My Big News... I'm An Illustrator!

I'm here to tell you my big news! Yay and finally!

So, I closed my hat shop down last month..

I closed it down with the intent to de-stress my life and work on art.

Just that day I received an exciting phone call... 

The folks from Jolly Fish Press  called me asking if I would be interested in illustrating a book! 

I said, "Yes, I would love to."

But I was actually dancing around the house,

 jumping up and down trying to contain my excitement.

I did my best to sound calm and professional on the phone.

But after I got off the phone my voice was so high pitched you could barley hear me. 

The book has a wonderfully dark concept to it. 

The book is called Cinderskella 

 Written by Amie Borst

Go check her blog out! 

She is way talented and I'm so excited to be working with her.

Here is a summary on her book. 

Cinderskella

Status: Acquired by Jolly Fish Press. Anticipated publication: October 2013

Cindy might think that being 11 ¾ is pretty awful, but she’s about to find out that there’s nothing worse than having a horrible, terrible curse that turns her into a skeleton at nightfall.

How could anything possibly get worse, right? Wrong! Cindy now has put up with her new step-mother, not to mention her odd behaviors. And forget about getting her biggest crush, Ethan, to notice her. Cindy’s life is as miserable as it gets. But when she learns her skeleton curse allows her to visit her dead mother in the Underworld, she might just be willing to leave it all behind, even if it means putting everyone she loves in danger.

 I've been reading the manuscript and making notes and sketched in my sketchbook. 

I'm enjoying reading the manuscripts and getting into it. 

It's a book for middle schoolers, but it's still so delightful.

I get to do the cover art as well as chapter illustrations and illustrations for the book.

I'm going to be a busy girl for the next few months.

But, a happy girl. 

So, the hat shop will stay closed and my attention and time will be turned to working on my art career.

And now I can check off illustrator on my list of dreams.

This is a 3 part series too, although the books will be different.

I signed the contracts for the Cinderskella books, but we've talked about having me illustrate the other two books in the series over the next few years.

So... yeah! I'm excited! 

The book will be out next October and will be available in stores as well as on Amazon. 

It seems like it's forever away. 

But I've got a lot of work ahead of me. 

I'll be posting updates here!