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Paul Madonna

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

https://www.paulmadonna.com

Twitter

pmadonna

Genre

Fiction, Art, Mystery

Member Since

March 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/paulmadonna

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Paul Madonna is an award-winning artist and writer whose unique blend of drawing and storytelling has been heralded as an “all new art form.” He is the creator of the series All Over Coffee, which ran in the San Francisco Chronicle for twelve years, and the author of six books, All Over Coffee , Everything is its own reward (winner of the 2011 NCBA Award for best book), On to the Next Dream , You Know Exactly , and the Emit Hopper Mystery Series, Close Enough for the Angels , and Come to Light . Paul also collaborated with award-winning author Gary Kamiya on the best-selling book Spirits of San Francisco .

Paul's drawings and stories have appeared internationally ...more

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What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Paul Madonna Do only about what makes you happy. Maybe that's studying structure, maybe it's being freeform. Maybe it's writing the story you're terrified to tell …moreDo only about what makes you happy. Maybe that's studying structure, maybe it's being freeform. Maybe it's writing the story you're terrified to tell but desperately need to tell then not showing anyone, or maybe it's performing that story in front of an audience. Maybe it's going on a retreat, or traveling to an exotic place. Maybe it's journaling at the same regimented hour every morning. Maybe it's committing to writing for one hour a day or a thousand words a day, or maybe it's rewatching your favorite movie for the thousandth time and pausing every scene so you can write it down in hopes of understanding how they did that amazing thing so you can do that amazing thing too. Or maybe it's getting a buzz on and it's improvising haikus out of brand names as you wander grocery store aisles. Or maybe it's cutting up magazine articles and rearranging the words to see what new stories they might tell.

The point is, there is no right way. The only right way is the way that is yours, and what's yours is what you fall in love with. Because when you're in love, everyone can tell, and that sparkle is what we all want to see.(less)

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Hi! I so, SO love your books! It's amazing how you weave the drawings in with the story. Both are so amazing! I want to ask you, which comes first?

Paul Madonna Hi Sheila, thanks for the kind words. And for the great question.

Short answer is that I make the drawings at the same time I'm writing the story. Long…moreHi Sheila, thanks for the kind words. And for the great question.

Short answer is that I make the drawings at the same time I'm writing the story. Longer answer is that I know where I want to set the book, and so at the very least outline the scenes I want to draw for so that when I travel I can have the plot in mind. But at the same time, I leave some of the writing to be inspired by the place once I get there. In Come to Light, for example, a lot of Emit's Italian adventure wasn't fleshed out until I was there traveling. I knew the plot points I needed to hit, but beyond that, I wrote the scenes day by day, at the exact same time I was drawing.(less)

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Paul Madonna’s books

Average rating: 4.2 · 1,326 ratings · 229 reviews · 14 distinct works • Similar authors

	All Over Coffee by Paul Madonna (Goodreads Author), Andrew Sean Greer (Foreword) 4.35 avg rating — 412 ratings — published 2007	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Everything is Its Own Reward: An All Over Coffee Collection 4.42 avg rating — 317 ratings — published 2011	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Spirits of San Francisco: Voyages through the Unknown City by Gary Kamiya, Paul Madonna (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 4.07 avg rating — 226 ratings — published 2020 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	On to the Next Dream 3.98 avg rating — 113 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Close Enough for the Angels 3.98 avg rating — 50 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Come to Light 4.46 avg rating — 28 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	You Know Exactly 4.60 avg rating — 20 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Follow Yourself: An Affirmation of the Creative Life 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Paul Madonna Album 01 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Commissions (The Ronnie Trilogy, 1) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Paul Madonna's Blog

Why Illustrated?

I am both an artist and an author, and I love blending the two practices.

With the Emit books I wanted to do a different take on the illustrated novel. In these books, all the images we see were drawn by the main character, Emit Hopper.

Emit does a lot of traveling in his books. In Come to Light, Emit goes from Thailand to Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, and draws all the while. Read more of this blog post »

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Published on February 24, 2021 10:56 • Tags: all-over-coffee, amateur-sleuth, art, detective, drawing, emit-hopper, europe, fiction, illustrated, noir, paul-madonna, pulp, travel, west-margin-press

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Paul Madonna liked Rhonda's review of You Know Exactly: "What a WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL experience. I absolutely LOVE this book."
Jul 14, 2022 10:30AM · see review
Paul Madonna and 1 other person liked Lisa's review of You Know Exactly: "It feels a bit corny to say, but Paul Madonna is a real inspiration for me; I love his style and approach to his art equally. This is a wonderful book, both a visual treat and a good exploration into his craft—not so much the making of the work as hi" Read more of this review »
Jul 14, 2022 10:29AM · see review
Paul Madonna liked Katie's review of You Know Exactly:
Jun 08, 2022 11:31AM · see review
Paul Madonna rated a book it was amazing You Know Exactly by Paul Madonna (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I'm clearly biased, but this is the best collection of All Over Coffee. It has five years of work, from 2010-2015, and having had six years between finishing the series and putting together the book, I was able to come at it with a clear eye. ...more
Feb 17, 2022 02:47PM · like · see review
Paul Madonna and 1 other person liked Michael Ostrowski's review of Come to Light: "I thoroughly enjoyed reading the 3 book collection Come to Light by Paul Madonna! Not only a fun and interesting story that takes you around the globe, but it's wondrously illustrated by the author. As a former Bay Area resident, I came to know and l" Read more of this review »
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Paul Madonna made a comment on Paul is a friend of Julie " Julie wrote: "Yes, it was fun to come across a character with 'almost' the same name! I found myself hoping that she and Emit would reunite even more! ...more "
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