Secret Agent Josephine

(Wow. That’s a scary big picture of me. Sorry!) So I have this book coming out in a few days…. It’s called Merry Christmas, Little Hoo! I’m not a huge fan of Christmas (too much clutter!) but this book was actually really fun for me to work on and I think you’ll like it.

This is probably way too much of a sneak peek but I figure why not! I’m feeling the sharing love. I dedicated this book to all the munchkins in my life instead of the usual ode to Bug. I’ve got a lot of kids in my life and I call them munchkins. Just ask my nieces. So I thought it would be fun for them. Especially for my boyfriend’s little girl who has been loyally watching me make this book from over my shoulder.

Basically this book is a typical Little Hoo story. As you probably already know, Little Hoo is the scardiest, scardy-pants, little timid owl ever. He is afraid of EVERYTHING (even the beach but that book is coming out in summer). I started this series with Bug’s anxiety in mind when she was a toddler as a way to work through some of her fears.

Of course some could (and will) say that these books have turned into little horror books for toddlers as they introduce all kinds of new things to be afraid of but I think it’s still fun. If anything, it’s a way to go THROUGH the fear instead of pretending it doesn’t exist. The dark is scary and going to bed on Christmas even can be incredibly difficult for angst-ridden children who feel like they have no control over their little brains that go a mile a minute.

Little Hoo hears noises in the night but instead of being scared, he thinks it’s Santa coming and he’s stayed awake long enough to get in on the Christmas action with his wild imagination.

Snow crunching, jingling bells, scuffling in the kitchen… is it elves? How can little owls go to sleep with so much noise going on in the night?

Of course half the time it turns out to be boring things like Mama Hoo putting away leftovers… I had a lot of fun illustrating Mama Hoo who is very tired. She’s so over Christmas already. She was over it at Halloween.

And reindeer without teeth? Not sure what I was thinking there…

This is my favorite page though. Papa Hoo has been caught eating cookies. Bad Papa Hoo! And bad Little Hoo! Go to bed Little Hoo!

Maybe I scold too much in my books. Some of my critics have gone to town on my Time to Eat Bunny book for that. I guess I’m kind of a scolding type of parent but I try to say it all affectionately with a smile in my eyes.

buy-my-book

Like here! What does this picture say? It says, Buy my books for Christmas presents this year, OR ELSE!

Or else what?

I’ll tickle you to death? Yeah, something like that.

By the way, the print edition is not available yet but it will be very soon and I will put the links here when it is. Or maybe I’ll write another whole post and get Bug to read it to you or something. That would be fun.

~~The ebook edition is available here for pre-order if you’re looking to load up a kindle as a Christmas present or something cool like that.~~

Print version available here! Ebook version available here!

If you have a blog that gets a lot of hits, I might even be persuaded to give out some free copies for reviewing so email me! I don’t have a lot of free copies though because just like you, I have to buy them and unlike you, I am cheap! (Can’t you see I can only afford a manicure for one hand?!! Just kidding. I was trying out Bug’s new glow-in-the-dark polish {which totally works and is awesome, buy it at Target} and I’m right-handed, yo. I can’t paint with my left!)

Would you believe me if I said I haven’t blogged in a while because I’m waiting for Bug to finish her latest fashion post and she’s taking FOREVER? It is true but it’s not a very good excuse and who cares about excuses anyway. Everybody who likes to write should just sit down at their laptop and write everyday no matter who they are writing to or what they are writing. It’s fun. We write because we like to write, right? I sound like Bug’s favorite joke, Right is right, right? Cue eye-rolling.

Anyway, I was going over the outtakes for this post I wrote on Alphamom on Monday and there were so many funny photos of Bug I had to share them. Also I’m trying to go outside my comfort zone everyday per Lisa Congdon and this is the equivalent of me sticking my tiny toe off the edge of the grand canyon or texting while sitting in the bathtub. Funny, I do the latter a lot more then the former. And I’m not even a bath person!

Actually, I need to blog about our dog, Holly. She died. We are very sad. So that’s my next challenge and it’s way out of my comfort zone. I’ve been putting it off because the last time I wrote about a pet being put down, it was a very bad experience involving some internet trollery. People have very strong feelings about pets and I get that. We have strong feelings about Holly so I need to write about that one of these days. But maybe not today. I need to get a ziplock for my phone before I hover it over the hot bubbly water.

So yeah, Bug’s working on a fashion post for you. It’s been in the making for many days. You know, in between homework, soccer practice, working on sharpie-masterpieces and various other art projects.

I could seriously write a whole post about Sharpies and my daughter. I had to put her on Sharpie probation for two days (I know! Only two days but believe me, it was a veeeeeery long time to her.) because I found Sharpie marks on the floor, on my jute rug, on the mirror, on the ipad…All very cute drawings and marks but STILL!!! Girl! Get some respect for my house and my things!!

Maybe letting her draw on her shoes, soccer balls and pool toys was giving her a little too much freedom. She’s thinking the world is her canvas these days. Thankfully, two days off Sharpies was very sever punishment for her and I’m happy to say I think she’s learned her lesson.

Isn’t the little ghostie cute? This craft was actually Isabel’s idea. (Best boss ever.) I didn’t think much of it but now that I have all these emoticon pumpkins emoting all over my house I’m kinda digging them. They are very useful. Sometimes instead of saying something I just hold up a pumpkin. I’m sure you can guess which one I hold up a lot.