Do you ever get distracted by an idea when you are trying to do
something else? A really, really bad idea, that either everyone else has
thought of because it's so obvious, or nobody has (or won't admit they
have) because it's jus so silly and dumb?
So I'm trying to work
on my dummy...ok, I stopped to have lunch and watched The New Detectives
on TV. It's one of those crime shows where they show how killers were
caught in real cases - don't ask why I like to watch stuff like that
while I eat. I have no idea. It's either that or the Food Network. I
start to get this stupid idea about a cereal killer. And I couldn't get
it out of my head, so I'm posting it here for all of you to enjoy (or
not).
The Cereal Killer
He found his first victim in
the cereal isle of the local grocery store. He hated grocery shopping,
and she was much too happy, cheery even. She screamed "Oh!" as he yanked
her from the shelf. When he got her to his house, he tried to drown her
in milk, but she just kept floating, so he smashed her with a spoon. A
big silver spoon which glittered in the light of the overhead lamp. It
was so shiny in the beginning that the man could see his reflection in
the spoon, like a fun house mirror. Then the spoon was shiny no more,
but covered in milk, and bits of Ms. Cheery O.
His appetite for
murder increased the next morning, so he went back to the grocery store
to find yet another victim in the cereal isle. Mrs. Wheats was too
tempting for him to take her all the way home, so he shredded her in the
car and went back for another.
Tune in next time, when we find out just what makes Kay so special that our cereal killer can't resist her.
Pages
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Cereal Killer
Author/illustrator Stephanie Ruble has been making art ever since she could hold a crayon, and making up stories since she learned to talk. She's currently working on new picture books, images for her portfolio, and drawing art for unusual holidays. Thanks for visiting!
Picture Book: Ewe and Aye written by Candace Ryan, Illustrated by Stephanie Ruble (now available as an ebook)
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
picture books and pirates
picture books
Even though I've spent way too much time reading blogs today, I did manage to finish two major picture book rewrites. Yippee! Now all I have to do is work on the dummies. Which I wish was as easy as it sounds. The good news though is that I have 4 of the 5 major characters drawn already, and the other one just needs a little bit of work, since he looks too much like another one of my characters.
Only a few more picture book rewrites to go before I'm caught up with all the ones I want to finish up this summer. Then it's time for more dummies, and working on the picture book ideas that I haven't started yet.
BTW, if it sounds like picture book writing and revising is easy, it's not. I've been working on a lot of these stories in one form or another for a while. Some of them have been around for several years.
pirates
My portfolio is coming along (slowly). I finished up a series of 5 pictures yesterday - yay! Although, now I need to revise the story to fit the pictures...one of my characters suddenly decided he was going to be a pirate! Most of my characters are either well behaved or I just happened to get them right, so I haven't had too many surprises like this. A few, but not many.
I've been working with the pirate since January of 2004 and I never once suspected that's what he was. I've done multiple pictures and sketches, so it's not like I didn't know what he looked like. Of course, in the beginning, the character was a girl. Not that there can't be girl pirates, but she was more of a circus girl than a pirate.
Even though I've spent way too much time reading blogs today, I did manage to finish two major picture book rewrites. Yippee! Now all I have to do is work on the dummies. Which I wish was as easy as it sounds. The good news though is that I have 4 of the 5 major characters drawn already, and the other one just needs a little bit of work, since he looks too much like another one of my characters.
Only a few more picture book rewrites to go before I'm caught up with all the ones I want to finish up this summer. Then it's time for more dummies, and working on the picture book ideas that I haven't started yet.
BTW, if it sounds like picture book writing and revising is easy, it's not. I've been working on a lot of these stories in one form or another for a while. Some of them have been around for several years.
pirates
My portfolio is coming along (slowly). I finished up a series of 5 pictures yesterday - yay! Although, now I need to revise the story to fit the pictures...one of my characters suddenly decided he was going to be a pirate! Most of my characters are either well behaved or I just happened to get them right, so I haven't had too many surprises like this. A few, but not many.
I've been working with the pirate since January of 2004 and I never once suspected that's what he was. I've done multiple pictures and sketches, so it's not like I didn't know what he looked like. Of course, in the beginning, the character was a girl. Not that there can't be girl pirates, but she was more of a circus girl than a pirate.
Author/illustrator Stephanie Ruble has been making art ever since she could hold a crayon, and making up stories since she learned to talk. She's currently working on new picture books, images for her portfolio, and drawing art for unusual holidays. Thanks for visiting!
Picture Book: Ewe and Aye written by Candace Ryan, Illustrated by Stephanie Ruble (now available as an ebook)
Thursday, July 7, 2005
Portfolio Review
I'm busy trying to get enough new images done to bring a portfolio to
the CBIG (Children's Book Illustrator's Group) meeting on Sunday. An
editor from Knopf will be there and I'm hoping my portfolio will get
picked in the lottery for her to review. (Crossing fingers and getting
back to work...wait, I can't work with my fingers crossed!)
p.s about the music I'm listening to, whenever I listen to the song Are We The Waiting off of Green Day's American Idiot CD, I think it's about writing and illustrating picture books (especially for those of us who are still unpublished). I know it's not actually about picture books, but it's a cool song, and a few of the lines resonate with me as a kid's book writer and illustrator:
Heads or tails and fairytales in my mind
Are we we are, are we we are the waiting unknown
Update 7-11-05:
My portfolio got reviewed at the CBIG meeting, and the editor liked my new work - yay!!!!
She even wants to see one of my stories when I get the dummy done...it might be a while, but I'm hoping to get it done before I go to LA (I leave Aug. 4th for the SCBWI conference).
p.s about the music I'm listening to, whenever I listen to the song Are We The Waiting off of Green Day's American Idiot CD, I think it's about writing and illustrating picture books (especially for those of us who are still unpublished). I know it's not actually about picture books, but it's a cool song, and a few of the lines resonate with me as a kid's book writer and illustrator:
Heads or tails and fairytales in my mind
Are we we are, are we we are the waiting unknown
Update 7-11-05:
My portfolio got reviewed at the CBIG meeting, and the editor liked my new work - yay!!!!
She even wants to see one of my stories when I get the dummy done...it might be a while, but I'm hoping to get it done before I go to LA (I leave Aug. 4th for the SCBWI conference).
Author/illustrator Stephanie Ruble has been making art ever since she could hold a crayon, and making up stories since she learned to talk. She's currently working on new picture books, images for her portfolio, and drawing art for unusual holidays. Thanks for visiting!
Picture Book: Ewe and Aye written by Candace Ryan, Illustrated by Stephanie Ruble (now available as an ebook)
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