Walking in Ngabe rainforest
Update on new book. My new bilingual book Bella & Chantey, Mama wants a Blue Mushroom, is progressing. Furthermore, all my illustrations are completed now. We finished them last night. I am awaiting my Spanish Translation from English. Additionally, this book will be Spanish/English bilingual. And, Vanessa and I are currently working on a coloring book also. In the future, we hope to have Ngäbe pages to color. In essence, it will be a Chalina coloring book which will also include her sister Bella and Ngäbe coloring pages.
Illustrations
In my update on my new book, it is so much fun seeing the sketches and then the full colored illustrations come through. It was exciting to hear the illustrator say after a few illustrations “It’s coming alive!” The progression of the story plus the illustrations really enhance the story. I love the vivid colors also and the quirks the illustrator added. The illustrator does half the story and it is amazing what they add to the book. Please check out my first book on my site My Blog.
Translations
It is wonderful to be able to obtain a translator for the English into Spanish on my new book. The first book I did, was Spanish and Ngäbe and I had a translator from the Ngäbe people. It is amazing how much work is needed to write, illustrate, translate, edit , and publish a children’s book. It is fun, but takes patience and a lot of input from experienced editors and authors who have been through the process many times.
Mentoring
Another update on my new book involves mentoring. Pat Alvarado is an author of many bilingual books. She is on Amazon and her website is https://www.piggypress.com/.
She has a world of knowledge concerning writing and publishing. She has authored , I think, about 40 books over the years. I love watching the children browse through her books when I have my stand at BCP on Tuesday mornings. Their faces light up at the different titles .Adults like bilingual also if they are trying to learn the Spanish language. Bilingual usually involves English/Spanish.