Angie Lucas
Angie Lucas
Children's Author / Freelance Writer / Memory Keeper
 
 

 Reader, Writer, kidlit Author.

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a story of healing & hope

 
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coming to a bookstore near you july 23, 2019

My Big, Dumb, Invisible Dragon is a story for children dealing with loss—or for those who need help relating to a grieving friend. Although it deals with a heavy topic, this book employs relatable characters, a light tone, touches of humor, and an overarching message of hope.

 

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From the Blog

From the Blog
Reading Roundup 2: More Life Lessons from 2018
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Reading Roundup: Life Lessons from 2018
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Sharing Time

Insta Goodness

👋🏻 Hi! 👋🏻 I’ve connected to a few new friends around here, so I thought it might be fun to reintroduce myself! Here are 10 fun facts about me: . 1. I love the feel of freshly sharpened pencils scratching across crisp white paper. . 2. After a 12-year infertility battle, I proudly achieved The Motherhood Trifecta, with one child through marriage, one through adoption, and one through birth. 💜💜💜 . 3. My favorite pastime is singing bad duets at the top of my lungs on road trips. “Islands in the Stream,” anyone? p.s. I get to be Freddie Mercury in “Under Pressure!” . 4. If I wanted to, I could squirt milk out of my eye, a trick made famous by David Letterman’s “stupid human tricks” years ago. (More on this talent in the comments.) . 5. I think The ‘Burbs starring Tom Hanks is the funniest film ever made. I even wrote a paper about it for a film class in college. 👊🏻 . 6. The book I’m hugging here IS my favorite book—the one I’ve read more often than any other. “I would always rather be happy than dignified.” 💕 . 7. I’ve recently discovered a passion for pickleball, which is like a cross between tennis and ping pong, with weirder rules. (Stay out of “the kitchen!”) I’m entering a city tournament in August...beginner’s bracket. 🏓 . 8. I love the smell of Band-Aids...the shiny, pungent ones from my childhood. . 9. I used to be a hand model 💅—a self-appointed one 😆 for the scrapbooking magazine where I was managing editor. Once we dyed my skin green and painted my nails black for a Halloween photo shoot. . 10. My first children’s book releases next week. 🎉🎉🎉 And if you’ll preorder BEFORE TUESDAY (link in bio), I will sign a custom bookplate sticker and mail it to you! Instructions are in the comments! #mybigdumbinvisibledragon . YOUR TURN 👇🏻Tell me something weird and wonderful about you. Pleeeaaaase?!?! . 📸 Magical photo: @jordanbreee 🎨 Transformative makeup that turned me into a better version of myself: @classycozmetics
No, it’s not in our power to make it all better when someone is grieving. But we CAN: 💜 make it a *little bit* better 💜 make a difference 💜 make someone feel less alone . And if this is all we can do, well, it’s a LOT better than doing nothing. . More on this in my Stories today.👆🏻 . What are some of the best ways you have reached out to someone in grief? And/or what’s the best way someone has made things a little bit better for you? Inquiring minds want to know! 👇🏻
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻BOOK GIVEAWAY 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 💜 JUST SEVEN MORE DAYS until #mybigdumbinvisibledragon starts showing up in bookstores, preorders start shipping, and a dragon named Sorg starts melting hearts. 💜 It’s about time I did a giveaway, don’t you think? 💜 ENTER: I’ll make it easy. Double-tap this post ➕ tag a friend who would appreciate the message of this #picturebook, which is all about helping people feel less alone in their grief, and teaching kids about empathy and emotional literacy. 💜 WINNERS: I’ll pick a random comment on Sunday, and you’ll BOTH get a free copy. *Tag only one person per comment, but leave as many comments as you like! OR if you already preordered your copy, just note that, and then you can tag 2 people to win a book.* 💜 p.s. The dragon’s name is never directly mentioned in the book, but illustrator @birgittasif and I have been calling him “Sorg,” which means sorrow or grief in Icelandic, the illustrator’s native language. (And this giant custom plushie is by @budsies, btw.) 💜 💜 💜 💜 💜 #giveaway #bookgiveaway #bookgiveaways #booklaunch #newauthor #newauthors #author #authorsofinstagram #authorsofig #bookpreview #kidlitauthor #kidlit #picturebooks #booksmatter #picturebooksareforeveryone #writer #bookish #bookworm #booklove #booklover #childrensbooks #childrensliterature #childrenslit #kidsbookstagram #kidsbooks #bookish #lovebooks #ilovebooks
