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Give your kids Gastro this October!

Hello! I haven’t posted in a while, as things have been very busy at home – my wife and I now have a beautiful 5-month old baby. AND I’ve been working on a new book, which just went off to print today!

GASTRONAUTS is the third graphic novel in the S.Tinker Inc. series, featuring the irrepressible Sally Tinker. She’s the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve, and there’s no problem she can’t solve. Unfortunately there’s no problem her inventions can’t cause, either; she’s already built a robot that went completely out of control, and created a giant dung beetle that terrorised her town. In this new story the problem is a lot smaller, in that her baby brother Joe has swallowed a teeny-tiny invention.  Sally and her friend Charli must shrink themselves and venture into the very bowels of Joe to shut down the swallowed invention before it causes some unintended (and very gaseous) consequences.

Gastronauts will be out in bookshops and online on October 1st, 2018. Your kids have probably given you gastro a few times, so now you can return the favour 😉

And here’s the cover! I’m so happy with how it turned out. Big thanks to the awesome team at Fremantle Press for being wonderful, as always.

If you’re super keen to grab a copy and don’t want to forget or miss out, you can pre-order now at Booktopia.

I’ll do some more posts the closer we get to the book birthday.

And FYI, there will be launches in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, so stay tuned for details!

Thanks for reading,

James

 

Free family event: Backyard Book Fair

Hi everyone,

I’m going to be at a free family event this Saturday December 2nd. There will be kids activities, storytelling and book signings, plus a Christmas gift stall. PLUS free  cupcakes! It’s going to be awesome. Details below. Hope to see you there.

– James

Dec 2:  Backyard Book Fair (for families)

Free fun for kids and their carers. Be entertained, write and draw with Western Australian children’s authors and illustrators. Purchase signed Christmas gifts and meet your favourite local book creators including Aśka , Cristy Burne, Kelly Canby, Frané Lessac, Meg McKinlay, Teena Raffa-Mulligan and Dianne Wolfer – plus some guy called James Foley! Authors and illustrators will be available for book signings too. All materials for activities and a scrummy morning tea will be provided. Suitable for ages 10 and below, but everyone is welcome!

Free event. Registration required. Places are limited.

Presented in partnership with The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (WA).

WHEN: Saturday Dec 2
TIMES: 10:00am – 12:30pm (see below for program)
WHERE: State Library of Western Australia (Theatre), 25 Francis St, Perth, WA
AGES: 10yo and below
COST: free, but bookings are essential: click here to register.

In The Lion: crappy costumes!

2017 marks the 5-year anniversary of my book In The Lion.

In The Lion, front coverIt’s a catchy cumulative picture book about bravery, heroism and a very hungry carnivore. It was my first book as author and illustrator, and my first with the wonderful team at Walker Books.

I recently realised that in the five years since the book came out, I never got around to sharing the costumes I made for each character in the book. These were quick, easy and – yes, slightly crappy – costumes I made in an afternoon from things you could find around the house, plus a few things from the $2 shop and the art and craft store. When I talked about the book at the Perth Writers Festival in Feb 2013, kids from the audience wore the costumes and helped me act out the story.

An example of the crappy costumes – here, the character of the armadillo.

Hopefully these costumes (or something like them) would work for you and your kids at home, or even the students in your class, so that you can act the story out too.

Continue reading “In The Lion: crappy costumes!”

Events for Sept-Oct 2017, including the Dungzilla book launch

I’ve got some Perth-based school holiday workshops, and the Perth book launch of Dungzilla!
Plus, some fantastic events in Queensland in early September, including the My Dead Bunny musical.

Continue reading “Events for Sept-Oct 2017, including the Dungzilla book launch”

Upcoming events for April/May/June

I’ve got bunch of workshops and talks over the next three months, including sessions at writers’ festivals in Armadale, Midland, Margaret River and Sydney!

To get email notifications of future events, you can either:
– subscribe to new blog posts via the little box on the right.
– sign up for my newsletter, The James Foley-o, and get all my news and events in a quarterly email.

April 8-23 – Eggsibition

Exhibition,noun = a public display of works of art or items of interest, held in an art gallery or museum.
Eggsibition, noun =  an exhibition about Eggs!

