D.B. Patterson's Blog: Thought Shots

That Time I Spoke to Arthur Rankin, JR (Yes, THAT Arthur Rankin)

Eight years ago, I had a conversation with Mr. Arthur Rankin, JR about a Christmas story I was developing. I'm a small potatoes author now (barely a spud in the ground back then), but with the help of a well-connected and supportive friend, I got to pitch something of mine to the man who gave us Santa Claus is Coming to Town. It's true, I swear, but I'll save you the suspense -- things don't pan out like I'd hoped.

So, here we are, November 2014.

My book The Christmas Witchling is going up and down Amazon's List of Bestselling Children's Christmas eBooks. And suddenly I find myself remembering Arthur Rankin, JR and his unexpected phone call.

This recent October, I revisited The Christmas Witchling -- updating its cover, reformatting its layout, revising its unclear portions of text (for me, it remains unfinished until I retool a weak ending, have it properly illustrated, and republish in hardcover). When I wrapped things in a pretty bow, I resubmitted my files to KDP and CreateSpace and called it a day. Then I realized something, a memory I'd put into storage -- had it not been for Mr. Rankin, The Christmas Witchling wouldn't exist.

Flashback to December 2005, one month before the miracle meeting was to take place. A friend of mine who worked in radio at the time read a rough draft of a new story I'd been tinkering with, how a brave Witchling girl named Tulalulalen Flue saves Christmas.

I had an outline, some sketches, and a story threaded in weak poem form -- believe me, the outline was the better read. Anyway, my friend liked the concept, so she spoke to Arthur Rankin, Jr. about it, and he had me send him a proposal.

For those of you who don't know who this man is, let me jog your brain.



Yes, an opportunity to speak to the creator of America's classic Christmas TV specials fell into my lap. Yes, the co-founder of Rankin-Bass Productions, one of the geniuses behind Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and The Year Without a Santa Claus (my personal favorite to this day, a fact I'd later gleefully relay to the poor man) -- he wanted to speak with me. I couldn't believe it.

After forwarding my outline and story treatment, I didn't think I'd hear back from him. Come January 2006, exactly a month to the day later, Mr. Rankin calls me to speak about the story proposal I sent. For a solid thirty-seven minutes -- well, after I was done gabbing about his awesomeness for the first five -- we talked about my work. He gave me his honest thoughts about its potential and whether it would be a fit for Rankin-Bass Productions.

"The story has promise," Mr. Rankin told me, "but it's far too underdeveloped and in need of a real polishing. The idea is solid enough to develop further, so long as you forgo the poetry and use your own whimsical prose. Your voice is evident in the story outline."

Regarding my (pathetic) proposal, Mr. Rankin was quite candid as to what many media companies typically do before they consider optioning any story -- they ask whether it's already in the public eye.

"The days of producing original, untested stories like yours are over," he told me. "Now we only consider well-received, popular or established works to bypass the risk. When your Witchling is a book with sales and fans, give me a call. Here's my private number, just so you know I'm serious."



The Christmas Witchling

We finished our conversation by sharing favorite (and brief) family-at-Christmas anecdotes -- and then, like a bonehead, I vomited about how much I loved his production of The Hobbit back in 1977, how it shaped and directed my imagination toward my lifelong love of myth, fantasy and science fiction. I read The Hobbit because his version inspired me to read it. I even told him how my mother thought she was the one responsible for that.

Mom, I love you, but handing me a book is not the same as inspiring me to read it (which brings to mind the old adage about horses and drinking water).

Flash forward to the present.

The Christmas Witchling is available as an eBook and a softcover. I find it funny how a conversation back in January 2006 was my secret northern star for the years I didn't touch the story. I didn't abandon the thing.

It merely sat on a shelf until I was ready to do what Arthur Rankin, JR told me to do. And so, after dusting off my pages of outline and that godawful poetical story treatment, and then excavating crumpled pages of Mr. Rankin's critique notes from the bowels of a notebook bin, I restructured the narrative into whimsical, once-upon-a-time prose; I hired an artist to illustrate it; and after my editor thumbs-upped the final draft, I published it in December 2012.

I'm not saying I created a masterpiece -- it still needs a lot of work to suit my tastes -- but it's a fun little yarn, and people seem to enjoy it. Since initial release, it has sold close to 2000 copies (I'd add worldwide, but it sounds silly -- true, but silly nonetheless).

