Lina Maslo - Illustrator & Author
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C. S. Lewis Research Trip to Ireland and England

6/27/2020

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In November of 2017, I took a research trip to Ireland and England to follow in the footsteps of C. S. Lewis, aka Jack. My picture book biography, Through the Wardrobe: How C. S. Lewis Created Narnia, was mostly written. I had some rough sketches down. But I really wanted to go and see the places for myself. To see it all in person, in full color. And, speaking of color, I found my color palette for the book in a mossy wood in Northern Ireland--bright, beautiful greens and hazy violets:
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But let's start at the beginning. We flew out of Charlotte, NC, had a pit stop in Chicago, then flew across the ocean to Dublin, Ireland. From there, we drove straight to Belfast. I had planned a bit of sight-seeing for that day, and we did get some in, but a few things: 1. We were really tired after that trip! (Should have factored that in.) and 2. I didn't realize until we got there that the sun sets at like 4;30/5 pm in the winter! So, any research or sightseeing we wanted to do, we had to get it done before 5.

The first place we visited in Belfast was Little Lea. This is Lewis' childhood home. You can see it from the outside, but the inside isn't open to the pubic. 
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Not too far from the home is a boarding school called Campbell College that Jack went to for a very short time.
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Some claim that the lamp-post at this school was the inspiration for the one in Narnia:

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We also visited C. S. Lewis Square in downtown Belfast:
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Downtown Belfast was also a really lovely place to explore in the evening. 
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Trying some interesting foods....some Yorkshire pudding filled with gravy and potatoes...
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and some churros with warm Nutella drizzled on top!
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Yummm....Okay! Moving on....

We visited St. Mark's Dundela in Belfast, the church that C. S. Lewis went to as a child.
​The inside wasn't open, but we walked around:
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After a couple of days in Ireland, we took a ferry to England. We all got a little sea-sick, but it was the only way to take the car we had rented with us.
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Oxford, England!
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We stayed at a cute B+B in downtown Oxford:
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:Here is The Eagle and Child, a famous pub where C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and other Inklings gathered to talk about what they were writing:
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We were a little sad to find that because we had kids with us, we couldn't eat there in the evening. We meant to come back the next day for lunch, but never got the chance. I did get to walk inside of it a little, though.
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Exploring Oxford during the day:
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English breakfast, anyone?
We visited Magdalen College at Oxford. This is where Lewis taught for many years:
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Addison's Walk:
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Have you ever tried Sticky Toffee Pudding? If you haven't, you should. So good!!

Not too far from Oxford is Malvern College. This is one of the boarding schools that C. S. Lewis attended. In fact, it's the main one that he talks about in his autobiography Surprised by Joy. He doesn't have many nice things to say about his experience there, which is sad, because the school is just so beautiful!! 
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This school also has a lamp post that may just be the one that inspired C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia! Who knows?
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Back in Oxford, we went to Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry to visit Jack's grave:
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Interestingly, Jack and his brother Warren are buried one on top of the other. I didn't even know that was a thing. Sort of like bunk-bed style. Jack died 10 years before his brother did, even though he was a few years younger.

Jack is buried at the church that he attended for many years, and thankfully we got a chance to go inside before it closed. The caretaker of the church told us many interesting stories about C. S. Lewis.
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Before we came to England, we booked a visit to The Kilns. This is where Lewis spent much of his later life, and it is now a house for students and a bit of a museum where you can get a tour. Jack lived here with his brother Warnie and an older lady named Mrs. Moore. Then, when Jack was married, his wife Joy also lived here.
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Around The Kilns, Jack had a few acres of woods and pond that he often walked around:
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A bomb shelter for WW2


While we were in England, we visited Warwick Castle. While it had nothing to do with C. S. Lewis, it was fun to see, and I used it as a reference for a castle I illustrated in Through the Wardrobe. This castle was built by William the Conquerer in 1068.
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Then it was back to Ireland, and we used one of the last days of the trip to explore the Northern coast of Ireland. This may have been my favorite part.
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My chauffeur (and husband).
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I used a lot of these photos as reference for the Irish landscapes in my book.
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Here's that mossy wood somewhere in Northern Ireland.
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Snow and grass? A perfect reference photo for that transition of Narnia from Winter to Spring in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!
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Some fish n' chips, back in Belfast:
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As we were leaving Belfast, we randomly (!!) came across a mural of C. S. Lewis! 
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The entire trip was a total of about ten days, though you could say two of those days were mostly travel. We did get to do some other things, like visit London for a day, and the Titanic Museum in Belfast on our last day there. Even though I'm not a huge planner, I did have to plan this trip out day by day for the most part. For example, I booked our tour of The Kilns ahead of time. The ferry trip, however, I was able to book the night before we went to England. The car rental seemed affordable at first, but once they factored in the insurance it went way up! Apparently, Ireland is one of the more dangerous places to drive...? But, aside from most people speeding, it wasn't too bad.

