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Waiting game
I approved the final proof on Nov. 6, officially sending the book off to the presses. I’m working with Print Ninja, a company out of Evanston, Illinois and they have been wonderful. To keep costs low, the actual printing is done in China. (I have very mixed feelings about this part, but working on a…
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Final changes – Final proofreading
We have 60 pages that we have reviewed, revised, rewritten, redrawn, removed, and now – I think – we are ready to release them into the hands of the printer! Erica has pushed through the pain and inconvenience of a nasty sprained ankle, a fall she took just as I was leaving for an overdue…
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“She gets 100%”
I called the lovely Miss Edith this morning. I’ve been on a long anticipated trip to Ireland the last two weeks. The month before the trip was so busy and intense I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her in quite some time. It was so good to hear her sweet voice. She is…
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Not what she envisioned
I had a really thought provoking conversation with Edith’s daughter, Alice, this week that has had me pondering things quite a bit. We were talking about how her mom was feeling about the book and the illustrations. In essence she said that when I first read the story to her mom she loved it. At…
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“If only he could see her now”
Mumford Holland was a close family friend of the Renfrows. A long time neighbor, they cared for him in his final years, and he left his property to members of the family. His story was told in the Hazelwood Cemetery Walk in September 2023. “When I think about Mr. Holland – who lived and was…
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Celebrating 75%
With this illustration, Erica has completed 17 of 22 double-page spreads, technically 77.27% of the book. We know there are revisions to the early illustrations that will need to be made, so there is more than 22.73% of the work remaining. But still, hitting this point feels pretty significant. The light at the end of…
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The other Grinnell woman to know about
This page is one of my favorite illustrations. I love how Erica used the perspective and the star-filled sky. The other reason I love this page is because it talks about Laetitia Conard, another overlooked amazing women in Grinnell’s history. Mrs. Conard is someone Edith remembers very fondly. She was the leader of her Campfire…
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Bloomers & Squirrel decisions
In my last post I mentioned our new process for bringing Alice and, therefore, Edith into the illustration process. We are barely a week in and I’m so excited about how things are coming together. The picture above is one of the first ones we talked about – bloomers for practice pants, and if you…
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True depictions
I love this illustration. It’s how Erica and I envisioned life feeling in the Renfrow home when Edith was little. I especially love Rudy playing trombone (which he really did but which Edith never liked). The busy house, full of family, everyone doing something. But we were wrong. The Renfrow house would never have had…
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Half way there!
Over my lunch hour today we hit a significant milestone. I approved the picture that brought us to the 50% completion point on illustrations! Erica and I both agreed that this is something worth celebrating! I thought it would be fun to share a glimpse of the process. It starts with the text and the…
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The Renfrow Story 