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Superhero on the Side: Cyndi Marko
Cyndi Marko puts the POW in Kung Pow Chicken — The book series, not the food (maybe also the food). She is a writer and illustrator. She started off her career hoping to sell picture books. Things don’t always happen the way we plan, but Cyndi did end up selling books. Just not the picture books she had planned.
Cyndi has now created a wonderful collection of superhero chicken books called Kung Pow Chicken. This was my son’s first chapter book. I read them to him when he was in kindergarten. It’s still on the top of my list for fun chapter book series! Cyndi’s new book Kung Pow Chicken: Jurassic Peck comes out in September. The Kung Pow Chicken Collection can be now bought as a 4 in 1 book!
Check out Cyndi’s Website here: https://www.cyndimarko.com/————
The Kung Pow Chicken Collection Cover! Dani: Besides writing and illustration, What is your superpower?
Cyndi: Well, I’m actually pretty put out that I can’t fly or shoot lasers from my eyeballs, but I am a fairly decent cook. I love to put on loud music and just lose myself in the kitchen, and I always sing while I cook.
Bread made by Cyndi! Cooking is a creative outlet for me separate from book work stuff. I’m particularly good at creating dishes from whatever’s on hand when there’s almost no food left in the house because I haven’t gone grocery shopping (which I hate doing), and I’m also good at recreating dishes I’ve had at restaurants. I hardly ever use recipes (except for when baking because science) and prefer to just go by instinct as I’m cooking. (Pro tip: there’s no such thing as too much garlic!)
I love to bake as well, and have been making sourdough from my own starter for about a year now. I think I most enjoy making soups (I save bones and make my own stock) and baking fancy cookies at Christmas time. I think this love of cooking comes through in my books because I almost always find a way to incorporate food into my stories. There are candy corn cupcakes in KUNG POW CHICKEN and stale jelly donuts in THIS LITTLE PIGGY.
Dani: How has your process changed since you first started creating books?
Cyndi: I’m much faster now, for one thing. It used to take me months to make a sketch dummy for a picture book, and writing was like pulling teeth. But now I can sketch a dummy for a picture book in about a week, and a book like KUNG POW CHICKEN in about two weeks.
The biggest difference is scale, I think. I used to sketch at full size and it led me to be a perfectionist. Over the years my sketches got progressively smaller. Now I sketch at thumbnail size and then enlarge when I scan. I can then edit the composition in PhotoShop, and print off and trace using my lightbox when I go to final art.
As for writing, I’m much more likely to start with a loose outline before jumping into a first draft, which has totally helped my productivity. Also, I found a writing partner who writes and illustrates the same types of books as I do and getting feedback from a peer has been invaluable. (Hi, Troy!)
Dani What’s it like writing your 5th book in a series? Is it hard keeping a series fresh so far into the series?
Cyndi: It had been about five years since KUNG POW CHICKEN 4, so it was interesting to jump back in with book 5 (JURASSIC PECK). I had to reread the previous books to make sure I got all the details right. It surprised me how little I remembered writing the words or painting the art!
But I had SO much fun working on book 5. We had more time in the schedule for each step of the book, and I found I was faster and more experienced. KPC 5 also has dinosaurs, and I have always wanted to do a book with dinosaurs so I was pretty much geeking out the entire time. I really love the end result and I hope we get to do many more KPC books. I don’t think I’ll ever run out of adventures for those plucky little chickens!
Kung Pow Chicken: Jurassic Peck Cover. Coming in September! Dani: What is your favorite way to relax?
Cyndi: Reading a book while having a glass of wine and eating Sour Patch Kids (pairs nicely with merlot) or spending time with friends. During social distancing I’ve found ways to spend time with friends online: playing tabletop games on Roll20 or watching a series or movie at the same time and chatting about it over messenger.
Dani What are you working on now?
Cyndi: So many things!
Not Kung Pow, but still amazing! This Little Piggy: An Owner's Manual. Cover First there’s SLOTH SLEUTH, a graphic novel series about a sloth named Paz who solves mysteries on the fantastical island of Winklefuss. The first two books will come out in 2021 and 2022, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I’ve also got BOO! HISS! (Aladdin, 2021), about a ghost and a snake who are roommates in a haunted (by them) house.
