You Heard it Here First: Introducing Constance Lombardo and Mr. Puffball

Congratulations to Peggy Rothschild, a new blog reader, who won Susan Moger's book, Teaching the Diary of Anne Frank.

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I love introducing new authors and illustrators and sharing news of upcoming publications. This time, Constance Lombardo, a writer/illustrator in the SCBWI-Carolinas region, takes center stage with her debut graphic novel. This week you'll hear about her path to publication; next week I'll review her book and give away an autographed copy of her ARC. 

Photo by Chris Chromey

CAROL: Tell us a little about yourself. Your background, your dreams, how long you've been at the "I want to publish a book!" business. Did you go to school for writing or illustrating?

CONSTANCE: I got my BFA in Illustration from Syracuse University many moons ago. After graduation, I took painting, printmaking, writing, and pottery classes. I interned with a renowned community muralist in San Francisco. I drew and painted and was in gallery shows in San Francisco and New York.

CAROL: How did you get into writing children’s books?

CONSTANCE: When I had my baby, I read her my favorite picture books and realized that was what I wanted to do. When I was very little, I told my dad I wanted to make ‘books with drawings in them.’ It took me a while to get back to that dream!

CAROL: What steps did you take to make this dream come true?

CONSTANCE: I subbed my first book – a picture book called The Sky is Where the Sun Lives in 2003. In the following years, I wrote many picture books, two YA novels, and one MG novel. I joined SCBWI and attended several regional conferences and one national conference in NYC where I learned SO MUCH about writing, editing, publishing and networking. I formed a critique group in Asheville (The Secret Gardeners) and with the help of these resources I continued to grow as a writer and improve my skills to get to the next level. Highlights magazine bought one of my stories (as yet unpublished,) Humpty Dumpty’s magazine published one of my poems, and my illustrations have appeared in magazines (SCBWI Bulletin, New Moon Moon Girls) and on cd covers.

In 2011, I started drawing cats without a specific project in mind. Drawings led to comic strip panels, which led to a more realized narrative starring one irrepressible feline: Mr. Puffball. He wanted to go to Hollywood. He was naïve but optimistic (like me!) And he wanted a bow tie.

In 2012, SCBWI Carolinas hosted a Graphic Novel Workshop by Mark Siegel (Editorial Director, First Second Books) in Asheville, NC. (Thanks, SCBWI Carolinas!!) The timing could not have been more perfect. I got motivated to finish a rough draft, attended this wonderful workshop, learned a lot and left eager to submit my graphic novel.

CAROL: How did you find your agent and your publisher?

CONSTANCE: I began subbing and got some of the most positive feedback I’d ever received. I had subbed some picture books to the fabulous Lori Nowicki of Painted Words, and she expressed interest in seeing more. When I subbed my graphic novel, Lori seemed really interested and scheduled a phone date (Hooray!) I had subbed to agents for years, but this was my first phone call. Was I nervous! Fortunately, Lori and I really hit it off - she loved Mr. Puffball and gave me some excellent editorial guidance. I followed her suggestions and, a few months later, we signed! 

Within a few months, she connected me with my amazing editor, Jill Davis at Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins. Jill loved Mr. Puffball but wanted to see the book changed to an illustrated MG novel format (like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Big Nate.) I went with that idea and loved where it took me. Jill showed it around Katherine Tegen Books, rooting for me all the way, and we soon signed a three book contract. The first Mr. Puffball comes out fall 2015, the second in 2016, and then the last in 2017. Yay!!! I am so lucky to work with Jill Davis. Now I know what it means to have a truly excellent editor – because of her, my novel is tons better than I ever could have imagined. (Thanks for bringing us together, Lori Nowicki!)

CAROL: That’s so exciting! Where are you in this process?

CONSTANCE: I am currently working on the 2^nd book.  I love combining words and pictures and see myself working in this format on future projects. I would love to do a YA graphic novel or illustrated novel. And I still hope to publish a picture book or two (or three or four!) one day.

