MPC Press International

Here’s what I just saw:  A woman in her mid-twenties, seemingly coming from or heading toward a workout.  Of course, she was sporting lululemon from top to bottom, giving away her clearly healthy intentions.  Now the irony.  1) She was carrying one of those extra large Starbucks coffees. (I won’t support the Starbucks language regarding cup sizes, as their “tall” is the smallest; I call it a “small” when ordering.)  Ok, fine, coffee is justified, assuming it was after the workout;  2) She was smoking a cigarette.  No further comment.  3) She came this close to being hit by a car while she jaywalked across a busy street–not surprising as I noticed her headphones and head looking down at her iPod.  Multi-tasking?  To say the least.  I would call it multi-trashing.

Tags: car, cigarette, headphones, ipod, jaywalk, lululemon, Starbucks

Once upon a time Jack received an email addressed to him and many others including his old friend Jill and until this point he had no idea where she was or how to reach her during the past 10 years so he clicked “Reply to All” and then deleted every other email address but Jill’s and said hello and asked if she’d like to grab a cup of coffee so they did and exchanged cell numbers and she texted him “TY Good 2 C U” and he replied “Dinner nxt wk?” and they dated and on her birthday he bought her an iPad and on his birthday she bought him a Kindle Fire and the relationship became serious and they skyped all of the time when she traveled for work and texted and emailed and skyped so much that they grew sick of each other and broke up.

Tags: birthday, cell, dinner, kindle, skype, texted

I watched half a movie on the flight yesterday.  It’s not what you are thinking.  I didn’t see only the first hour or the last hour.  It was two hours and I watched for the full two hours.  But my seat had an obstructed view, with the overhead blocking half of the screen.  I believe it was “Captain America”, but I saw it as “America”.  It took place in War II…probably World War II.  There was a beautiful woman in the movie that had at least one breast.  And the star, the America guy, kissed someone.  I think it was the beautiful woman, but actually the beautiful woman wasn’t too happy later, so he probably kissed someone else.  The movie wasn’t half bad…or half good.  That’s all, I gotta “split”.

Tags: america, captain, half, kissed, movie, peep, show

Yes, this is a family website, but I’ll be tame.  It should be a basic rule: never park your car near a store, club, etc. where you would not want to be seen.  Yesterday, as I walked to my car (in the lot across from “Love Jungle”, where really, I was not visiting), a friend happened to drive by.  Sadly for me, he honked, smiled, and gave me a thumbs up.  Of course, I could call him and offer full denial, but this would probably make the situation worse.  The only way to prevent this type of scenario is to observe the surrounding area when you park.

Tags: family, jungle thumb, store, website

I can’t draw; my pigs look like dogs.  In every guide to getting a children’s book published (here is one), it is stated that publishers prefer that children’s book authors submit their work without pictures.  The publishers want the job of pairing the authors with illustrators.  I sent my first children’s book, Lawrence the Laughing Cookie Jar, to publishers back in about 2002, and I didn’t include illustrations.  I wish I could offer the publishers’ views on the pros and cons of submittals with and without illustrations but most of the 30 publishers never responded and those that did, simply said, “we are not interested in your book, but thank you.”  However, it does seem that the major publishers (you can go to their websites) prefer to introduce children’s book authors to their own illustrators, typically artists with whom they have previously worked.  Anyway, knowing that my book would not be published, I looked in the mirror and suddenly found an expensive but quality publisher–Marks Publishing Company, now known as MPC Press International.  Yes, I am talking about yours truly, the only publisher who could not say no to me.  MPC Press simply smiled back in the mirror, knowing it would receive a healthy fee.

So my search for an illustrator began.  And, MPC kindly offered to find me an illustrator!  Not only had I been hired by a publisher, but this publisher was going to pay for my illustrator.  For the next step, MPC (I, the author/publisher) went to the websites of two local art schools, The San Francisco Art Institute, and The Academy of Art College and posted help wanted ads.  Within a couple of days, I had received emails from a dozen students and alumni who were ready to illustrate Lawrence the Laughing Cookie Jar.  At this point, few of these people had websites displaying their portfolios so I met each one for coffee.  (For my second children’s book, Rhyme, I was able to review the prospective illustrators’ work online.)  As for my meetings, it was easy to say a quick “no thanks” to George and his morbid collection of skeleton drawings; these just weren’t right for this particular children’s book.  And Laura’s graphic nudes didn’t make the cut.  But Josephine Taylor’s work was more pleasant and appropriate and she became the illustrator of my first children’s book.  Feel free to contact me for information on cost.

Tags: author, illustrator, Pigs, publisher