Niagara, Concordia, Giclees (with an accent over the "e")

Phil, the pup, and I stopped and Niagara Falls on our way back to Michigan recently. We were in Rhode Island at a book festival and the dog happened to come along.

If you can't tell, when we were at Niagara Falls, it was a very windy day.

More posts with art soon (a new book is coming out in February) but for now, a little announcement.

Phil and I (without the pup this time) will be speaking at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Michigan tomorrow night (November 8th) from 7-8:30 pm. Please come by if you can.

Also, just a reminder that prints from Amos McGee are being sold with the help of an esteemed colleague of mine. You can see the options at prints.erinstead.com.

That's it for now!

The prints are ready! The prints are ready!

Phil and I have noticed a curious thing happen over the last year. Whenever someone local who has read about our crazy few months in a newspaper and then runs into us in town, or the places we were regular customers at suddenly figure out that that couple who ate lunch at odd hours and seemingly didn't have a job does indeed have one....sort of...everyone turns and asks us the same thing.

"Are you going to stay in Michigan?"

Buck up, locals. Despite some bad luck and a horrible February and March, this is a pretty good state. In my opinion, one of the best. I did not plan on happily living here. My big plan was to leave and most likely, never come back. But I love my town. And I really love my state.

This weekend was a good demonstration as to why, sometimes to my surprise, I love living here. At the very last minute, after some monumentally grumpy weeks on my part, Phil and I and two of our friends (another married couple from our high school) ran up to the Sleeping Bear Dunes area.

I am a very buttoned up, uptight person. Me and my inhibitions are very close. There is something about it up there that makes me very relaxed. The nature is very friendly (see also: 200 foot piles of sand and adjacent pine forests). My friends, Philip, and I went to an apple orchard where they grow antique apples. I love food and I feel pretty confident in my knowledge of produce, but I have never seen so many special breeds of apple. A very tiny example below...

And in case you were wondering what else was in this apple paradise, the farmer has a collection of pop bottles.

All in all, it was a very relaxing, inspiring weekend. So get out there Michiganders. It's nice here. There are fall colors left to see.

Soon, I will show some pictures from my book that will come out in February. But for Now, there is very exciting news.

After some requests, some juggling, and a lot of help from a good friend, prints from Amos McGee are finally ready. With more help from my friend, there will be a link on this blog permanently...somewhere. For now, though, interested parties should follow this link!

All the information is at that link for the prints! Enjoy!

The busier I get, the more I love sports.

Hello! I have a lot of blog post drafts that I have half-started, then became intimidated by how much I could write, and so I just gave up. After ALA, I went on a few road trips and hung out in the barn as much as possible. And I am baking again! The pie on your left is evidence of that. Although I am inexplicably happy about the last busy months, I am also very happy to be home and baking. And starting another book.

So rather than try to sum up everything at once, I thought I would start small and talk a little bit about the present. I am in the beginning of a new book, which means I am walking around with a cloudy head. I live in a college town and today is the first football game of the year. It's a wild week to live in Ann Arbor. The students move back in and the city construction workers dig up all the streets just to make sure the parents don't visit too often. There are no more parking spots in town like there were over the summer and there are U-Haul vans everywhere. For the week the students return but don't have the distraction of classes, their overall presence can seem overwhelming. But it doesn't last very long. The truth is, I like the hustle and bustle of it. It marks fall's return and gives me a little boost of energy in the studio.

The same is true about the first football game of the year. I will tell you something about myself. I am crazy for NCAA basketball. I'm a super fan and a season ticket holder for U of M basketball games. Every year I get a little worse. I also love baseball. The Detroit Tigers, to be specific. Phil and I listen to just about every game on the radio (most of the time while we work in the studio). Football has never sang to me. Living in this town though, it's hard not to put on your letter sweater and join in the festivities. I like living in a town with so much rhythm.

Speaking of Ann Arbor, the Kerrytown Book Festival is next Sunday. Phil and I will be there signing at 1pm in the Children's Tent. It should be a nice day so please stop by. For more information, click here. The night before the book festival is the Homegrown Festival in the same pavilion. I love this festival. It's delicious. I recommend attending both.

