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Last Day of July

Omg it's the last day of July! Things are getting really busy for me and I am very excited about all of them.

The first thing happening starting tomorrow is the SCBWI summer conference in Los Angeles, which is SOLD OUT!


If you don't know, the SCBWI is the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. I do both, professionally. I have illustrated about 18 books now and written a few picture books for a mobile app company I worked for in 2012/2013 called FarFaria. I am currently pitching my early chapter book series entitled Uli Driscoll in Trouble, and will have a dummy at the conference attached to my portfolio.


I am currently taking a revision workshop to finally get Ryuan - my then YA, now MG series into better shape. After a few rejections I took a closer look. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/reviseyournovelinamonth

At the conference I am splitting my time between writing workshops and illustrator workshops, I am also in the portfolio showcase-and even though I do this for a living-I am still nervous about, but thankfully 19 years of acting and acting training, no one will see that in me on Saturday night.




I am meeting tons of my friends from various writing courses I have been in this year and also of course all my SCBWI CenCal and Los Angeles friends. I am very excited about this.


Secondly is Lilla Rogers Global Talent Search. I met and discovered Lilla Rogers http://lillarogers.com/ last year and then it became my mission to take her courses and learn how to make more art that sells. I have been in bootcamp since Feb and then took MATS A in the spring and now the GTS.

I have been really grateful that most of what I have made in the classes has been selling, either in prints, licensing or in my shops on products. As well I have been getting contacted a lot more about other projects based on work I have done for the classes. It's been really an amazing journey. So on August 5th, I will start this talent search, which is going to be very fun, hard, exciting and most of all rewarding. I am showing some work from the Feb bootcamp assignment here. Oddly enough none of these were the final pieces and all of these designs have been selling, so it's worth it.



In addition to the two things I mentioned above, the third thing I am doing is the Make It In Design Summer School Beginner track. I chose only one track because I knew I had these other things coming up. It just started so I haven't done anything yet, the assignment is due on the 7th! But since I am gone this weekend, probably I will start it today and finish when I get back from the conference. http://makeitindesign.com/

On August 9th I am taking an all day workshop on concept with Jill and Martha also through a Path to Publishing http://apathtopublishing.com/concept-workshop/
This is for my series, Ryuan.

So besides rewriting a novel, pitching a series, taking drawing courses, being in a contest, I am also working and looking for more work, but I am EXCITED!

This is what being a working artist is all about!! Learning, growing, applying, getting hired, getting rejected, being rich, being poor and everything inbetween!

I hope you are all as busy with exciting things as I am, life is too short to just watch it go by.






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