It’s been a while since the last update. I have been really busy with a NEW BOOK. It’s called ‘Smoky and the Feast of Mabon’ written by award winning fantasy author Catherynne Valente. As you probably surmised from the title, it’s a book about Mabon. We are both really excited about the project and can’t wait till we can tell (and show) you more about it. Because it’s a Mabon book, it will be officially released a month before the holiday in August 2010, but people who place pre-orders through the publisher (Magical Child Books) web site may be able to get it sooner. AT least that’s what the rumor is. It’s up in their shop for pre-order now. Catherynne has finished her part in it and I am diligently working my fingers to the bone to make the art deadline with all the pictures. I think this book’s art is going to be my best yet and I am really pushing myself to stretch the envelope.

I have had a few people ask about coloring pages with Gods and the answer is yes, I will be doing the ABCs of Lessor known Gods after the Goddesses are finished. That will be very soon as I only have U,V, W, X, Y and Z left. And I am not sure there are any x goddesses! If you haven’t signed up for the newsletter yet, please do. All the other pages are archived for the members. I hope you all have a very blessed end of the year and stay tuned to this blog for updates on the new book. I’ll share art as soon as I can!

2 Comments | Tags: Catherynne Valente, free coloring page, Smoky and the Feast of Mabon

Merry hi dear Friends!

It’s been a while since I last wrote to you, I have been busy with a number of interesting projects which I am sure you will be excited to learn about.

The first one is a new picture book! Due out next year, it is authored by none other than acclaimed and award winning fantasy writer Catherynne M. Valente. Her wonderful story, called ‘Smoky and the Feast of Mabon,’ is as magical and entertaining as her adult and young adult fiction novels. And, as you probably guessed from the title, it is a Mabon story. The publisher will be taking pre-orders on their web site (http://magicalchild books.com) soon. Meanwhile, the book is in production and moving along nicely.

Speaking of books, all 4 other titles are still available at the web site as well. There are bundled purchase choices too which are money saving deals! And the publisher now accepts Discover Cards! Remember that a book is the best buy dollar for dollar of any form of entertainment. Please add one of the books to your lists when considering what gifts to get the young children in your life.

The other project I am working on is with author, Ashleen O’Gaea. Our Pagan parenting book has been picked up by an agent for representation. While the book is still in a holding pattern, both of us are hopeful it will find a home soon. I’ll keep you informed when there is more news.

I spent a rather cold and soggy October touring around the Midwest. It was wonderful to see some of you at the events I traveled to. I am always grateful and humbled by the kindness and joy with which I am greeted. Your support is what makes this all worthwhile. I am currently scheduling my 2010 events, and this year I am adding something new. I will be doing school visits! Programs for elementary through college level classes include things like how to make a picture book, story telling and what the life of an illustrator is like. If your kid’s school has visiting authors or illustrators, please let me know who hires the visiting creatives and maybe I can arrange a visit to your child’s school.

And last but not least, the newest coloring page for the ABCs of Lesser Known Goddesses is ready for download. Go to the publisher’s web site to sign up to the Yahoo newsgroup to get access to this one and all previous coloring pages. This page’s letter is “S.” The Goddess, Srahman is North African from the Kaffir peoples. She is a dryad spirit who teaches travelers the way of the woods.

As always, I love to hear from you. Please let me know what you think of the coloring pages, my books or if you have any questions about them or suggestions for upcoming new stories.

I am now on Twitter. My username is lyonmartin. Please friend me if you have a Twitter account.

Until next time!

Bright Blessings,
Lyon

No Comments | Tags: abc coloring page, Abc lesser known Goddesses, Catherynne M Valente, Magical Child Books, school visits, Smoky and the Feast of Mabon

“Rabbit’s Song is an imaginative children’s book written in the style of a folktale…Vivid color illustrations (of a bright green rabbit, a red coyote, and their brown and deep blue avian friends) help draw young readers into this adventurous, magical fable.” – Midwest Book Review

I am beyond excited!!!

