The Writer’s Voice

Query for BALLOONING:

Dear Coaches,

Twelve-year-old Chester Phillips is building a hot air balloon, and if it’s made out of filmy shower curtains, defunct office fans, and a corroded bike frame, so be it. He’s going to fly it around the world anyway. The town’s notorious dumpster diver isn’t above sacrificing dignity and cleanliness in search of parts, but Chester maintains one rule: he only takes things no one else wants.

When Chester receives an offer to fund his around the world trip in exchange for an errand, Chester has no idea he’ll be breaking his cardinal rule by accepting. With his best friend Peter in tow, he sets off to fetch a battered scuba tank and deliver it to San Francisco. No one bothered to tell him the tank housed a beautiful, if somewhat dry and aloof, genie.

And now the genie’s thuggish masters are coming after Chester.

Chester never wanted to be a thief, but as his friendship with the genie grows, he realizes he can never let her fall back into her masters’ cruel clutches.

There’s only one way to ensure she’ll be safe, and it involves a hot air balloon adventure.

BALLOONING is a 59,000-word fantasy adventure novel for middle grade readers. It was featured as a semi-finalist in the Young Adult Novel Discovery Contest hosted by Regina Brooks and Gotham Writers’ Workshop.

Thank you for your time.

Erin Ferguson

First 250 Words of BALLOONING:

“And what,” demanded Mrs. August, “are you planning on doing with that, young man?”

The tops of Mrs. August’s spectacles bore down over the row of hedges separating the two front yards. Chester had tried to tiptoe past the old troll and escape into his backyard, since prior experience taught him she’d have an opinion about his treasure.

In his arms, he bore the cumbersome drum of a Kenmore washing machine.

“What? This?” asked Chester. “Well, I was thinking . . . it would really go well with . . . um . . . you know, it’s really quite useful—”

He was saved from having to expound on the drum’s countless functions when his mother pulled into the driveway. His little sisters ran for the house while Mrs. Phillips, balancing paper grocery bags on each hip, slammed the trunk.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. August,” she said. “Your flowers are looking as lovely as ever.”

Mrs. August ignored her and jabbed her pruning shears at Chester. “I hope you’re not planning to stash it in that yard of yours,” she said. “It’s such an eyesore, and we’re the ones who have to look at it. Trash everywhere. Old refrigerators. Car parts. Railroad spikes. TVs.” She chopped at the hedges, punctuating each accusation. “It’s vile! And I don’t know how you put up with it, Mrs. Phillips.”

“Well, I’m sure he has a good use for it,” Chester’s mother said, rolling her eyes. “He always does.”

I’m a Pitch Wars Warrior!

I made an amazing discovery today. Deep, deep down inside, I actually possess a spark of competitiveness. I’ve always avoided playing Slap Jack because I’m just not aggressive enough to start throttling people I know and love over a stack of cards. Today, I think I could pummel a complete stranger and sleep like a baby (within the limits of Slap Jack, of course).

Why?

Because, as of this morning, I’ve become a Pitch Wars Warrior. Deanna Romito, a middle grade author represented by Kerry Sparks of the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, selected me (and more importantly, Ballooning), out of a pool of applicants to be her teammate in the upcoming Pitch Wars battle.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Pitch Wars, it’s a contest hosted by Brenda Drake over at Brenda Drake Writes. It’s an event where a collection of 37 industry professionals, including agented authors, industry interns, and editors, each choose an aspiring writer and act as a mentor. Throughout the next month, the mentor will work with their teammate to prepare them to present their work to a panel of 16 agents in late January. The agents are then free to peruse the submissions and request any material that interests them. The team that gets the most requests will win fame, fortune, and most importantly, an Amazon gift card.

And we are so gonna win.

In the meantime, enjoy a little artwork from me to you. These are a couple of pieces I worked on this fall. The first is a Halloween card my husband and I sent to our families. It’s supposed to be the two of us. Tim Burton style.

The second is an autumn watercolor painting. I just love fall colors! The original is already sold, but if you’re interesting in having something like it, just let me know and we’ll chat.

Gallery Grand Opening

I’m excited to announce the grand opening of my new online gallery! Now there’s more artwork than ever before. Take a moment to stop by, and let me know how you liked it.

Also, I got the bug to do a children’s book-type illustration this week. I call it “Socrates and Me.”

Me and Socrates go wherever we please.
He’s the best kind of pet cuz he don’t gots fleas,
And he don’t gots fur so he won’t make you sneeze.
Me and Socrates go wherever we please.

Chester Discovers a Genie

Contrary to popular belief, the iconic golden lamp is not the only place to find a genie. Some genies, like Paige, prefer the cylindrical interior of a small scuba tank.

While I continue to work on my character redesign sheets for the rest of the Ballooning cast (see Chester, Jasper, and Paige), I thought it would be fun to do a mock interior illustration for Ballooning. I envision Ballooning being filled with fun illustrations, including full-page spreads and spots above chapter headings. After all, the subject matter lends itself well to illustration, so why not take advantage of it?

Chester’s bedroom is as fun to write as it is to draw. His room is lit by twinkle lights fed into colorful glass bottles, and his chair, or “throne” as he likes to call it, is fashioned out of welded street signs. He dispenses clean socks from a restored vending machine and sleeps in a gutted 1950′s-style refrigerator. He’s only shut the lid on himself once.

Although I initially did this illustration in black and white, as it would likely appear in a printed book, I think I’d also like to take it into color. I’ll post it as soon as it’s finished.

