Isle Royale - John Hamilton

Isle Royale
by John Hamilton
Shipwrecks, gangsters, and the mother of all storms. Living in a lighthouse can murder.

The year is 1924, at the height of Prohibition. The place: Isle Royale, a remote island on Lake Superior. Clarence MacDougal, keeper of Wolf Point Lighthouse, stands ready to guide sailors through treacherous waters.

One storm-tossed night, French-Canadian bootleggers arrive. The gang’s leader is Sean LeBeck, a former lover of Collene MacDougal—the lightkeeper’s wife. LeBeck is determined to rescue Collene from her dreary life and rekindle their old passion, even if it means taking her off the island by force.

The lightkeeper’s son, Ian, escapes during the storm, only to stumble upon a hidden cove, home of the last remaining members of the Coast Guard cutter Chippewa. A dark secret forced the crew to banish themselves. Now, given one last chance at redemption, the ancient mariners set out on stormy Lake Superior in a desperate attempt to save the day.

BIOGRAPHY

John Hamilton is a bestselling author and journalist. His work includes books about fantasy and folklore, science fiction, the national parks, and pirates. Lewis & Clark: Adventures West (Sparrow Media Group) was a finalist at the 17th Annual Minnesota Book Awards in 2005. He is a two-time Golden Duck Award winner for excellence in children’s science fiction literature. John can be found most summers hiking along Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. He is also an award-winning photojournalist and nature photographer.

WEBSITE
www.johnchamilton.com

PURCHASE
Amazon Kindle

Barnes & Noble Nook

Christina Rodriguez - Illustrator

Baseball on Mars / Beisbol En Marte

Illustrations by Christina Rodriguez

Publisher: Arte Publico

Creating the illustrations for Baseball on Mars / Beisbol En Marte (released this month from Piñata Books) was quite the fun experience! Stylistically, it was a bit of a departure from my “comfort zone” of simplified realism. To match the exaggerated, zany feel of the story, and solidify the theme of embracing one’s imagination, I employed a more carefree approach to my traditional painting technique.

Enhancing my usual painting medium (a mixture of watercolors, watercolor pencils, and gouache) with salt helped me achieve an otherworldly, outer space effect for many of the illustrations in the book. While the paper was still wet with a dark color wash, I sprinkled salt over the painting. The salt absorbed some of the paint while the paper dried, and dusting off the salt afterwards revealed little “starbursts” of lighter color underneath. This technique was very useful in different textures and outer space-inspired effects. The process can be repeated (albeit to lessening degrees of efficacy), or washes of color can be applied on top to subdue the effect.

This is a pretty well-known technique, but it’s definitely worth further exploration. I certainly enjoyed what simple table salt brought to my illustrations!

BIOGRAPHY
Born to multicultural parents overseas, Christina Rodriguez grew up as a military “brat” and loved to read, draw, and paint. A good book and her art supplies were always on hand as she relocated from place to place. Later, Christina won scholarships to the Rhode Island School of Design where she graduated in 2003.

Currently, Christina lives and works out of a renovated church in historic Stillwater, Minnesota. She still loves to read, draw, and paint. Newly released picture books featuring her illustrations include The Antarctic Express, The Wishing Tree, and Storm Codes with Minnesotan publishers, as well as the bilingual picture books Baseball on Mars / Beisbol En Marte, Somos Primos / We Are Cousins, Un dia con mis tias / A Day with my Aunts, and Mayte and the Bogeyman / Mayte y el Cuco. Her award-winning work has been recognized by the Midwest Booksellers Association, Foreword Magazine, the Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards, and the Mom's Choice Awards.


When not illustrating or meeting delightful young readers during school visits, Christina serves as a coordinator with the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. In her spare time, she loves cooking, hula-hooping, and hiking along the St. Croix River with her husband and dog.

WEBSITE
www.christinarodriguez.com

BLOG
http://christinaerodriguez.blogspot.com/