Next week I'll be posting a review of Constance's book and offer you a chance to win her ARC. Meanwhile, here's the synopsis:

In the illustrated middle grade novel, Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat to the Stars by Constance Lombardo (Katherine Tegen Books, HarperCollins Children’s Books, fall 2015,) Mr. Puffball leaves his New Jersey home on a cross country trip (with postcards home to Mom!) to make his movie star dreams come true. When he lands in Hollywood, Mr. Puffball catapults himself into the next best thing to being a famous movie star: working as a stunt cat to his movie star hero, El Gato! (with over 200 drawings!) 

Jenn Bower: A SCBWI-Carolinas story- Authorstrator Part IV

In this last installment in this series, Jenn Bower shares how she connected with her agent, and her advice to her fellow writers, illustrators, and "authorstrators." Next week her agent, Danielle Smith of Red Fox Literary, gives us a glimpse of why she decided to represent Jenn. (You can find links to the previous blogs here.)

CAROL How did you find your agent? 

JENN My agent found me at the 2013 SCBWI – Carolinas conference.  Bonnie Adamson, Regional Illustrator Coordinator, had the brilliant idea of including illustrator postcards in the conference faculty welcome packets.  My agent, Danielle Smith picked out mine and fellow North Carolinian, Brandon Reese, to contact.  (Brandon also signed with Danielle following the conference.) Danielle and I followed each other on Twitter and Facebook for about a month while we dialogued.  She asked me to submit a writing sample and about one month later we talked on the phone. 

You always hear how finding an agent is a lot like finding a marriage partner.  Communication is key, as well as common core values, goals, ideas about the industry, and a clear understanding of how each other works.  I was really fortunate.  I sent her one story about a painting horse which she loved.  Then she asked me to send her thumbnails to show I knew how to pace and tell the story through pictures.  I passed those interviews  and that is when she offered me representation.  She is so passionate about the industry and very particular about the product we put out for submission.  We try to talk monthly and engage almost daily via social media.  I love having her by my side.  She can handle the business of getting my books in front of the right people so I can focus on creating.

CAROL: How do you work together with Danielle now?
JENN: We try to talk on the phone at least once a month. I share what I am working on or the "next great idea." Danielle will give me her feedback on where to focus based on the market and what she is hearing editors request.

I will work on a draft and try not to submit until I know it's been through the critique rounds several times and I feel 90% confident it's close. Then Danielle and I discuss her thoughts and the feedback from my critique group. She saw me really struggling through one story and finally suggested I put it down and start something new. My current 'turban' project resulted from that suggestion. Once the manuscript is fairly firm them I start 'character auditions' and sketches.

CAROL: Do you have any advice for other writers and illustrators?

JENN: #1: Don't quit your day job. Not until you are booked out at least a year in advance with projects.  This allows you to be selective about the work you WANT and LOVE to take and put out your best product.  If you are chasing a dollar to make ends meet than the choices tend to be less palatable and I think the end result suffers.  I've seen so many peers do this and end up with work they don't want to put into their portfolio.

#2 Be patient.  We are such an instant gratification oriented society.  Slow down. Take your time. Allow your voice/style to develop before launching it out into the world. Make certain it is the image you truly want to portray. I've learned this with the illustration side, the hard way.  I rushed some pieces and then had to go back and re-work them once the dust settled.  I am still learning this lesson on the writing side.  Something magical happens when you allow work to marinate a bit.

#3 Be involved. Get involved in your local SCBWI chapter.  Go to conferences, not to be discovered, but to absorb and learn.  Be involved in critique groups.  It's amazing how much you'll grow and discover through the editorial process.

#4 Be persistent. This industry is full of high/low moments.  Learn to ride the the sweet spot of the wake so you don't get beaten around so much.  Creativity is a process and not always linear.  Find ways to unwind - I knit, exercise, ride horses, do yoga and get myself unstuck often in those moments when I'm not staring at a blinking cursor on a screen.  Set achievable goals for yourself and don't overload your plate.