And you know what? I still have Mr. Rankin's phone number. I haven't called it, and I have no plans to call it, but I do have it in my desk drawer. Yes, my Christmas story is a published book with a handful of fans, but it's not The Lord of the Rings, you know.

D. B. Patterson

amazon.com/D.-Byron-Patterson/e/B007M...
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Perdido River Bastard - Snapshots of Characters, Settings and Excerpts

Indie authors need to get traction for their work through myriad traditional and unconventional methods of attention-grabbing. Since my background includes graphic design and illustration, I decided to try breaking out the characters and settings into social media snapshots.

Setting #1
Flomaton, Alabama

There was nothing like crawling over a dirt road with the car windows down. There was music in the gravel popping and the clay cracking into powder beneath the rolling tires. Rounding the bend of trees, Pidge's big, romantical farmhouse came into view. Three stories of white siding, John Deere green accents on the shutters and wide front door—a picture postcard country home with gardens of flowers, creeping scuppernong grape vines, and blooming shrubs of every color.

http://amzn.com/B00MPXOYFW

Perdido River Bastard, a New Southern Fiction Novel by D. B. Patterson

I’m excited to announce the launch of my new Southern fiction novel for adults, Perdido River Bastard . I spent nine years crafting a story about myths and sins, memory and history, secrets and lies, life and death, magic and mystery, rebirth and redemption, good and evil—all the sublime beauty I call the Deep South.

Inherent themes of race, prejudice, and bigotry kinda go with the territory, but this novel isn’t about inciting revolution or calling for imposed societal atonement for past transgressions. It isn’t about blaming others for things they can’t possibly help, like the color of skin, the sins of fathers and mothers, or the broken pasts of previous generations.

Simply put, this story is about finding love through forgiveness, a notion worthy of discussion to my mind, as it seems to be the one that people conveniently forget, easily ignore, and readily dismiss for being too quaint, too simple, or too idealistic.

Personally, I think we all could use a little idealism in these current racially divisive times. What we're doing right now isn't working well for any of us, so my novel suggests a wholly different tactic to affect change, one espoused by a few truly Great Leaders, one being a preacher from Alabama who had a dream.

Connect with me @ Facebook.com/dbpatterson.author. Like my page and sign up for my mailing list.

~ D. B. Patterson

Perdido River Bastard Description:
A Southern Family Saga About the Bonds of Love, Blood, and History. Prodigal son Duddy Doogan has a promise to keep. He is going home, to a place where his eccentric storytelling kin await his first visit since his father went missing. Home to where a powerful river carves an age-old border between Florida and Alabama. Home to a family tree of hidden secrets, lies, memory, and skin colors—but there is nothing black and white about the mysteries buried in its roots. Haunted by the trauma of a terrifying childhood accident and the love of too many Southern women, Duddy begins to excavate the bones of his family history and put his broken life back together. When tragedy suddenly strikes, a promise to return home becomes a quest to reclaim the remains of his father from a long-lost uncle living deep in the Alabama swampland. For Duddy Doogan, a journey into the heart of darkness will lead him to a shattering revelation about his own past, a secret truth hiding in plain sight powerful enough to alter the course of Perdido River history for generations.

Q & A with Happy-Not-Cranky Illustrator Katya Bowser

Meet Happy-Not-Cranky Illustrator Katya Bowser

When it came to developing the world of Lamby Lambpants, I wanted to do everything myself. I mean, I designed every aspect of the characters and story, even designing their looks and visual identities.

And then reality hit me: my artistic strengths, while very good, weren't suited for the work needed to take Lamby to the next level. I needed help, so I searched for someone who could run with these characters, love and appreciate them, and really express their spiritual and emotional cores on paper. In short, I needed someone with a cartoonist's skill, a comedian's wit and a dog-lover's heart. I found that someone in the very talented illustrator Katya Bowser.

Below is a brief Q/A I recently had with Katya to learn more about what drives her creative process...

What inspired you to become an illustrator?

