A
note before the post...Please take a look at the PBS GulfWatch video on the
writing of One Pelican at a Time at the bottom of the post. Please don't forget to vote, and the other
authors' blog addresses are below as well!
One Pelican at a Time is a book that should not have been written. Strange thing, one might think, for an author to say about her own book. It is, though, quite true.
The first book in the Bella and Britt Series, Bella Saves the Beach, was slated to launch within weeks, when a major ecological catastrophe occurred in the US. It was the Deepwater Horizons oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. My publisher Lynda Burch at Guardian Angel Publishing and I agreed that a book had to be done about such an event. She thought the Bella and Britt series was the perfect vehicle to use and she was right.
Lynda shelved "Beach Bella," and I went to work on Pelican. (It was yet to be named.) We both wanted the book to be the first one in the US, and it was! We're very proud of that.Normally, a book takes months or more to complete. I worked night and day on the manuscript and finished it in six weeks. Actually, I don't know if I should be proud or embarrassed about it!
One Pelican at a Time turned out to be a labor of love. I had lots of encouragement from our wonderful publisher, Lynda. And though I worked flat out, I never once felt under anyone's "gun" except my own.
I am delighted to say that Pelican stayed on Amazon's Bestseller List for Children for18 weeks. It won the Children's Classics Seal of Approval and was nominated for a Global eBook Award. PBS Tampa did a feature on my writing of Pelican for their series GufWatch. It can be viewed at the very end of this post.I would be remiss if I did not mention the fabulous artwork by Samantha Bell. She is a much sought after watercolorist, and the work she did for the whole series is beyond belief. What a magical talent is hers.
Pelican, then, led the way for the Bella and Britt Series to come. And what about Bella Saves the Beach? That is the next book to be published. A little late but all due to a good, but tragic, cause.
Mayra
Calvani - www.mayrassecretbookcase.blogspot.com
Margo
Dill - www.margodill.com/blog
Margot Finke –
www.hookkidsonreading.blogspot.com
Donna
McDine - www.donna-mcdine.blogspot.com
Nancy
Stewart - www.nancystewartbooks.blogspot.com
Kai
Strand - www.kaistrand.blogspot.com
Nicole
Weaver - www.mysisterismybestfriend.blogspot.com
Disclaimer:
Entry during
the Children's Book Week celebration by Guardian Angel Publishing does not
guarantee winning the FREE tote bag of Guardian Angel Publishing books, or the
FREE picture book manuscript critique by Margot Finke. Winner of the FREE
picture book manuscript critique by Margot Finke shall not hold Ms. Finke
liable in publication success of submitted picture book manuscrip