I also have a couple dozen (I’m not kidding) WIPs—works in progress for the layperson—on the go. I’m working on picture books, chapter books, graphic novels, middle grade novels, and maybe a humorous coffee table book for grown-ups. I am sometimes overwhelmed by so many ideas that I am dying to work on that I end up working on none of them and just drink too much coffee and share too many memes. But I am determined to prioritize!
Follow Cyndi:
Website: https://www.cyndimarko.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CynMarko
Buy the Kung Pow Chicken Collection: https://shop.scholastic.com/parent-ecommerce/books/kung-pow-chicken-collection-books-1-4-9781338599213.html
Preorder Kung Pow Chicken 5: https://www.amazon.com/Jurassic-Peck-Branches-Book-Chicken/dp/1338596640/
Indiebound links to all of Cyndi’s Books: https://www.cyndimarko.com/my-books
The covers to all four of the published Kung Pow Chicken books. -
Rainbow Connection Robin Stevenson — Plus a Winner!
While writing this intro for Robin Stevenson I can’t help but hear the song, “Rainbow Connection” in my head. It’s not just because I’m listening to the song while I’m writing. Robin just gives me all the warm feeling I get when I hear the song.
I wish that I had Robin’s books when I was a kid. I also wish that my parents and the world would have been supportive in me reading such books. It’s wonderful knowing that not alone in this world. I love that feeling and I know that Robin’s books will help our and future generations feel this way as well!
Robin’s Website: https://robinstevenson.com/
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Photo of Robin Stevenson Hello! Hope you are all doing okay and finding support and ways to cope during this strange pandemic spring. Despite having lots of time due to cancelled tours, launches and events, I’ve been finding writing rather difficult lately…so I was glad to get an email from Dani asking me if I would share something about why I love writing about LGBTQ+ characters and themes in my books.
Pride The Celebration and the Struggle - Cover Over the last few years, I seem to have become known for writing LGBTQ+ books. My first non-fiction book, PRIDE: CELEBRATING DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY (https://robinstevenson.com/books/pride-celebrating-diversity-and-community/), came out in 2016 and was a Stonewall Honor book. Many of my novels include LGBTQ+ characters and several, including INFERNO (https://robinstevenson.com/books/inferno/) and UNDER THREAT (https://robinstevenson.com/books/under-threat-2/), have been selected for the ALA Rainbow List. My board book PRIDE COLORS (https://robinstevenson.com/books/pride-colors/) is currently a Lambda Literary Award finalist, my picture book GHOST’S JOURNEY: A REFUGEE STORY (https://robinstevenson.com/books/ghosts-journey-a-refugee-story/) tells the story of two gay men and their cat, and this spring I launched a second, expanded edition of my original Pride book: It is called PRIDE: THE CELEBRATION AND THE STRUGGLE (https://robinstevenson.com/books/pride-the-celebration-and-the-struggle/).
(I was also going to launch my latest– and very queer– YA novel, WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE (https://robinstevenson.com/books/when-you-get-the-chance/) , co-written with Tom Ryan, but due to the pandemic it will now be delayed until spring 2021).
So…why LGBTQ+ books? Well, when I wrote my first novel fifteen years ago, I drew heavily on my own experiences and memories of being a queer teen. Of course, that was a long time ago—I was in high school in the 1980s. It wasn’t a great time for queer teens: we didn’t talk about LGBTQ+ identities, we didn’t have books about LGBTQ+ characters, and many of us didn’t even have the language that might have made it so much easier to talk about these subjects, to understand our own identities, and to find community.
So my first novel, OUT OF ORDER (https://robinstevenson.com/books/out-of-order/), came from that place and those memories. It is about a bisexual teen, Sophie, who is just beginning to figure out who she is and how she wants to be in the world. After it was published in 2007, I began hearing from readers who related so strongly to Sophie—and I began realizing how important this kind of representation was. The following year, my novel BIG GUY (https://robinstevenson.com/books/big-guy/) came out. It was about a gay teen boy, and again I received emails from readers to whom this novel really mattered. One young gay man told me that he read it over and over– and that it helped him to understand and accept himself.
Cover of When You Get the Chance And of course, it isn’t just important for LGBTQIA+ kids and teens to see LGBTQ+ characters in books: I think all children, parents and teachers need these books. For young people who don’t know a lot about LGBTQ+ people, books can help them learn, have empathy, and hopefully care more about issues of human rights. Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia are still common, and they hurt people—and I think books can be an important part of working to change that.