I've always loved drawing, for as long as I can remember! My dad loved to draw and sketch and he passed on that love to me. He starting showing and teaching me what he knew as soon as he saw that I had interest. But it took a while before I realized that art was what I wanted to do with my life. My "revelation" happened at a Christ in Youth conference in the summer after 10th grade. The speaker randomly decided he needed to get on a soapbox to talk to us about using our creative talents and abilities. I knew he was talking to me! So from then on I decided that this would be how I contribute to the world.



Tell us a little about the schooling you did (if any) to prepare yourself for an art career.

I spent a lot of time digging into books to learn as much as I could once I had gotten past the point where my dad couldn't teach me anymore. Then after graduating high school, I attended Ringling College of Art and Design and majored in Computer Animation. While learning lots of great stuff about animation, I took one course in Children's Book Illustration and fell in love with it! I graduated from Ringling in May of 2012.



Tell us a little about your creative process.

I love to sketch. Love, love, love it! So that is where I start out. I sketch as much as I can and as quickly as I can. I try not to put too much thought into my sketches. Ideally, I try to make my sketching and thinking happen simultaneously. But I never think about the drawing. Instead, I focus on the idea behind the drawing- the character, what they are thinking, what they are doing, who they are; I try to convey that in my work.

Once I start to over-think the drawing itself, the art falls flat and loses all of its life. So I try to get all my ideas out quickly so they can stay alive and fresh. Once all the ideas are down, I go back over the work and pull out the strongest parts that can simply convey what I was going for.



Who’s your personal favorite Lamby and Friends character to illustrate?

I love illustrating Jonesy! Personally, I love dogs, and Jonesy has such a cute puppy personality about him. I love posing him in adorable puppy poses, and have him doing innocent puppy things. And he is a dragon, so he's got this long flowing body that can curve around in all kinds of different ways. It's really fun playing around with what his body can do.

Besides the Lamby picture books, where else can we see some of your work?

I have work up on my website at http://www.katyabowser.com. There you can see all the types of work that I do. On my website there are also links that can direct you to my various blogs and social media sites where I like to put up some more personal work like fan art, sketchbook adventures and random stories from the day. So feel free to like, follow and all those good things!

You can see more of Katya’s detailed work in the following Lamby Lambpants adventures for early readers: The Amazing (and Mostly True) Story of How Lamby Got His Pants , The Incredible Flying Jonesy , and our newest release, The Accidental Wonder Pig . Her work is also shown in Lamby’s first coloring book, Lamby’s Coloring Book of Happy for Kids Who Like to Color Outside the Lines and her own illustrated and penned story book, Dex T-Rex .

D. Byron Patterson is the co-founder of Love & Fleece Happy Toys and Books. Love & Fleece creates plush toys and books that promote self esteem and raise awareness of childhood bullying. For more information, visit www.loveandfleece.com or www.facebook.com/loveandfleece.

A Very Mighty Girl

Meet Mighty Madilyn Kleck.

Shortly after birth Madilyn was diagnosed with bilateral anophthalmia. Anopthalmia is a condition in which the eyeball tissue does not develop as normal in utero and therefore, the baby is born blind. For Madilyn, anopthalmia was not the extent of her diagnosis, as she also was born with a clubbed foot, underdeveloped nasal passages and nose, and craniosynatosis.

But her story doesn’t end there...

Small World, Big Hearts

Through the power of social media, we met Madilyn’s mother Hillary after she heard about our snuggly, huggable Lamby Lambpants™ doll and his dynamic (and very silly) audiobooks via Twitter. She immediately contacted us to share her daughter’s story. Here’s just a part of the email we received:

“I'm excited to see stories and products like this on the market to encourage empathy, understanding and respect. My daughter was born blind without any eyes, a condition called bilateral anophthalmia. As she is getting older (8 years now), more and more children continue to stare and sometimes are even scared. Thank you for all you do!”

You know, it’s not easy running a new kind of business, let alone starting one from scratch with only two people at the helm. The story of Hillary and Mighty Madilyn, like so many other incredible parents and children we're privileged to meet, is the fuel we need to keep doing what we do, despite the obstacles we face.

After all, as our resident lamb always says, “Never give up on anything that makes a little heart shine like the sun.” Well, that’s settled then—we’re not giving up!

And Speaking of Shining Suns…

Hillary’s daughter Madilyn inspired her mother to start Sensory Sun Education Technologies to share her experiences, research and ideas with other parents and teachers of visually impaired children.

