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.

Pugling Rivalry Dummy Book

I've been working on a Pugling Rivalry book idea I had while doing the series on my blog.  I finished a dummy book which is text paired with rough illustrations.  I would love to one day publish this book (along with other pug-related book ideas I've had) but getting your foot into the publishing world is hard, especially when I've been so busy with my regular job and other life stuff.  So I thought it would be fun to post a few pages from the dummy book I put together. 

While Sunny and Rosy are best frenemies for life now, these pages pretty accurately capture what must have been going on in Sunny's head the first few months with Rosy. 

Hope you enjoy!

P.S. I may post some dummy book pages from another idea I had called One Sad Face.  I think I posted a few color drawings when I was working on it earlier and some of those drawings are what led to A Girl and Her Pug drawings.

Pugling Rivalry - Rosy's Diary Entry #18 (Jailed)

7/25/14

Dear Diary,

Woe is me!  Our home was damaged by stupid water from a sprinkler that went off several weeks ago and now every weekday we are locked in the bedroom.  No more roaming freely.  No more lounging on the big couch.  No more sunbathing while sleepily gazing out the window.  No more sniffing around the kitchen for hidden crumbs.  No more access to our ginormous toy collection.

No more fun.

Instead, we are stuck in a tiny room where the windows are covered with blinds.  This is going to lead to some terrible tan lines in our sunbathing.  And we only have a small fraction of our toys to play with during the day now. 

Sigh.  I just want our home back to normal!  This is the worst!

:(,
Rosy

Pugling Rivalry - Sunny's Log Entry #18 (Jailed)

7/25/14

The only thing worse than begin stuck in one small room all day long is being stuck in one small room all day long with a needy Rosy. 

No escape.

Pugling Rivalry - Sunny's Log Entry #17 (Teeth)

7-1-14

Ow ow owow. Feel weirdd. I not have break fassst and so mad. Stuck alone. Vet! Blergh. Made me sleeeeepy and now mouth feel funny and I'm droolling. Amr shaved and bandage? What? Cage lonely. Not fun. Hungry. Tummy funny. Hehe tummy funny tummy funny tunny.

No place like home (even with rOsy). no place like home...

SUnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
y

Pugling Rivalry - Rosy's Diary Entry #17 (Teeth)

7-1-14

Dear Diary,

Yay she's back! She's back!

SUNNY'S BACK!!!

Today was the longest day ever. Sunny was at the vet all day long and after a torturous 15 minutes during which I was left at home all by my lonesome self, the human brought Sunny home in the evening. She smells strange and is acting a bit loopy but she's home and that's all that matters.

Ok, time to go and snuggle with Sunny on her bed!

XOXO,
Rosy

Pugling Rivalry - Rosy's Diary Entry #16 (Change)

6-20-14

Dear Diary,

Yesterday the human said it was getting too hot for our usual comforter and she replaced it with a new coverlet!  Noooooooooo!!!!!!  I don't care how hot it gets, I need my usual, old comforter and its green cover with the bleach stain on the upper right corner.

This new coverlet doesn't smell right and it has no pug hairs on it!  It's also not as soft or as squishy as our old comforter.  This sucks!  So what if I wake everyone up from my panting when I get overheated under the covers?  So what if I make the human sweat like crazy when I glom onto her like a backpack?  None of this is a big deal so I don't see why we can't just keep our tried and true comforter with its green cover.  I tried staying on our old comforter for as long as possible, even when it was on the floor, but then the human pushed me off and put it away. 

Sunny doesn't even seem that upset about all this.  It's like we didn't have that beloved comforter for our entire lives here.  Oh well, I guess I'll have to put up with this thin, unsoft, unfun coverlet until summer's over.

I hate it.

:(
Rosy

Pugling Rivalry - Sunny's Log Entry #16 (Change)

6-20-14

NO.  Change is wrong!  Change is scary!  Change is bad!!!

Deep breath.

I must be strong in front of Rosy and show no weakness or sadness.  I will put up with this new coverlet on the bed and wait until fall when we can have our trusty old comforter back.  I pray that this will be a short summer.

Pugling Rivalry - Rosy's Diary Entry #15 (Sharing)

6-12-14

Dear Diary,

I hate Sunny!  I hate her so much!  She's the meanest sister in the world and I'm never speaking to her again!

Every time I get really excited while playing with a favorite toy, she comes barging in and steals my toy away.  She does this all the time, even when she doesn't really like the toy.  I've seen her snatch a toy from me and pretend to play with it only to get tired of it a couple minutes later.  She just wants it because I love it!  I hate Sunny!

Grrrrrr,
Rosy

Pugling Rivalry - Sunny's Log Entry #15 (Sharing)

6-12-14

MINE.  All these toys are mine.  They were mine before the interloper arrived and they always will be mine.  Every toy that was, and ever will be, in this home is mine.  Rosy may borrow a toy from time to time, but only for as long as I deem appropriate.  Because they are all MINE.

