I Hate To Go To Bed! was my second book published, back 1999. It was very popular and kept selling well for about a decade. But sadly, it went out of print about a year or so ago. I own the digital rights, so I am now in the process of using my 2012 vow to unplug in the mornings to write. I have been revising what I call my “weird” book, Chickpea. It’s a funny and heart rending (I hope) retelling of a Korean folktale which is all but unrecognizable in the yiddishkeit way I’m doing it.
I read email while I’m eating, I try to catch up on comments, or business that needs attending, I finish up, and head back to the studio…where the email is closed and my iPhone is on mute.
Then in the afternoon, I create all new art for the iPad version of I Hate To Go To Bed! While I work, I listen to my latest raw podcast interview, stop to edit if necessary, and continue rolling as I switch back to I Hate To Go To Bed! I’m using Illustrator to do the art, which I then save as a jpeg or png file, upload to Dropbox, and then in my iPad, bring into a very affordable app called Book Creator. If you want to create a digital book for an iPad, I highly recommend it whether you’re an author or a teacher or parent who wants to get kids writing and making art. The immediate gratification of this app is stunning! You can look at your books in iBooks instantly! I makes me want to finish so it is a very compelling way to get kids writing.
PS I tried to get the guy who is behind this bit of genius on the show, but he’s the only one working on the app updates…which I want. However, I wonder if lots of people started asking him to go on the show…(not that I’m suggesting anyone start an uprising or anything).
