I’ve always got a few projects going at once, but at the moment the one I’m most excited about is Stealing the Show, a rhyming, tongue-twisting, circus-themed children’s book. (Young trapeze star Arabella is fearless at great heights — but will she be brave enough to save Edric the elephant trainer from being squashed when a jealous clown tries to steal the show? Or, to put it in verse:
A dazzling trapeze artist. Her kind but stage-shy sweetheart.
A jealous scheming clown who plots to keep the two apart.
A roaring sell-out circus crowd. An elephant with vertigo.
Tonight under the big top lights, just who will steal the show?)
It’s a picture book for the older end of the picture-book market, and back in my days of seemingly endless free time (before children), I’d have illustrated the thing myself, but I’m a sloooooow artist now. Luckily I know professional artists, like the talented Derek Evernden (really, he’s good: go check out his portfolio and hire him for fun artistic jobs!), who is working on some illustrations. I’m really excited right now because I’ve just gotten a look at his first sketches and they’re great — plus it’s so cool to actually see the characters and scenes that only existed in my head before. It’s a strange and thrilling thing seeing someone else’s visions of your brain. Maybe we’ll share some of his images later in the process, but it’s a bit early still.
(This is not one of his illustrations. His are better: for example, not blurry. This photo is from when I overcame my clown-phobia and made my first-ever trip to a circus this summer. It’s just setting a circussy tone.)
Anyway, I’m always looking for test-readers, so if any of you are fans of the genre (you know, that cliched tongue-twisting-rhymes-about-murderous-clowns genre) or have 4-7-year-old captive audiences, let me know if you’d be up for trying it out and sending any feedback! Thanks :-)
michelle heimburger 