I Did Something Else! Hint: It's a Children's Book

I have more awesome news:  I'm ready to tell you about my other top-secret, mysterious illustration project!

I've collaborated with fellow blogger Julie Harrison, from the hilarious mothersofbrothersblog, to illustrate a children's book she wrote!  It's called Herman the Cat Goes to Outerspace, and it's available on Amazon.com.

This is the book.  The cover is glossy and perfect for caressing.  And it has my name on it.

I know this is my second announcement-type post in a row, and I feel sort of bad about that.  But let's just bask in this glorious moment and look at the book I illustrated again!

I'm posting these shoddy pictures because I'm at my parents' house, and their scanner is old and crotchety and hates me.

I've been a fan of Julie's work for a while, and I drew a blind monkey for her one time.  Probably based on those staggering accomplishments, when Julie wrote a children's book about a plucky cat who dreams of building a space ship, she asked if I'd like to illustrate it.  I took three whole seconds to think about it before answering with a coolly detached "OH MY GOD YES."

As I said, the book is about a determined cat named Herman who has always longed to explore outer space.

When Herman tells his friends about his plans to build his own space ship, they laugh at him.

Drawing a giraffe playing hopscotch was pretty much the highlight of my life so far.

In most books, this is when Herman would build the greatest space ship ever and prove all his friends wrong.  Well, that almost happens, but things don't go quite as planned.  If you want to know how it really ends, you'll just have to read it for yourself!  (You knew I was going to say that.)

Click here to visit the listing on Amazon and preview the first few pages of the book!

Julie also has an announcement on her blog today where you can get a sneak peek of another image from the book.

There are also some other ways you can help make the book a success:

SHARE IT!  Post it on Facebook.  Tweet about it.  E-mail the link to people you know.  Generally, any activity that takes people who previously did not know about the book, and turns them into people who now know about the book, is good... as long as you don't maim or bludgeon anyone with the book.

Encourage your local booksellers to carry the book.  Next time you visit your nearest bookstore (especially if it's an independently-owned bookstore), ask if they carry the book, and if they say no, tell them you really, really wish they had it in stock.  Plead.  Cry.  Grovel, if you're really committed.  Stores will start carrying the book if they feel there's a demand for it.

If you read the book and love it (which you inevitably will), consider leaving a positive review on Amazon.  The more positive reviews the book gets, the better it will rank in search results, which means more people will see it.

You can also write positive reviews of the book on other reading/ranking sites, such as Goodreads.com.  (I'm only saying that because Goodreads is the only site I can think of offhand, not because they are secretly paying me one million dollars.)  If a site doesn't have the book listed, you might be able to list it yourself using the ISBN number, which is 978-1480095540.  I've never actually done that before, but I feel like it's a thing.

Just remember:
People knowing about the book = GOOD
People not knowing about the book = BAD

In case you need it, here is a quick rundown of the book's basic information:
TITLE:  Herman the Cat Goes to Outerspace
AUTHOR:  Julie R. Harrison
ILLUSTRATOR:  Haley Wolfe
ISBN #:  978-1480095540

Now go forth, minions, and enjoy the book whilst simultaneously encouraging others to enjoy the book!

And, seriously, thank you for reading my blog.  Without this blog, I never would have had the opportunity to illustrate this book.  And this blog wouldn't be what it is without all of you reading it.  I wish I could find you all and give each of you your very own individual, slightly creepy hug, but that would be questionably legal at best, so instead, wrap your arms around your own torso right this minute and give yourself a firm, awkward squeeze. That's from me.

<3

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