We are hitting the BIG APPLE!

Azy and I are off to New York Friday morning, October 5, to meet one of our heroes! We plan to visit several publishers, honor an incredibly talented woman we can't wait to share more about with you, take in the sights, and teach our boys a little bit about the process of working to try to get this book published. We also plan to have a little bit of fun in the BIG apple!

You can follow our adventures on our new Twitter and Instagram accounts!

@BookPoetic

https://twitter.com/BookPoetic

PoeticIllustrationsBook

https://www.instagram.com/poeticillustrationsbook/ 

Read it while its HOT!

Okay, I have to admit the title is a bit cheesy.  Jen is usually much better with the nice catchy titles.  I digress.  Two weeks ago, we took a survey on our Facebook page to see how many individuals had a bottle of the sriracha sauce in their kitchen as daily condiment use.   The polls showed that about 54% of the voters DO have the sauce.  I personally have two bottles.  Not for me, for my son.  He LOVES it.  In my family, spice is all so good and nice.  We love anything that will tingle and make our taste buds dance.  So of course sriracha is on the list.  The history behind the sauce is pretty darn amazing.  I will not go into the details of it all but encourage you to look up the man behind the Rooster.  

His name is David Tran. David is a first generation immigrant to the United States from Vietnam.  He is Chinese/Vietnamese, with a military background.  He was a refugee when he came to America after the Vietnam War.  When he started to venture into making this amazing sauce, he started selling it in recycled glass baby food jars.  From company has grown into a multi-million dollar company called Huy Fong Foods. It is based in California, and uses ingredients grown by local farmers within the state.  I know personally, I enjoyed writing the poem for Tran, given that it's one of our favorite condiments.  

"sure, I'll be happy to  

describe who I am." 

with a Green hat on 

a Rooster on my shirt 

with bright red 

to capture the eye 

What to read the rest?  Just wait...and you will be able to enjoy the entire poem with the illustration by Jen.  He has an amazing adventurous story to tell.  But don't we all?  His story ends with a kick in the taste-buds!  (again, too cheesy for an ending?)

Clip of Tran discussing his immigration process from Vietnam to United States

They're here!!! THEY'RE HERE!!!

Our business cards have arrived!

These shiny little cards hold so much excitement for us! They are our way  communicating to the world, one at a time, that this book is coming! We have so many ideas for these and we look forward to sharing them with you. Stay tuned for our next set of heroes! We will be adding some from the Y chromosome collection in the near future, but for this set we couldn’t help but start with three of the most amazing women we’ve ever learned about:

Maryam Mirzakhani, Iranian Mathematician, the first female to win the prestigious Fields Medal in mathematics. Pearl Primus, Trinidadian Dancer, a world renown talent known as "The Mother of African Dance". She is seen as a major pioneer in the field of dance in the United States, though she was denied admission to many schools due to her pigmentation. Alicia Partnoy, Argentinian Poet, and a fierce and loving advocate for the voices lost to tyranny. Her writing is invigorating and beckons readers to stand up and follow her drum beat as she pounds her fist into the sky with a smile on her face. She has become not just a hero of ours, but also a friend. We wish that we could say the same for all of our heroes, but sadly we cannot travel back in time.

These women were/are mothers. They were/are revolutionaries. They were/are brave, independent, spirited, fiery, bold, intrepid leaders who did/do what brave, intelligent women do so well. They skillfully walked/walk with dignity and grace but also immeasurable strength. They stood/stand firm in proverbial chapping winds. Oh and did they LEAP! at the chance to prove that they were willing to work, toil, practice, fight, and press on despite immeasurable obstacles. Whether those impositions in life be political opposition, religious oppression, patriarchal suppression, or racist and bigoted idolatry, they pressed on. With their spines straight, and their heads high even when adversity wanted to push their chins down, they succeeded. 

Azy and I are dedicated to the dream that one day you will hold our book, and it will be a portal of pages providing you the opportunity to know these individuals the way we've come to know them. We hope you teach yourself and your children, your family, your neighbors, your parents, and your friends about these amazing people. Learn with us who has influenced our lives, improved our environment, invented the products and items that we use daily, and enhanced our experience as humans.

For starters, THANK YOU Maryam, Pearl, & Alicia.

With deepest gratitude and love,

Jen & Azy

Business About Cards!

Sometimes writing and illustrating a book is like juggling cats. Azy and I are both moms. We are both busy people with full more than time schedules. So to say that we have already bitten a lot off to chew would be a grand understatement. We knew that taking on this book would be a challenge. But we did so with a full heart for this project. With a commitment that burns continually through the excitement and spirit from deep within. We believe in this book. 

So days like today, when Azy spent the day with family, and I tried not to stroke out at my son’s football game while my six year old slathered her hot little self across my lap, we volleyed messages back and forth regarding discounts on business cards. We are moms. We like bargains. And this is on a shoe-string, because again, it’s a TWO WOMAN SHOW. Plus, we also like shoes. So the less we have to pay for promotional materials, the better! 

After some serious lip biting, and throwing designs and coupon codes into a couple of programs online, we have finally made our decisions and have our cards chosen and in process. It feels like we have purchased ourselves our own birthday gifts…or stuffed our own stockings…because we are making our dreams come true for this book! 

It might seem a little over the top that we’d get *THIS* excited about a business card. It seems so old school. It does. We know. But this is a big step for us. It means that for the first time we will be reaching outside of the familiar territory that we’ve comfortably found support in here on facebook and on our blog. We’re going to look complete strangers in the eye and confidently hand them our cards and refer them to our site with full awareness and hope that it will result in them one day holding the book in their hand.

So today we threw some cats in the air, and I think we actually caught all of them! Imagine how exciting it will be when the book is hot off of the presses if we are THIS excited about business cards?!!!