The eggcelent creatives at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators have cooked up a cracking good collection of work. Come along to Paper Bird Children’s Books & Arts in Fremantle to see what they’ve hatched.

 

Continue reading “Upcoming events for April/May/June”

FAQ: What advice do you have for aspiring writers and illustrators?

Many people think they could write or illustrate a children’s book.

Few could.

Some try, and

a small number are actually published.

Partly this is due to skill level. It takes many years to get your work up to the professional standard suitable for publication. Most people do not persevere and see it through.

In my opinion, the most inspiring advice for aspiring writers and illustrators comes from Ira Glass, the US radio broadcaster. Here’s a little snippet:

All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good … a lot of people never get past this phase.

Does that sound like you? It perfectly sums up the early part of my creative journey, when I was struggling to get my work up to standard and to get my first book contract.

Ira goes on to explain how to close that gap between your skill and your ambitions. The full quote is insightful, simple and brilliant. Rather than just copy and paste the whole quote verbatim, I found a short film-version put together by filmmaker Daniel Sax (see below). It’s brilliant too.

If you’re struggling with staying motivated on your own creative journey, please please please watch this video. Then turn off the internet and go make your art!

The evolution of Sally Tinker

My latest book, Brobot, was released in 2016. It’s a graphic novel for younger readers. I first started working on it in 2012. Over those four years I drew many different versions of the main characters – Sally, Joe and Brobot – and I’ll be sharing some of those over the next few months on this blog.

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ABOVE: One of the earliest sketches of Sally Tinker. From 2012. This is from the very first draft picture book (well before we realised it needed to be a comic). She’s very cute here, and is in much the same style as Josh from The Last Viking. She has a tiny hint of the attitude she shows in the final book.

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ABOVE: Another early sketch of Sally, from 2013, back when I was still trying to figure out her hairstyle and costume. Note that here she still has dots for eyes like Josh did in The Last Viking, rather than the cartoony circular eyes she has in the final book.

 

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ABOVE: Another version of Sally, from 2015. Closer to her final version but not quite there. She now has circles for eyes, and her grumpy demeanour. The oversized rubber gloves didn’t make it to the final version.

ABOVE: Maquettes are super helpful when you want to figure out how a character looks in 3D. I was having particular trouble with Sally’s hairstyle and profile, and a maquette helped me figure that out. This is from January 2016, just as I started the final artwork.

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ABOVE: The final version of Sally Tinker, Feb 2016. When you draw the character from different angles like this, it’s called a ‘turnaround’. It’s a reference you keep by your desk when you illustrate a story so that you can keep your character consistent (ie this is also called keeping your character “on model”). I drew this after I had completed the final illustrations for the book. Pro tip: you should really make your turnaround sheets BEFORE you do the final illustrations, not after 😉

Brobot-3d-final-400pxBuy ‘Brobot’ now

FAQ: How do I get my book published?

This is my most Frequently Asked Question by far.

So you’ve written and/or illustrated your amazing children’s book. Now you want to get it published. You have two options available: traditional publishing and self-publishing … plus a third option that you should avoid.

Continue reading “FAQ: How do I get my book published?”

FAQ: How do I find an illustrator for my book?

Here’s another in my Frequently Asked Question series.

So you’ve written a picture book manuscript; now you want to find an illustrator.

Before we get to that, we need to clear up some misconceptions about how writers work with illustrators, and consider how they’re paid and contracted.

Continue reading “FAQ: How do I find an illustrator for my book?”

FAQ: How did you get into books?

The Last Viking book launch, June 24th, 2011. (L-R) Norman, James, Kris Williams, our editor Cate Sutherland, and Director of the Children's Literature Centre Lesley Reece
The Last Viking book launch, June 24th, 2011. (L-R) Norman, James, Kris Williams, our editor Cate Sutherland, and Director of the Children’s Literature Centre Lesley Reece

To the pre-published, the children’s book industry can seem like a secret club. How do you get to be one of those people on the inside, who have their stories and illustrations published professionally? It’s something I get asked a lot.

Continue reading “FAQ: How did you get into books?”