Also important to Hillary was raising awareness, so that others could understand and learn to empathize with children like her very own Madilyn. Hillary says that her next step will be to form a national nonprofit to further raise awareness, advocate and provide resources for children with myriad visual impairments, promoting a fully accessible world.

Visit Hillary’s website to learn more about her mission and read her blog to stay tuned to what she is doing to help raise awareness for the visually impaired community.

In Case You Haven’t Heard About Our Audiobooks

In addition to the paperback and ebook versions, Lamby’s two newest adventures are available as audiobooks on Amazon, iTunes and Audible. Here are summaries of the latest picture books if you haven’t had a chance to review them:

The Amazing (and Mostly True) Story of How Lamby Got His Pants
Written and Narrated by D. Byron Patterson
Illustrated By Katya Bowser

Dramatic Reading For Ages 3+ (15 min. Length)
$6.95 Purchase Price (iTunes, Amazon.com and Audible.com)

DESCRIPTION: Sometimes it takes someone special to help you understand just how special you are. For a sassy stuffed toy named Lamby and a young girl named Katie Beagle, they did that for each other. And surprisingly enough, for everyone else around them too! The first in a series of Lamby Lambpants adventures narrated (very dramatically) by author and Love & Fleece co-founder D. Byron Patterson.

The Incredible Flying Jonesy
Written By D. Byron Patterson
Illustrated By Katya Bowser

Narrated by D. Byron Patterson (and Lamby)
Dramatic Reading For Ages 3+ (13 min. Length)
$6.95 Purchase Price (iTunes, Amazon.com and Audible.com)

DESCRIPTION: Jonesy the Chinese puppy dragon, Snout and Lamby Lambpants skip and soar in an exciting (and even dangerous) adventure that teaches kids the importance of friendship, having courage and never giving up. The dramatic narration by author D. Byron Patterson is not to be missed.

D. Byron Patterson is the co-founder of Love & Fleece Happy Toys and Books. Love & Fleece creates plush toys and books that promote self esteem and raise awareness of childhood bullying. For more information, visit www.loveandfleece.com or www.facebook.com/loveandfleece.

Lamby Lambpants Brand Gets Nod From Toy Industry Association

We recently got a lovely and rather surprising write-up from the Toy Industry Association regarding our resident lamb and his message of self-acceptance and spreading the happy. Here’s a few select bits from the article:

Not long ago, Byron Patterson’s cute character Lamby Lambpants™ started out as a sassy speaking (and singing) lamb with blue-cuffed pants and a fashionably disguised head wound. Left with only one stitch for an eye after an unlucky run-in with the family dog, Lamby overcame a disfiguring disability thanks to a lot of love …

Through Lamby, Byron found a voice that gave him the freedom to share a unique message of self-acceptance. As Lamby’s world evolved, so did Byron’s vision. He and his wife Tina introduced a Lamby Lambpants plush doll and several original children's books … to remind kids of all ages that becoming all you are begins when you truly accept yourself boldly, proudly and honestly. You can check out the full write-up on the Toy Industry Association’s Facebook page.

Love At First Touch
We were delighted from the responses we received due to the Toy Industry Association’s nice mention. Here’s just one email we received from Dawn, a teacher in Michigan:

“I recently became acquainted with Lamby Lambpants via a Facebook link and instantly loved him! I am a teacher for the blind and visually impaired. I love this little guy's wit and determination; attributes that would get a child with a visual impairment a long way in this sight-driven world.”

It never occurred to us that Lamby could be a tactile tool to teach self-confidence specifically in visually impaired children. We immediately sent Dawn a Lamby doll for one her students (see pic above) and sent links to two of Lamby’s audiobooks.

Speaking of Audiobooks …

In addition to the paperback and ebook versions, Lamby’s two newest adventures are now available as audiobooks on Amazon, iTunes and Audible. Here’s a quick summary of the latest picture books if you haven’t had a chance to review them:


The Amazing (and Mostly True) Story of How Lamby Got His Pants
-Illustrated By Katya Bowser
-Dramatic Reading For Ages 3+ (15 minutes)

Sometimes it takes someone very special to help you understand just how special you are. For a sassy stuffed toy named Lamby and a young girl named Katie Beagle, they did that for each other. And everyone else around them!