No Comments | Tags: children's books, Midwest Book Review, Rabbit's Song

Merry Hi Friends!

I don’t know about all of you, but my November has been quite full. In fact, it’s been so chock full it got away from me when I stopped to regroup. When I came up for air it was already the 24th!

The month started with my leap into trying to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. November is National Novel Writing Month. http://nanowrimo.org Thousands of aspiring (and published) authors from around the world drop everything to attempt writing a 50,000 word novel in a month. I didn’t make it this year, but my word count is double what I managed last year, so I am pretty pleased.

Next up, I was invited to be a guest speaker at the Annual Fall Conference of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Missouri chapter. I spoke about the process of creating art for picture books from start to finish. See below if you’d like to have me speak at your school, club, group or event. I hold workshops on the publishing process, as well as teaching Pagan centered crafts or workshops.

Right about the same time, I was given my first case as a Court Appointed Special Advocate. http://www.nationalcasa.org/ It’s a volunteer position, but a lot of work. I speak for a child in the foster care system to make sure his/her needs are met and that he/she is placed in a loving, safe and permanent home as soon as possible after being brought into care.

With the recent Thanksgiving holiday just past this week, it only seems fitting to thank each and everyone of you for supporting me in my dreams and career. Without your emails, comments and yes, book purchases, I could not continue to live my dream of writing and illustrating fun and entertaining books for children.

Yule is just around the corner, and many of us are tightening our belts until it hurts. Still, we do want to give gifts to our loved ones. Please consider adding one of my books to the list. Dollar for dollar books are a better investment than most other forms of entertainment. Do your part to help support your local
businesses and buy locally and through independent retailers and booksellers whenever you can. Magical Child Books has made locating your local independent book seller easy. At the bottom of each book’s web page (along side the link to amazon) is an buy Indy link. You click on the link and type in your zip code and the 5 closest book stores to you will be listed with all their contact information.

Below are all my books currently available on the publisher’s web site: http://magicalchildbooks.com, amazon and other online book stores or your favorite book seller.

AN ORDINARY GIRL, A MAGICAL CHILD
Written and illustrated by W. Lyon Martin
Magical Child Books — Trade Picture Book – Available NOW!!!
An Ordinary Girl follows Rabbit, a young Pagan child through the wheel of the Year. Readers follow along with her as she celebrates Wiccan holidays, rituals and spells.

AIDAN’S FIRST FULL MOON CIRCLE
Written and illustrated by W. Lyon Martin
Magical Child Books — Trade Picture Book – Available NOW!!!
An interactive picture book. With hidden pictures in the main story, children get to help a friendly squirrel gather acorns for the coming winter, all the while learning the basics of a Wiccan Full Moon gathering.

WATCHERS
Written and illustrated by W. Lyon Martin
Magical Child Books — Trade Picture Book – Available NOW!!!
Based on a poem by Kelley Magee, this book is a bedtime story filled with subtle Pagan symbols in the illustrations. The hero, Thomas, is worried about the eyes watching him in the dark. He hatches a plan to capture them only to find out what he fears is really there to protect him.

Due for release to booksellers in FEBRUARY 2009
RABBIT’S SONG
Written by S. J. Tucker and Trudy Herring; illustrated by W. Lyon Martin
Magical Child Books — Trade Picture Book
Is currently only available for purchase through the publisher’s web site. A limited number of autographed copies (S.J., Trudy and my signatures are all there for you!) are still available. Buy before December 13th to assure delivery in time for Yule gift giving. Plus, as a special bonus for people placing
pre-orders for Rabbit’s Song, you will receive a MP3 file of Trudy and SJ reading a special story available no where else.. This is a limited time offer and is only available for those placing pre-orders for the book. The MP3 file will be removed from the servers on February 14th, the official release date of the book.

