The Magnificent Julie Rowan-Zoch

Through the 12x12 Picture Book Challenge, I have met many talented illustrators, some of whom became good friends (and two of those are also my wonderful critique group mates!). Julie Rowan-Zoch is one of good friends who constantly inspires me.

We exchanged postcards one day recently - that's fun! I need to exchange with my artist/illustrator friends more often - and I was so taken by them, I had to share with the world (or at least the small percentage of the world that reads my blog).

Here are Julie's business card and promotional postcard:

This is the front of the promotional postcard. It's brilliant the way she tied the front and the back together around the central characters.

One of the things I admire most about Julie's work is how she can make a piece look so simple and yet convey such emotions and narrative at the same time.

Is this darling, or what? Reminds me of the fun time I spent in the Netherlands...but much cuter.

 In addition to being super talented, Julie is also generous. She created illustrations to celebrate all her Facebook friends' birthdays. Here's one she made for me the first year I "met" her:

 And this is the one for last year:

a little frog must have told her I've owned chickens for about 12 years

Julie's talent has now been recognized far and wide and she's been signed by the prestigious Wernick & Pratt literary agency. Check out Julie's success story at Julie Hedlund's site.

Hope you'll go look at some of Julie's art at her website and Facebook page. You'll be glad you did!

p.s. following advice from my very wise friend, Sylvia Liu, I am changing comments back to being always open

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Finding a new best friend

the first meager, but tasty, harvest

In spring, a young woman's thoughts turn to fancy...or strawberries...no, wait, it's fancies, though, in my case, it wasn't a romantic sort of fancy. 

There are many similarities between looking for a literary agent and looking for a spouse/life-partner. You want someone who not only complements you (not compliments you, though that is nice too) - whose strengths help to support you in areas where you're weak, and who gently, though firmly, guides you away from metaphoric rocky shores where you might make a terrible wreck of yourself - but also whose presence brightens your day and who gets you, maybe not all the time, but overall and in general.

For my spouse, I also wanted someone who can cook, but that wasn't applicable to my agent search. ;)

In all honesty, while there were a few agents whose personalities seemed interesting and endearing enough, from what I could gather online, I never really had a dream agent, or agents, like other writers I know. Just like when I was in the market for a significant other, I trusted that I would know when I met The Right One. My gut instincts have rarely steered me wrong (though I admit to having been fooled by some highly skilled sociopaths). I suspect my not having had a "dream agent" previously was because, at that point, Ella was not yet an agent, but an editor.

Like a dutiful writer, I submitted regularly, albeit not profusely, to agents and editors. Joining Julie Hedlund's 12x12 Challenge was an excellent investment that forced me to submit since I paid for a gold membership that comes with access to agents who agreed to give 12x12 members a fair reading.

12x12 also proved fateful because that's where I first met [insert superlatives...yes, I'm making you work] Ella Kennen. I gave the nitty gritty fun and exciting details of how I came to be signed by Ella at the blog of my dear friend, and partner in the Penguin Posse critique group, Sylvia.

For this post, I'm going to sing praises of Ella. If only I had taken music lessons for longer than one year of piano and two years of ukelele (don't laugh) - 12 years of choral singing didn't teach me too much about music - I would compose a song and literally be able to sing her praises.

Ella's effervescence, wittiness, and easy going demeanor belie her deep insightfulness and thoughtfulness. Besides being a brilliant editor, she is also knowledgeable on a variety of topics, and is a staunch champion of ideals I hold dear, such as human rights and homeschooling.

I already knew, from myriad of emails, PMs, and DMs I had exchanged with Ella, that she and I got along well (see the second paragraph about complements). When we had our first Google Hangout, we spent a good bit of time giggling while taking care of the more serious business side of things. That was when I knew that Ella, even if she never became my agent, was someone that I'd let into my small circle of trusted and best friends.

It's a thrill to get an agent, for sure, but it's a much, much bigger thrill when the agent is as honorable, caring, and intelligent a person as Ella is. Tangentially, Chinese and Klingons both like to talk honor; I'm still waiting on the genetic results to tell me if I'm part Klingon.

So, dear Ella, here's a toast to a beautiful friendship and an agent-client relationship! xo

Sparkling wine courtesy of the Penguins who gave me this delectable gift basket:

And, a shout-out to sweet Catherine who made a congratulatory video for me. :)

I hope May has been as rewarding a month for you as it has been for me!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams