J.R. Barker's Blog: Interviews, rants, blogs and insane bits of fluff from my mind., page 2
October 21, 2012
Interview with Illustrator Davide Cuccia
David Cuccia Illustrator of: There’s A Crazy Dog Under the Palace, mythology, Ferrum and Dark Of The Sun
Tell us a bit about yourself
I’m 56 years old, married for 33 years and I’m basically a raccoon trapped inside of a man’s body…or at least that’s what I’ve told my wife all of these years!
That only means I have a sense of playfulness that I try to bring out in my work!
When a young child asked me one day what I did for a living, I told him I make something out of nothing…which is basically what every artist does.
You’re looking at the world with a different set of eyes than most people, and it’s that different vision and the way you translate it for others, that makes it so intriguing.
When did you start drawing?
I’ve been drawing since the age of 6…I can clearly remember sitting down
Read the rest of this interview here:
http://www.jrbarker.info/interview-wi...
Tell us a bit about yourself
I’m 56 years old, married for 33 years and I’m basically a raccoon trapped inside of a man’s body…or at least that’s what I’ve told my wife all of these years!
That only means I have a sense of playfulness that I try to bring out in my work!
When a young child asked me one day what I did for a living, I told him I make something out of nothing…which is basically what every artist does.
You’re looking at the world with a different set of eyes than most people, and it’s that different vision and the way you translate it for others, that makes it so intriguing.
When did you start drawing?
I’ve been drawing since the age of 6…I can clearly remember sitting down
Read the rest of this interview here:
http://www.jrbarker.info/interview-wi...
October 11, 2012
The Fascinating World of Frogs. Frogs Vs Humans.
To see blog post with images go to my website
When writing The Adventures of the Frog Prince I wanted to show the struggles that you would face when inconveniently turned into a frog.
In order to see how a human would struggle in a frogs body I had to find out how a frog works.
Before I’d done the research I thought I’d be writing about hopping and catching flies; it turns out that frogs are more complicated than they look.
Having done some research it’s no great leap (pardon the pun) to see how a human might struggle in a frogs body.
Here is a list of body functions in Frogs VS Humans
Sight
Frogs:
Because of the way a frogs eyes are laid out on its head a frog has very good peripheral vision, this allows them to keep a better eye out for predators and food. This is especially helpful as frogs cannot turn their heads.
The downside of this is that they are not so good at judging distance. This added to the difficulties Prince Leo faced when learning to hop.
Frogs can see objects that are further away from them better than those that are close to them.
Humans:When catching prey their eyes close, this means that they have to line up their prey before going in for the kill.
We can see objects both close too and at a distance, although women tend to have better peripheral vision than men, and men to have better” forward” sight. This goes back to our hunter-gatherer roots.
The eyes of a human are positioned on the front of the face. This is because humans are predators, a predator needs to judge distance and to be able to focus on one thing. Prey.
We can also stick our tongue out without closing our eyes if we want to. I just did.
Frogs don’t blink like humans do
Frogs:
In order for a frog to blink it sucks its eyes into its socket and the eyelid closes over the top.
Frogs blink in order to help swallow their food. The eyeballs are sucked into the skull and push food down the frog’s throat.
They don’t chew their food much, their teeth aren’t very strong, and whilst their tongue is good for catching prey, it’s not so good for swallowing.
Frogs also have a second set of eyelids in the form of a thin membrane called a nictitating membrane, this allows the eyes to stay protected when underwater. Because they are transparent they still allow the frog to see.
Humans:
We mere humans have one set of eyelids that clean our eyes, protect them and shut out light.
Fortunately for us our mouth is more advanced than a frogs so our eyes can just concentrate on looking out at the world.
Make some noise
Frogs:
In most frog species only Male frogs croak. They do this to attract a lady frog or to get rid of a competing male.
Humans:
All Humans are noisy most of the time.
Breathe easy
Frogs:
Frogs can absorb oxygen through their skin as well as breathing through their nose and into their lungs. To breathe into their lungs the gulping movement their throat makes pulls in air whilst body contractions expel it.
The oxygen that is absorbed through the skin goes straight into their bloodstream.
Humans:
Humans have a diaphragm under the lungs that pulls air into our lungs by contracting and relaxing. Far less complicated.
Don’t eat me
Frogs:
Frogs, like toads, have glands the produce foul tasting toxins that make them distasteful to predators. These glands can also help keep a frogs skin moist. A Frogs skin shouldn’t be allowed to dry out.
Humans:
Humans have glands too. We have sweat glands that produce moisture to cool us down. We also have many other glands that perform many other tasks that range from hormone regulation to fighting infection and many, many other things. We don’t have glands to make us taste bad though.
Reading through this makes me glad that I am human.
