We haz a winner, yo

I identify with the Gentleman Bug. I'd hang out with him if he was, you know, real.

The winner of the Julian Hector picture book giveaway extravaganza, held in honor of the 2011 edition of Random Acts of Publicity, is Pat Zietlow Miller! Congratulations Pat, I’ll hunt you down via one of the many social media networks we’re both on – once you’ve sent me your address and the name of your indie store of choice I’ll get your copies of MONDAY IS ONE DAY, THE GENTLEMAN BUG and THE LITTLE MATADOR out in the mail right away.

My first round of line edits are done, by the way! Exciting stuff. We’ll see how much more polish that puppy needs, but in the meantime I have a couple of other writing projects to get back to, including a new mystery project that I feel very happy to be a part of. I honestly don’t know if I can spill the beans about it yet – I’ve been so consumed with other stuff that I actually haven’t made the effort to ask if it’s okay to go public – but there’s been something like radio silence around it, so I’ve held off on saying anything. So keep your eyes peeled for this confidential double-secret probation writing news at some point in the future. No, it’s not a new book deal, but it’s very cool nonetheless. Until then, minions…

m.

Random Acts of Publicity 2011: Julian Hector!

Come on, how can you not love a guy who makes a birthday card like this?

Ahhhhh, line edits due VERY VERY SOON! No time to blog! Must make this really, really fast! Here’s the official scoop on the very cool event known as Random Acts of Publicity:

The 3rd Annual Random Acts of Publicity, September 6-8, 2011 is a week to celebrate your Friend’s book, or your favorite book, by doing a Random Act of Publicity:  Blog, link, Like, review, or talk about the book . (BLLuRT!)

Awesome stuff, huh? Darcy Pattison, a mainstay of the kidlit community, came up with the idea a few years ago, and it’s built up quite the head of steam ever since.

So! The friend whose work I want to celebrate is the guy who thoughtfully whipped up the lightning-fast yet hilariously funny birthday card at the top of this post.  He also collaborated with my own editor (and picture book author par excellence) Arthur Levine on the wonderful ode to working parents and their children, MONDAY IS ONE DAY. Yes, it’s Julian Hector! A trio of huzzahs for Julian!

Aw, look at this little guy, iddint he the most adorable thing ever?

One of these days we’ll meet in person, Julian and I, but for now I’m gonna celebrate his work with this stunningly generous multibook giveaway! I know what you’re thinking – “well gee whiz Mike, I want to give you a balloon animal because you are just such a swell guy.” I am, in fact, an extremely swell guy, thank you for noticing.

But enough about me – to enter, just leave a comment on this post about a picture book author, illustrator, or author/illustrator whose work you admire as much as I admire Julian’s, which is to say, a whole lot. I’ll randomly select a winner, who will receive an Indiebound order (from the indie store of that person’s choice) that includes three selections from the Julian Hector ouvre – the aforementioned MONDAY IS ONE DAY (illustrated by Julian, written by Arthur A. Levine), THE GENTLEMAN BUG (written and illustrated by Julian), and THE LITTLE MATADOR (also written and illustrated by Julian).

I’ll take entries until, oh, midnight on Friday, September 16. The winner shall experience feelings of tremendous glee and contentment and own three awesome picture books by one of the rising stars in the biz. The winner will also have to wait a couple of weeks, because I have a deadline and I’ve already spent too much time goofing around on the old bloggy wog, but it’s three free books, for crying out loud! What, you’re gonna complain? I HAVE DECREED IT TO BE SO, AND SO IT SHALL BE. Got it? Ready? OK GO!

m.

P.S. Just so you know, the contest is closed. Thanks to everyone who entered!

I want to show you my, what do you call it, oh yeah, right, my COVERRRRRR

Sheer perfection, right?

The thing is, I don’t have much to say about this cover that I haven’t already said in a thousand other places. Yes, those of you who rely on my blog to provide information  FIRST have been royally screwed, but then again, if you are relying on my blog for first alert info, err, you’re not paying terribly close attention as it is…

THIS IS THE COVER FOR MY BOOK GEEKS, GIRLS AND SECRET IDENTITIES! I have a cover! Designed by Phil Falco, no less, who’s also done stellar covers for the likes of How to Say Goodbye in Robot, The Eleventh Plague, and Tentacles, and illustrated by Mike Maihack, who’s done about a zillion cool things in the comic book world.

There’s my little protagonist Vincent Wu with that one cute little clenched fist, standing front and center! Ain’t he a tough little guy? My brother described the robot as “Kirby-esque,” which of course makes perfect sense to all of you old-school Marvel Comics aficionados who remember the halcyon days of Jack “King” Kirby, who partnered with the legendary Stan “The Man” Lee in creating a new world order for superhero devotees like yours truly. Pretty cool to have that kind of association with my little book.

I mean, dude, it’s AMAZING, is it not?? I’m kind of in shock over how good it is – it’s like a #$%&ing dream how these incredibly good things keep happening right at the very start of my career as an author. Either I’m on an incredible hot streak of good luck (which I might be anyway), or somebody up there just likes me. Or the planets are all aligning in exactly the right way at exactly the right moment or something, I don’t know. Whatever, man – I’m gobsmacked and blubberingly thankful for my good fortune. It’s the cover of my book!