#5 Write a mission and vision statement for your career.  I did this in 2012 and it helped me stay focused on the tasks I needed to accomplish to complete my mission.  It was one of the biggest steps I took in moving my career forward.  I taped it up in my studio.

CAROL: Can you tell us about your book out on submission?

JENN: I am sworn to secrecy but I can say it is a book I love.  It is a story about doing what you love, at whatever the cost and coming out a winner in the end.  It’s told from the perspective of a horse who loves to paint.  I’m excited because I don’t really know of another story out there like it.

CAROL: Thank you, Jenn, for sharing your talent and advice with other writers and illustrators. I can't wait to announce, "You heard it here first," when you sign your first publishing contract! 

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Jenn has promised to share her "character audition" sketches for her current work-in-progress. Since I am a part of Jenn's critique group, I can tell you that her story and accompanying illustrations will be a winner.

Meanwhile, check out Jenn's customized illustration for the current issue of Talking Story. Joyce Hostetter and I were delighted with how she cleverly illustrated the theme of "Technology and Brain Health." 

Jenn Bower: An Artist's Toolbox- "Authorstrator" Part III

If you have just arrived to this series of posts by Jenn Bower, I hope you'll go back and read Part I  in which Jenn shared how she came to be an "authorstrator," and Part II "Process Makes Perfect," when she discussed her creative process. 

CAROL Tell us a little about your digital tools. Why do you draw digitally? What makes your illustrations different than others who illustrate digitally?

JENN I draw analog (paper, pencil, and eraser) but I paint digitally with Photoshop and an inexpensive Wacom Bambo digital tablet. Here I am adding leaves to a branch:

There always seems to be a misnomer that digital painters don't really paint. People often think the computer does the painting. It is merely a different medium, like using a word processor vs. pencil and paper for writing. When someone says watercolor or colored pencil most of us have an immediate image of what using those tools looks like. In the video above, my hand still controls the brush selection, colors and brush strokes.

A number of years ago I was diagnosed with pretty debilitating anxiety. OCD is a wonderful by-product.  Until I purchased my computer and tablet most of my drawings only lived on as sketches.  I was paralyzed by the mess paints made; I couldn’t stand the clean-up involved and hated waiting for paint to dry.  In college I worked with inks, markers and colored pencils but that was no longer my stylistic vision.  My work is heavily influenced by the Mid Century Modernists – Mary Blair, Mel Crawford, the Provensens, JP Miller, Fiep Westendorp, Charlie Harper, and Aurelius Battaglia.  They were all about graphic shapes, movement and flat color.  They were the illustrators I loved as a child; thus they reminded me of childhood.

I set out learning how to create my style digitally.  Ironically, I use very little of the available tools in Photoshop.  I truly treat the software like a paper canvas.  You have the ability to create an infinite number of independent painting layers, like overlapping sheets of tracing paper, within the program.  I try to limit my layers to roughly three:  foreground, middle ground, background.  I don’t vector the image and I rarely use the outline masking tool because I want kids to see the brush strokes and wobbly lines that give the image character.  I call them happy mistakes.  The tablet has a stylus which functions like a paintbrush.  I invested in some fantastic brush sets created by Kyle Webster which look like natural watercolor, gouache, and dry brush media. I’ve limited my brush selection to about 15-20 tools which I use all the time.

CAROL It seems as if promotion is part of every author and illustrator's toolbox. How do you promote yourself? 

JENN Calmly and quietly?  I have a website with a blog which I try to update monthly.  I am pretty active on social media, namely Twitter.  It works great for the short spurts of time I have to invest in daily networking.  Many publishing houses, editors, art directors, other writers and illustrators have some sort of presence there and it is devoid of the tooth gnashing I experience on Facebook.  Facebook feels more intimate so people tend to be a little more misbehaved.  You can get a pretty good sense of personalities on social media.  