At Magical Child Books you can see inside pages of the books, read reviews and even find teaching guides. You can even leave your own reviews in the publisher’s shopping cart if you want to share your own views on the books.

Freebies:
This month’s coloring page is “L” of the ABC’s of Lesser Know Goddesses. Leucothea is a sea Goddess known for fostering the baby Dionysus. Go to the group’s web site to download this and previous coloring pages. If your budding artist sends me their masterpiece after coloring it in, I’ll post it on my blog. (Please keep files under 1 MG please.) Remember the monthly coloring pages are archived at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/magicalchildnews/. Let me know if you have a favorite Goddess who you think will be a good addition to the pages. We are only half way through the alphabet, so any letters we haven’t covered (M-Z) are still open for suggestions.

Visits:
To invite me to speak at your school or event, learn more at
http://magicalchild.handcraftedpagan.com/workshops/ or email me at lyon@handcraftedpagan.com.
To view my current schedule of events, go to http://magicalchild.handcraftedpagan.com/bio/appearances/. NOTE: Due to my current involvement as a CASA, I am limiting appearances in 2009 and 2010.

Note:
Again, I appreciate your continued interest in the milestones in this amazing career of mine and hope you’ll invite your friends and family to learn more about my books and enjoy my free downloads by sending them to the links above. Of course, I don’t want to bug you, so if you’d rather not hear about these things, you can always unsubscribe. But I sure hope you’ll stick around to share
this exciting trip!

Bright Blessings,
Lyon

Children’s Book Writer & Illustrator
http://www.handcraftedpagan.com

No Comments | Tags: CASA, children's books, coloring page, free, NaNoWriMo, Yule gifts

Magical Child Books

No Comments | Tags: animals, children's books, fairy tale, mythology

Mama Dragon aka Trudy Herring, the coauthor of our upcoming picture book “Rabbit’s Song” has graciously invited Trickster to use her livejournal page http://uglygrandmother.livejournal.com/ to record his diary of his search for animal representatives.

Read the story behind the story while you wait for your copy of the book to arrive.

No Comments | Tags: children's books, diary, Rabbit's Song, SJ Tucker, Trudy Herring, W. Lyon Martin

My new book, Rabbit’s Song has a book trailer. That awesome voice on the sound track you hear is one of the authors –S.J. Tucker.

I am truly excited about this project. It was so wonderful to be able to work with such talented and extraordinary ladies.

No Comments | Tags: children's books, Illustration, Rabbit's Song, SJ Tucker

Mabon Greetings All!
Thanks so much for your continued interest in my books and career, I feel like I have quite the cheering squad at this point. So I am especially thrilled to share my latest news with you – I have just finished the art for my first collaborative picture book. Written by SJ Tucker and Trudy Herring, “Rabbit’s Song” is an engaging tale of mythical proportions. Trickster God comes to Earth to find animals to teach His lessons to man. Based on SJ Tucker’s wildly popular ballad by the same name off of her CD “Blessings,” this picture book the work of several years of intensive conversations between the three of us.
This book is truly a dream come true for each of us. For me, working with such talented and loving people has been a wonderful blessing. The combination of each of our talents has pushed me to create what I consider some of my best illustration work so far.

Meanwhile, the demand for An Ordinary Girl, A Magical Child has been astounding. I realized when my child was born in 1994 there was a need for Pagan children’s books in America, a need that is only just beginning to be met. When An Ordinary Girl was first released in 2005, there were hardly any books for the young Pagans. I receive frequent emails from parents thanking me for giving them a tool to help explain their Paths to their children. I am happy to report that there are now several more Pagan children’s books available. I hope that this small trickle will increase to fill this niche with quality books for our youth.

AN ORDINARY GIRL, A MAGICAL CHILD
Written and illustrated by W. Lyon Martin
Magical Child Books — Trade Picture Book – Available NOW!!!

An Ordinary Girl follows Rabbit, a young Pagan child through the wheel of the Year. Readers follow along with her as she celebrates Wiccan holidays, rituals and spells.

