I'M A GOOSE!

My sister, children's book author Shirin Yim Bridges (Ruby's Wish, Chronicle Books, 2002; The Umbrella Queen, Greenwillow Books, 2008) just started a new small press, Goosebottom Books. Goosebottom will be launching its debut series, The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Real Princesses, this October. The series, for ages 9-13, includes books about Hatshepsut of Egypt, Artemisia of Caria, Sorghaghtani of Mongolia, Qutlugh Terkan Khatun of Kirman, Isabella of Castile, and Nur Jahan of India. (For obvious reasons, each book will include a pronunciation guide!) Richly illustrated and narrated with touches of irreverent humor, these books bring to life the stories of real and remarkable princesses who overcame barriers to make a mark in history.

 Shirin wrote all six books in the first series. The Real Princesses books will be available on Amazon.com in September, and in bookstores in October.

Goosebottom has several additional series planned, the second of which will be The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Dastardly Dames. Each book in this 6 book series will be written by a different author. For this project, a call for submissions went out to writers known to Shirin (me included) and consulting editor Amy Novesky, a former editor at Chronicle Books. You'd think, being Shirin's sister that I'd be a shoo-in right? Nope. I had to submit a writing sample just like everyone else. It's all for the best though because Amy Novesky reviewed the manuscripts, so I can be assured that my selection as one of the writers of the second series is based on the merit of my submission, and not on any familial connection. The dastardly dames of the second series include Mary I of England; Marie Antoinette, Austrian-born French Queen; Cixi, the last Empress of China; Agrippina, Roman Empress; Catherine de Medici, Italian-born Queen of France; and Cleopatra VII, the last Pharoah of Egypt. I'll be writing the biography of Cixi, the last Empress of China.


Goosebottom Books does accept unsolicited submissions from new and published writers alike. They are planning two or three more series. Writers wishing to be considered for a future series, can send a writing sample of no more than 1000 words to submissions@goosebottombooks.com. Goosebottom Books is also looking for illustrators. For consistency of artistic styles, one illustrator will be selected to illustrate all the books in a series. Interested illustrators can send a link to their portfolio to shirin.bridges@goosebottombooks.com. You can also follow Goosebottom Books on Facebook.


Currently, Goosebottom Books is planning its book tour (locations to be announced). One definite booking is the Sonoma County Book Festival on Sept. 25. Shirin and I will both be there at the Goosebottom booth, so do stop by and say "hello".

HOPING GOLDY LUCK IS LUCKY

After three and a half years and a million edits, my picture book manuscript, Goldy Luck and the Three Chans, is finally going to an acquisitions meeting at Tricycle Press. I've been working with editor Joanne Taylor who's been wonderfully encouraging and helpful, but it's now up to the publisher. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that good news will come my way soon. If this saga ends up positively, it will be a great example of perseverance!