PUG PALS: YAY FOR VAYCAY (Second book!)

Hello, friends!  I know it's been a while since I've posted here, but this past year has been crazy.  Crazy work, crazy book work, crazy family and health stuff.  Everything flew by so quickly, I'm still in a bit of shock that we're now in 2019. It's been a tough past few months.

But, the good news is that my second book in the PUG PALS series was released on January 29, 2019.  Yay!  Or I should say, YAY FOR VAYCAY!  After the first book, TWO'S A CROWD, the second book, YAY FOR VAYCAY, follows Sunny and Rosy as they visit their grandparents (aka my parents) for some time away while their human is traveling.  Adventures ensue!

Here's the blurb for it:

The pugs are packing their bags! 

Sunny and Rosy's human is going on vacation and it's NO DOGS ALLOWED. But they don't mind -- they're headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for unlimited snuggles and as many pug snacks as they can eat. 

But when a mystery animal destroys Grandma's garden, the pugs get blamed. It's all paws on deck to clear their names. If they don't, their pugtastic vacay will be ruined!

And yes, there will be more pug yoga, dressing up in costumes, and sleepover shenanigans.

Sunny and Rosy are super excited about the second book!  But, Monkey is super jealous.  There's a new character in the second book, but it's a groundhog named Clover.  Monkey's not in the series yet, but if there are more books in the series maybe she'll pop up soon...

Look at how mad she is.  Look at that stink eye! 

 It was impossible for me to get a photo of the book with just Sunny and Rosy. 

 We were also on the front cover of some of the Scholastic flyers!

Isn't that cool?!  I used to loooove picking my books out of Scholastic flyers as a kid.  The best day was when we'd return from recess or lunch and there would be the small pile of books I ordered sitting in the corner of my desk.  Good times, good times.

The PUG PALS series is meant to appeal to a wide audience, so you don't need to be a pug lover to enjoy them.  Sunny and Rosy still do a lot of dogish things, but they also do stuff that nonfurry kids can relate to like fighting with siblings, visiting grandparents, dealing with adults not believing them, making new friends, and handling concepts like theft, caring for others, and unconditional love.

You don't need to have read the first book to enjoy the second, but the first book does add the background and setup to more fully enjoy book two.  Also, the more trade sales we get for both books, the better chance we have of more in the series, including an introduction of Monkey!

We hope that you all enjoy the PUG PALS series!  We all worked very hard on them!  (Well, I worked hard, the pugs snuggled and slept a lot).  Amazon links for the books below.  But you can also find them at Barnes & Noble, Target (online), Walmart (online), Book Depository (online) and your local bookstores and libraries.

PUG PALS: TWO'S A CROWD (Amazon link)

 PUG PALS: YAY FOR VAYCAY (Amazon link)

PUG PALS: TWO'S A CROWD COVER REVEAL!!!

I'm so excited to share the cover for my first book, PUG PALS: TWO'S A CROWD, that will be published by Scholastic in Spring 2018.

As you may recall, almost a year ago I posted my book deal announcement here. The series has been renamed from Pugling Rivalry, but the story has remained the same. Part of why I haven't been posting as much on my blog is that I've been super busy putting together the story and illustrations for my book. There was a steep learning curve in this process. Illustrating for a chapter book is very different from illustrating for a blog or social media posts. And I also was learning how to use Photoshop and a Cintiq, as all of the final illustrations were done digitally.

So you can imagine how rewarding it feels to finally see it all coming together at long last. And without further ado, the cover!

Book Deal Announcement!

I have some really exciting news that I wanted to share here on this blog, even though I've already made announcements on my social media accounts.  Scholastic will be publishing two of my Pugling Rivalry books in 2018!

Both books will be illustrated chapter books geared for children, but of course they can be enjoyed by all ages as the love of pugs has no age limit.  The story will follow a mostly fictional account of Sunny's and Rosy's sibling rivalry adventures.  And I know what you're wondering and yes, there will be plenty of drumstick attacks in the books.

I know 2018 seems like forever away.  It feels like that for me too!  But, on the other hand, I'm grateful for the time to work on these two books as they'll involve a lot of illustrations.  A LOT.

The official announcement can be found in Publishers Weekly with a photo of me (I know, I know.  I'm no longer anonymous).  I tried submitting a photo of the pugs instead of me, but that didn't fly.

The first book will be coming out in spring 2018 and the second one will be coming out in fall 2018.  The deal is for two books, but if these two do really well then future books in a continued series could be a likely outcome.  And doesn't the world need more pugs and, specifically, more Sunny and Rosy?

I'll continue to post my drawings here on this blog, but both real work and now book work has been taking up a good amount of my time.  I'll also post some progress posts on my social media accounts if you want to discover this process with me because all of this is so new and exciting and terrifying for me!

Thank you to everyone who visits this blog and for your continued support.  It's been a long and interesting journey!

For the sake of nostalgia, look at how much my drawing style has changed from my first post here on Bah Humpug.

 

My pugs have definitely gotten "fluffier" since then.