More Christian stuff

Christian the Lion

Rat Fink cover sketch

This is the cover sketch I will be sending to Dutton. The goal is to make the boy, (Logan) look a little rattish, but still cute...and the girl, (Emily) a "snot" but likeable in the end. So, I've given the boy, beady eyes, ragged hair, a long nose that ends rather small and two front teeth that are prominent. For the girl, an upturned nose and posture along with the down turned eyebrow help to make her look snobbish. I hope she still looks cute. Grandpa is in the background in his flowered towel, which in the end will be pink. The black boy is Malik, and what's in his backpack is the secret that turns Logan into a RAT FINK. What d'ya think?

Rat Fink

Sketches are due on Tuesday, the 1st of October and I'm not close to being done...aaargh! Rat Fink is a cute middle grade novel. Black and white interiors and color cover. Basically, Logan (10 year old boy) is not happy that his grandpa (think dementia) has come to live with his family. Grandpa does goofy things...like going outside to pick flowers without getting dressed first, or as in part of this sketch, showing up at a school function and taking over the microphone to sing old songs. One thing Logan suggests to help grandpa find his way home is to give grandpa a camera. But it backfires on Logan when grandpa uses his camera to take a picture of Logan (left hand part of sketch), later used as fodder for blackmail by Logan's nemesis.

Two down, six to go.

The School Library Journal Review

HOWIE, Betsy. The Block Mess Monster. illus. by C. B. Decker. unpaged. CIP. Holt. June 2008. RTE $16.95. ISBN 978-0-8050-7940-1. LC 2007007229.
K-Gr 3—Calpurnia has a Block Mess Monster in her room that doesn't want to be put away. Her mom who, oddly enough, can't see it, encourages her to clean up. And that's the little girl's problem. "Just say POOF!" advises Mom. But no amount of poofing makes Block Mess disappear. And no amount of cajoling on Mom's part convinces Calpurnia that Block Mess doesn't exist. But just when she's about to lose her patience, Mom comes up with a brilliant idea that resolves the issue. Watercolor cartoons brilliantly capture the humor and exasperation of this parent-child tug-of-war. Calpurnia, always in a different getup (including an Indian outfit) repeatedly tries to discourage Mom's attempts to clean the room. Droll vignettes depict the child in various guises trying to "poof" away the dreaded monster, while Mom's oversize hand reaching to clear away clutter and a close-up of her blazing eyes and downturned mouth cause Calpurnia to quip, "Oh great. Now there are two monsters." There are many picture-book stories that urge youngsters to clean their room, but this perfect pairing of text and illustrations is irresistible.—Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT

I'm told a good review in the SLJ will expose your book to tens of thousands of school librarians across the nation...one can hope!

Bad Luck Chair

I read recently on James Gurney's blog that too much green on the cover of a book spells death. Ooops. This is the cover (minus the text) of a middle grade novel for Dutton titled The Bad Luck Chair. The color green figured prominently in the story along with a lot of magic and mystery. The inside has a slew of black and white illustrations. Any resemblance to anyone you know is purely coincidental. It must be doing okay, they recently asked me to do another! I LOVE Dutton.

My Latest Book

The Block Mess Monster hit the book stores on June 1, 2008! It got a great Kirkus Review and was immediately picked up by the Children's Book of the Month Club. I hope it all translates into more work and more money!