Free Autographed Bookplates now available

If you’d like to turn your garden-variety copy of Black Cow into a nifty autographed copy that suddenly seems much more gift-appropriate and collectable, just email me your postal address and I'll get one out to you straightaway.  If you want it customised for a particular occasion, just let me know and I'll happily scribble to suit.  At the moment, I've got two lovely designs to choose from, the big owl/small owl plate (left), and the owl border (right). You can pick which one you like, remove the adhesive backing, stick in your copy of Black Cow, and voila, you've got an autographed copy.  If I've got some bookmarks in stock, I'll throw one of those in too. 

Black Cow Blog Tour Day 1: Characterisation in Picture books

Today is the first day of the Black Cow blog tour.  Educationtipster Kathy Stemke has a post from me on the topic of characterisation in picture books.  Here's a taste:

"Normally when writing instructors speak of the 'character arc' they're talking about textual based fiction, but all good books, from novels to children's picture books use characterisation well. So why is characterisation important? There's one key, critical reason and that is because everyone reading your book is going to be a person who will need to relate to and accept (even if temporarily) as real. To achieve good characterisation in a novel you need details, specifics, visual impressions, motion. This can be achieved just as well with images as it can with text."  

For the rest of the post, which references some of my favourite picture book characters, the Lorax and Little Bear (how I love those books - as a child and as a parent), drop by Kathy's blog.  Don't forget to retweet (use #blackcow), update your FB status or comment for an entry into the Black Cow Blog Tour Giveaway!  Everytime you do it you get another entry.