Spider on the Blogs!
Monday, July 14th, 2008 Posted in Along Came Spider, Uncategorized | No Comments »A fresh copy of my upcoming book, Along Came Spider (Scholastic, August), arrived in the mail last week. That's a righteous moment for any author/illustrator: the first book off the presses! And always it's the same story. Your editor tells ...
Where’s Matt?
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »This is the greatest thing ever . . . this week. Seriously, you have to watch this video. I mean it. When I go to all this trouble to post a video, that's the deal. That's the expectation. You came ...
William Steig: An Appreciation
Monday, June 30th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »"The fact that kids like a book is not proof of its merit. They also like all kinds of dreck confections with names like yo-yos, and animation full of senseless violence. Every kid is a potential genius but also a ...
For Mets Fans Only
Monday, June 30th, 2008 Posted in Mighty Casey, New York Mets, Uncategorized | No Comments »As my friend, the super-talented, ultra-cool illustrator Matthew Cordell says, a youtube clip is always an easy blog post. (I think it was Matthew who said it, or maybe Winston Churchill?) I don't know, I just find this song pretty funny. ...
First Review: Along Came Spider!
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 Posted in Along Came Spider, Uncategorized | No Comments »The process of getting a hardcover book published takes time. There's the idea, the talking about the idea, the research and rough notes, the first draft, the endless revision, the rejected covers, the final cover (see top of main ...
What’s On My iPod?
Friday, June 13th, 2008 Posted in Music, Uncategorized | No Comments »I've been a huge music fan all my life. As the youngest of seven children, born in 1961, I grew up with an amazing record collection right in my living room, combining the tastes of four older brothers and two ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #4
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 Posted in Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones, Uncategorized | No Comments »Yes, folks, it's Fan Mail Wednesday again. Can't you feel the excitement? Let's rumble through the big hopper and see what we've got . . Dear Mr Preller: My name is Curt. My sister Miranda & I would like to know if ...
Books for Boys
Monday, June 9th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »A few weeks ago I heard from an old friend -- the indefatigable Leanna Landsmann, a woman I had worked with about twenty years ago on an educational project focused on "students at risk." Leanna is now writing a column ...
Arnold Lobel: An Appreciation
Friday, June 6th, 2008 Posted in Along Came Spider, Uncategorized | No Comments »"I cannot think of any work that could be more agreeable and fun than making books for children." -- Arnold Lobel As an author, I'm often asked to list some of my favorite writers. Of course, it's impossible. There are too ...
Unhappy
Friday, May 23rd, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »Well, I'm having a lot of problems with artwork on this blog. Some shows up, some doesn't. I hate this kind of thing. My apologies. Hopefully this gets solved soon. In the meantime, I need to revise an upcoming novel, Bystander, ...