Art Directing Your Own Book

So I am in a rare situation. Usually you are a writer or an art director, not both.

I am lucky. I had not co started Red Chair Press so I could write again but the opportunity was there. We needed one more book for our Living Healthy series and it was assigned to me.  I thought of many different scenarios without much luck. Then I remembered a story I had kicking around for the last decade that never made it into a book. With some simple changes I could turn it into the fun, simply written tale with a twist on keeping in shape. Its called The Runner King.

After my publishing partner edited me into shape it was time to get it illustrated. And this has become a great joy for me. Not only do I get to write, but I then get to hire my favorite artists to illustrate the stories.

For this book that meant trying to hire my old friend, Jui Ishida, to illustrate this story. I just saw her art in my head as I wrote it and wanted her to do the pictures very badly!

I was very happy when Jui said yes. Her art is beautiful to look at and adds a dimension not seen in the written text. The final art far exceeds my vision.

So its not often you get a chance to bring a long dormant story to life. And to have it wonderfully illustrated is all the sweeter!