Upcoming Book Signing: Cape Author Fest, May 11, 2013

Book Signing this Saturday!

 Incase you needed another reason 

to come to the book signing at 

Lovely Things this Saturday--

We'll have sea glass themed cupcakes by Chefette Toni!!

Saturday, Sept. 8th

2-4:00 

Lovely Things 

Fore St., Portland, ME

I'll be signing copies of both Journey of the Sea Glass & Down East in the Ocean. Stay and have a sweet treat and do some shopping in this beautiful and unique store! See you there while supplies last! ;)

https://www.facebook.com/ChefetteToni

http://www.lovelythingsstore.com/


Books and shopping and cupcakes, oh my!

First Summer Book Signings

I'm so happy that my newest children's book is being received so lovingly! It just came out last Monday and I've already had two very successful book signings, and have many more booked and in the works! It's fun to chat with people of all ages, local people who are always excited to wish a fellow Mainer good luck, and folks visiting from out of state enjoying Vacationland and doing some shopping. I thought I'd share some photos and fun from the first two signing for Journey!

First up was a perfect Friday evening at Motifs in Portland. It had been a hot hot week, but last Friday (July 20th) was cool, breezy, and sunny. I was just happy to be sitting outside for this one! I set up shop outisde the entrance of Motifs on Commercial Street, which is right on the bustling waterfront strip of the Old Port, near the boat warfs and lots of amazing food and shopping.

My book, nestled in so nicely with other sea glass themed items!

Motifs carries a beautiful mix of clothing, accessories, jewelry, home accents, and books and cards. Visitors will find lots of nautical and Maine-themed items, while locals enjoy the variety of clothing, shoes, and unique pieces on a regular basis. They also have a great little section of quality gifts for 

kids and perfect selection of classic and new children's books (above, bottom right)!

Even the mannequins were dressed in their best sea glass inspired attire! 

I was visited by several fabulous friends and family, and also met lots of wonderful people while chatting and signing books. I'm always particularly honored to receive great feedback from teachers and librarians--because they really know their stuff! I met quite a few preschool and early education teachers that day, who all said how much they like wordless picture books for that age, since the kids are too young to read, but enjoy creating their own stories. I hope their classes have fun with this one!

Me and my amazingly supportive big sis, Dani. She and Jen hardly ever miss a signing!

Overall, it was a really enjoyable and successful first signing, especially since the book had only hit stores just days before the event. We sold lots of copies of the book and got the word out, enjoyed the Maine summer weather, and hopefully made some new friends and fans, too!

Like my sea glass earrings? A sweet gift from Kate at Shoreside Chic.
(www.shoresidechic.com)

••••••

Next, I headed to Belfast! 

Yup. We're in Maine! (This must be a beautiful drive in the fall, leaf peepers take note!)

The weekend of July 27, 28 & 29 is the "Belfast Bound Book Festival"! It's an amazing festival in which over 20 area shops and bookstores participate and host guest speakers (authors, illustrators, publishers), demonstrations, book signings, informational sessions and Q&A, readings, and more for both adults and children.

More info here!

Bangor Daily News article about the festival here!

I was honored to be asked to join the festivities this year, and signed books from 2-4 on Friday (27th) at a wonderful store called, Beyond the Sea (creator of the book festival event!). They had lots of copies of both Journey of the Sea Glass and my second book, Down East in the Ocean, on hand, and I got to signing before I even had sat down and unpacked! That's always a good start!

Great sea glass collection of books and handmade local art!

My time slot was shared with some fabulous ladies. It was great meeting the very friendly and wonderful Nancy Griffin, author of Making Whoopies: The Official Whoopie Pie Book. There were also yummy locally made mini whoopie pies to taste! 

We were also joined by author Katie Clark, author of the children's book, Grandma Drove the Lobster Boat, and the rest of the "Grandma Drove" series, which are so entertaining and funny, and have lively and beautiful illustrations by Amy Huntington.

