A MonstroUS Interview

The Griots Sing

The Griots Sing
oil on canvas
​15 x 30 inches 
This piece is one of two promotional giveaways for those who preorder MonstroUS
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Here we are, two weeks away from the official release date of MonstroUS!

I can tell you I am full of butterflies, smiles, excitement and JOY at the thought of holding this book in my two hands.  And also heart-felt gratitude for the publisher, editor and grand poobah of WayWord Books, the talented and enchanting Leslie Rindoks.

Rindoks and I have worked together on a number of projects over the last decade. On each of those projects I was an illustrator, not a writer. Until now.

G.D. Fortune
oil on canvas
​10 x 30 inches
This piece is one of two promotional giveaways for those who preorder MonstroUS
​​

She's the kind of human who is constantly creating - she and I once spent time in Ireland together drinking Guinness and dreaming up a salty musical with irreverent songs (we never finished this project, but I still think of the unfinished Fork & Wagon, The Musical with a smile).

Rindoks went on to open her own imprint, WayWord Books, in South Carolina while I moved across the country and began a whole new adventure of my own in Oregon.

When I received an inquiry from her offering the opportunity to write and illustrate a book, I was over the moon. This kind of faith in a previously untested skill (my ability to write a book) is a real honest-to-goodness dream come true, and not something that happens often in life.

G.D. Fortune

I think the key to this book coming together so beautifully is teamwork (as is the key to most successful things). Having an editor who is excited about the project, demanding and yet encouraging certainly helped me over the rewrite hurdles. And for Rindoks, having a writer/illustrator who would meet deadlines and embrace changes (well, most of them anyway) might have helped, too. 

If you have a book in your noggin itching to get out, finding the right (WRITE!) team is the difference between finishing the book and getting stuck in the mire. Whether you are working with an editor like Leslie Rindoks, or a writing coach like Thea Fiore Bloom chemistry between you is the magic elixir of creating something wondrous.

And guess what? YOU are part of that magic elixir for me! Your feedback on the blog, the art, the process and my own journey have been instrumental in building the confidence I needed to tackle this, well, monster of a project. THANK YOU!!!

I had the opportunity to interview Rindoks once MonstroUS was complete. There is a link to the interview on YouTube below!

Each preorder automatically enters you into a drawing
​ to win one of the two paintings featured in this post!
Winners to be announced on release day
(anticipated to be June 30th)

PREORDER MONSTROUS

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​Watch and listen to the blog on YouTube!

​A MonstroUS Interview!
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​You can watch and listen on YouTube! 

​Bonus Malarkey!