Although I started out writing for teens, I have begun writing LGBTQ+ books for much younger kids as well. Things are getting better but when I visit schools and talk to students, I still meet many who are afraid that if they come out as gay, or bi, or lesbian, or trans, that their parents won’t support them, or will be angry or disappointed. So I think kids need to hear from the people that love them that it is okay for them to be themselves and to love who they love. Our teens and our older kids need to hear that, of course—but there is no age that is too young to begin giving your kids that message. So I wrote my board book, PRIDE COLORS (https://robinstevenson.com/books/pride-colors/), for the very youngest kids–babies and toddlers. I hope it gives parents an easy way to tell their children that it is okay for them to be who they are, love who they love, and that they will always be accepted and adored.
Cover of Pride Colors 
Cover of Ghost's Journey: A Refugee Story My picture book, GHOST’S JOURNEY: A REFUGEE STORY (https://robinstevenson.com/books/ghosts-journey-a-refugee-story/) , is for slightly older kids. It tells the story of two gay men, Rainer and Eka, who fled Indonesia and came to Canada as refugees—along with their cat, Ghost. It is based on a true story and the illustrations are created from Rainer’s photographs. I wrote it to raise awareness of the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ people around the world, and my hope is that it can be used in classrooms as a gentle introduction to human rights issues. All my royalties from this book go to support LGBTQ+ refugees—I am hoping it will raise funds as well as awareness!
Writing about LGBTQ+ history and rights has strengthened my own connections to the queer community. It has led to so many conversations with queer young people, peers and elders; taught me more about my community’s past and its ongoing struggles; made me part of a wonderfully supportive group of queer writers; and connected me with other LGBTQ+ people around the world. And of course, all of that makes it even more likely that my future books will include LGBTQ+ characters…because my writing reflects the world I live in.
I am curious about the stories and books that will come out of this current period in our lives. How will the pandemic and all we are experiencing filter into our writing? For myself, I am returning to a long neglected and half written mystery novel this week and am hoping that the words will start to flow again…wish me luck! For those of you that are also finding writing challenging this spring, I hope you will be gentle with yourselves and do what you need to do to cope. The words will come eventually. They always do.———–
Follow Robin:
Website: https://robinstevenson.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/robin_stevenson
Books: https://robinstevenson.com/books/
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WINNER:
The winner of the $25 gift card is Tonnye Williams Fletcher!
a Rafflecopter giveaway -
You’re Invited!
I would love it if you could come join me on Patreon! I am posting lots of videos and images and posts. Some of the videos are instructional, some are for fun and others videos of me creating art!
It’s just $1 a month for access to all these posts! It’s not much and you’ll be getting a lot of content every month. Please take a minute to check it out! I have more plans for both Patreon and this blog so stay tuned!
Below is one of the images I posted recently along with one other patterned image. I’m going to keep making more great posts here, and don’t worry I haven’t forgotten about this blog either. To see more go here: https://www.patreon.com/DaniDuck
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Kevin the Unicorn: It’s Not All Rainbows
I’m starting a new thing for my book blogging. My son and I are going to start doing videos. It’s a way for me to spend less time on my computer! David has wanted to do videos for a while, but I want him to be limited on social media. Comments are available on the videos but I will be moderating all of them.
I realized after the fact that I was holding my phone the wrong way! Oh well, next time will be better. I may be appearing in some of the videos with him if I can figure out where to put my camera to film!
This week we are reviewing Kevin the Unicorn: “It’s Not All Rainbows” by Jessika von Innerebner. It’s a hilarious story of a unicorn who wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. Kevin tries to make the best of a good situation, but things just seem to get worse. Kevin, after all, is a unicorn and they are supposed to be all smiles and rainbows. This is a beautifully illustrated story that is a ton of fun!
Get the Book:
Pick up “Kevin the Unicorn: It’s Not All Rainbows”: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/608081/kevin-the-unicorn-its-not-all-rainbows-by-jessika-von-innerebner/
Jessica von Innerebner’s Website: http://www.jessvoni.com/
More about “Kevin the Unicorn: It’s Not All Rainbows”: http://www.scholastic.ca/books/view/its-not-all-rainbows
(With lots of fun for kids extras at the link above)
Remember to ask your library to pick up a copy of this book. Also leave a review for this book on Goodreads and Amazon!
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How Done is Done?
How done is done? This is a question that I’ve been asking myself a lot. I’ve seen a lot of dummies and some are very loose drawings and some are fairly tight. How tight a drawing needs to be is up to the editor that takes on your work.
