Got My Copy of Scary Man

Hmmmmmmmmm... So, from my last entry, you all know that I was hired to illustrate a book called Scary Man last year. Well, I received my copy in the mail (from Amazon) earlier today.

I must say, it's a bit of a disappointment.

The front/back cover look GREAT! They're all shiny and nice. Looks fantastic. But then, when you open it up and look through the inside, there are several things wrong with it.

1. My credit as illustrator has been completely removed from the inside. I get the impression that I probably would have been removed from the cover as well if it wouldn't have ruined the illustration (good thing I did the lettering on that myself).
2. Several of the illustrations are severely warped. I mean, I'm not the best "artist" in the world, but I'm not that bad. haha. Several of the characters look squashed and very peculiar. It makes me cringe! (And it almost makes me glad that my name isn't attached to it on the inside...)
3. The text is all over the place! On one page in particular (page 17), the text is printed directly onto the illustration (making it hard to read/see either!). Were they just not paying attention??
   

Those are my three main complaints about the book. The two things that I liked:

1. The front/back cover looks fantastic! For serious. It's just how I pictured it to look.
   
2. It was printed on 30% recycled paper and printed on presses that run purely on solar and wind power.

So, that's my review of the quality of the actual printed book. It's still a fun piece to have (and I'm still kinda thrilled that my name's on the cover at least), but do NOT waste $20 on it. In my opinion, it's worth maybe about $10. Though since it came out so shoddy (text all over the place!!), maybe $8.

Sort of an embarrassment.

Though my mom says that's just because I have a personal involvement with it. She says it's "not that bad."

--Lauren*

Scary Man

Okay, so, about a year ago, I was hired to illustrate a book for children. I haven't been allowed to talk about it thus far (I was under contract), but now that it's officially been published, I'm free to show the world!

It's about how to avoid pedophiles.

It was a very challenging project. There were certain scenes that had the potential to be extremely skeevy and had to be handled...delicately. I think I did a pretty good job, honestly.

The book itself can be a bit dull at times (I didn't write it). It's VERY repetitive. But I suppose that's because it wants to make sure that its points (mainly "don't talk to strangers") very very clear. Kinda hammers it in. Which, in some cases, I think is a good thing.

If you're a parent unsure of how to talk to your children about Stranger Danger, this could be a handy tool.

Or, if you're just a collector of VERY ODD literature. This could be something to add to your shelf to make your friends go "Whaaaaaaaaa...?"

I don't get any royalties from sales, but, if you're interested in buying a copy, it's available on Amazon: here.

So...that's pretty neat. :) Not only am I a published writer (poetry, newspaper articles, magazine articles, short stories) and published model (R&M bridal catalog 2003), but I'm officially a published illustrator as well now!

Woo!

--Lauren*