IF YOU DONT READ THIS YOU’RE JUST A plain IDIOT!

Click on review to read on Amazon

 

Oh, Snap! Willa Snap has been shortlisted for the Internatinal Rubery Book Award

more info at WillaSnap.com

Willa Snap Win and IPPY!

Idiot Genius: Willa Snap and the Clockwerk Boy just won Independent Publisher Book Award for Juvenile Fiction!

I can’t believe it! I couldn’t more proud!

“With its strong female protagonist, steampunk influence, myriad gadgets, descriptions of real life inventors and inventions, and quality writing, I can’t recommend this book enough. Did I mention clockpunk cats?” —B. Evans

What’s it about? Here’s Willa (she’s eleven):

Ever wonder why some crazy scientist hasn’t blown up the world? I used to wonder about it all the time. Actually, I was pretty sure my mom would be the one to do it.
But now I know better. It turns out there’s a force working hard to keep the world from going KABLOOEY.
Who are these people? Wait for it:
Idiots. Yep, you heard me right.
How do I know? Well, apparently, I’m an Idiot. At least, according to the Geniuses I am. Confused? I’m not surprised. You’re probably an Idiot too.

It all began on a Thursday at precisely 8 a.m. I was standing in the family room of our lovely two-story house, directly across the street from Squirrel Brand Park in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The same family room that, in a few minutes, I would never ever, ever see again—ever.

Book Launch Day!

Idiot Genius: Willa Snap and the Clockwerk Boy is out!

(Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes & Noble.)

 

This Author’s Desk

My Desk.

The vintage items you see here aren’t part of a deliberate theme on my part. Everything simply came together over time.

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1. 20-inch Dell 2009w LCD monitor. I bought this in 2008. It’s great for text, but the color isn’t up to snuff for production work. (Oh, and hiding behind that lovely illustration by Carolyn Arcabascio, is the working draft of The Murk, which I am currently editing.)

 

2. Western Electric model 500 telephone (sold from 1950 to 1984). This is my high-tech communications system. I picked it up at a yard sale ($5) several years ago because I was getting tired of buying new batteries for my cordless phone. It still dials out, but when confronted with an automated message system and asked to press “4” or whatever, I just have to hang up.

 

3. Panasonic Electric Pencil Sharpener, model KP-77 S (probably early 70s, with Auto-Stop!). My trusty friend, bought by my wife for $3 at a church bazaar. Amazingly, you can still buy replacement parts for this model.

 

4. Sony MDR-V700DJ headphones. My portable orchestra. I bought these in 2001, shortly after purchasing an iPod, because said iPod couldn’t pump out enough juice to drive my old AKG 260s.

 

5. 15-inch Apple Macbook Pro (Winter 2006). Tucked behind the monitor, Graphic Mayhem rests in a little wooden bracket and runs in closed-lid mode when it’s not doing color work.

 

6. Apple Pro Keyboard (2000). The computer this came with is gone now, but I kept the keyboard because Apple built it to outlast the sun.

 

7. Apple Mighty Mouse (2005). I have no clear memory of how I acquired this mouse, but it’s still on the job.

 

8. Picture of an Egyptian chariot (gift from a friend), because chariots are cool.

 

9. Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition (1938). Yes, it’s old, but it still beats the hell out of any other dictionary I’ve ever used.

 

10. Two Rinn. These were a Christmas gift, hand-made by my wife and children. They are more precious to me than my weight in 1st edition hardbacks of The Princess Bride, by William Goldman (Fine in Fine dust jackets). And THAT, my friends, is saying something.

 

11. Placebo coffee (or sometimes placebo tea). It’s hard to see in this photo, but it’s right here on the corner of this middle shelf.

 

Featured on lifehacker.com.

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Illustrations and Excerpts from The Moon Coin

Illustrations and excerpts from the

The Moon Coin.

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From Chapter One

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From Chapter Two

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From Chapter Three

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From Chapter Four

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From Chapter Five

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From Chapter Six

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From Chapter Seven

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From Chapter Eight

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From Chapter Nine

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From Chapter Ten

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From Chapter Eleven

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From Chapter Twelve

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From Chapter Thirteen

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From Chapter Fourteen

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From Chapter Fifteen

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From Chapter Sixteen

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From Chapter Seventeen

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From Chapter Eighteen

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From Chapter Nineteen

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From Chapter Twenty

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❍ ❍ ❍

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Copyright © 2011-13 by Richard Due. All rights reserved.

No portion of this website may be used in any manner without

the expressed written consent of the copyright holder.

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Gibbering Gnome Press, A Division of

Ingenious Inventions Run Amok, Ink^®

The Moon Realm^®

.

More on Illustrating Your Book

Two more short videos on my experiences working with an illustrator.

