PROFESSOR BINGO PRESENTS: CLINK-AUTHOR INTERVIEW, PREVIEW, AND GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S

"PROFESSOR BINGO  PRESENTS DAY" 
I'M EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS TUESDAY'S
"PROFESSOR BINGO PRESENTS DAY" IS...

 GIVEAWAY ENDED
CLINK

BY KELLY DiPUCCHIO

ILLUSTRATED BY MATTHEW MYERS

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Clink was a state-of-the-art robot with the dazzling ability to make toast and play music at the same time. But that was many years ago.

Now kids want snazzier robots who do things like play baseball and bake cookies. So day after day, Clink sits on a shelf and sadly watches as his friends leave with their new owners. He almost gives up on ever finding a home—until the day Clink spies a boy who just might be able to be the right one for him.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelly DiPucchio and new talent Matthew Myers comes a funny and heartwarming story that lovers of Corduroy will adore.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kelly DiPucchio is the author of numerous children's books, including the New York Times bestselling Grace for President. She also wrote Dinosnores, What's the Magic Word?, and Bed Hogs. Kelly lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband and three children.

Visit Kelly at her website HERE! (http://www.kellydipucchio.com/home.html) 

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR:

Matthew Myers was created in rural Oregon. After being programmed in fine arts and graphic arts at the Museum Art School in Portland, he functioned quite satisfactorily for twenty years as an advertising art director. He now paints and illustrates in Brooklyn, New York. You can visit Matthew at his website HERE!

(http://www.myerspaints.com/Site/Welcome_myerspaints.html) 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

1. Welcome, and thank you for agreeing to an interview for BOOKIN‘ WITH BINGO. Is there any personal information you would like to start out with today?

Hello Karen and Bookin’ With Bingo fans!

Thank you for sharing your space with me today.

I invite your readers to visit my website for more information about me and my other books.

www.kellydipucchio.com

2. Where did you get the inspiration or idea for this book?

About 3 years ago I received an email from an illustrator who wrote to compliment me on a picture book of poetry I wrote called SIPPING SPIDERS THROUGH A STRAW. In his note, the illustrator also inquired about my agent, Steven Malk, and invited me to check out his website. I get solicited by writers and illustrators quite a bit. Most people are sincere, but I also receive a fair amount of inquiries from people who are looking for some kind of short-cut that will allow them to bypass all of the hard work that it takes to get a publishing contract. Unsure of what I’d find, I went to the illustrator’s website with little or no expectations.

Boy, was I surprised! The illustrator’s online portfolio was amazing! His art was quirky and ironic and I could immediately tell his style was perfect for children’s books. The more I poked around his website, the more I discovered that this artist was far from a beginner. He had been a successful advertising art director for over 20 years. Clearly, he was not looking for any short-cuts. In fact, he had taken the long and winding road.

To make a short story, long, I noticed the illustrator had a lot of cool robots on his website and in his artwork. There was one particular painting that caught my eye. It was a picture of an old robot sitting on a bench in a subway station. The robot looked very sad and dejected. I wondered why. I knew he had a story to tell. So, I wrote it.

If you haven’t guessed by now, the artist who wrote to me that day was Matthew Myers, the illustrator of CLINK. After I checked out Matt’s portfolio I immediately forwarded his website to my agent, who immediately saw what I saw, and welcomed him into the fold. Several months later, Matt and I both had contracts with HarperCollins for CLINK. Now before people get the wrong idea, I have to say that this kind of thing almost never happens! This is one of those extremely rare Cinderella stories, even more so because our Cinderella has a toaster for a head.

Wow, that was a long answer. I promise to keep my other answers short to make up for that one!

3. How did the title of your book come about?

Clink was Clink right from the start. I never considered naming the book or the robot anything else. I liked that his name was a form of onomatopoeia. Clink just sounds like a robot who’s falling apart.

4. Do you see yourself in your characters? Which characters are easiest or more difficult to write?

I think it’s pretty hard for writers not to put a little piece of themselves into every character they create. I certainly don’t do it intentionally. I’m more likely to intentionally exploit the characteristics, quirks, and foibles of my odd-ball family members and friends.

5. What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out? What are you currently reading?

Picture books by Jon Scieszka really made the biggest impression on me when I was starting out. I remember reading THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS to my kids over 15 years ago. I immediately fell in love with the narrative voice of Alexander T. Wolf. I really admired Jon’s sarcasm and multi-layered humor. Today, I’m still in awe of Jon’s writing and I routinely pinch myself whenever I remember that he and I share the same literary agent.

Currently I’m reading a new novel by Jennifer Donnelly called REVOLUTION. Two of my new favorite picture books this spring are DEAR TABBY by Carolyn Crimi and SPINSTER GOOSE by Lisa Wheeler.

6. What is the next or current book/project you are working on?

I’m currently working on a new picture book idea that was inspired by a Youtube video. Seriously.

That’s all I can say right now because like most writers, I am superstitious. Characters have a strange way of evaporating into the ether if you discuss them before they are fully formed.

7. What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know?

I accept bribes.

8. Do you own an eReader of any kind and how do you feel about their impact on books, as well as you as an author?

No, I do not own an eReader. I don’t consider myself a pessimist, but I do believe eReaders are going to do some serious and lasting damage to the printed book. Younger generations of readers don’t have the same love affair with books like older generations do. I love the smell of new books. I get excited by pristine book jackets and interesting covers. I swoon over bins of old books and the dog-eared pages of beloved classics. Teenagers today are completely comfortable getting all of their information and entertainment in electronic form. In fact, they expect to get it that way. It won’t be very long before these same kids will be having children of their own. Will they take their kids to the library for storytime? Will they cozy up with their child at bedtime and anticipate the page turns of a picture book together? Or will they download a thousand different stories on an eReader and allow IT to read to them? It makes me sad to think about the future of books. I hope I’m wrong.

9. What is your advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?

Read!

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:  DUE TO PROBLEMS SECURING A REVIEW COPY, I AM UNABLE TO SUBMIT MY REVIEW PRIOR TO CLOSE OF THE GIVEAWAY. I HOPE TO SOMEDAY IN THE FUTURE...SORRY BUT IT WAS BEYOND MY CONTROL!
Rather than make this too long...and because I LOVE this book and want to read it a second time before reviewing, I will post my review in a few days and you can read it and gain BONUS ENTRIES for the giveaway when you do. So watch for it soon!...or if you can't wait, it comes out today. Check out my link to buy it TODAY in the right hand column!

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO KELLY AND THE KIND
PEOPLE AT HARPER COLLINS, I HAVE
TWO COPIES OF THIS WONDERFUL
CHILDREN'S BOOK TO GIVE AWAY

--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY

--NO P. O. BOXES

---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

IN CASE YOU WIN!

--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO

COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT CLINK AND WHY YOU WOULD WANT TO WIN THIS

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK AND LEAVE A LINK THAT I CAN FOLLOW

+1 (or MORE) ENTRIES: COMMENT ON ONE OTHER CURRENT GIVEAWAY OF MINE YOU HAVE ENTERED. FOR EACH ONE YOU HAVE ENTERED, YOU MAY COMMENT SEPARATELY AND THEY WILL EACH COUNT AS ANOTHER ENTRY

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, APRIL 23!

GOOD LUCK!