Pugling Rivalry - Rosy's Diary Entry #14 (Imitation)

6-5-14

Dear Diary,

Sunny and I are best friend sisters.  We hang out so much and we're so close that we're even starting to look alike!  Everyone gets such a kick out of how both of our tongues naturally stick out all the time.  You can tell right away from looking at us that we're best friend sisters.  Boopity boop boop boop!

XOXO,
Rosy

Pugling Rivalry - Sunny's Log Entry #14 (Imitation)

6-5-14

The only thing worse than having an annoying sidekick following me everywhere and harassing me all the time, is having one that copies everything I do!  I have certain expressions that I've mastered for optimal treat and petting reactions.  I'm known for my trademark tongue sticking out look, called "Boop Steel."  This is MY thing.  And now Rosy has been sticking her tiny tongue out and claiming that it happens all the time naturally.  Well, that is a bald-faced lie!  I've seen her using her paws to pull out her tongue when she thinks no one is looking.  They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but I say it's the most disingenuous form of sycophancy!

Pugling Rivalry - Rosy's Diary Entry #13 (Disturbance)

5-28-14

Dear Diary,

I am soooo tired!  Every night just as I'm sound asleep for my evening nap Sunny wakes me up with her spastic barking!  Sometimes she just growls, but most of the time she jumps stares out the window barking her head off.  I mean there's nothing out there!  Maybe she needs to get her eyes checked since she's practically ancient.  Or maybe she needs to get her brain checked out.  She's totally losing it.

Ugh.

Thanks for letting me vent,
Rosy

Pugling Rivalry - Sunny's Log Entry #13 (Disturbance)

5-28-14

Sometimes at night I see things.  Things no one else seems to see.

Pugling Rivalry - Sunny's Log Entry #12 (Shedding)

5-20-14

Unfortunately, Rosy and I were subjected to a bath this past weekend. Sigh. And to add insult to injury, we had our nails trimmed too. How am I supposed to repel Rosy's obnoxious attacks if my nails are shortened and dulled?!

Rosy keeps making a fuss about the fur I'm shedding, but I think it's unnatural that she doesn't shed much. Where's her winter coat that she should be discarding now? No wonder she's always so cold in the winter if all she has is her measly single coat of fur. This is just another example of how I'm superior to her, as I have a beautiful plush coat that adjusts for the seasons.

Pugling Rivalry - Rosy's Diary Entry #12 (Shedding)

5-20-14

Dear Diary,

OMG furplosion! Sunny is shedding like crazy! It's hard to take her seriously when she's rolling around like a giant furball! ROFL!

But seriously, it's getting out of control! You don't know how many times I've gotten a stray hair in my eye or nose and there's fur on all my stuff! It also makes drumstick attacks a little tricky since there nothing worse than coughing up a pug hairball. Blech!

XOXO,
Rosy

Pugling Rivalry - Rosy's Diary Entry #11 (Begging)

5-1-14

Dear Diary,

There's only one thing I love more than my toys and Sunny, and that's FOOD! I will do anything for a bite of deliciousness, especially human food deliciousness! It just seems totally unfair that humans get to eat so many different things with fun flavors and textures and then they feed us boring ol dog food.

What is this chocolate that they keep talking about and yet refuse to share with us?! What about sharing some of that yummy smelling garlic and onions getting stir-fried on the stove top?! Feed me grapes like I'm a queen!

Sunny is terrible at begging and just sits in the kitchen doing nothing. WRONG. You have to be loud and aggressive - remind the human that you're there and you want that food! The squeaky wheel gets the oil and I'm always the squeakiest wheel in the kitchen! I also like to make my presence known by digging my little paws into the human's legs, triggering certain pressure points to help persuade the human to feed me. That always gets the human's attention and she'll dance around while making excited noises.

Every day is a new opportunity to eat more delicious things. Challenge accepted!

XOXO,
Rosy

(Human editor's note: Sunny and Rosy do not get fed chocolate, garlic, onions, grapes, or other human foods that are bad for dogs.)

Pugling Rivalry - Sunny's Log Entry #11 (Begging)

5-1-14

Rosy's young and foolish, as many pups are. She simply bulldozes her way around without any grace. There is an art to begging that requires patience and subtlety.

Rosy can whine, jump around, and paw at the human's legs all she wants. I know the true secrets to getting the good stuff - sit in the human's line of vision and give your best, most pathetic-looking slump and sad face. If needed, add a cute tongue sticking out and/or uncurl the tail.

Works every time.

Pugling Rivalry - Rosy's Diary Entry #10 (Intruder)

4-23-14

Dear Diary,

DANGER! DANGER! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!

There is a strange dog in our home! The human and Sunny seem unaware of the stranger or they are so frightened they're frozen in their seats. It is up to me to protect my home and family!

Rosy to the rescue!

XOXO,
Rosy