And if nothing happened, then that’s fine. My job was to sit there. And even if I wrote nothing good in a day, I still felt I had done my job. It made me feel like what I was doing was real, you know? And that made me feel good, that I was really trying something. Just sit in front of that computer. Make a time for yourself. Maybe it’s an hour a day. Maybe you write and maybe you don’t. But eventually you’re going to get bored and start writing. What great advice! It’s natural that some days we won’t want to write. As long as we keep our commitment to ourselves and write for a certain amount of time each day, maybe an hour, maybe six hours (if you’re behind like I usually am), or maybe even fifteen minutes. If nothing good comes out, it’s OK. We all have bad days. Just sit there, even if you don’t feel like it, because “eventually you’re going to get bored and start writing.” I’m grateful that he took me seriously, because sometimes grown-ups treat kids like “kids.” What great advice! Thank you, Jason! Here’s a link to Jason’s and Kristen’s new book. I got a signed copy that I can’t wait to read!  I just started Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kristen Miller, illustrated by Karl Kwasny. It's great! Creepy fun and really well written. I love the scene where Charlie moves the boxes each night to block his bedroom doors. Go out and get it now!  In my June 29th post, I reviewed The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. I mentioned that the movie was based on The Fog Horn, a short story by Ray Bradbury. Today I read The Fog Horn, and I enjoyed it. The story takes place in a lighthouse. On a foggy night, Mcdunn and Johnny see something moving in the fog. When the fog horn moans its warning, something answers from “the deepest Deeps.” The story gets more exiting from there. You can find the The Fog Horn in the collection, The Vintage Bradbury. The story was first published in the Saturday Evening Post (1951). Here’s the original illustration from the magazine.  And heres an image from The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. You can see the similarities!  Read the story. It’s a lot of fun.
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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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