Next Big Thing

Fellow Children's Book author/illustrator, Kristi Valiant, asked me to participate in a blog crawl called the Next Big Thing. She sent me some fun questions and here are my answers. At the end I put links to a few of my fellow friends who will posting their responses soon.

1. What is the title of your next book?
Santiago Stays 

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
The idea came from a meeting I had with Appleseed in 2011. I had a french bulldog character in my portfolio and the publisher really thought there was a story there. I ended up incorporating aspects of my personal relationship with my older brother to sort of round out the narrative. 

3) What genre does your book fall under?
It's a young picture book.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Growing up, my brother was often told he looked like a young Ralph Macchio. 

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

It's about a persistent little boy and a french bulldog named Santiago who won't move for anything which inevitably creates conflict. 

6) Who is publishing your book?
Appleseed an imprint of Abrams. September 3rd 2013. You can preorder it here. 

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
A few weeks, but it took 5 months of a few revisions before it was acquired. 

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Good Dog Carl 

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
My big brother or mi hermano. 

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
There's turkey legs and sweaters....what else can you ask for? 

Now here are two people you should check out. Alina Chau and Sara Palacios.