Laundry Day Book Launch and Youthcare Drive!

Wow! It's already time to welcome my third picture book, Laundry Day, into the world! It will be held at Secret Garden Books in Seattle on February 7th at 7pm. Not only will I be doing a book reading and giving out goodies, but I am also organizing a donation drive at the launch for YouthCare, a Seattle non-profit that helps homeless youth in the city. If you plan on coming, see if you could bring one (or more) of the items below. We'll be clipping up the donated items to a laundry line in the store in conjunction with my book's theme- hanging up laundry!

Any donations will be so greatly appreciated for this truly heroic Seattle institution! Here's a current list of items that YouthCare needs:

New underwear
New socks
Backpacks
Jeans and coats
Alarm clocks
Plus sized clothing & shoes
Reusable Water Bottles
Sleeping bags
Blankets
Travel-size hygiene supplies
New razors
Dental Supplies
Gift cards (Target, Fred Meyer, QFC, etc.)
Orca cards & bus tickets

I hope you can make it to the launch!

For more info about YouthCare, visit: http://www.youthcare.org/

Two weeks until the book launch!

Hey all! 

Just two weeks until Before I Leave makes it way into the world! I'm super excited and have a bunch of fun school visits and readings planned after the launch! I'll post the schedule in the next week or so. For now, here are my most recent hedgies from my hedgehog a day postings!

Nine days of hedgehogs!

Hey everyone!

The book launch for my second picture book Before I Leave is just a few weeks away and I've been sharing out a drawing a day of Zelda the hedgehog on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook as a way to celebrate the leading up to the launch. Here are my hedgies from the last nine days. Enjoy! And find me on those other platforms to follow along! 

Reviews!

Hey All!
So after an exciting day of blogging in the stratosphere for PiBoIdMo, I thought I'd give you a quick update on some current news from my picture book corner of the world.

My next picture book Before I Leave (Roaring Brook Press, February 16, 2016) has already received two great reviews! This lovely review by Kirkus and a STARRED review from Publisher's Weekly!

I'm so excited for this next book to come out! I can't say how much I loved painting my little hedgehog and her anteater friend. The book is about cherishing the last moments with a friend before you have to move away, something as a child I went through several times.

It's available for pre-order through Amazon or see if you can pre-order it through your local bookstore!

I can't wait for February!

jx

Intentions

Whoa I know- two blog posts in one day- I'm probably blowing your mind. But this came up in a conversation earlier today with a friend and he encouraged me to share it. The conversation was about my audience for Boats for Papa. It's come up several times that there is some question about who the book works best for- children or adults. So here were my thoughts on the matter:


"I genuinely created this book with children in mind. I myself was basically Buckley, and I know there are many children out there who have absence in their life. I felt so different from others because my father wasn't there everyday. But my mother was-something I only began to realize and appreciate the depth of once I became an adult. So by sharing my story, I hoped to create something that would make a child connect to the content in some way-so that they would feel safe and loved and not alone. Absence takes so many shapes and means different things for everyone, and maybe some young children don't have personal experience with it, but knowing you have love still around you is something I feel that every child (and adult) can benefit from. And hopefully creates conversations about compassion for others who do have personal experience with it. So I hoped that even if absence isn't a connection for the reader, that love is.

The overwhelming byproduct of this book touching adults in an emotional way has been beautiful, but wasn't the motivation for the work. I honestly had no clue that adults would feel so strongly about it. I felt I had created something that was touching, and I hope that everyone who reads it at least understands its heart in some way, but adults weren't the target at all. I just got a letter from a friend who shared that he wished he had this book when he lost his father when he was 6. And so many others have shared they felt a level of personal healing from reading it and yes- these were adults. But another friend says every time they read the book and they get to the part when Buckley thanks his mama, he turns around and kisses her!  And I just read a Facebook post about a friend of a friend who's son "finally connected with a book about grief" and he asked her to read it twice and then he made a boat. I totally lost it. I understand that a child emotional depth is different than an adult-but something made him feel and connect when he read it. And that is what I am so humbled and honored to be apart of. Whether I'm helping the 6 year old in real life or the 6 year old inside an adult, I can't tell you how much that touches my soul."



And I will add that I didn't write the book expecting children to cry when they read it. I know that is more of an adult reaction to the story. 

Hopefully that can shed some extra light. I know though that art is only part what the creator intends and the rest is what the world feels from receiving it. I think that is an exciting and beautiful process and I welcome the discourse.


jx

One crazy summer!

Well summer, she came and went, and I'm left looking back wondering how/where did the time go?!!!

So I'll step back and do a catch up just so I know what happened over the last few months:

So June 30th was my amazing, fun, and emotional book launch for Boats for Papa! (I sort of dropped off the blogging radar after it happened). It was, in short, one of the best moments in my entire life. I was surrounded by friends and family all sharing in the exciting culmination of a life's work. 

Here is a me with Neal Porter (Roaring Brook Press) my AMAZING editor who surprised me and flew out for the book launch. Needless to say there were many tears of joy hat night. 

It was one of those nights that I wish I could relive over and over again! So much fun! AND I even made a cake shaped like a boat (like Buckley's Mama makes in the book).

