Back in my Small Street studio, I wrote out a very clear Beginning, Middle, and End. Then I wrote out my story as quickly as I could, with as much energy as I could. It was full of mistakes and misspellings, but all I wanted was to get the story out of me in a logical order.
Then I began my rewrites- correcting every flaw I could find, then looking for better and best words, and finally, trying to use fewer words.
When I felt I had done the very best I could do (and rewritten it about 20 times!), I sent it to my editor at Philomel Books.









My editor liked the story! Oh, she had plenty of suggestions about how I might make it better, and I still had some rewriting to do- but I had a story. Next, because I am both a writer AND an illustrator, it was time for me to figure out what art I would like to make for each page. So I made hundresds of sketches.









After several weeks of drawing sketches, I selected the ones that worked together best and copied them, then pasted them into a practice version. I made many practice books, as you can see here.









Finally it was time to actually make the finished paintings. First, I roughed out the drawing, then I roughed out the colors, then I took several days to build up the paint.









And finally, once each painting was done, I took a photo of it, scanned it into my computer, and tried out some type styles on it. You may not know this- but the words are not on the finished painting- they are put on later, when the book is printed.









When writing and sketching LITTLE DEVILS I stayed in Tasmania four different times over four months. The finished paintings took me eight months. So the whole book took me an entire year to make. I hope you think it was worth it!

Oh, and here is a picture of me with Big Stanley.

Enjoy LITTLE DEVILS!



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Click here to check out the inside stories on AKIAK and FLEDGLING !!!