Pop the Cork - I'm Done !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hallelujah and Hazah! After an entire year of drawing and coloring illustrations 24/7 for the new book I have just finished coloring the last picture! I can't tell you what a momentous occasion this is for me. These books are so time consuming that each project literally takes over every waking hour of my life. Now don't get me wrong - I enjoy doing it and I am passionate about the subject matter but anything can get old when you're doing it every day!

All that's left to do now is to pack up my original illustrations and ship them off to the publisher tomorrow to be scanned. This is the really scary part because if "god forbid", "knock on wood", etc. something should happen to them in transit there is no back-up! So please send out your kind thoughts and prayers to the mail god''s for their safe journey.



If you've ever wondered what it takes to put together a massive 585 page illustrated book, here is a glimpse. The camera does not do these binders justice as they are 5 inches wide and weigh about 10 pounds each!

There is one binder that contains all of my original, black and white line drawings. A second binder contains all of my original color illustrations and a third that holds the printed manuscript which is essentially a rough layout of the book with text and illustrations combined.



In all it's about thirty pounds of book! This will eventually condense down to the six pound, hard cover, finished product. I still have six months ahead of me working with my wonderful editor Madge (yes, that is her real name) and the book designer to finalize the layout and text so I'm not truly "finished" but the hard part is behind me.

I can't wait to be able to show all of you the finished book when it rolls of the presses next fall. I think it is better than the first one!

I was planning on slugging back a few champagne cocktails in celebration when I finished but my handsome husband is out of town, my darling daughter is off at college and my sweet sister just left for the beach. So it's just me and the dogs. Maybe I'll just get them drunk!