Monday, January 14, 2013

Bobby's Ginormous Jelly: Beginning of the sequel

As of this writing, over 350 copies of Bobby's Biggest Bubble have been sent out to KickStarters, online purchasers, agents, publishers and libraries.
Getting published can take years so I'm prepared for the long haul.

But no writer (or illustrator) should just wait around for something to happen.
So, the sequel to Bobby's Biggest Bubble is now in the works. I already have the basic outline of the story written and 
I plan to complete the 1st draft and rewrite by the end of this month. The story with layout sketches should be completed by March. Then hopefully I can ink and color the book by June. If that all happens as scheduled, I plan to print 500 soft cover books** and have them ready to be sent out by mid August.

One thing about this book: it should be much easier than the first. The main reason is that the entire cast of characters will be back again -- and generally they will appear in the same background settings. There will be differences but the layout will be very close to the 1st book.

There is a special group of new characters that are very important to the story.The aliens. I have been playing around, trying to make the aliens that would work best for the story. It's taken awhile, but I think I'm close to what I need. 
These are the Moop-Meeps. They'll be giving Bobby an unexpected visit in Bobby's Ginormous Jelly.
I needed the aliens to be funny, small and generally not scary but at the same time, these aliens mean business. (Note to parents: Revealing these little guys now is a bit of a spoiler to the 2nd story so any of you planning to get the 2nd book for your little ones - don't tell them aliens are in the 2nd book!)

These little guys may still change a bit. I'm still thinking about dressing them in outfits similar to Bruce Lee's yellow jumpsuit.

** Just to note: I won't be using KickStarter again for the sequel. Soft cover books will be much cheaper to make than hardcover books. Plus with a smaller order, we should easily afford the printing costs on our own.

Check back here for more updates as the book is developed.