My First List of Firsts on the First

As some of you have noticed, my blogging has been sporadic in recent months. This is partly due to summer and partly due to the fact we’re still adjusting to the move we made eight months ago. But mostly, I’ve been busy with work.

I’ve really missed blogging though, so I’ve come up with a simple way to keep at it. As I make my way down this author/illustrator path, my career continues to surprise me with new and wonderful things at every turn. Life, too. Let’s just call these “firsts”. So, on the first of each month, I thought I’d post a list of the past month’s “firsts”. In no particular order, here we go:

1. First storyboard drafts for two (TWO!) book trailers
2. First set of thumbnails for a new (phenomenal, wonderful, fantastic) book that I will be illustrating
3. On a related note: first contract to illustrate someone else’s picture book (cue the thumping of my heart, both out of love for the manuscript and terror about doing it justice)
4. First draft of a new Zoe book
5. First day of first grade for my daughter
6. First time our thermostat exceeded 90 degrees. Indoors, people.
7. First ever meeting with a TV producer (I'm in LA so it was only a matter of time)
8. First time running the Santa Monica stairs (FYI, Santa Monica sissies, your stairs are NOTHING compared to my Sausalito stairs)
9. First draft of an accordion book for a personal project
10. First time I’ve completed a homemade Halloween costume in August. Let’s hope she doesn’t outgrow it before October.

And...a first look for you. This is one of my favorite images from the upcoming SNIPPET (Knopf, March 2013). Happy September and wishing you all many great firsts!

In many ways, Snippet was an ordinary snail. He drew on the sidewalk.