Herman and Rosie cover

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UPDATE! 
  

I can finally, officially tell you my news! Herman & Rosie has been sold to a US publisher! My agent in New York ended up taking the book to auction where Neal Porter Books (Macmillan) won the rights to publish. Very exciting! There is a bit about it in Publishers Weekly here: (http:// us1.campaign-archive1.com/ ?u=d684790bedf89afe76e7b915 6&id=874e62f3f2&e=cf2ee82a e1) Will let you know US publishing dates when I get them. Huge thanks to my agent Charlie Olsen at Inkwell Management. Have been sitting on this for two weeks - couldn't hold it in much longer!

Woah! It's been awhile huh - sorry. Well, my book, Herman and Rosie is in the bag, done and dusted. It is now doing the rounds overseas (I have some exciting news about this but can't tell you just yet!) So happy to have finally finished what has been a huge project for me - one that was both fun and exhausting. I don't want to crap on about the hours I put into this book but I can safely say that I have never spent as much time on one singular book. There is a little more about this in an interview I did over here at the Kids Book Review (KBR) site. Thankfully Penguin Australia were very patient (they were probably freaking out underneath but I'm glad they didn't let on!) I also worked with some really great people - my editor Katrina Lehman, my designer Tony Palmer and my publisher Laura Harris. These guys put in some hefty hours as well. 

Herman and Rosie comes out in Australia and New Zealand in September and as far as elsewhere in the world, I will let you know soon - when they let me talk about it!

Anyway it's done and I am allowed to show you the cover (above). Hope you like it.

My new book (is coming along...)

 

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Hi all! By that I mean Jen. Sorry for the lack of posting lately. I have been in hibernation, shut away in my studio working on the finals for my new book, 'Herman & Rosie' which comes out next year with Penguin (Australia). The text is pretty much down (but you can bet I'll be tweeking it until it goes to print) so I have been trying desperately not to get behind on my deadline (mid December - crap!) - I can hear it coming but can't see it yet, thankfully.

I thought it might be nice to show you a little bit of what I'm doing. The book is set in New York (hopefully that's going to be obvious) and centres around two lonely characters called Herman (a crocodile) and Rosie (a deer). I don't want to give too much away just yet but it's a dual narrative story about music, the city, connectedness and it has a horribly tragic ending. Actually I just made that last bit up. Wouldn't that be different! Anyway, in this scene above the two are watching the world whiz by. This is actually a cafe/restaurant I frequented in New York last November. It's a long way from finished (I have a bunch of animals to draw yet and some collage will replace line work) but it might give you an idea about how I work. This book is very much a mixed media book - specifically collage. I'm using all sorts of things; old papers, graph papers, photos and vintage engravings. Also a lot of crayon because I just love crayon. Especially my new Sennelier oil pastels. They are beautiful! I am having the most fun I have ever had with a book.

And here's a couple of finished illustrations - one from the start of the book and one much later.

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I'll keep you posted with some updates and illustration sneak peaks soon, but for now I had better keep going. See you soon.