When writing The Adventures of the Frog Prince I wanted to show the struggles that you would face when inconveniently turned into a frog.
In order to see how a human would struggle in a frogs body I had to find out how a frog works.
Before I’d done the research I thought I’d be writing about hopping and catching flies; it turns out that frogs are more complicated than they look.
Having done some research it’s no great leap (pardon the pun) to see how a human might struggle in a frogs body.
Here is a list of body functions in Frogs VS Humans
Sight
Frogs:
Because of the way a frogs eyes are laid out on its head a frog has very good peripheral vision, this allows them to keep a better eye out for predators and food. This is especially helpful as frogs cannot turn their heads.
The downside of this is that they are not so good at judging distance. This added to the difficulties Prince Leo faced when learning to hop.
Frogs can see objects that are further away from them better than those that are close to them.
Humans:When catching prey their eyes close, this means that they have to line up their prey before going in for the kill.
We can see objects both close too and at a distance, although women tend to have better peripheral vision than men, and men to have better” forward” sight. This goes back to our hunter-gatherer roots.
The eyes of a human are positioned on the front of the face. This is because humans are predators, a predator needs to judge distance and to be able to focus on one thing. Prey.
We can also stick our tongue out without closing our eyes if we want to. I just did.
Frogs don’t blink like humans do
Frogs:
In order for a frog to blink it sucks its eyes into its socket and the eyelid closes over the top.
Frogs blink in order to help swallow their food. The eyeballs are sucked into the skull and push food down the frog’s throat.
They don’t chew their food much, their teeth aren’t very strong, and whilst their tongue is good for catching prey, it’s not so good for swallowing.
Frogs also have a second set of eyelids in the form of a thin membrane called a nictitating membrane, this allows the eyes to stay protected when underwater. Because they are transparent they still allow the frog to see.
Humans:
We mere humans have one set of eyelids that clean our eyes, protect them and shut out light.
Fortunately for us our mouth is more advanced than a frogs so our eyes can just concentrate on looking out at the world.
Make some noise
Frogs:
In most frog species only Male frogs croak. They do this to attract a lady frog or to get rid of a competing male.
Humans:
All Humans are noisy most of the time.
Breathe easy
Frogs:
Frogs can absorb oxygen through their skin as well as breathing through their nose and into their lungs. To breathe into their lungs the gulping movement their throat makes pulls in air whilst body contractions expel it.
The oxygen that is absorbed through the skin goes straight into their bloodstream.
Humans:
Humans have a diaphragm under the lungs that pulls air into our lungs by contracting and relaxing. Far less complicated.
Don’t eat me
Frogs:
Frogs, like toads, have glands the produce foul tasting toxins that make them distasteful to predators. These glands can also help keep a frogs skin moist. A Frogs skin shouldn’t be allowed to dry out.
Humans:
Humans have glands too. We have sweat glands that produce moisture to cool us down. We also have many other glands that perform many other tasks that range from hormone regulation to fighting infection and many, many other things. We don’t have glands to make us taste bad though.
Reading through this makes me glad that I am human.
October 6, 2012
Interview with Illustrator Tracey Hudson
Illustrator of -Booger's Day Out"
Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Tracey Hudson and I am an artist, songwriter, singer and writer. I live in Nashville, TN with my husband Cas and our two dogs, Lulu and Micki Doodles. I am originally from Columbia, MS, a small town about 90 miles from the Gulf Coast and New Orleans which makes me a true southern belle, but I have lived in Nashville for 25 years.
How did you get into Illustrating?
Truly on a lark. One of my good friends is a writer and she decided about two years ago to write a children’s book. She asked me to illustrate it for her. At the time I thought she was crazy as I knew nothing about illustrating but she convinced me otherwise. Turns out I quickly realized that illustrating is really just expanding a picture into several pictures that relate to one another. I was hooked!
See the rest of the interview at:
http://www.jrbarker.info/interview-wi...
Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Tracey Hudson and I am an artist, songwriter, singer and writer. I live in Nashville, TN with my husband Cas and our two dogs, Lulu and Micki Doodles. I am originally from Columbia, MS, a small town about 90 miles from the Gulf Coast and New Orleans which makes me a true southern belle, but I have lived in Nashville for 25 years.
How did you get into Illustrating?
Truly on a lark. One of my good friends is a writer and she decided about two years ago to write a children’s book. She asked me to illustrate it for her. At the time I thought she was crazy as I knew nothing about illustrating but she convinced me otherwise. Turns out I quickly realized that illustrating is really just expanding a picture into several pictures that relate to one another. I was hooked!
See the rest of the interview at:
http://www.jrbarker.info/interview-wi...
