Military Spouse Appreciation Day - May 12
The first trimester of 2023 is behind us and so far I've kept my promise to myself to have a "New" #KidLitArtPostcard for each month. Although I must say the first Thursday of each month keeps coming by faster and faster and I have almost been caught short. Here they are in order:
January: A Panda Panda illustration from my picture book dummy that I had not used for a previous KidLitArtPostcard. Whew!
Concept is like that rare elusive bird you've finally glimpsed but of course it's gone into the dark forest. Do you dare go after it? Turning that concept into a tangible thing is like stepping into a forest, full of shadows and possibilities. There are no clear paths BUT if you thrash about you may find your way through.
Where middles are where you've got your bearings. You may even see your path out of the forest to where that rare elusive bird is posing waiting for you to take it's picture. It's just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other until finally, Snap!
If you're like me, you prefer the phase after most of the messy explorations been done. Which is why I did not dive back into my BIG Project or start this other idea, both of which I'd been itching to do while I was trying to finish the important MUST DO NOW life thingy.
NEW PB Concept - EEEK! All those blank boxes. (See ThumbNailer in side bar)
Instead I worked on something that I put aside a few years ago. This piece just needed some hand lettering and then I could add it to my budding Surface Design Portfolio. But why now? Because it had a clear next step and the end was in sight. Plus I was lured by the idea that it will only take a second and then we'll begin one of the other projects, maybe even do a bit of both. A warm up project. HA! Needless to say it took more than half a day as I needed to change the size, tweak the art and do a bunch of loose hand lettering, to get just the right balance of carefree and legible. Well, at least it was productive procrastination.
Beware the rabbit hole: It'll be quick - just takes a few seconds.
Sip Breathe Repeat, 2 Chawans, Japanese Tea Cups - © Diana Ting Delosh, Ink,watercolor, pencil, digital - this piece is available for licensing.
Tah Dah! A Tree, verse by me, Diana Ting Delosh with art by Marta Alvarez is published in the April 2023 issue of Highlights High Five magazine on Page 4.
The submission to publication journey for these 4 short lines began last spring, when I saw a call for submissions by Highlights for their Magazines in the May 2022 issue of Children's Book Insider. I actually almost didn't submit, A Tree, because it is sooo short and simple. But I did submit it along with 2 others in mid-May. About a month later, the editors passed on the 2 that I thought had a better shot. But no word about A Tree. I waited, wondering if it had been overlooked. Waited a bit more. Then on August 31, while I was on vacation, I got an email from Highlights saying that they are delighted to accept, "A Tree" for publication.
WOO HOO!
Then more waiting. Finally on December 12, I receive a PDF to check for typos on my verse and to let me know that it's scheduled for the April 2023 issue. All in all it took about 10 months from submission to publication.
YAY!
Note: Highlights use Submittable.com for all their submissions. You can do multiple submissions BUT each submission must be sent individually. What's nice for us, doing the submitting is that: Submittable sends a confirmation letter for each of your submissions and you can check on your submission status yourself. Submittable also sends you an email to let you know when the editor has reviewed and passed on your submission, title. You don't have any direct contact with Highlights until they accept your work.
