Curious as to where I am with my book writing and what I currently have published?  Well, here you go!

Currently for sale on Amazon:

The Colorless Forest – about a squirrel, a bird and a monkey that live in a forest with no color. As each animal open their eyes, a new color is revealed. In the end, the forest is full of color.

Hanna’s New Skill – Hanna the hippo searches for a skill suited for her. She tries out many skills with the help of her animal friends, until she finds the skill just right for her.

The Answer Box – Zen the yellow lab has a dream of having someone to play ball with. Billy Beauregard, has the same dream.  With the help of a genie in a box, they find they can get what they want if they just keep their dreams in their thoughts every day.

At the drawing board:

Allyssa’s Magical Spyglass – I am getting very close to the completion of this book. I am hoping to have it on the shelves by early August.  This is about two troll brothers, Barklee and Norris. They live in a forest where they see nothing but clouds, mushrooms and rain. Allyssa the unicorn lives right next door and sees all the flowers and rainbows instead of the gloom.  She helps the brothers look beyond the mushrooms and rain to see the beauty around them.

In the lineup:

Gracie Needs Glasses (title may change). This story has been written and waiting to hit the drawing board.  This story is about a cat named Gracie and a dog named Lucy that live in an apartment in the city. Gracie only sees what matters to her, Lucy helps her see more. 

Here is a little excerpt:

Lucy said, “You can’t look at the world from only one view.

There are others living all around you.”

“Moving and playing in different ways,

it is like we live in a giant maze.”

Gracie is now so happy, and truly understands

how the world is full of others, not just her demands.

The moral of this story, if you wish to discuss,

is that we all have different stories we carry with us.

So be aware as you walk down the street.

You don’t always know the story of the people you meet.

What’s Next?

Next story subject is swirling around in my head.  Possible quote I will use for this next book “Whether you think you can or think you can’t you’re right”. Possible characters a Pelican and a Dolphin. I’m thinking beach or ocean setting.  Stay tuned, because this can change!

Ongoing Marketing: Marketing is the hardest part!! Not my thing, but I am passionate about my books and really want to share them!

Can you help me market my books? 

Like my Facebook page - Karin's Children's Books and share with your friends! 

Do you already have one or more of my books? I would love it if you would write a review on Amazon. 

Tell your friends about my books! 

Need a gift for a birthday party or baby shower? Books make great gifts! 

Stay tuned much more to come!

What Medium to Use

 Getting started back on my third book requires me to reassess my materials.  This got me thinking about a new blog subject, What Medium to Use.  This was a big challenge for me when first starting out on my children’s books adventure.

Before I had a subject or knew what my story would be, I began drawing.  There was a big snowstorm approaching and I was at the local BJ’s stocking up on all that stuff you need when you may not be able to leave the house for a day.  I spotted a large pad of plain paper and a large box of assorted colored pencils. Perfect! I can purchase these items and start my drawing while snowed in.  This was the start of my book illustrating endeavor.

The snowstorm really never hit, but I began to draw with the array of colors in the box of pencils I purchased.  My first subject was dogs.  I was going to draw dogs, a yellow lab to be exact.  I drew several dogs using the pencils, each got a little better each time. However, I ran into an Issue, one of my fingers literally went numb.  I also was not feeling what I was using was quite right.  So I moved on and tried a few more drawing utensils.

Pastels, I thought.  My husband purchased me a pretty pack of pastel chalk.  I tried to make this work, but just didn’t either have the right paper or just didn’t know how to use these correctly.  I had also purchased some markers.  A pretty pack of water color markers on sale for use in coloring those adult coloring books. I think I was on to something here. I was having some success with the markers and was liking what I was producing. 

I decided to purchase a couple of higher end brush tip markers and give those a try and bingo, that was it. These were Prismacolor brush tip markers. The brush tip gave a nice smooth finish. I was able to blend them a bit to give some shading effects to my drawings.  I started with just a few makers, mostly shades of gray for my first book The Colorless Forest, where the first few pages were nothing but grey and white.  I slowly added new colors to my collection as I moved on through this first book.  The collection grew as I worked on Hanna’s New Skill. I now have a pretty good collection of markers.

I guess I have become an art and drawing geek, because I love just looking at the bucket of markers I now have on hand.  I'm now ready and fully supplied to continue work on book number three, The Answer Box, where the main character is a Yellow Lab.

Very beginning artwork (RUFF!)
Top: Pencils, Bottom: Water Color Markers

Prismacolor Markers (Much better)

Announcing the Release of Hanna's New Skill

Purchase Now on Amazon.com

Hanna's New Skill, now available on Amazon.com
This illustrated children's book follows Hanna the hippo 

as she searches for just the right skill suited for her.

Join Hanna as she asks for help from her animal friends.

Who will end up helping her? 
Charlie the cheetah? Peter the pup? Franny the flamingo?

Felicity the fish or perhaps Oskie the owl?

What will be her new skill?

Will she be a runner, a dancer, a swimmer, a baseball catcher or perhaps something else

Hanna's New Skill - Work in Progress!

I am super excited about Hanna's New Skill.  This story relays the message that everyone has a skill of their own.  I based the book of an Albert Einstein quote "Everyone is a genius, but if you teach a fish to climb a tree, they will spend its whole life thinking it is stupid."

I am having a lot of fun with this book.  For each skill Hanna tries to learn, I added a human quality.  Charlie the cheetah is wearing running shoes, Peter the pup with baseball attire, Franny the flamingo dons a tutu and Felicity the fish has on swim goggles.  You find Hanna, wearing similar attire as she attempt each skill.

I am happy to announce, the book is in the proof stage. We should see this book for sale April 2016.

Local Mention

I was thrilled to have my book mentioned of on the show Delmarva life during a segment celebrating local artists. 

Watch for it around the 1 minute mark.