I am thrilled to announce that I will be illustrating two picture books written by Lauren McLaughlin debuting the pint-sized detective, MITZI TULANE, for Random House Children’s Books. Editor: Maria Modugno. Art Director: TBA.
Lauren McLaughlin worked in the film business as both a screenwriter (Hypercube, Prisoner Of Love, Specimen) and producer (American Psycho, Buffalo ’66, Vig, Stag and others), and she is the author of several teen novels including Scored, Cycler and (Re)Cycler. You can find out more about Lauren at http://www.laurenmclaughlin.net. I read Scored a while back and loved it, am looking forward to reading Lauren’s other YA books as well.
My editor will be Maria Modugno. I was originally supposed to work with Maria on the RUBY ROSE books by Rob Sanders at HarperCollins Children’s, but then I heard that Maria had left HC to become editorial director at Random House.
Maria Modugno, Editorial Director of picture books at Random House & Golden Books For Young Readers Group
Turns out that Maria still wanted to work with me (YAY!!) because soon afterward she contacted my agent, Ginger Knowlton, at Curtis Brown and asked if I’d be interested in illustrating the Mitzi Tulane books.
I read the manuscript and fell head-over-heels in love with the pre-school detective.
🙂
I’ll be starting work on the first Mitzi Tulane book in 2014.
Thank you SO VERY MUCH to my fantabulous agent, Ginger Knowlton, for helping make all this happen and keeping me organized, as well as Ginger’s wonderful assistant, Mina Feig.
I’m soooo excited about all the fun picture book projects I have lined up over the next little while. These include…
What I’m working on right now:
NAKED! for Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, written by Michael Ian Black and illustrated by me.Editor: Justin Chanda. Art Director: Laurent Linn. Scheduled for publication in Summer 2014. Read the announcement about NAKED! in Entertainment Weekly.
What I will be working on in the near future and next couple of years:
UNTITLED picture book for Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, written AND illustrated by me (woohoo!!!!!). Editor: Justin Chanda. Art Director: Laurent Linn. Scheduled for publication in Spring 2015.
RUBY ROSE ON HER TOES for HarperCollins Children’s Books, written by Rob Sanders and illustrated by me. Editor: Margaret Anastas. Art Director: TBA. Publication date: TBA.
UNTITLED (second RUBY ROSE book) for HarperCollins Children’s Books, written by Rob Sanders and illustrated by me. Editor: Margaret Anastas. Art Director: TBA. Publication date: TBA.
UNTITLED (first MITZI TULANE book) for Random House Children’s, written by Lauren McLaughlin and illustrated by me. Editor: Maria Modugno. Art Director: TBA.
UNTITLED (second MITZI TULANE book) for Random House Children’s, written by Lauren McLaughlin and illustrated by me. Editor: Maria Modugno. Art Director: TBA.
Meanwhile, I am also working on writing and sometimes illustrating my own projects: picture books, illustrated middle grade, and YA. My children’s book writer/illustrator sister Ruth Ohi and I are also planning to do a book project together. Life is pretty amazing right now, and I’m grateful for the people who have helped make it happen. I’ve mentioned a few of these people already, and will be posting about more of them over the coming year.
A Thank You To Justin Chanda & Simon & Schuster Children’s
A Thank You Letter To The SCBWI
And how it all got started:
How A Rejection Got Me A Book Deal