Choosing One Illustration Over Another

Streamlining Workflow

Illustrating Your Book

The first two in a series of short videos on my experiences working with an illustrator.

Transferring the Image in Your Mind to that of Your Illustrator’s

Making Effective Illustrations

Talent, Wisdom, With Just a Smidge of Delusion, From the Pen of Illustrator Mark Fearing.

Source: You have to have hope…

I added another chapter of The Moon Coin to wattpadd

I added chapter twelve of The Moon Coin to wattpad, meaning you can now read half the book there for free. Wattpad also started taking videos, so I posted this little teaser trailer there as well.

The Moon Coin / A Moon Realm Novel

When Lily and Jasper’s uncle disappears, Lily must search for him in the most unlikely of places: the fading realms of her childhood bedtime tales.

“For a feel of the beginning of The Moon Coin, picture what might come into being if you took C.S. Lewis and Dr. Seuss and locked them in a room until they wrote a book together. Got that? And then Dr. Seuss gets kicked out and the whole thing takes a rather J.R.R. Tolkien turn.” -V.K. Finnish, author of The Society’s Traitor, The Discoveries of Arthur Grey

Get it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JFMKB8

Read the first half on Wattpad for free: https://www.wattpad.com/43091698-the-moon-coin-blurb

A Review of The Moon Coin

betwixt-the-pages

The Moon Coin & The Dragondain. Epic fantasy for ages 9 to 99. Visit the Moon Realm.

These are not your parents’ bedtime tales.

Telling a wicked good tale is a talent, but making it sound believable is a gift. Even as young teens, Lily and Jasper Winter still love their uncle’s bedtime tales. But they don’t believe, as they once did, that the tales he spins are true, or that his fantastic paintings are from places he’s actually been . . . that would be childish.

Now Uncle Ebb is missing.

Lily and Jasper are supposed to stay out of trouble while their parents search Ebb’s study, but his mansion is full of distractions. A Tesla generator thrums in the basement. Prismatic electrimals drift lazily around walls resembling underwater reefs. Then Oscar, a fuchsia-plumed flying seahorse, leads the siblings to a secret room, where the mystery of their uncle’s…

View original post 598 more words

Paperwands Reviews the The Moon Coin on tumblr Today

Papierwands review.

Second Looks Books Wins Best of the Bay!

The readers of Bay Weekly voted our bookstore, Second Looks Books, the Best of the Bay! As the Bay Weekly is based in the county to our North, the Annapolis Barnes & Noble wins most years, so this is a bit of a shock! Thank everybody who voted us in!!!

You can find Second Looks Books in Prince Frederick, Maryland, just to the right of the Peebles.

If you love bookstores, and you have a moment, please visit our facebook page and give us a Like. 🙂 Thanks!

Win a Paperback Copy of The Moon Coin

Here’s what it looks like:

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When Lily and Jasper’s uncle disappears, Lily must search for him in the most unlikely of places: the fading realms of her childhood bedtime tales.

Gold Medal Winner of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award.

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Higer Resolution Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulfhednar/15796332821/

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❍

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Copyright © 2011-14 by Richard Due. All rights reserved.

No portion of this website may be used in any manner without the expressed written consent of the copyright holder.

Gibbering Gnome Press, A Division of Ingenious Inventions Run Amok, Ink^®

The Moon Realm^®

.

Moon Realm Themed 5K iMac Retina Wallpaper

Have at it, folks!

You can download the 5K version HERE.

..Roan
warrior, head of his clutter

Mr. Phixit
more than just two arms mounted to a tall dresser with exactly ninety-nine drawers

Greydor Goldenclif
of the clan Foamchaser, Lord of the Valley Rinn

Oscar
bright red-plumed flying seahorse, unique among the birdfish

Curse
nasty piece of work, inhabits a slag heap of a sword, likes to be oiled regularly

Dragon
one of the wingless dragons of Dain

….

When Lily and Jasper’s uncle disappears, Lily must search for him in the most unlikely of places: the fading realms of her childhood bedtime tales.

Gold Medal Winner of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award.

Epic fantasy for ages 9 to 99. Visit the Moon Realm

..

..

❍

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Copyright © 2011-14 by Richard Due. All rights reserved.

No portion of this website may be used in any manner without the expressed written consent of the copyright holder.

Gibbering Gnome Press, A Division of Ingenious Inventions Run Amok, Ink^®

The Moon Realm^®

.

The Moon Coin “charming and clever and beautiful and daring”

A Perfect Tales-Told-By-the-Fire Book

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By Tricia Rightmire

I’ve been working on how to phrase this review for a while, but I sit down planning to sound all clever and erudite and end up getting all wistful and making lots of hands-over-my-heart gestures at the screen, so I think this time I’m just going to go with that. . . .