The Incredible Flying Jonesy
-Illustrated By Katya Bowser
-Dramatic Reading For Ages 3+ (15 minutes)

Jonesy the Chinese Dragon and Lamby Lambpants skip and soar on brightly illustrated pages to teach kids the importance of friendship, having courage, and never giving up.




As always, we will donate one toy or book to a child in need for every one purchased.

So, Who Is Lamby Lambpants and Why Does He Wear Pants?

The Story Behind My New Picture Book

Who IS Lamby Lambpants? Why Does He Wear Pants? These questions and more are answered in my latest picture book for early readers, The Amazing (and Mostly True) Story of How Lamby Got His Pants, now available on Amazon.com and through Love & Fleece’s website. I can’t believe I created Lamby almost eight years ago. In the time since, I’ve been exploring who this strange little character is and what makes him so endearing. As I delved deeper into his quirky world (some of which you can find at www.lambpants.com), Lamby started telling me his stories in his unique voice. I’ve only just started to write them all down.

Taking Lamby’s World To The Next Level

It wasn’t until a screenwriter’s agent challenged me about four years ago to take Lamby’s world to the next level that I really delved into the development of this character. While we’ve since parted ways, the challenge pushed me to continue to turn Lamby’s playful, imaginative world to what it’s become today. I surrounded Lamby with a group of lovable disabled misfits, some real (well as “real” as a Chinese puppy dragon can be) and some that were brought to life (like Lamby’s toy friend Snout and his foe Dr. Nub whom you’ll meet in another story).

I fell in love with the idea of a patchwork family of wounded little magical beings striving to overcome fears, prejudices and doubts BECAUSE of their physical or emotional disabilities. Everyone in Lamby's world is damaged or broken in some way, and they learn to trust and support one another as they become better souls. I mean, that's the large hidden part of the iceberg; the stuff ABOVE surface is just A LOT of silly, sweet and funny goings-on. I do my best not to hit readers over the head with obvious messages about one thing or another. The messages are there because of the story and not the other way around. Kids are much smarter than that.

The Amazing (and Mostly True) Story of How Lamby Got His Pants is the first, more or less, in the Lamby Lambpants world. I've known Lamby's history for so long that I had trouble crafting a story that felt real. Yes, The Incredible Flying Jonesy, which happened to be published first, is technically a follow-up to the story of Lamby's first pair of pants, but each story can stand perfectly on its own. Think about each person's life as a long series of stories. We mostly come in and out of each other's “stories” in the middle places and then play catch up to understand what’s going on. And then we can decide whether to stay or find someone else’s story.

I think what I would like readers to take away from my stories the most is that life is fun and magical when you surround yourself with the right people. That you are NEVER as broken as you think you are. And that finding the courage to be yourself comes when you honestly accept your flaws and imperfections without shame. These may seem like mature concepts, but in this day and age of rampant bullying (online and in person), we have to teach these lessons to our young ones at even earlier ages.

If these basic lessons resonate with values you want to instill in your children, then pick up a copy of the The Amazing (and Mostly True) Story of How Lamby Got His Pants today. And stay tuned for the audio book, which will be available on iTunes, Amazon and Audible in the next couple of weeks (just waiting on approval from the powers that be).

The Amazing (and Mostly True) Story of How Lamby Got His Pants: A Lamby Lambpants Adventure

The Incredible Flying Jonesy: A Lamby Lambpants Adventure

Foster Your Child’s Love Of Reading By Celebrating Children’s Book Week

Just wanted to repost our Love & Fleece newsletter from today. Enjoy!

Children’s Book Week + Your Purchases Help Feed Over 900 Children

Children's Book Week, which kicked off on Monday, is the annual celebration promoting and celebrating the joy of reading to young people. Established in 1919, Children's Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country.

A Great Nation Is A Reading Nation

Every year, commemorative events to celebrate Children’s Book Week are held nationwide wherever young readers and books connect. The weeklong celebration originated in the belief that books for children and literacy are life-changers.

And we couldn’t agree more! That’s why our titles strive to evoke imagination and inspiration for children of all ages. With lovable characters like Ellie Elephant, Penelope Panda, Jonesy the Chinese Dragon and Lamby Lambpants, these picture books aim to teach kids the importance of being kind, having courage, and always doing the right thing.

