{"id":2752,"date":"2013-06-23T09:02:32","date_gmt":"2013-06-23T14:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendymartinillustration.com\/wordpress\/?p=2752"},"modified":"2013-06-18T08:40:46","modified_gmt":"2013-06-18T13:40:46","slug":"the-next-big-thing-a-global-blog-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendymartinillustration.com\/wordpress\/the-next-big-thing-a-global-blog-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"The Next Big Thing A Global Blog Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Next Big Thing A Global Blog Tour started in Australia and has now gone world-wide! The object is to bring awareness\u00a0to authors & illustrators and their current work. Many thanks to my wonderful and supportive critique partner\u00a0 Lynn Alpert<\/a>, for tagging me! I\u2019ll answer some questions about one of my work-in-progress books (I have 4 book dummies going on at the moment), then pass it on to three other terrific book artists.<\/p>\n

Lynn blogged about a book she is currently illustrating called\u00a0“Annie the Scientist” by Daniel Johnson. It’s her debut book. To see what she had to say, visit her blog here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The1) What is the working title of your next book?<\/h4>\n

The Three Pirate Goats Gruff.<\/p>\n

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?<\/h4>\n

\"TheI was looking through some back up CDs last week and realized I’ve been noodling with this idea since 2004. Originally, I was going to illustrate a postcard portfolio flip book with the classic Billy Goats Gruff fairy tale, but put the project aside when I received the contract for my first children’s book. I had a year to revise the text and complete the art. So my goat project got pushed to the back burner. After my book was released in 2005, I joined the SCBWI<\/a>. Had my joining happened before that book, the book would never have seen the light of day. I made every newbie mistake imaginable, which included signing a less than wonderful contract. After attending a half-dozen conferences and devouring every issue of the Bulletin (the SCBWI member monthly magazine) I came across my rough manuscript for the goats again.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/h4>\n

With my newly gained knowledge and several other books under my belt, the story I had “retold” seemed lame and ordinary. I set about to add some snap, crackle and pop to my retelling. It ended up becoming a fractured fairy tale. And my pirate goats were born.<\/p>\n

3) What genre does your book fall under?<\/h4>\n

I would say it’s an older picture book. Good for the 5 to 8 year-old crowd.<\/p>\n

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?<\/h4>\n

When one thinks of movies and pirates, one thinks of Johnny Depp<\/a>. Of course he’d be dressed up in a goat costume and be triplets. But you can never have too much Johnny Depp, can you?<\/p>\n

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?<\/h4>\n

\"TheI think the title says a lot, only my pirate goats are philanthropic. I’d rather not say how, as that would spoil the ending.<\/p>\n

6) Who is publishing your book?<\/h4>\n

My dream publisher is HarperCollins, but who will pick it up is yet undetermined.<\/p>\n

7) How long did it take you to create the illustrations?<\/h4>\n

I’m still revising them. I keep learning new techniques and improving my style. I want the images to be multilayered. I loved looking at story books with rich detailed illustrations as a child, and I still do even as a grandma.<\/p>\n

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?<\/h4>\n

There’s the 3 Ninja Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, Cinder Edna, Jack and the Baked Beanstalk, to name a few. Fractured fairy tales are quite popular. I have not come across one like mine yet.<\/p>\n

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?<\/h4>\n

Before I became a full-time illustrator, I worked as a graphic designer. I would often get printed samples from paper suppliers or presses. One of them sent me a postcard flip book with beautiful photography telling a story on 8 images. I wanted to do a promo piece using the same format and decided an illustrated fairy tale would be a good way to showcase my skills as an artist. I didn’t want to do a very popular fairy tale, but one that would be recognizable, so settled on the Billy Goats Gruff story.<\/p>\n

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?<\/h4>\n

Why wouldn’t a group of goats dressing up in pirate garb and have a high sea adventure be enough? My troll stand-in has lots of tentacles. Tentacles are cool.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

—<\/div>\n
Thanks for stopping by to see what I’m working on.\u00a0The Next Big Thing A Global Blog Tour continues next week with:<\/div>\n

Nikki Boetger<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/div>\n

\u00a0Ruth McNally Barshaw and The Ellie McDoodle Diaries<\/a><\/p>\n

\"ellie6coverideas\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Greg Matusic<\/a><\/div>\n
\"pirates_matusic\"<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Next Big Thing A Global Blog Tour started in Australia and has now gone world-wide! The object is to bring awareness\u00a0to authors & illustrators and their current work. Many thanks to my wonderful and supportive critique partner\u00a0 Lynn Alpert, for tagging me! I\u2019ll answer some questions about one of my work-in-progress books (I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[168],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Next Big Thing A Global Blog Tour -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Next Big Thing A Global Blog Tour started in Australia now gone world-wide! 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