Overall, it was a memorable and useful trip. I definitely want to go back to Ireland one day!!
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The Making of a Children's Picture Book Cover -Through the Wardrobe: How C. S. Lewis Created Narnia

10/10/2019

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The process for making a cover can take a while because it has to please many people: the author and illustrator, the editor, the art director, the designer, sales and marketing, and in the end, the booksellers, parents, and reader.
The cover has to look good on a bookshelf, or no one will pick it up. It also has to look good on social media, and even as a tiny thumbnail on a catalog—it has to catch the buyer’s eye.
​

As with the rest of the book's art, cover ideas begin as many little sketches called...

Thumbnails!

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I edited my ideas down to about nine, added a bit of color, and sent a page of small thumbnails to the editor and art director to see which ideas they liked best. ​​
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The art director chose a few. She liked number 5 (second row, center) because the focus was on C. S. Lewis, but we could also see the wardrobe and all of the characters behind him. But she also liked that in number 4, the characters were coming out of the wardrobe. We decided to combine the two: have the lion coming out of the wardrobe, a mouse on top of the table, and C. S. Lewis sitting in front of the wardrobe.

The art director asked for a tighter sketch of this idea. Back to the drawing table.

Sketch time!

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Sometimes, I like to draw the elements separately and put them together in Photoshop. That way, I can move things around more easily to see what works best.
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I sent the art director some finished sketches...
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We decided that in this one, the lion looked too friendly, so...
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I made him a little fiercer. Then, the art director sent these two sketches to the sales and marketing department:
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But marketing decided that a lion coming out of the wardrobe might be too confusing for the reader, because the lion never actually comes out of the wardrobe in the Narnia Chronicles. They were fine with leaving the mouse on the table, but they preferred him standing instead of running.

So, I made some revisions, moving the lion inside and shrinking him down quite a bit. I also moved the beavers back and added a queen in the forest. I made some adjustments to Jack’s ears and mouth. This was the final approved sketch:
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The lettering...

In the very beginning of the process, I sent the art director an example of what I envisioned for the title lettering. I liked the idea of medieval, Celtic letters, so I drew a sample:
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She liked the direction I was heading in, and said she would hire a calligrapher to hand letter the title. Here was the final result!--
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On to the colors...

The designer and editor then asked about the colors I would be using. They requested bright colors and high contrast.
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I sent along a digitally colored sketch to the designer, telling him that the colors would be much brighter:
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I had considered doing a white background, similar to my first book, FREE AS A BIRD, but we decided it would look too stark. So the designer mocked up a few versions of the color sketch with different colors behind it: cream, purple, blue. In the end, the team decided on a shade of blue:
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I offered to do a few washes in blue acrylic paints for the background, separate from the cover image, that we could combine digitally later on. 
Finally, everything was approved! I had about a week or two for...

Final art!

I got out my inks and acrylic paints...
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Oh wait! The case cover!

Before I show you the final cover result, I want to tell you about the case cover! So, a case cover is like a second cover that goes underneath the dust jacket. From the start, I knew that I wanted the case cover to be the wardrobe doors. Thankfully, the case cover doesn't really have to be approved by anyone except the art director, designer and/or editor.

​This is a picture of C. S. Lewis' wardrobe:
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Because the doors are narrower than the dimensions of the book, I had to trim them for the cover.

​The sketch:
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It was approved! So I went to final:
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Snail mail...

It was then time to mail the final art. I sent it 2-day priority, so it actually got there pretty quickly. But I'm always a little nervous until the art arrives safely at the publishing house.

Finally, the cover...

Not too long after, the designer put everything together, added the beautiful hand-lettered title, and sent me the files:
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I hope you found this interesting and useful!

Thank you to all who were involved in the process--
Publishing team: Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins
Editor: Kristin Rens
Art Director: Dana Fritts
Designer: Neil Swaab
Letterer: Leah Palmer Preiss

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Living the Dream Book Award!