The Moon Coin is lovely, folks. It is charming and clever and beautiful and daring; it’s full of adventure and surprises and courage and puzzles and characters with whom I fell immediately and permanently in love. It’s written with a younger audience in mind—think “older elementary school, some middle schoolers”—but it’s the sort of book that just begs for a blanket and some comfy pillows and a crackling fire on the hearth, with everyone piled in together and hearing about far-off lands full of faeries and dragons and cats big enough to ride (they get really crabby about that, though, so I don’t recommend trying it). It doesn’t shy away from big words or complex ideas, but couches them all in a universe that’s so rich and consuming that they’re not “too hard” . . . and it’s just. so. fun.

The downside is that it’s the first of an as-yet uncompleted series, so you can’t just sit down and binge-read through them all; the upside is that every minute in this world is delicious and grand, and makes you want nothing more than to have your own Moon Coin so you can go adventuring. Grab the youngsters who mean the most to you, settle in, and enjoy!

Earthling! as pixels!

From Sketch to Chapter Art, an Illustrator at Work

For me, getting to work with Carolyn Arcabascio was a dream come true. We worked from a master list of scene options, with Carolyn picking out scenes she liked and making sketches. For the prologue, Carolyn drafted three options. All three were great, but two in particular were spectacular. I first went with option 3 (one of my scene suggestions). I think we spent more time on this sketch and subsequent color drawing than on any other piece. But it never seemed right. At the eleventh hour, I asked Carolyn how hard she’d hit me if I suggested scrapping the thing and instead going with the pinky promise scene you see below (one of her scene suggestions).  Carolyn responded: “There would be no hitting involved!” and told me it wouldn’t be a problem. You sure can’t ask for better than that.

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From the Prologue: Bedtime Tales.

Click on image to enlarge.

Richard: Did you make all these sketches in the same location, Carolyn?

Carolyn: Yes, I do all of my work at a drafting table that’s situated in a little nook of my apartment in Acton, Massachusetts. There’s a bookshelf to my right and a wall of “inspiration” to my left, where I hang prints of other artists’ and illustrators’ work. On either side of my drafting table are drawers of supplies, and stacks of sketchbooks and old paintings. The drafting table faces a window overlooking a quiet street and the woods beyond it.

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From Chapter Two: A Coin of the Realm.

Click on image to enlarge.

Richard: Do you use models when you’re sketching?

Carolyn: I use a combination of models and photo references. If I need to work out the nuances of a character’s posture and really understand the perspective of it, I’ll ask whatever friend or family member is handy to pose for a sketch. Often, I’ll get into the position myself or mimic the facial expression I want to portray in order to get the feel of it. And sometimes, if there’s a character being portrayed multiple times across scenes, I’ll make a rough model of their head out of clay so I’ll have it to refer to.

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From Chapter Four: To Barreth.

Click on image to enlarge.

Richard: When drawing fantastical creatures, do you use bits and pieces of real animals for inspiration, or have you actually seen a wirtle and you’re just not telling us? 😉

Carolyn: No wirtles native to Massachusetts, fortunately! When figuring out the look of fantastical creatures, I use photo references of different animals to understand the way the anatomy might work, and then combine features as I see fit and as the story calls for. To understand the wirtle’s legs and paws, for example, I referred to a series of photographs of show dogs leaping over hurdles. The severely arched, scruffy back was influenced by photos of hyenas on the prowl. The bone-structure of the face ended up being something of a cross between a cow and a warthog, and I wanted the snout to be bare—kind of gross and raw-looking. Add it all up and, voila! We have a wirtle.

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When Lily and Jasper’s uncle disappears, Lily must search for him in the most unlikely of places: the fading realms of her childhood bedtime tales.

Gold Medal Winner of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award.

Epic fantasy for ages 9 to 99. Visit the Moon Realm

..

❍

..

Copyright © 2011-14 by Richard Due. All rights reserved.

No portion of this website may be used in any manner without the expressed written consent of the copyright holder.

Gibbering Gnome Press, A Division of Ingenious Inventions Run Amok, Ink^®

The Moon Realm^®

.

Polilla Writes Reviews The Dragondain

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Doodlebug and Little Bit

Pocket Rinn Gallery

(if you want to add to the gallery, send me a pic along with the name, State and/or Country of origin, to here)

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Tricia, from Shawnee, KS, sent in these picks of her pocket-Rinn.

Doodlebug is on the pillow, and Little Bit eyeing up the sandwich.

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An Interview with Richard Due by Stephanie Hopkins

 

Click HERE or on the image below to read the interview.

Look! A New Header Banner!

Crossover!

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 (Click image to enlarge.)

The blog got a new header banner today! So, if you ever wondered what a crossover looked like, then check it out. Taw is on the left, Dik Dek on the right, and that’s the Moon Realm’s sun in the background. (The clouds are your clue that this vantage point is coming from the surface of yet another moon.)