September 30, 2012
Interview with Mike Cripple Marthaler
Author of- Charlie the Out of Place Turtle
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Conservation from Northern Michigan University, and I’m currently working towards my certification in Geographic Information Systems. I was a volunteer with the U.S. Forest Service doing environmental interpretation and outdoor education. I was born with the life-long complication Cerebral Palsy, but I still enjoy hiking, fishing, and just being outside.
Tell us a bit about Charlie.
He is quite the character. He thinks with his heart and that can get him into trouble. Thankfully he has a great group of friends to help him out.
What is your favorite animal and why?
I really have a thing for frogs. (Don’t tell Charlie.) There are just so many shapes and sizes and colors- they are a work of art.
Tell us about your charity work.
The charity work is my way of thanking the people who helped me put this out. We didn’t do it for the money, we just wanted to spread a positive educational message- something we think is lacking in society today. So we will give a portion of the money away to help push our educational and environmental goals. We don’t look at it as a product to be sold to a group, but more of a message that needs to be spread and a lesson that needs to be taught.
We hope to pick a new charity every time we get to 1000 books. When we get close we are going to let people vote online on where they would like it to go.
Who does your illustrating?
My friend, Ashley Erickson, who is the best at taking the half-crafted ideas from my head and shaping them into lovable and memorable images.
Ashley Erickson is a graduate of Northern Michigan University where she received a degree in illustration. Her free-lance creations encompass illustration, painting and graphic design. Contact information: ashleyannerickson@gmail.com
Do you have any upcoming works you would like to share?
This is our first book and we took our time to put out a story we loved, and we are planning to put more children’s books.
Do you have any hobbies/ talents you would like to share?
I’m a fishermen but most of the time I feel I’m just being outsmarted by the fish.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We make our fans one at a time. Our group is small, and our ideas our small. Our hopes are big, our goals are huge, and with your help we can grow to meet them.
Where can we find/follow you?
E mail charlies.niche@gmail.com
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/charliethe...
Blog charlietheturtle@blogspot.com
Twitter @charliesniche
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Conservation from Northern Michigan University, and I’m currently working towards my certification in Geographic Information Systems. I was a volunteer with the U.S. Forest Service doing environmental interpretation and outdoor education. I was born with the life-long complication Cerebral Palsy, but I still enjoy hiking, fishing, and just being outside.
Tell us a bit about Charlie.
He is quite the character. He thinks with his heart and that can get him into trouble. Thankfully he has a great group of friends to help him out.
What is your favorite animal and why?
I really have a thing for frogs. (Don’t tell Charlie.) There are just so many shapes and sizes and colors- they are a work of art.
Tell us about your charity work.
The charity work is my way of thanking the people who helped me put this out. We didn’t do it for the money, we just wanted to spread a positive educational message- something we think is lacking in society today. So we will give a portion of the money away to help push our educational and environmental goals. We don’t look at it as a product to be sold to a group, but more of a message that needs to be spread and a lesson that needs to be taught.
We hope to pick a new charity every time we get to 1000 books. When we get close we are going to let people vote online on where they would like it to go.
Who does your illustrating?
My friend, Ashley Erickson, who is the best at taking the half-crafted ideas from my head and shaping them into lovable and memorable images.
Ashley Erickson is a graduate of Northern Michigan University where she received a degree in illustration. Her free-lance creations encompass illustration, painting and graphic design. Contact information: ashleyannerickson@gmail.com
Do you have any upcoming works you would like to share?
This is our first book and we took our time to put out a story we loved, and we are planning to put more children’s books.
Do you have any hobbies/ talents you would like to share?
I’m a fishermen but most of the time I feel I’m just being outsmarted by the fish.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We make our fans one at a time. Our group is small, and our ideas our small. Our hopes are big, our goals are huge, and with your help we can grow to meet them.
Where can we find/follow you?
E mail charlies.niche@gmail.com
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/charliethe...
Blog charlietheturtle@blogspot.com
Twitter @charliesniche
September 3, 2012
Gruesome Fairy Tales- How gruesome are fairy tales now and should children read them?
Having recently read a book called Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know, I started to think about how much Fairy Tales have changed over the years.
We tell our children the same fairy tales that have been told for centuries, in that time we have adapted those fairy tales to fit our current views.
I often hear that fairy tales aren’t anywhere near as gruesome as they used to be, I have to say I agree, but is this necessarily a bad thing?
What may have been acceptable then would be considered too gory now or not realistic enough. Who knows what they would think of our versions.
The most renowned fairy tails stem around the late 18th century from two German Brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, AKA The Brothers Grimm. They studied Philology (a study of written language) and Germanic studies, and eventually began to collect Germanic fairy tale and folklore stories.
These stories frequently portrayed damsels in distress who are very beautiful and a bit useless and hapless men who save and fall in love with them. They were also often macabre and featured scenes such as giants having their heads cut off and red hot iron shoes being worn as a punishment.