GUTGAA Meet and Greet

This year, I’m going to be participating in Deana Barnhart’s GUTGAA (Gearing Up to Get an Agent) blogfest. It’s an event for writers to post queries, get them critiqued, and if you’re lucky, have them judged by a panel of agents and/or small press editors.

But before the festivities begin, Deana has asked all of the participants to write a brief bio about themselves and answer a few questions so we can all get to know each other. So, here we go!

About Me:

My name is Erin. I am an illustrator, and I love all things art. I also love animals, vintage furniture, carnivals, breakfast cereal, and the smell of newspapers. I don’t like spiders or mayonnaise. Nothing grosses me out more than someone else taking a bite of my cereal. I don’t know why.

Where do you write? 

On my living room couch. Or, it it’s too hot in the living room, on my bed.

Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see? 

My husband’s backpack.

Favorite time to write?

The creativity flows pretty good in the morning between 8:00 and 11:00. Then I come down with a severe case of narcolepsy, and I don’t snap out of it again until about 4:00.

Drink of choice while writing? 

Chocolate milk. Not just while writing though. Always.

When writing, do you listen to music or do you need complete silence? 

Silence is better, but now and then I’ll play something orchestral so I have something to listen to besides my own breathing.

What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it? 

When I was in college, I signed up for a narrative illustration class. The first project of the semester required us to design a cast of characters and to give them a story line. I proceeded to dream up a notorious dumpster diver, a pretty genie, and a hapless boy who’s obsessed with his pet goldfish. Obviously, I needed to find a way to tie such a quirky group of people together. Somehow, a hot air balloon adventure made sense.

What’s your most valuable writing tip? 

Think outside the box.

Chester’s Redesign

The next character coming down the catwalk in Chester Phillips, dumpster diver extraordinaire. Chester’s most noticeable revision can be seen in his hair. The shapes that comprise Chester’s hair in his original design are almost impossible to reproduce in 3D, which means that they only really work from one or two angles and completely fall apart in all the rest. Basically, drawing Chester’s hair made mine go gray.

My solution has been to modify the hair shapes so that they can be drawn from any perspective, yet still retain the extreme angles and messiness that I love. Hopefully you’ll like Chester’s haircut as much as I do.

Jasper’s Redesign

When I first came up with the idea for Jasper, I knew that he was going to sport a bit of an eclectic wardrobe. His early concept sketch included a Hot Topic-esque belt buckle, Converse low tops, a green silk shirt, and a felt rose in his buttonhole. But then I started writing, and I found that Jasper wanted to be something more than just a little offbeat. He wanted to be . . . extravagant. And maybe even a little ostentatious.

Anyone else think he’s gotten a bit carried away?

As a side note, when I was doing this illustration, I turned to my husband and asked, “Okay, so if your ascot is purple, your tux is green, and your shirt is white, what color is your pocket-handkerchief?” Without missing a beat, my husband replied, “Yellow.”

And that’s why we’re married.

Paige’s Redesign

It’s amazing to me, as I’ve written and rewritten my manuscript, how many things have changed since that first draft. Before I’d so much as put a sentence on paper, I drew each of my characters individually so I could see their faces in my mind. But as so many other things have evolved in my manuscript through editing, my characters have changed as well. I realized that, in some ways, those early concepts didn’t necessarily capture the character I’d come to know. That being said, I’ve decided to go ahead and give them all makeovers.

First up is Paige the Genie. In overall appearance and costuming, Paige hasn’t really changed that much from her original design, except to say that I wanted to exaggerate her figure by pushing and pulling certain areas of her anatomy. Also, as I’ve begun to establish an overall “feel” in my story, I wanted an artistic style to reflect that.

I still might try to push for brighter colors, and Paige probably looks a tad older than she’s supposed to be in this picture, but I think it’s heading in the right direction. What do you think? Do you like this new design better, or are there things about the old design that you prefer? Thanks in advance for your input!

P.S. Yes, I’ve tried to mimic this pose, and no, I don’t think it’s physically possible.

When Life Gives You Lemons . . .

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

In the midst of all the writing and editing I’ve been doing, somehow I found time to finish this little project. My sister is getting married this month, and I wanted to do something special for her bridal shower. I figured that she’d be getting plenty of practical things like cookie sheets and towels from everyone else, so why not something fun to brighten up the new apartment?

For this piece, I really wanted to play with texture, so I applied a “grunge” layer over the entire image to give it a more vintage feel. Other than that, my main objective was to do something warm and sunny. My sister and her husband-to-be are going to be living in a town where 40 degrees is considered picnic weather. They need all the sunshine they can get.

Enjoy!

 

Critiques, Princesses, and Ponies

Well, friends it’s certainly been a while since I’ve posted an update on my little project, but fear not: the battle wages on! In my last post, I mentioned that I was ready to look for a critique partner. Through Ladies Who Critique, I’ve found many sets of fresh eyes to help make my story better. Each critique partner has had her own strengths, whether she was skilled grammarian or an excellent story builder, and each has contributed hugely to my project. The best part, of course, is that I’ve been able to read many different manuscripts and offer critiques in return. Although I’m still working with a few critique partners to polish my story, I feel that it’s already made leaps and bounds since that first draft.

Now on to the next subject.

It’s high time I posted some artwork around here.

Who doesn’t like Disney Princesses and My Little Pony? A friend of mine commissioned me to combine her two favorite franchises, and voila! Instant nostalgia.