I know my agent, Danielle Smith, watches closely and has admittedly made decisions not to represent people based on their Twitter/Facebook presence.  Ultimately people want to work with someone they feel they know and like.  Social media allows those relationships to develop across continents; these are opportunities truly unique to this generation.  I am active in the SCBWI-Carolinas region which is fantastic for promotion, education, networking, and morale support.  Finally, I do try to send out a quarterly postcard to a select mailing list of about fifty editors and art directors. I am pretty specific about the list based on imprints I’ve researched where I feel my illustration style would fit. 

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Click here for a blog on Jenn's postcard process. 

Next week, Jenn wraps up this series of posts by sharing how she found her agent and gives advice to writers, illustrators, and other "authorstrators".

Jenn Bower: Process Makes Perfect-- "Authorstrator" Part II

In last week's blog, I promised a glimpse into Jenn Bower's artistic process. True to my word, Jenn takes us inside her uber-creative brain.

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CAROL: Once you have an idea, what's your next step? How many sketches do you do before you know if an idea is working or not? Do you do the sketches digitally? Do you write the text first or draw the images first?

JENN: My process is still evolving.  99% percent of the time I’ve no clue what I am doing.  I simply have this urge to do something!  It’s unbearable if I don’t.  I generate many of my ideas through Tara Lazar’s November PiBoIdMo, as I mentioned last week.  I also like using Scholastic’s Story Starter’s website. 

When I am extremely lucky I’ll have a light bulb moment, typically while walking the dog.  Sometimes an idea will spring forth from a sketch especially if I find myself sketching the same character.  The biggest key to a successful idea is making sure it’s a person, place, thing, idea that you love.  I love nature, I love horses, dogs, cats, cows, frogs and birds, I love quirky and slightly subversive kids, I love little towns, barn, and farms.  When you love deeply you know intimately and I believe that translates to the words you write and the pictures you draw.  I will likely never write about monsters, clowns, snakes or life in the big, big city.  I’ve no desire to have a long-term relationship with those characters.

Much of my process depends on my mood and energy level.  As a single parent working ‘normal’ 8-5 hours, some days I may only have 20 minutes to an hour to work on my craft.    I am a very linear thinker and process most of my information internally before I ever commit to anything on paper.  It drives most people I know crazy.  I know an idea is worth developing if I clearly see the characters and images in my head and I can sense the story arc. My personality needs clear direction in order to move forward.  The book out on submission right now with my agent, Danielle Smith – Red Fox Literary, was that way.  It started with a PiBoIdMo 2012 idea. Then a single sketch.  It percolated in my synapses for another year before I grabbed a legal pad and began writing the story out long hand.

Once I have the bones of the story I then move to my laptop and begin the arduous revision journey.  Namely, cutting down the word count.  Then it goes to my agent for her thumbs-up before I move to thumbnail sketches.  During this part of the process I will pretty quickly pick up any flaws in the pacing or story-arc, so the manuscript keeps evolving.  All my sketches are analog – pencil to paper.  The number of sketches I do often depends on how well formed the images are in my mind.  Some pages I see clearly.  Others are literally blanks so I will do a lot of loose, sloppy copy, gesture drawing to shake out the image.  

I also employ an old Interior Design tactic: tracing paper.

This allows me to layer elements on a sketch and move things around.  I love this phase.  The story really comes to life with the pictures.  I know the image is right when there is magic on the page and I feel this tremendous sense of gratitude. I am pretty spiritual so if I find myself saying, “YES! Thank you God.” then I know I’ve gotten it right.  I also check for action, reaction, and interaction occurring on the page.

CAROL How do you know when to take an idea all the way to a book?

JENN Once I’ve completed all the sketches and firmed up the manuscript I scan everything into Photoshop and lay in the text.  Hopefully I’ve allotted room for the words in my images and allowed for white space and some quiet pages.  All sketches are then shared with Danielle for her review, comments, edit requests and approval.  She typically shares with me which sketches she’d like to see in color comps for the Picture Book Dummy.  Then I begin the painting phase.  For my current submission we went through about five rounds of color edits before she said we were ready to submit.

Join us next week when Jenn discusses and demonstrates the digital tools she uses to paint these wonderful drawings!