I’ve mostly been erring on the side of polished, but I’ve seen a lot of dummies and some don’t polish their work. You want an editor/art director to be able to visualize your work. There also has to be lots of room for changes. If your drawings are too tight (or perfect) an art director might feel like the artist is done and might not be open to changes.
Depending on your story you’ll want to submit 24+ pages of sketches and 1-2 spreads (2-4 pages) of finished illustrations. Here is some idea of some picture book length stories. of https://marlalesage.com/2019/08/12/picture-books-length-layout/ Chapter books and board books are similar to picture books in the submission process.
Graphic novels are a bit different. Depending on the type of graphic novel you are submitting you may be publishing through someone who does picture books, or an agent or editor like First Second that just does graphic novels. If you are submitting through someone who does picture books your submission package will likely be similar to a picture book package. Graphic novels and comics are usually different and based on the pitch and previous work. Here is the submission guidelines from First Second: https://firstsecondbooks.com/uncategorized/the-submission-process-what-to-submit/ The guidelines here is generally more of what I’ve seen for graphic novels and comics (both children and adults).
Be sure to check out some submission guidelines before you start your work!
I recently did a poll to see how done illustrators were with their work on their first book contract. I didn’t get enough people voting, but thought the results were pretty representational of the hundreds of book dummies I’ve seen. I had 6 votes and 83% (5 people) said their work fell under the “Nice but not perfect” category and the other 17% (1 person) said their work was very sketchy. See the poll here: https://twitter.com/DaniDuck/status/1174753326417600513
I’m not sure if they voted but one person said they had color samples and a complete manuscript, but no dummy. One said an art director just found them. One said their images were very loose.
I’ve seen a wide range of stories and dummies and generally they range from nice to sketchy. I recently saw a very sketchy dummy from a book that’s being published soon. To see a good range of book dummies use “book dummy” (not book dummies) in an internet search. You’ll see some great visual references so you can see the range of “doneness” for yourself.
I recently attended a webinar with an Art Director who didn’t seem to believe in dummies. She works for many companies and was okay with sketchy work for first time illustrators!
I say go with your gut. Worrying too much about the actual sketches may cause more problems than it’s worth. Go with the guidelines of any agent/editor to a “T” but if there are no specifics, then do your best. The final images will help an agent or editor interpret your drawings as long as your drawings are fairly representational of the story you are telling.
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Editing Your Story
There was something wrong with the “Make Your Marks and Splashes” link I sent out this morning. It’s changed now on the post, but here is the new link if you want: https://illustratechildrensbooks.com/childrens-book-illustration-school-fall-2019/?affiliate=daniduck
I have a few tips that helps me with editing. I’m going to post these below. These are general rules and there may be exceptions. I also asked my friends to give me their favorite sites for Writing and Editing. I will be posting those links below!
Editing Tips
Picture Books are 500 Words or Less – Less is more and I’ve heard of trends of 250 words or less. Here are some more kidlit wordcounts: https://kidlit.com/2009/11/13/manuscript-length/ I am uncertain about exact numbers Graphic Novels for kids, they can be Picture Book in page length to a couple hundred pages (for Adults)
Humans Repeat Themselves – Look for repetitive words in your manuscripts. This can help reduce your word count and help keep your story fresh page after page.
Don’t use Illustration Notes: Only use them if you need that note as an important descriptor to the text. If it’s important that your main character is wearing a long sleeve shirt, because they are doing a magic trick later, then keep the note. Not every manuscript needs art notes! If you are an illustrator it is okay to use art notes for your own personal use!
Describe Only What Needs Describing: Picture books should have little or no description. Outside of this there is still the habit of describing too much. The balance of this can be tricky. Your character is travelling from their house to the library. Maybe mention the leaving home and entering the library. The audience doesn’t need to hear how the MC got into the car, buckled their seat belt, spent 15 minutes picking a song, and how the drive was to the library. Anything mentioned about the vehicle should be a literary vehicle to move the story from one place to the next as quickly as possible.
Get a Critique Group: Or individuals who can help you with your story. You might have several people in your group or you might just do a swap with a friend. Critique groups are one of the best ways to get a second opinion on your work. Critique groups for Smart Dummies are opening soon!