7/16/2019

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I was honored to receive the 2019 Living the Dream Book Award from Manhattan Country School, Central Park East II, and Children's Workshop School!
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Thank you so much for bringing me to your wonderful school. It was a pleasure to meet the teachers and students, and to talk about Malala, dreaming, and changing the world!
For more pictures and information, check out Manhattan Country School's blog post:
https://www.manhattancountryschool.org/and-winner-mlk-living-dream-book-award

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Author Fair!

11/28/2018

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Hey all! I'll be at a local author fair on December 1st at Anderson Main Library in Anderson, SC from 1pm to 4pm. See you there! Here's the link!
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Reading at Anderson Library, Anderson, SC

8/31/2018

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​Hope to see you there!!
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Free as a Bird book release party!

6/10/2018

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It's been several months since the book release party for Free As a Bird, but I wanted to share it with you. My sister, Lilia, took most of these great pics!

M. Judson Booksellers in downtown Greenville, SC. were the wonderful hosts!
We decided to do the release on a Saturday at 6 pm.

It was so amazing to see friends and family, and even some people I hadn't met before, come to celebrate!
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I began with a reading of the book...​
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...and then answered some questions from the audience.
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My favorite part was getting to meet and talk with people as I signed the books! 
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Meanwhile, the yummy cupcakes made by The Chocolate Moose (which is located inside of M. Judson) were getting devoured. That raspberry frosting is ahhh-mazing!!
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​My adorable nephew Elias:
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​Then, it was time for pics with friends and family...

with my parents:
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​with my husband and children:
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and with my brothers and sisters:
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Then, I signed a few more books for the store...
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​...and that was the end of a wonderful night! I had a great time. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with me!
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Illustrator Show and Tell!

4/17/2018

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Hope to see you there!! We'll be talking about process and publishing!
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Book Launch!

1/6/2018

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I hope you can join me for the book launch for FREE AS A BIRD!!! See you there?
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Reviews for Free as a Bird

10/5/2017

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How exciting! Reviews are starting to come in for Free as a Bird: The Story of Malala.
So far, pretty good! 

Booklist had some very nice things to say:

"Maslo creates a sensitive overview of Malala Yousafzai’s life in this picture-book biography for young readers. “She wanted to be free, like the kites. She wanted to fly,” Maslo writes. “Malala will be free as a bird!” Complementing the inspirational text are whimsical illustrations depicting Malala growing up outside the cultural confines of girls in Pakistan.

Malala was encouraged to fly free by her parents as she 
sought to further her education. The story progresses showing the tumultuous times of the Taliban, whose extremist ideas include destroying all-girl schools.

The art seamlessly flows into darker hues and tense emotions as it culminates in Malala’s miraculous brush with death (handled fairly abstractly). The resolution switches back to lighter hues as Malala’s determination sets in.

An awe-inspiring tribute to the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner ever,
and a solid introduction for younger readers to a different 
religion, culture, and fight for women’s rights."

— Jessica Anne Bratt


And a review from Kirkus:

"In Maslo’s picture-book debut, she frames Malala’s story around the concept of freedom. The book opens with a quote from Malala’s father: “I did not clip her wings, and that’s all.” It ends with another quote from him as well: “Don’t you think she is meant for the skies!” Malala’s father’s influence is highlighted throughout: his love, encouragement, and support and his inspiring example. Other than the direct quotes, the prose is simple.

The color palette of the pictures effectively conveys moments of hope, fear, and violence with swaths of dark gray, black and blue, patches of red, and ample white space.

While most accounts of Malala’s story note that she used a pseudonym and wrote for an international blog, the illustrations in this book show her speaking on television before she was attacked by the Taliban. An ample quote from her speech at the United Nations Youth Assembly captures Malala’s message well, but the overall narrative about Malala as an individual seeking “freedom” subdues the part of her message that contextualizes her speech as one voice with and for many other voices. A detailed author’s note, timeline, biographical note, and further resources section round out this offering."


Thank you, reviewers! 
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Cover Reveal!

6/15/2017

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I was honored that All the Wonders, a wonderful site that features the latest in children's literature, hosted my cover reveal for FREE AS A BIRD: The Story of Malala today!

A big thanks to Matthew Winner and Blake Hamilton, the founders of the site, and Mike Ciccotello, the designer. As for the cover itself, it was also a team effort: all of the amazing people at Balzer + Bray, including my editor, Kristin Daly Rens, and the designer, Rachel Zegar. (It's crazy how many people it takes to pull something like this off!!)

Well, here's the link to the cover reveal and mini interview:
​http://www.allthewonders.com/books/book-cover-premiere-free-as-a-bird/

Let me know what you think!
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