book launch party!

Come on down to Secret Garden Books in Ballard Tuesday night, June 25th to help celebrate my new book 'Oliver and his Alligator'. There will be treats and beverages (adult beverages too,) and signings and readings and other fine party things.

7 pm
Secret Garden Books
2214 NW Market St
Seattle, WA 98107

A star from Kirkus!

Little Oliver gets a big starred review from Kirkus:

Going into the darkness beyond Petunia Goes Wild! (2012), Schmid enters the tongue-in-cheek metaphorical alligator/crocodile waters of Candace Fleming (Who Invited You?, illustrated by George Booth, 2001) and Joe Kulka (My Crocodile Does Not Bite, 2013).

Oliver isn’t too sure about starting school—will his “brave” be big enough?—so he stops by the swamp and picks up his own tough: an alligator. “Just in case things got rough.” When he is asked his name by a lady (not his mom) and can’t remember, two little words take care of the difficulty: “Much, munch!” The same happens to a friendly little girl when Oliver’s answer gets stuck. A classroom full of noisy kids? Decorations that intimidate with all Oliver must learn? Not a problem for the now-rotund alligator. But now the problem is, “School is maybe kind of a little boring.” But where is that singing and laughter coming from? And can Oliver solve his newest quandary? Munch, munch! The simple, spare pastel pencil and digitally colored illustrations masterfully use both white space and the page turn to add to the humor. Retro pinks, yellows, blues and greens highlight details in the otherwise gray-and-white illustrations, while the three stripes on the alligator (and his never-open mouth) give him an appealing, nonthreatening look.

On the first day, both the light and the dark sides of kindergartners will go to school, their kissing hands clutching a stuffed alligator, self-confidence soaring. (Picture book. 4-7)

Ankylosing Spondylitis

This is a long post.

I have a form of rheumatoid arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis. It primarily affects the spine, and causes pain and decreased mobility.

I’ve had AS since 1993. My pain and stiffness increased over the years from a mild annoyance to a disturbing level of daily pain. I would wake up in the middle of the night with my ribs frozen into place, leaving me barely able to breathe. I could not do even one sit-up because my back would not flex. Simply rolling over in bed was an exhausting ordeal. Visiting a dentist, it would take at least five minutes for my spine to relax enough so my head would hit the back of the chair. But worst of all, pain occupied my mind almost constantly.

My doctor who diagnosed me clearly looked upset as she informed me there was no cure and handed me a prescription for mega-doses of ibuprofen.

Eventually I was on pain suppressants round-the-clock. By 2001 there was a growing list of things I could not or simply did not want to do. I looked gaunt and sickly.

! Let us all now praise the internets!

While reaching something else, a Doctor Ebringer in London discovered that if his AS patients stopped eating starch, their pain and stiffness diminished. (I’ll save you from the explanation why...)

A few of the people who found relief this way publicized it on the web.

So in October 2001 I started a no starch diet. I was able to stop taking all pain killers by March of 2002. By 2006 I had gained back all my spinal mobility and to this day experience no pain at all unless I eat a basket of fries or some of that really fabulous double chocolate cake.

But wait.

Most sufferers of Ankylosing Spondylitis are not experiencing this relief because their doctors will not suggest the diet. If asked, doctors will inform you there has been no research to prove the diet’s effectiveness.

Yes, there has been no research done on this cure for AS symptoms. Drug companies fund research. I have been off drugs for my AS these last 11 years. 

Ooops! What’s wrong with that scenario?

I have informed doctors and rheumatologists that I am on a diet which has eliminated my pain and stiffness and have received patronizing nods but no questions. A patient’s real experience is clearly not as valid as a drug company’s brochure.

So that is why I am writing this very long and boring post. In the hopes that a fellow AS sufferer will find it and begin their life again, as I did. Or perhaps someone reading this knows a friend or family member who has the disease and will email a link.

Because you will not hear about it from your doctor. They will hand you prescriptions for mega-doses of drugs, and sadly tell you that is all you can do.

another Oliver review

From Publishers Weekly:

"Oliver, first seen cradling a toy alligator and staring at an uneaten breakfast, dreads the first day of school. He “felt his brave wasn’t nearly as big as he needed it to be,” so he invites an alligator to join him. When a “lady who wasn’t his mom” greets him and asks his name, he musters only two words: “Munch, munch!” Each time Oliver feels anxious, this response makes his alligator swallow the perceived threat. Soon his friendly fellow students and some intimidating educational materials are inside the ballooning reptile. Schmid (Perfectly Percy) sketches Oliver in a few angular dashes of pastel pencil. The soft, crayony lines belie Oliver’s anxiety, and his alligator, for all its alleged ferocity, never shows any teeth (and lacks even a visible mouth). Readers are left to imagine the offstage “munch, munch” and later learn—as Oliver questions his limiting desire for solitude—that the students are having fun inside the beast, while Oliver (temporarily) stays outside. Schmid focuses on how a child uses imagination to devour, and finally to conquer, a fear of socializing."

long live Fauxtionary!

Inner Preditor: That colossal ass residing in your brain who waits to ambush your next idea.

Critique Poup: What your manuscript looks like the day after those so helpful bi-weekly get togethers.

new book news

I am delighted to announce that I will be illustrating a new book for editor Janine O'Malley at Farrar, Strous and Giroux. The author of this wonderful story (which I fell in love with before I had even read more than 3 or 4 lines into it,) is the great Laurie Thompson. The illustration above is just a very early preliminary sketch, it should be interesting to see how it looks six or eight months from now!

Oliver review

The School Library Journal has nice things to say about my next book, Oliver and His Alligator. Here are some highlights:

As the first day of school approaches, Oliver, a timid boy dressed in an oversize woolly sweater, isn’t feeling very brave. He takes an alligator to school with him “in case things get rough.”  ... The gentle pastel illustrations are infused with appealing school-related details and add humor to the story. ... Young readers who are about to begin school will identify with the hero of this quirky story.