A couple of comments recently asked me to post my acceptance speech. I'll work on that. I'm not sure you can find it online since it was published in the Horn Book. I promise to post more about the Caldecott next– in pieces. For now, I leave you with an image of Lake Michigan. Phil and I have been there a few times this summer, but it never feels like enough.

Deadlines! Well, really just one.

Hello, again.

I think I can finally say with confidence that it is spring in Ann Arbor. I do resent that I had to wait until the middle of May to type that, but at least it's finally here. To celebrate, Phil and I recently went to the Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

I have been chained to my desk this month and the gardens was my release for an hour or so. I have been traveling, falling quite ill, and traveling some more. I am behind. So I'm working very hard on a book right now that is due very soon. Very soon.

Unfortunately, this means we'll have to catch up on all that traveling some other time. All I can say is that everyone should win an award from librarians. It means you get to meet the nicest people and they don't even mind if you're shy.

Tomorrow, though, Phil and I will be at The Next Chapter Bookstore & Bistro in Northville, Michigan at 2pm for a signing and maybe a little question and answer session. Come by if you can! It will be a rainy afternoon! What better place could you possibly be in besides a bookstore?

After the signing, I will be going back to work. For now, though, let's look at some more spring from the Botanical Gardens.

Ollie Met Ted, Phil Met the CCBC.

Where to begin? Winter is just beginning to wind down here, although not as quickly as everyone would probably like. It's still terribly cold but I've noticed the birds are chirping a little differently, so I am assuming they know something I don't.

I am trying desperately to adjust to this new schedule, while also keeping some quiet time so I can make some art. My

correspondence has been lacking, but I'm trying to do the best I

can.

Philip and I have just returned from Madison, Wisconsin where he accepted a Charlotte Zolotow Honor for the writing of A Sick Day for Amos McGee. The winner of the award was Rukhsana Kahn for the writing of The Big Red Lollipop, who we had the pleasure of meeting and sharing a couple of meals with. Philip made a little speech, which was far better than the Caldecott acceptance speech I have been trying to write out. I was envious, but with love and pride as well.

We were hosted by the Cooperative Children's Book Center. I'm not sure I've met a nicer, more dedicated group of people. They were incredibly generous towards Philip and I, and I hope we made a decent impression. It was obviously an interesting weekend to visit Madison and talk with teachers and librarians. To be honest, it was difficult to see such devoted people having to defend their jobs and positions.

A photo from our sunny, warm trip to Madison.

The kind people at the CCBC showed us the original manuscript for The Westing Game. It was a breathless moment. They were so generous with their time and it was great to just talk about books for a couple of hours.

Well, I am off to draw a little. I'd encourage anyone who loves books to order a copy of the CCBC Choices publication. It's a great resource, and I think if I were a teacher or homeschooler, this would be an outstanding purchase.

Phil and I will be at Nicola's Books tomorrow night (Tuesday), March 8th, at 6pm for a signing. If you're in the area, please come by!

I've been doing quite a bit of research for my Caldecott speech (knowing full well I won't use it and I'll write something more personal). Luckily, I have a dear friend Oliver, who made a TED speech this past year that I can reference. He's the youngest Design Editor in the history of National Geographic Magazine (and, if I may say, he bakes a darn good cookie whenever we visit). If you have a moment, watch it. He's quite charming, but also makes an interesting argument.

An Untitleable Post.

So! Nothing new here. Same ol', same ol'. I barely can think of anything to type.

It's difficult to know how to begin this post. It's been a couple of weeks and, although I do remember my own name now, not much else has settled in. On the other hand, I have a lot of people to write ballads for, but I suppose the beauty of a blog is that I can write multiple posts. The largest thank yous and the sincerest moments of humility still need to be expressed. But I want to to do them right. I hope their absence here can be excused for the time being.

So! Allow me to tell you a little about the week of Jan. 10th (January 10th was the day I received the phone call). Monday morning, Phil and I were getting a pretty slow start because we had worked late the night before. We had very glamourous plans to take the dog for a little walk and buy some milk. It's winter, though, so it takes a while to get out the door with all of the hats and mittens and wool.

Then the phone rang.

And suddenly, we were in New York.