We were also visited by well known Maine author of dozens of cherished children's books, Lynn Plourde. She was just a few doors down at The Purple Baboon signing Lost Trail, (illustrated by Ben Bishop) the recent graphic novel adapted from the true story, Lost on a Mountain in Maine. 

The weather was just warm, which was a nice surprise, I was preparing myself for a raining day, but we lucked out. The store is so great; I bought myself a new good book to read, a card, and some caramels (I can't resist a good caramel!). I had to stop myself there, I would've bought up the whole store if I could! Perfect mix of a bookstore along with gifts, jewelry, pottery, sea glass arts, and more. I'll definitely be making another trip to Belfast, there were so many wonderful shops and galleries that I just didn't have time to stick around and explore that day. (Fall season-Christmas shopping, anyone?)

Tile coasters and pottery at Beyond the Sea.

Loved this linocut in a gallery window! Love it, want it.

It was a great day, and I was thrilled to be invited to be a guest at such a grand celebration of books! 

A huge thank you to Nanette (above) for having me,
and for dreaming up such a lovely event for book fans!

Photo credit: Thanks to Lynn Plourde's husband, Paul Knowles!

••••••

For upcoming events and signings of all three books, visit me on Facebook and keep checking this blog! And for Journey of the Sea Glass events, check out the new website for the book!

Thank you to eveyone who came to these events, it always means a lot 

to hear your kind words and feedback and meet you all in person!

Happy reading!

 :)

Peter & Connie Roop

I stumbled upon this article today, a quick little interview with Connie Roop, who wrote Down East in the Ocean with her husband, Peter, which I illustrated last year. I haven't had a chance to meet them yet, other than a few friendly emails. They live in Wisconsin most of the time, and travel to Maine each year. I hope to have an opportunity to join them for a book signing sometime this summer if they are back in my neck of the woods! They are accomplished authors of hundreds of books. One of their most cherished, and one of my personal favorites as a child, Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie, was even featured on Reading Rainbow many years back, and is still in publication. I was honored to be the illustrator for Down East in the Ocean and lend a small hand in their extensive collection.

Click here to read the full interview. I learned some interesting things about these folks!

Oh hey there, 2012, where'd you come from?

Happy New Year!

Thank you for following my blog this past year! I'm hoping to gain more followers here and on my Facebook Page in the new year, so please share with friends and anyone who you think might be at all interested! I'll work on finding time to make it a little more interesting, too. Hoping to add more content to both locations, and try some new things to keep you all entertained! Any thoughts, leave me comments, I'd love your feedback.

2011 seemed to fly by. It was a really busy year, primarily consumed by My Maine , which we launched/released in Feb, and then Down East in the Ocean, which came out just a few months later. They have both been equally well received, and I couldn't be happier with the outcome of both. I was really proud of Suzanne (Buzby Hersey) and I, on My Maine being our first book for both of us. It's always been perfection working with her, and I can't wait to start a new one together (My Massachusetts, coming soon?). Down East Enterprises were so pleased with Down East in the Ocean that they immediately signed me up for another book project, which was really exciting and made me think, okay...I might actually have something here. So my third book, Journey of the Sea Glass, will be released in July, 2012!

Summer was filled with book signings and sales, some more successful than others, but even the not so successful events were fun, and I learned a lot from fellow illustrators at many of them, and got lots of mini vacation trips and adventures with Dave out of it, so they were never a total loss. This year I'll be more selective in choosing which events to attend, though. I learned that I don't have to say yes to everything, and that when promoters say it will be "publicized and well attended", there's always a small chance that they might be fibbing.

I met a lot of wonderful artists and writers this past year. Whether it was at group Down East events, the MEIC (Maine Illustrators Collective) or virtually, in an online forum, I really enjoyed picking the brains of all the talented and helpful illustrators who have been in this business longer than I. I'm appreciative for all of them, who were so willing to answer questions and offer advice, or even chat on the phone, even if they hardly knew me. It's a pretty special bunch who are in this crazy little business of ours.

