Hi everybody. I know I’ve been scarce around here. I have a good reason, though!

I’m working on the art for my 4th picture book! The publisher has placed it on the web site for pre-orders. Check it out!

Rabbit’s Song by SJ Tucker & Trudy Herring

http://magicalchildbooks.com/rabbits.html

I am super excited! Well…back to the drafting table.

Blessings,
Lyon

If it’s been a while since you’ve been by, you’ll notice the web site has a completely new look. Things have finally slowed down enough for me (or maybe I am getting more organized?) to spend some time updating and redecorating the place. I could be in nesting mode or something, I have been renovating and painting the real life house as well.

Since I am an artist and not a programmer, some of the things I still want to do are really giving the old brain pan a work out. I will get them figured out eventually. After all, other people have managed to get such things done on their sites, it’ll just take me while to get that light bulb going off over my head. Now that’s an image.

I am so thrilled with my progress through my to-do list for this week. I have managed to cross off nearly all the items I needed to get done. The last item on the list is the pencil rough for Rabbit’s Song. When I finish it up it will be scanned into the computer and sent to the people who need to approve it. I am half way there, so getting it out by Thursday should be no trouble.

On Friday I head out to Ozark Avalon for a very full 4th of July weekend. The land’s wardens are being handfasted on the 4th. On Saturday I will be giving a craft workshop of Sparkling Spiral Mobiles. On Sunday morning the very popular Family Story time is to occur. I have been rereading and memorizing some of my favorite childhood animal myths and adding the re-tellings to my line up of picture books. The kids love to be read to. I am just amazed at their faces when they hear new stories. I am reminded why I became a picture book author in the first place.

The only thing I didn’t do this week was check my calendar for appointments on Monday. So, all things being equal, I forgot about an appointment yesterday. Der. My daughter was scheduled to have her braces removed. You think she might have remembered as it was her mouth. Oh well, I was able to reschedule for next week. I had better NOT forget again.

Also next week, I have an appointment for an interview. I will be heading into the city to have my entrance interview for Voices for Children to be a child’s advocate in the court system. I’ve spoken to the director several times on the phone, she said I most likely will be accepted into the program. Training starts in August.

book that is. I am proud to announce the birth of my third picture book Watchers. It’s a bouncing bedtime tale. Something is watching Thomas as he’s sleeping. He decides that he will discover who is frightening him and hatches a plan to catch them in a trap. The story goes from spooky to secure when Thomas discovers who he has captured.

And to my great pleasure the top weekly magazine in the publishing industry has listed both Watchers and Aidan’s First Full Moon Circle in this week’s special Spring Children’s Releases issue.

Visit Magical Child Books to order your autographed copy.

Dear Friends,

Things have been rather hectic here. Good, but hectic. I will be handing in my resignation at my part time job tomorrow. This will give me two more work days to devote to painting, drawing and writing.

I’m going to need it. My third book “Watchers” is in the final stages of production, the story has been edited a half dozen times; gone over with a fine tooth comb to make it just right. The cover has been painted. The interior images are busy telling me how they want to look, and starting Thursday, I will be deep in the throws of artistic nirvana creating the wonderful watercolors you have come to expect in my books.

This book is something different. Not particularly Pagan, but a fun little rhyming bedtime story with the contribution of a short poem from one of my mailing list members.

I have to get all the paintings done by the beginning of March, so there will be no February coloring page. I just can’t seem to work on more than one project at a time. The January coloring page is up now for download. This month I changed to a jpg as some folks were having trouble with the pdf. This month the lessor known Goddess is Enodia. She was a minor Goddess who was later merged with Hecate. Endoia is the guardian of gates and crossroads. Join the mailing list to download the full sized image. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/magicalchildnews

The first two books are still available from me at http://shop.handcraftedpagan.com Let me know who you’d like them autographed to when you check out. If you buy both books, shipping is on me. You can check out the reviews there as well. Or post your own!

I love to hear from you. Write with questions, comments or suggestions. Hearing from you makes my day.

Bright Blessings,
Lyon

This week’s Illustration Friday theme word is “moon.” So I figured I just link to the cover image already on my blog. Imagine my suprise when I discovered I hadn’t put it up here yet!!!! I have been so focused on geting the book done and out to press that things like blogging and grocery shopping have taken a sabbatical!
So, without further ado…

The cover image for my newest book “Aidan’s First Full Moon Circle” published by Magical Child Books Jan 2008.

Click on the image to see it larger.

I have been sketching out the perfect cover for my new book Aidan’s First Full Moon Circle I finally arrived at a sketch I am happy with today. I still see some tweaking I want to do but I will most likely be laying color this week. The book will be published as a hard cover volume. The size is a nice 8″ X 8″, small enough for tiny hands but still big enough for nice sized images. It’s past my bedtime, so I will keep this brief, since my brain tends to turn off around 9 PM most evenings.

Aidan and his parents have been solitary witches for as long as he can remember. At the rising of the Harvest Moon, his family is invited to a local coven’s Full Moon Esbat celebration. Aidan is jittery about joining a Circle full of strangers. While he is enjoying himself around the bonfire, the High Priestess and his mother cook up a plan to get him involved in the Harvest Moon ritual. Aidan learns he is an important member of the Pagan community. Plus, when reading the story, children can help Seamus the squirrel gather enough acorns for the coming winter by finding where they are hidden within the captivating illustrations. An enchanting, fictional tale of a Wiccan nighttime gathering, Aidan’s First Full Moon Circle will engage young readers with magical images while showing them what they can look forward to during an Esbat Circle.
(click on the image to view a larger version)