I've had to speak to some reporters who have asked me if this whole award was made sweeter since I won it with a book Phil wrote. I said yes, which is an understatement of gigantic proportions. But what not everyone knows is that I have an extended family at Roaring Brook Press. Without Neal Porter, editor, I wouldn't be an illustrator. And he publishes many of my friends who I met working in a bookstore. Neal was asking me what I wanted to do for lunch the next day after flying in to the city. Phil and I said we wanted to do something very low key, so we went to the Chinese place around the corner from Neal's apartment. But one of the nicest parts about having the extended family at Roaring Brook is that he invited my dear friend George (who I met working at a bookstore) to lunch as well. And actually, without George O'Connor, author/illustrator, I wouldn't be an illustrator either.

That's George. And me. Eating Chinese food.

The next day the publisher took me out to the Gramercy Tavern. At this point Phil had to fly back to Michigan early because of the impending Nor'easter. So I was alone, but I think I got through it okay. It was difficult not having him speak for me (sorry Phil). But! We ate at the Gramercy Tavern in a private little room.

Truly one of the most, if not the most, delicious meals of my life. From what I can remember. Which is not much. At this point, I was still dizzy from the week, nervous, and pretty overwhelmed. So I took the pictures to make sure this was really happening.

I think I'm going to have to continue this story in another post. So please stay tuned!

In the meantime Phil and I have some events scheduled. If you're in the New York City area, we will be at the Powerhouse Arena Bookstore in Dumbo on February 12th from 4-5pm. For more information, please follow this link.

If you live in the Ann Arbor area, Nicola's Books has generously offered to throw us a party! We will be there March 8th at 6pm. More details to follow!

There will be some more events planned and I'll post them here.

A sincere thank you and apology to those who have written me emails and comments. I am desperately behind on emails but I'm working on it. And I might get some help.

That's it for now! Back to work!

ps. I think traffic to this blog may have picked up a bit in the last couple of weeks and I might have more readers than just my father-in-law. Hello, new stoppers-by. I'm Erin. I love books and work very hard at being an illustrator. My husband is a writer and illustrator-Philip. Mostly, I try to keep up with the work he makes.

!!!!.....!!!!.....!!!!!

Please forgive this brief placeholder of a post as I am only barely regaining the feeling in my extremities after Monday. I just returned from New York and two much longer posts are coming at least...at least.

Sheesh.

I knew before this week that I had a nice family, good friends, and a pretty great publisher. But this week everyone so gracefully rose to this occasion. They covered beautifully for me and my shortcomings.

More on that later, but first—

I am so humbled to be sharing space with these two illustrators.

More soon! Thank you for the comments and apologies for this brief placeholder.

P.S. Three of my favorite frequent blog stops made some nice posts. Check them out! The first shows video of the announcements and shots of the crowd at 100 Scope Notes.

The second is the ever informative and fun to read Peter Sieruta at Collecting Children's Books.

And the third is Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast who posted some celebratory posts, all of which are great. The book on the most recent post looks amazing.

Phildecott Announcements!

Today Phil has posted the Phildecotts on his blog. You can see the results here. The things I said about the Steadberys apply here as well.

It's hard to me to really summarize how much I love a picture book. I respect them so much I tend to have a nagging feeling I shouldn't be so bold as to make them myself. I've had three really great jobs in my life, and one of them was selling books. Paper books. With pages that you turn.

Some other day, I'll write more about kicking and screaming towards ebooks. For now, a celebration of good books!

I've had a terrible sinking feeling that we are forgetting something- but we have taken copious notes throughout the year. Enjoy!

Steadbery Announcement!

At the close of 2010, Philip and I try to pick our favorite books (in very limited categories) for the year. The discussion is ongoing throughout the year. We try, and miserably fail, to read as many new books as we can (while still leaving room for the ones we missed in previous years...or decades). It's not a perfect process. But it keeps us healthily intimidated and inspired. The categories for now are limited to novels and picture books.

I love graphic novels, especially for kids (my friend George, Aaron Renier, and Andy Runton are some major frontrunners). But this year especially, Phil and I don't feel like we kept ourselves educated and up to date enough to pick favorites. So apologies, graphic novels. Your lack of presence here is not proof of any lack of love or admiration for your work. It's a lack of our own smarts.

And so, without further ad0, Phil has posted the Steadbery favorites on his blog. You can see the results here. The Phildecotts will be posted very soon.

A Party for Amos McGee (and other books, too!)