Extra Resources
Mary Kole’s Blog https://kidlit.com/See writing and illustrating resources page on writersrumpus.com.Also kidlit 411 has a lot of links to resources http://www.kidlit411.com/.http://www.24carrotwriting.com
The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Words-Writing-Children-Adults/dp/039329224X/
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Pre-Smart Dummies Starts Now
To sign up for Smart Dummies go here: http://ngi.c96.myftpupload.com/register-for-smart-dummies-2019/ and be sure to sign up for emails!
This year Smart Dummies is going to be a bit different. I’m going to work to make this more of a community event! I’m hoping we can help each other to make stronger dummies. Not only that but I want as many people as possible to actually finish their dummies this year!
What’s leaving Smart Dummies 2019?
Besides being on this new web address Smart Dummies will not be having guest and likely not prizes this year. I will be removing the calendar from the Smart Dummies booklet.
I’ve had to think hard about this, because I don’t have time to run it like I have in previous years. However I’m hoping what we lose will be regained in new parts of the event.
What’s Staying the Same?
We’ll still be having critique groups, badges, and the Smart Dummies digital workbook will be back soon! Weekly posts will let you know what we are doing all week long!
What’s New?
I’m hoping to get a few more people helping out with Process Posts (see below). These posts will be hosted on other blogs with links from my blog. I’m hoping to have (or find) answers to all of your Dummy Creation Questions! There will be more action on the Facebook Group (BTW everyone is welcome to post non-promotional material there). There is the possibility of a twitter/video chats. And maybe a few surprises. I will be adjusting the calendar in the Smart Dummies booklet to reflect the different subjects we are covering.
Process Posts
The post below is something I’ve already posted on Facebook. I’m looking for help with process posts. Do you have any of these posts already on your blog? Great, just let me know, send me a link and photo from your post and I’ll share it during Smart Dummies!
Looking for people who have a technique or process they’d like to share. Your post about this does not have to be on my blog (but it can be). It can be something from an old post of yours. Here are some of the subjects I’m looking for, but it doesn’t have to be limited to these:- Turning Public Domain Stories into Picture Books
- Marking up a Script for Illustration
- Researching Images
- Doodling
- Character Design
- Character Emotions
- Thumbnails
- Loose Page Drafts
- Preparing Substrates (traditional artists)
- Any Posts About Technique
- Anything Else to do with Art or Dummies
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The Prince and the Dressmaker
My aim is to review one book every week. I will be doing a lot of picture books, because I usually have time to read a few of those. I’m only going to be talking about books I like. I’m also going to try to stick with books written in the past couple of years. I read “The Prince and the Dressmaker” by Jen Wang, and it gave me the push I needed to start reviewing books. This book just happens to be an awesome graphic novel!
This is my first step into doing book reviews, and I hope I almost had the text done for this post before I said anything about the actual story. I also realize that I sent this out without any images. I’m a bit new at this so stop judging me!
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Story
Not long after Frances is offered a job by a secret patron who turns out to be the prince. Sebastian (the prince) wants Frances to make dresses for him. What happens next is a wonderful journey of self discovery for the both of them.
The story starts with Frances a dressmaker. What I love about Frances is that she seems to look into people’s souls and knows how to make dresses that are perfectly them. She quickly gets into trouble by making the perfect scandalous dress for a Lady.
It is a roller coaster of feelings throughout the story. All the bad things that can happen, do happen! There is so much nice in the book that it all balances out in the end.
Art
The Prince and the Dressmaker has everything 7 year old me loved when deciding adult me would become a fashion designer. That obviously never happened. (I didn’t even try, but I know I’d be an awesome fashion designer.)
There are so many beautiful frilly dresses in this book! I love them all but my favorites are Lady Sophia Rohan’s dress (page 12), The first dress she makes for Sebastian/Lady Crystallia (page 50) and the magical dress (page 266).
Jen’s whimsical art style is absolutely perfect. I don’t know that I would change anything. Well I would want a second book, or just another book with Jen creating dresses! I adore everything about this book and will be looking for more books by Jen Wang in the future!
Get the Book
Buy the Book: https://www.powells.com/book/the-prince-and-the-dressmaker-9781626723634
Jen Wang’s Website: http://jenwang.net/
More about the book: http://jenwang.net/archives/939
If you can’t afford to buy this book consider leaving a review or requesting your library buy this book!
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Lady Luck – Kidlit Collage Week 3
Just doing some flat coloring this week. I’m working with mostly greens and golds. I was going to make the skin greenish, but the brown looked so much better. Hoping the hair will work as gold.