In one version of red riding hood both the Granny and little girl get eaten by the big bad wolf. Modern versions of these fairy tales have been altered so that they are not nearly as gruesome as they were when they were first told.
Some have been completely revamped. Walt Disney’s versions of Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast bear very little resemblance to the ‘original’ tales.
So, has the Grimm been eradicated from our modern fairy tales?
I would say no, they are there to be found with Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and Tim Burton’s version of Alice in wonderland. There are others lurking in the woodwork, we just have to look through the fluffy ones.
The trouble is how do we define what is too gruesome for a young child? Is it better to grow up with the modern fairy tales and look back on the older versions as an adult? Or is it good to see both versions when you’re young?
I quite liked growing up with these modern fairy tales and love watching Walt Disney cartoons. I find it interesting to look back now to see their origins, but would that have interested me as a child? I doubt it.
I would love to about any recent gruesome fairy tales and whether you think they can match up to older tales. More to the point are these gruesome fairy tales more for adults or for children?
We tell our children the same fairy tales that have been told for centuries, in that time we have adapted those fairy tales to fit our current views.
I often hear that fairy tales aren’t anywhere near as gruesome as they used to be, I have to say I agree, but is this necessarily a bad thing?
What may have been acceptable then would be considered too gory now or not realistic enough. Who knows what they would think of our versions.
The most renowned fairy tails stem around the late 18th century from two German Brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, AKA The Brothers Grimm. They studied Philology (a study of written language) and Germanic studies, and eventually began to collect Germanic fairy tale and folklore stories.
These stories frequently portrayed damsels in distress who are very beautiful and a bit useless and hapless men who save and fall in love with them. They were also often macabre and featured scenes such as giants having their heads cut off and red hot iron shoes being worn as a punishment.
In one version of red riding hood both the Granny and little girl get eaten by the big bad wolf. Modern versions of these fairy tales have been altered so that they are not nearly as gruesome as they were when they were first told.
Some have been completely revamped. Walt Disney’s versions of Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast bear very little resemblance to the ‘original’ tales.
So, has the Grimm been eradicated from our modern fairy tales?
I would say no, they are there to be found with Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and Tim Burton’s version of Alice in wonderland. There are others lurking in the woodwork, we just have to look through the fluffy ones.
The trouble is how do we define what is too gruesome for a young child? Is it better to grow up with the modern fairy tales and look back on the older versions as an adult? Or is it good to see both versions when you’re young?
I quite liked growing up with these modern fairy tales and love watching Walt Disney cartoons. I find it interesting to look back now to see their origins, but would that have interested me as a child? I doubt it.
I would love to about any recent gruesome fairy tales and whether you think they can match up to older tales. More to the point are these gruesome fairy tales more for adults or for children?
August 19, 2012
Guardian Cats and the Lost Books of Alexandria.
Did I have you at cats?
See the interview with Rahma Krambo here:
http://www.jrbarker.info/interview-wi...
See the interview with Rahma Krambo here:
http://www.jrbarker.info/interview-wi...
August 12, 2012
Unique Opportunity for Children's Authors
Offering Children's stories to be turned into audiobooks, courtesy of Gatwick
https://www.writers-online.co.uk/News...
https://www.writers-online.co.uk/News...
August 7, 2012
Detective- A-Z Genre Challenge- This week challenges you.
This time I have a challenge!
Your mission, should you accept it, is to take a story, any story, and see if you can find the twist that makes it a detective story.
I would love to hear your responses.
http://jrbarker101.wordpress.com/wp-a...
Your mission, should you accept it, is to take a story, any story, and see if you can find the twist that makes it a detective story.
I would love to hear your responses.
http://jrbarker101.wordpress.com/wp-a...
June 22, 2012
Constant Reading- A how to guide
How to read constantly, without life's little inconveniences getting in the way.
Well now find out how to do so in this series of silly blogs.
If you wish to know how to not let reading get in the way of your life, let me know.
Warning- most of these suggestions are dangerous and should be ignored.
Constant reading 1- Getting Washed
Constant reading 2- Getting Dressed
Constant reading 3- Making Breakfast
Constant reading 4- Leaving the House
Well now find out how to do so in this series of silly blogs.
If you wish to know how to not let reading get in the way of your life, let me know.
Warning- most of these suggestions are dangerous and should be ignored.
Constant reading 1- Getting Washed
Constant reading 2- Getting Dressed
Constant reading 3- Making Breakfast
Constant reading 4- Leaving the House
Interview with Sadie Forsythe
Author of: The Weeping Empress
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m in my mid-thirties and doing all of the things that women in their mid-thirties do- raising my family, changing my career, letting my imagination run wild. Though I’m from the US, I’m currently living in the UK. The cultural differences keep life interesting.
What inspires you to write?
View the rest atwww.jrbarker.info
