09
Nov
2012
By the author, Jim Doti
Since my last post more than five weeks ago, not much has changed. Lisa and I are still waiting and doing our best to be patient through additional problems and delays in the publication of our book.
The most significant hurdle was the physical proof, which we expected to be […]
02
Oct
2012
By the author, Jim Doti
If you’ve been wondering where Lisa and I have been since our last entries in July, we’ve been waiting. And Tom Petty wasn’t kidding when he sang, “Waiting is the Hardest Part.”
With all of the components of the book in Mill City’s hands, we first waited to see the […]
The Back Cover
Jul 11, 2012
By the author, Jim Doti
Although Mill City’s services include writing and designing the back cover, I wanted to maintain control so I could insure that the style and format is similar to
A Christmas Adventure in Little Italy
.
One difference, though, […]
Old School Inspirations
Jul 06, 2012
By Illustrator Lisa Mertins
While conceptualizing, I went back often to the photos Jim sent of Reinberg School. My favorite is above. It looks like this classroom hasn’t been updated since the time when Jimmy attended!
I used the lamps and the door style and […]
Interior Formatting
Jul 05, 2012
By the author, Jim Doti
Lisa and I worked very closely with my associate, Ann Cameron, who combined the text with the illustrations and created a fully assembled book. While this is work that typically would be done by Mill City Press, it gave Lisa and me the […]
Getting the Cover Just Right
Jun 27, 2012
By the author, Jim Doti
The image featured above is the earliest sketch that Lisa gave me for the cover of our book. But as I looked at all of her initial sketches for our book, there was another one—showing Jimmy on stage with his hand thrust upward—that […]
Timetable for Publication
Jun 22, 2012
By the author, Jim Doti
Now that the book is nearing completion, we need to start giving more attention to the timing of its publication. We want to make sure that it comes out in time for the holidays, and possibly even in time for a September 14-16 Orange County Book Fair being held at Chapman […]
Continue Reading →More on Matching Text with Illustrations
Jun 15, 2012
By the author, Jim Doti
I love Lisa’s depiction of Jimmy and his mom in her “hat room.” The second scene in this room is of critical importance to the book, since Jimmy came up with the idea of raising his arm during the play by observing and […]
bigger, Bigger, BIGGER!
Jun 07, 2012
By Lisa Mertins, the Illustrator
Jim remembers those school doors as massive, and my first sketches weren’t nailing that feeling. I struggled with keeping the doors in perspective while giving them a looming presence.
In hindsight, I could have eliminated the door surroundings to make […]
Editing the Text to Match the Illustrations
Jun 06, 2012
By the author, Jim Doti
One of Lisa Mertins’ special talents is her ability to capture the essence of the storyline in her illustrations. This is critically important, since readers—especially children—often look at the illustrations to get a visual sense of the characters and storyline. Indeed, it’s this […]