Merry Holidays, everyone! I am having a bout of insomnia and a roaring headache so now seems as good a time as any to stop avoiding this blog and instead, avoid drawing for a bit. You'll have to excuse me if the writing today is a little off. I know it's a been a while since I've posted. Every so often I would check erinstead.com to see if a new post somehow magically appeared. It did not.

Our Amos McGee has been working awfully hard these days and I do hope he took a little time off this holiday season. If you saw the previous post, the book was chosen as one of the New York Times Best Illustrated Books of 2010. Our publisher generously flew Phil and myself back to the city (we had just been there a few weeks before to turn in a book) and we attended a party.

I am by nature a very shy person. Very shy. It takes me about three years of knowing someone to make a friend. I think my parents did a pretty good job at teaching me how to politely get through situations like parties without completely losing my cool. But a party with a name tag and a framed prize that I have to walk up and accept....this is a nervous situation for me. Which is not so say I wasn't excited and blown away by the whole thing. If anything, that excitement made it worse.

So there I am. I am the person standing up there with my head down looking at the ground to make sure my knees didn't buckle and that I am, indeed, still standing. Everyone else seemed pretty cool and collected up there.

A note on who I'm standing up there with–

Be sure to check out the books on the list. The professionals in that picture (most are illustrators and some are the editors accepting for the illustrators) are all exceptional. It's difficult for me to not write about how crazy I felt standing next to those people, but Phil has been trying to teach me how to accept a compliment graciously without skipping straight to self-deprecation. So that's what I'm trying to do here. But be sure to stop by your local store and check them out. Two of my favorites of the year are on that list...but I'm not telling which ones.

I met a lot of very nice book people that night. I think I got through it without being too shaky or saying anything too wildly idiotic. But I love book people. It was nice to have an excuse to talk shop. Oh, and librarians for goodness sake! Where would I be without librarians?

An interesting note and a nod to a future post–

Upon a little research, it appears as though the NYT panel all had some ties to the fair state of Michigan in their past. In my next post, I'm going to talk a little about that and this state, I think.

I hope everyone had a nice December. Happy Holidays! I love snow.

Who bought the New York Times today?

How about that?

More on this later, when I get my head around it a little. For now, though, let's all go to Phil's stamp blog, where he'll be celebrating this news with a special stamp series.

ps. click on the image! This one gets bigger!

Falling for Bear (ba dum dum).

It's definitely fall now. One night in August an incredibly strong and spooky wind came and blew summer away. It was a little unsettling, but when the wind died down I was happy to see this summer go. Most of that happiness was weather-related. It was uncharacteristically gross in Michigan (hot with a humidity that was off the charts).

But now it is fall. It's a beautiful time to live in Ann Arbor where (I'm pretty sure) the trees outnumber the residents. However, I'm just returning from a very nice quick trip to New York and I am back to my regularly scheduled program of feeling torn. October is one of my favorite months in the city and we were staying with friends who live near Prospect Park. New York City was giving me quite an argument to drop everything and move back.

Still, on the drive back from the big city, I was very happy to return to our big barn in the little city. It is hard to argue with the smell of pine needles and fall leaves and the affection I have come to realize that I possess for this (now a little broke) state. When we accidentally moved back to Michigan, I think Phil and I were defeated (and a little broke) but so was this state. It was the height of the financial crisis. I found myself sticking around and feeling defensive about this place the way you would run to a friend who was having a tough time.

Artistically speaking, it's certainly not a bad thing to have to walk my dog in the woods in the morning. For now, the pace of everything is helping me draw. In New York, I'm not always sure I had enough time to process all of the stimuli and make art out of it.

Right now, I am working on a dummy that takes place in fall (and then spring, later) so I get to steal from my surroundings.

I stole the stamp today from Phil's stamp blog. The blog is for his book that is releasing in Spring 2011 entitled Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat. I know that's a long time from now, but he's helping us all through it with a daily countdown on the blog.

On another note, thanks to the kind people who have left comments about A Sick Day for Amos McGee. They mean a lot to me. I love hearing about bedtime story experiences or library programs.

Speaking of library programs, if you're in southeast Michigan and feel like hearing a story, Phil and I will be reading at the Pittsfield Branch of the Ann Arbor District Library on November 5th from 10-11 am. Mark your calendar!

