How to Illustrate Books for Children: Expert Tips from a Professional, Part One

Illustration from book three of “The Conjurers” Middle Grade Fantasy Series

Illustrations for book three have set sail! Currently, I’m working on chapter six. The manuscript is complete and the cover (oh wait until you see it!) is almost ready to reveal. To be honest, after I finished book two, I did not know where book three was going. I lost sleep thinking the third installment couldn’t possibly live up to the previous books and would leave readers unsatisfied with the ending.

And just when things couldn’t get worse, my editor suggested we needed to pull the villain from book three. Her backstory was a lot. Like several large suitcases of backstory that stretched back decades. To pull it off, the book would expand to over four hundred pages (probably). Doom, doom, doom with a side of doom. 

Every story has that “dark night of the soul” moment. This was mine, except it wasn’t fiction. But just like fiction, I had that wonderful revelation. You know the bit that was there all along, but you didn’t notice it? A character from “The Conjurers” webcomic got the call to the big league. Yep, I recast Latiff from a side story to the top of the call sheet for book three. And she didn’t disappoint. You’ll see. 

Back to the illustrations, as that is what my next several posts will focus on. I’ll try not to expose any spoilers from the art. As you can tell from the drawing above, book three picks up shortly after book two. Our heroic team setting sail on the sea of Dedi! Where are they going? Just you wait. You’ll get some hints from the next few drawings. All I will say for now is that they will encounter one of my favorite creatures I’ve ever conjured. The magician in me made sure that, like any excellent trick, this creature has some serious surprises. More on that next time.

I’ve stepped up the art game in book three. I wanted more intensity in the drawings to match the break neck action in this installment. I’ve added more intense shading and made the watercolor washes heavier. I think it adds more visceral reality and maturity just like the characters have matured through the story. Alex and Emma will face their greatest challenge yet and the art will match that intensity. Book three opens in a storm and that will be the calmest it gets. 

Book discount - Today only!

Conjurers Book 1 - $1.99 Today Only!

Super short post today. But it’s a good one. My publisher agreed to discount “The Conjurers” ebook for today only. if you haven’t read it yet, or want to send it as a gift to someone, grab your copy now. It took some work to convince them to give this a shot (thanks Elizabeth!) and I’m not sure if they’ll do it again.

Just click the button below and select your preferred eBook provider:

How to Write a Book - Research and Inspiration

Thought I’d share a bit about how and where I got ideas for the Conjurers books. First, I’ll be talking about my experience and methods and also potential pitfalls. Early on, when writing books and coming up with ideas, I would get swept away in the currents of research. Why? Because it’s fun and interesting and you can quickly forget that you’re supposed to be writing a book.

Now i have a rule for myself that I try my best to stick to. Although one tumbles down a rabbit hole here and there. The rule is “write first, research later”. I want to stay in that passion zone for writing the story. In a first draft nothing will or should be perfect. My prime focus is making sure that I like my characters, and the story is exciting and fulfilling.

The Conjurers is based on magic, actual real life magicians and my history of studying and performing. I had a lot to pull from in regards to characters and tricks I could use in the books. However, when it came to how magic works and why it was dying, I had a lot to work out. Even after finishing the first draft of book one, it wasn’t clear how real magic worked. What was the difference between a magician and a normal human (they’re called “Flatworlders” in the books). More importantly, why was magic fading out of existence?

When I would come upon those blurry logic spots in my story, I would write a note to myself to hash it out. Then, after the first draft, I could brainstorm the hows and whys of magic in the world of the Conjurers. The above painting is one of the “hows”.

Hieronymous Bosch has always been one of my favorite artists. Mostly because he was weird. However, this piece was my favorite and became a central inspiration for the Conjurers.

The painting depicts St. James converting a magician from his demonic ways. For me, in my world of the Conjurers, this became the basis for how magic had faded over the centuries. I found many other examples to pull from and used in the story. But I straightened all that out after writing the first draft. As I’ll show in my next post, I could easily spent months just studying the history of magic.

Return of "The Conjurers" Webcomic

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Yep. Finally. Now that all three novels are written, I’m slicing off a smidge of time to bring back the webcomic. There’s still a lot of work to be done on books two and three. A ton of fine tune editing and all the illustrations. However, with book one coming out next July, I wanted the webcomic to revived and breathing well before the launch. Mostly because, even though it’s a rag-tag experiment, I love it. I love getting to visit the cast of “The Conjurers” books outside of prose filled pages.

Also, I know as a reader, it’s always cool when yo can visit a fantasy world in multiple mediums. And it’s super cool when you can visit that world while waiting for the next book to release. Besides, there are so many people and creatures and places in the Conjurian that I want to see. The best way to do that is an ongoing comic.

The next installment will launch on Halloween, which falls on a Thursday this year. There’ll be a new episode every Monday after that. If you have no idea what I’ve been rattling on about, you can read the comic from the beginning here: https://www.gocomics.com/the-conjurers

Sketch Warm Up - Meet the Cast

Warming up to illustrate book one. Like I mentioned yesterday, I'll be editing book three and cranking out the drawings for book one over the next few months. Yesterday I drew my favorite supporting cast members, the Grubians. Those of you who have read the webcomic will be familiar with these rapscallions. And if you liked them there, wait till you get a load of them in the novels.Fair to say, these guys are my Shakespearean clowns, although they play a pivotal role in the first three books. My inspiration for them goes well past Shakespeare. My magician friends will notice a similarity to another tall and short magic duo. Except my big guy is the non-talker. Yep, Penn & Teller. Two of my biggest influences in magic since the third grade. They were the starting point for these two.Halfway through writing book one, I realized another influence for this pair were Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. If those names aren't familiar, google them and then get the book that pops up in the results. I also recommend getting the comic adaptation and the BBC tele-play and of course the BBC radio drama version. Trust me on this.Lastly, the names. Was it too obvious? My devious Grubians are named after Clive Barker and Neil Gaiman, the two writers I can't live without. Well, also Susan Hill, but I have another character based on her we'll get to later.That's it for today. Back to editing book three and sketching up the art for book one. I'll be sure to post my progress on both.