The next book in the series “Aidan’s First Full Moon Circle,” is an interactive picture book. With hidden pictures in the main story, children get to help a friendly squirrel gather acorns for the coming winter, all the while learning the basics of a Wiccan nighttime Full Moon gathering.

And don’t forget my latest book:
Based on a poem by Kelley Magee, “Watchers” is a bedtime story filled with subtle Pagan symbols in the illustrations. The hero, Thomas, is worried about the eyes watching him in the dark. He hatches a plan to capture them only to find out what he fears is really there to protect him.

All books are available on the publisher’s web site: http://magicalchildbooks.com , amazon and other online book stores or your favorite book seller.

At Magical Child Books you can see inside pages of the books, read reviews and even find teaching guides.

Plus, as a special bonus for people placing pre-orders for Rabbit’s Song, you will receive a MP3 file of Trudy and SJ reading the story. This is a limited time offer and is only available for those placing pre-orders for the book.

Freebies:
Remember the monthly coloring pages are archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/magicalchildnews/ . Now that the art for Rabbit’s Song has been delivered to the publisher, I’ll be sending out the next ABC Lesser Known Goddess in the series.

Visits:
To invite me to speak at your school or event, learn more at http://magicalchild.handcraftedpagan.com/workshops/ or email me at lyon@handcraftedpagan.com.
To view my current schedule of events, go to http://magicalchild.handcraftedpagan.com/bio/appearances/ .

Bright Blessings,
Lyon

No Comments |

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

No Comments | Tags: book cover, chidren's books, Rabbit's Song

July is half way through. Time just seems to go faster and faster as I get older. To the left is a portion of the newest installment for the free coloring pages at Magical Child News. This month features the letter J and the Goddess is Jerah, a Semetic Goddess. Sign up for the yahoo group mailing list to download this and previous free coloring pages.

I joined a new blog group this week called Watercolor Wednesdays. The members have to be watercolor artists doing children’s book illustration. Every Wednesday we receive a prompt for a new painting. This week’s prompt is “this little piggy.” We are to let our imaginations run wild, and mine is working over time. So much so I haven’t been able to decide what to do yet.

Work on Rabbit’s Song is moving along smoothly. The rough layout for the cover has received approval and I am busy finalizing all the changes and tiny details. The publisher will be making the book available for pre-order as soon as the cover receives final approval. The authors and I will all be appearing together in Tennessee for a pre-release party. All the books pre-ordered before the mid October event will be signed by all three of us. I am very excited about this.

I’ve decided that watching the scale inch up over the summer has got to end. I got my bike out of the basement and dusted off the cobwebs yesterday morning. I rode out to the post office and back in the morning. It actually felt kind of good to be doing something just for me. In fact it felt so good that I decided to ride the bike down to A Visual Impact in the afternoon to get my hair cut. (Check out the logo — I designed it for them.) I arrived at the shop without incident, got my hair cut and started on my way home. I took the main drag home (fewer hills) instead of taking the side streets I traveled on my way downtown. That was a mistake. Not only was the traffic heavier, the folks in the cars seemed to think they needed to honk their horns at me as they drove past. The side of the rode is not in good repair, so it was tough going. I gritted my teeth and struggled on until I cam to the rail road tracks. The tracks cut across the road at an angle. I was attempting to pedal my sorry self across them and avoid the worst of the potholes and road debris when a car swooshed by rather closely with horn blaring. It startled me and I took my eyes off the road momentarily to see the car rush past only to have the front tire of the bike catch in the track and get stuck. Needless to say, I kept going and my bike didn’t. OW! I now have a nice pair of matching road rash on my right knee and left leg. I wear leather biking gloves, so my hands are undamaged. A good thing because I used them to stop my face from landing in the gravel by the side of the road.

Suffice it to say, I won’t be traveling that section of road again!

No Comments | Tags: art nouveau, free coloring page, girl, Goddess, line art, semitic