Also, Craig Frazier (an author and illustrator and graphic designer of very high esteem. If you haven't read the Stanley series, let alone Hank Finds Inspiration, you are missing out) just posted a little review of our Amos on his website. And I am once again looking to the thesaurus for another word for flattered. Or blushing a little.

Happy Fall!

Come and see our ugly mugs!

Bored this weekend? Feel like taking a roadtrip? This Sunday, September 12th is the Kerrytown Book Festival! Kerrytown is my favorite neighborhood in Ann Arbor (and not just because I live there). The farmer's market, good coffee, food, and one of my favorite stores, Found, just to name a few things within a 2 block radius.

On top of all that fun, this weekend there are two festivals. The first, Saturday, is the Homegrown Festival. Phil and I stumbled upon it last year and we were so pleased to have accidently attended. It's delicious.

The second festival is Sunday. It is the Kerrytown Book Festival. There will be a plethora of speakers and events for kids and adults. Notably, David Small will be doing an interview with Nicola Rooney. Ms. Rooney is the local indie bookstore owner. She has graciously invited us to sign copies of our little book, A Sick Day for Amos McGee. We'll be sitting at her table at 1 o'clock.

Head to Ann Arbor this weekend! If you don't want to see us or your tired of Amos McGee, there will be plenty of other books and things to do. Check out the Hollander's activities. While you're at it, check out their store.

1 o'clock, Sunday September 12th! See you there!

Amos McGee takes an international flight

The photo to your left was taken (with a cell phone, so let's not judge too harshly) in the Arboretum in Ann Arbor. I've been spending a lot of time here lately in the mornings, before the heat completely takes over and makes everything completely unlivable. This second half of summer weather has been oppressive. I'm getting through it, but not with a good attitude.

However, it is keeping me indoors and I am getting my work done. I'm thinking about a new book and trying to tie the book I've been working on all up together in a nice clean package. I've got some shaky legs about that one. But maybe I'll finish strong.

In the meantime, I found out that our little Amos McGee has released in Japan.

I haven't seen a copy in person, but I have seen some images. The publisher took the images where I drew words like "City Zoo" in the sign and translated them. For instance, the original is below–

And now the Japanese translation. They did an amazing job. I was really blown away by the level of care they gave each letter.

Here are two more examples. They translated everything! Including little tiny things I wouldn't expect anyone to notice. There is a tiny sign in the back of the zoo below that says "eat vegetables!" for instance...

That's it for now!

On learning not to google.

This June has been a little dramatic weather-wise. It's been extremely humid during the day and then thunderstorms-really good ones- at night. I don't like the hot humid days but I like the thunderstorms. When I was little and there was a big summer storm at night, my dad would stop whatever he was doing and he and my brother would go straight to the porch and I followed. We would all stand there and take it in.

I still have that instinct now. Maybe at my own peril. But in this new apartment, I am without a porch. When the storms start lately, I feel a little like I'm wearing pants without pockets. I have nowhere to put my hands. I park at the window and watch the storm anyway, but it's not quite the same. I can't smell the rain and I'm a little too protected.

I'm discovering that the pants without pockets feeling is also a little how it feels the first month your first book is published. I am no longer in charge of A Sick Day for Amos McGee. Almost everything that goes along with that is wonderful. Amos McGee gets to be someone else's book from the library or someone else's bedtime story or someone else's book they don't like very much. I really like that. I think the process of making art can feel selfish. But once the book is a book and not 32 separate drawings, I like that's it's someone else's experience.

Okay, most of the time. That lack of control can get to me. I have an extremely thin skin and I'm often nervous. Since this is my first book, too, I'm just not sure what to think. So this last month I have taken to attempting to spy on the book. This means google. This, I have found, is a mistake. It has only expanded my horizons to the fact that I know nothing about nothing.

So, I'm circling back to my original illustrator intent. The book is someone else's now. I hope they like it, but if they don't it's okay. Everything is oooookaay. I should get back to work.

That's it for now!

p.s. I can't figure out what the glitch is that won't allow the pictures get bigger when you click on them, but I'm working on it...

Well, I left you in May.

Hello, again. It's June 1st now and I've been away from this blog for a while. Philip, Wednesday, and I had moved during May and then were without the internet for a couple ofweeks after that. But here we are again in the digital age. We moved into a 100 year-old barn that is still in downtown Ann Arbor (the image on your left). We live across the street from atrain station,too. This place should end up being full of inspiration. Or at least a train book.