People often ask if I wrote my book, My Big, Dumb, Invisible Dragon from personal experience. And the answer is yes, but it may not be quite the experience you’d expect. . 👆🏻This is the memorial box I made for Holland, the baby girl I never got to meet. As I explain in my Instagram Stories today, it took 10 years for me to get pregnant for the first time. TEN YEARS. Everything was going beautifully for months, just like I felt I “deserved” after so long a wait. And then, during a routine ultrasound early in the second trimester, we discovered that Holland’s heart had stopped beating. We still don’t know why. . The heaviness I felt in my chest, the shadow that hovered over me, the oppressive weight of this grief—it felt very much like a big, dumb, invisible dragon had swooped in and was making himself at home. And although the story I tell in my book is very different from my real-life experience, this was the spark that inspired it. . Every one of us is either already carrying or someday will carry an invisible dragon of our own—of varying colors and sizes and weights—and I’m honored to imagine my book helping even one person feel less alone during such a time. 💜 . And for some, that time is right now. So I have to ask: who is in your heart today? Who are you missing and remembering? I’d love to take a moment to honor their memory with you (either in the comments below, or you can reply to today’s Story). 👇🏻 . #remembermemonday💜
You’ve heard of a fairy garden? Well, we have a bug graveyard. 🐛🐛🐛 . My 8yo and her friends spent a couple of summer days hunting down the perfect rocks and writing epitaphs with Sharpies. It looked extra magical this morning with the sunlight spilling through the leaves. 🌿 . 🌸 “These poor souls” 🌼 “RIP Snaily” 🌹 “Hope they had a good life” 💐”Put flowers by it please” 🌷“Rest in peace...and honor of Christ” 🌻“Respect” . 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣
Publisher’s Weekly reviews My Big, Dumb, Invisible Dragon: . Told in the voice of a child navigating the loss of his mother, this story depicts grief as an invisible dragon, not scary and ominous so much as big and present. The boy negotiates shared space with this unwelcome guest and tries many tricks to get rid of it, but on some days, he embraces the dragon: “I’d reach up and pull his big, dark wings around me.” Lucas stays true to the boy’s perspective through a landscape of shifting emotions, creating a narrative that reads childlike and true, with dashes of humor and playfulness amid the somber subject matter. Sif’s illustrations, awash in tone-appropriate blues and purples, feature expressive characters that encourage empathy. With its commitment to the child’s subjective experience, this is a welcome addition to grief literature for children. Ages 4–8. (July) . 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Today on Stories: a darling “watch me grow” photo album I completed yesterday...FIVE YEARS after I started the project. And it feels so good. 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 Four photos per month for 36 months, using simple parameters to make the photo selection SIMPLE and quick. I tell you, the nostalgia is strong with this one. ❤️❤️❤️
Putting together a few dreamy packages for people who helped make this dream a reality, influencers, and people I owe BIG TIME. It truly takes a village to put a book out into the world, and I’m so grateful for mine! And to YOU too...thanks for being here. Truly. 💜💙💜💙💜
Look what made an appearance at the American Library Association annual conference in Washington D.C.! Yep, it’s Sorg the dragon and my little red-headed protagonist, Sam, hanging out in the @soundstrue booth. Oh to be a fly on the maroon dividing curtain as passersby picked up the book, flipped through its pages, or maybe settled on a cube to read it start to finish. I can’t WAIT for my first chance to spot it in an actual library. 💜
 
 
 
 
 
 
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