Some new kinds of projects too, like the mural! Got a little exposure on the local news, and it was great fun and a good time with my sister, sis in law, and my mom, and a good deed. And a super quick assignment that came my way from a graphic designer good friend in a pinch, for Girl Scouts of America, where I got to play with the silhouetted style, which I had always wanted to dabble in. There were also a few weddings to attend and babies to welcome last year, thus, some handmade gifts. I rediscovered my love for monogram illustrations, and brainstormed possibly a new little side venture. More on that this year (hopefully)!  ; )

My budding little business certainly wasn't all fun and games though, in 2011, that's for sure. I learned plenty of lessons the hard way, and I'm not going to lie, there may have been a few minor breakdowns of "what the f*** is wrong with people!!?" and "I'm just not good enough"s, but I'm fortunate to have people around who always pull me out before I slip too deep into the stress and frustration. I know now that a person's word--whether spoken, in an email, or apparently, sometimes even in a binding contract (!!)-- doesn't always stand true. So cover your ass, and don't let them take you for a drag through the mud. That every little thing needs to be spelled out, or you could end up losing money. There needs to be a better word than "overwhelmed", because that doesn't always cover it. That a quick little project for friends can turn into a big loooooooong project for friends (but is still worth doing in the end). And to always put a strainer cover in the sink when you clean your pens at the end of the night, or you may watch $28 go down the drain. Literally.

Overall, it was a really exciting year for Nicole Fazio Illustration! 

Cheers to the next! 

Time for Dave and I to go hop into the tropical Maine ocean waters and wash away 2011  :)

Great time had at Andy's Pub

I feel so lucky to have been invited to join the Andy's holiday sale in their 4th year! It was such a great event, with so many talented and varied vendors there selling their wares. The back portion of the pub was transformed into a holiday shopping venue for the evening. It was so festive, full of people shopping, drinking, eating, chatting, the whole evening (3:30ish-8:30ish). The weather was quite chilly, but not cold enough to stop folks from coming in for some last minute shopping!

I had a sweet location, a nice big table right at the entrance to the "show room". Sold and signed lots of books (sold out of My Maine, wow!) and some prints, too. 

My table :) I even had ANDIES Mints in honor of Andy's...I know...I couldn't resist.

I met lots of wonderful, creative people at this show. A few whose work I had seen at other events and was happy to finally put a face to the name/product, and many others with new, unique things I had never seen. I didn't get a photo (because there was always a crowd around his table!) but these repurposed vintage and antique door knobs, assembled onto corks to make wine stoppers, were so fabulous, a great gift idea, and super clever! And they're called "Dorks" (get it?) and are made by A Pane in Maine. 

Another hot seller were lobsterman/artist Eric Pray's "E Tails",  real lobster tails hand painted to perfection. 

Proud to be the owner of this spotted little guy right here ^, and Eric got one of my crab prints; Little lobster buddy is hanging on my tree right now!

Awesome, right?!

And so much more! 

Handmade candles that smelled amazing and fresh by Erin Donovan of Watermark Designs.

and more from Watermark.  I really loved her packaging and displays, don't you?

Reversible headbands, adorable clutches, plus tee shirts and scarves by Beth Webber, who assembled this whole shindig (thanks, Beth, job well done!)

Handmade soaps, chapstick, jewelry and more

I love love loved these hand sewn skirts, I wish I had grabbed her card so I could tell you her name! Sweetest woman, and so talented. These are all hand stitched and uuber soft materials. I especially loved this gray/yellow combo.

I think she called these "Rag-a-mittens" and I was in love with them. Beyond soft and comfy! By Jeanie McAleney

Local artist Andrew Cook's  "Island Lobster" and "Christmas Lobster".   So many lobster options! 

Thanks so everyone who came out. It was a fun time and a very successful sale, can't wait to do it again next year :)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

For you last minute shoppers out there...

I'll be there selling my prints, My Maine books and Down East in the Ocean books! Come by and do some shopping, there will be lots of great choices! I hope to see you there! I'll also be donating a signed My Maine book for the auction, be sure to enter!