We have a lot more space to work now, which we are happily adjusting to. Below is our desk area now. For those of you who are artists, we get northern light through those windows!

We've had some good fortune with the new book, A Sick Day for Amos McGee. Have I mentioned it yet? Did you know I drew the pictures in that book? Did I happen to mention it's now available in stores?

Also, Phil and I just did our first event for the book at Madison Square Park hosted by the park and Time Out New York Kids Magazine. It was loud and scary for me because it required talking but we got through it. It was actually really fun and I felt a little honored to be there. They wrote a nice review in this month's issue of the magazi

ne, which you can see here.

A long time ago I showed a sketch of a bunch of bears. Here is how that turned out.

That's all for now!

By George!

My friend and colleague George O'Connor has a number of books out there in the world for you to buy. You can find them here, here, here, here, here, and here. Recently, he has embarked on a new series of graphic novels about greek mythology. I've only laid eyes on the first one so far (but the second one is out in 6 days!). The first book is truly outstanding. It's inspiring to see a friend make a series of books that suits them as well as this does. I'm not sure I can describe it properly, but perhaps the quality of the books will speak for themselves. Hurray, George!

He also has a great website that pairs with the series.

http://www.olympiansrule.com/

And on that website you can follow his special Olympians blog.

http://olympiansrule.blogspot.com/

And on that blog you'll notice today that yours truly is featured. What a kind friend he is! I'll let him talk about the description, but this is the image I drew for the feature.

Buy his books! They're great! And they are all a little different. He has many facets, that George.

48 days and counting!

Hello again! It's been a nice few weeks for Amos and crew (Phil and myself included). It certainly helps that it's spring and that baseball season has started. Phil has started a blog in anticipation of his next book, Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat. The book is about a very lost best friend teddy bear and the adventure Jonathan has to go on to find him. And so, for every day that passes he'll be putting up a postage stamp of a ship from somewhere around the world. You can follow the journey here. You can see some of the art from both of Phil's books here and here, too! Also, see some kid art related to Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast here.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee has had a very nice couple of weeks. Phil and I received our

certificates and lapel pins from the Junior Library Guild (Amos is their September selection) and we've been discussing the best way to wear them with pride. Amos McGee

will also have reviews coming up in Kirkus and The Horn Book (hooray!). But today was also very exciting because Amos was reviewed on Elizabeth Bird's blog for the School Library Journal. You can see that here. It was delightful but very strange to see my own drawing on a blog I read daily. What a nice surprise.

Whew. Well, who's fed up with the bragging? That will be it outta me for a couple of weeks. Let's get down to some art sharing. Today we'll go to a tea party....of the non political variety (I'll admit, I kind of resent that group for usurping such a happy phrase of mild friendship time).

I sketched this one out towards the end of the book making process so I was able to be a little looser and more confident before I went to a final illustration. If you look closely you'll notice I had to color code the penguin to table to Amos area because carving woodblocks for that area was getting a little confusing.

And there's the final illustration. Come back soon! Less bragging! More art!

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Spring is really rolling here right now. There are Marches in Michigan that laugh in the face of spring but this year it's really mild. I'm tentatively enjoying it and so is the dog (who is on your left tentatively checking out Huron river).

7o days until A Sick Day for Amos McGee hits the shelves! Or at least the internet! I'm probably going to post about the process for the next few weeks to get everyone nice and sick of the book before it comes out. Remember this post about my picture making process?

We'll start today at the very last picture I made for the book but the very first one you'll see. The cover.

For better or for worse, I tend to thumb my nose at the computer. It's a tool for me. There are times when I make bad sketches on it, lay out a book, or stare at it to try to get an idea. I avoid the computer for final art. For the cover of A Sick Day for Amos McGee, I had an idea that I would do the title type by hand. So I went to work. Below is the carved block.

Here is a detail of it.

I printed the title type in 3 colors– one for the cover, one for the title page, and one for luck.

I ended up (with the help of the art director) using the dark blue type on the cover. I don't think it mattered. The type is pretty small and would have been just as nice as digital. But I learned a little and I enjoyed carving the type.

The book is out May 25th! Mark your calendars! 'Til next time!