Of course, we do have a handful of original titles for older readers too. The themes in The Christmas Witchling, a winter adventure story for girls, deal with bullying and finding the strength to be proud of being different; to believe in yourself when others don’t. We also have Little Tiger and the Year of the Dragon, which is a myth-focused Harry Potter-esque series for mature young readers (4th grade and up). The themes in Little Tiger’s stories deal with adoption, extended families, being an outcast and finding hope and courage in the face of adversity.

Visit this page on our website to learn more about our children’s titles and get FREE Shipping on orders over $24.95.

The need for Children’s Book Week today is as essential as it was in 1919. Publishers Weekly visionary editor Frederic Melcher declared it best: “A great nation is a reading nation.”

And Well-Fed Children Are Happy Children



We recently had the honor of making a donation to our friends at The Lunch Project. For those that don’t follow us on Facebook, The Lunch Project is a non-profit organization that provides hot lunch to students at Lemanyata Primary School in Arusha, Tanzania, East Africa. The organization also aims to provide education about global philanthropy to schoolchildren here in the U.S.

According to The Lunch’s Project’s website, Tanzania is making strides toward achieving its goal of 100% primary school enrollment by 2015. However, while student enrollments may have increased, the Tanzanian government has been able to do little to increase or improve the educational infrastructure for the additional students. For young and poor children who are malnourished, the long walk to school is enough of a barrier that they simply do not go.

A hot lunch during the school day means children will have at least one nutritious meal and be better equipped to learn. The school has seen increased attendance rates as this program was implemented – not-to-mention that just a small donation feeds the entire school of over 900 children!

To think, your purchases have touched lives globally. While the children took the time to thank Love & Fleece in this enclosed picture, it’s really our customers whom they should be thanking!

With Love (and Fleece!),

Tina and Byron Patterson

Audiobook For The Incredible Flying Jonesy Now Available

I’m beyond pleased to announce that the audiobook version of The Incredible Flying Jonesy: A Lamby Lambpants Adventure is now available for download on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. The characters in this storybook for young readers are part of a world I’ve slowly built for well over 7 years with a seriously devoted fan base.

For those who haven’t followed Lamby and his whimsical adventures on his website, www.lambpants.com, Lamby is a disabled cartoon lamb I created who wears cuffed blue pants and a bottle-cap eye patch, covering what was eaten by the family dog on a very unhappy day. But his disability has not taken away his steadfast heart and bold spirit, and even contributes to the sassiness that makes this lamb so special and loved.

Building Lamby’s world from the ground up through storytelling, music, sound, and simple imagery is controlled chaos. Lamby may be a sassy character for kids, but he also embodies the potential in us all -- that we can live a happy, meaningful life if we choose to be our authentic selves.

Having voiced this character for years (and yes, that IS my real voice unaltered) and sharing and giving away free content in the form of songs, pithy wisdoms and stories, it made natural sense to form a partnership with Audible to create and distribute Lamby’s stories and adventures.

And this is just the first of many. A second Lamby Lambpants storybook, ebook and audiobook will be available later this month where you’ll learn just why Lamby wears cuffed blue jeans. Plus, you can purchase a Lamby doll online at www.loveandfleece.com.

I’m proud to say that Lamby was the original inspiration that caused my wife and I to form the toy and book company Love & Fleece, LLC, in 2011. And here’s the best part: for every toy or book we sell, we give one to a child in need. Call it ‘one for one’ or ‘capitalism with a soul’ -- giving is built into our business and we're determined to make the world smile one kid at a time. We’ve given away hundreds of books and toys to local and national charities in the past six months alone.

Our reader and fan support allows this giving to continue. Visit our Amazon audiobook page to listen to a free sample. If you like what you hear, just know your purchase will make some child’s day a little brighter as we partner with various children’s charities on a local and national level.

Our Latest Giving Partnerships + New Releases

We have had a busy first part of the year at Love & Fleece headquarters, working on several plush prototypes, some new distribution deals and of course doing what we do best – giving to children in need!

Check out our newsletter to learn about our latest children's releases. And remember, for every book purchased, we donate one to a child in need through our various partnerships with charities ...

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The Incredible Flying Jonesy: A Lamby Lambpants Adventure