After the book launch, I took a bit of a breather-for like a day- but I really was working hard already on Laundry Day, my third picture book. So was basically doing that for the rest of the summer. 

I recently did Story time at Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle for Boats for Papa! It was very fun and I have never been so nervous in front of a group children under the age of 4. 

Also this summer, SO MUCH great press for Boats for Papa has been pouring in. It was reviewed in the School Library Journal Boston Globe, Washington Post, listed on Huffington Post's top 50 picture books of 2015 list, and then a month ago it was reviewed in the NY Times Sunday Book Review! I'm just floored and humbled by the love its received. I couldn't be happier!

In between the book work (evenings & weekends), and my day job, I spent the summer with my husband and my son as much as possible. The rigors of working on a book sometimes mean little time for play, but I tried as best I could to maintain a good life/work balance. I've also been writing a lot. Trying to keep new ideas churning for future books.

And the just finished Laundry Day and sent it off to my publisher last week-YAY! I loved working on such a fun book about two little mischievous badgers. It's totally different that my other two books in a really fun way. 

My second book Before I Leave comes out in February which blows my mind! So I'll have to gear up for that in the upcoming months. I have some other pots on the stove for sure. But for the time being, I am going to try and breath, relax, and celebrate being finished with my book!

I'm sure there are more things in between that happened the past few month. But that's all my brain can recall at the moment...

I have learned though that emailing and blogging were the great sufferers of my time slicing-hence the terrible delay in blogging. But I'm slowly catching up.

I hope you all had a great summer and are as excited as I am that it's fall!

Jx

Final boat-final day-BOOK LAUNCH DAY!

It's finally here! BOOK LAUNCH DAY! My number one & last boat of #30boatsin30days is ready to set sail! Thanks for following along this past month! Now the excitement really begins!!! #BoatsforPapa is officially out in the world! Grab a copy at your local bookstore!!!

It is also available online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Nobel! 

This has been such a fun project this past month as I've geared up towards the big day. I'm soooooo excited to have reached this milestone moment in my life! Today is the birth of my picture book career and the culmination of my dreams and hard work from my entire life. It's all I've ever wanted to do. It's this such special moment in time and I've made the best book I could make to start my journey. It's a part of my heart and soul and I'm honored and humbled that I get to share it with the world and leave it behind for others to experience. And if I'm dreaming, don't wake me up.

2 days until launch!

Today's#BoatsforPapa #30boatsin30days is a galley ship. It's a sailing vessel that is propelled mostly by rowing! 

 

Only 3 days left!

Today's #30boatsin30days boat is a 19th century warship called "Frigate." #BoatsforPapa

These are some of my most favorite boats. They make me think of pirates and the movie "The Goonies."

4 days to go!

Today's #30boatsin30days Boat fact: The lookout point on the upper part of the main mast on a ship is called the "crow's nest." #boatsforpapa 

I love these parts on the old ships. Though my fear of heights wouldn't make me a very good lookout.

5 days!!

Today's #30boatsin30days is a caravel- a 15th century Portuguese sailing vessel used for exploring during the Age of Discovery! #boatsforpapa

6 days!

Today's #30boatsin30days boat is a pusher boat which is designed to push barges! #BoatsforPapa

I love the big fancy ships, but some of my favorites are rusty old barges and tug boats. There is something magic In the power of these quite small boats.

Yo ho ho!8 days to go!

Today's #BoatsForPapa #30boatsin30days Boat fact: When pirates seized a ship they'd have to ready it for piracy by reinforcing the decks to support the weight of heavy cannons. 

Repost: 15 days

So there were some technical difficulties and I realized that day 15 didn't post. So in case you missed it on Intagram or Facebook, here it is:

I can't believe I'm halfway there.It's exactly two weeks until my book hits the shelves! #30boatsin30days #boatsforpapa

10 days:FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Only ten days to go! Today's #Boatsfor Papa #30boatsin30days Boat fact: The colorful nautical flags you see on boats are part of an alphabetical and numerical coding system for signaling to other ships.   

Each flag represents a letter or a number that communicates a specific message to other ships nearby. Like my personal favorite: J (which they call 'Juliet') means-"I am on fire and have dangerous cargo on board: keep well clear of me."

or
"I am leaking dangerous cargo."

12 days left!

#BoatsforPapa #30boatsin30days boat fact for the day: The rope used to raise a sail is called a "halyard. 

The term comes from the phrase "to haul yards," as in yards of fabric. 

14 days left!

Today's #30boatsin30days for #BoatsforPapa is a floating home called a houseboat (or a boathouse).

In parts of China, thousands of people live on houseboats permanently and they buys their goods off of supply boats. Take that land dwellers!

16 days!

Today's #30boatsin30days boat fact: The front of a ship is called the "bow" and the back of the ship is called the "stern." #boatsforpapa  

18 days to launch!

Today's #boatsforpapa #30boatsin30days is a "junk." A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing ship!   

There are many different kinds of junks and they have been used for over 1000 years!

19 days!

Boat fact:An outrigger is a beam or framework projecting from the side of a boat to stabilize it. #30boatsin30days #boatsforpapa