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ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: THE ART OF GETTING NOTICED
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.chelseamcampbell.com/
CITY: Bellingham
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 259
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Western Washington University, B.A. (classical languages), 2007; postgraduate study in library and information science.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author and fiber artist.
AVOCATIONS:Knitting and Amigurumi, pop culture, video games.
WRITINGS
Writer of novellas Growing Up Dead (2014) and Starlight (2014).
SIDELIGHTS
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Chelsea M. Campbell was a self-described “shy nerdy girl” who loved reading and the fantasy genre, as she told Cynthia Leitich Smith for Cynsations online. Then she encountered the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. “I always wanted to write fantasy,” Campbell noted, “but it took me a long time to realize I wanted to write about it in the real world, and that the characters I really loved writing about were teens. It’s a pretty safe bet to say that that seed started with ‘Buffy,’ and I don’t know where I’d be without it. It changed how I thought about fantasy and about YA.”
Campbell brings a Buffy-like mix of real-life teen problems, fantastic powers, and snarky humor to her first novel, The Rise of Renegade X. The novel takes place in a world with superheroes and supervillains; those who develop superpowers are marked with an “H” or a “V” on their thumb when they turn sixteen to show which side they are on. On Damien Locke’s sixteenth birthday he finds an “X” on his thumb and learns that he is the product of his supervillain mother’s one-night stand with an upright superhero. As Damien spends time with his new superfamily he must decide whether to use his new powers for good or evil.
In School Library Journal Tim Wadham noted of The Rise of Renegade X that Campbell’s “scenario certainly works as a metaphor for the shades of gray teens have to deal with as they struggle to find their identity.” The author’s “solid debut adds a few twists to the superhero subgenre,” a Publishers Weekly critic commented, adding that Damien is “a believable teenager in a ludicrous world.”
“I think writing fiction is the most important, most noblest career anyone can aspire to … ,” Campbell wrote on her home page. “Stories are important. They change lives, they comfort us when we’re sad (no one understands you like your favorite book, you know?), they let us glom up all the experiences of another person, both the fictional experiences of the characters and the real thoughts and emotions and tidbits of reality put in by the author. Stories are transformative and allow us to experience change in a safe setting.”
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Campbell opened the “Dragonbound” series with Dragonbound, a story of a family of dragon slayers. Virginia St. George is the only one in her family without the magic and combat skills necessary to be a dragon slayer. In fact, she’s even afraid of dragons. But when her paladin sister Celeste is kidnapped by a notorious shapeshifting dragon clan, Virginia goes on a rescue mission with the help of criminal she freed from the dungeon.
In the sequel, Honorbound, Virginia is in love with Amelrik, a son of the king of the dragon clan. When Amelrik’s brother and heir, Cedric, is missing, Virginia and Amelrik look for him and find him in a city run by dragon hunting paladins. The paladins close off the city in their hunt for dragons, leaving shapeshifters Amelrik and Cedric in danger. To make things worse, Virginia’s sister Celeste is fighting on the side of the paladins.
Campbell next collaborated with illustrator Laura Knetzger in the hilarious graphic novel for children, Bigfoot and Nessie: The At of Getting Noticed. Bigfoot Littletoe III is following in his family’s footsteps trying to photobomb pictures by human tourists, but he keeps failing. While entangled in a camper’s tent, he is rescued by a sunglass and hat wearing Nessie, who wants to remain incognito as the Loch Ness monster. Nessie suggests that Bigfoot give up on photobombs and find something else he likes to do. After trying sidewalk chalk drawing and scrapbooking, Bigfoot finds he likes to do make hedge sculptures. While Bigfoot likes the limelight, Nessie likes anonymity, so he needs to decide which is more important—popularity or Nessie’s friendship. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly noted: “Campbell’s wink-and-a-nudge humor pairs with Knetzger’s rounded lines and adorable creatures to deliver a sincere story.”
A fan of the zany comedy of Monty Python, Campbell mourned the death in 2020 of member Terry Jones and “it made me remember the kind of comedy that inspired me and that I wanted to be making,” Campbell said on her website. She pitched the idea of Bigfoot and Nessie to her agent who approved it. “Young readers will appreciate the overall messaging of finding your niche and doing something because you enjoy it, not because of external attention,” declared Pearl Derlaga in School Library Journal. In Kirkus Reviews, a writer commented: “Far from being a one-note monster story, this tale has strong social-emotional elements, like Nessie’s calm reassurance, which inspires Bigfoot to create art despite self-doubt.”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, July-August, 2010, Jeff Chang, review of The Rise of Renegade X, p. 474.
Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2022, review of Bigfoot and Nessie: The Art of Getting Noticed.
Publishers Weekly, May 17, 2010, review of The Rise of Renegade X, p. 52; December 12, 2022, review of Bigfoot and Nessie, p. 73.
School Library Journal, July, 2010, Tim Wadham, review of The Rise of Renegade X, p. 82; February 2023, Pearl Derlaga, review of Bigfoot and Nessie, p. 67.
Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 2010, Sarah Bean Thompson, review of The Rise of Renegade X, p. 310.
ONLINE
Chelsea M. Campbell Home Page, http://www.chelseamcampbell.com (June 1, 2013).
Chelsea M. Campbell Web log, http://kaerfel.livejournal.com (June 1, 2013).
Cynsations Web log, http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/ (February 23, 2011), Cynthia Leitich Smith, interview with Campbell.
Chelsea M Campbell
USA flag
Chelsea Campbell grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where it rains a lot. And then rains some more. She finished her first novel when she was twelve, sent it out, and promptly got rejected. Since then she's written many more novels, earned a degree in Latin and Ancient Greek, become an obsessive knitter and fiber artist, and started a collection of glass grapes.
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult Fantasy
New Books
February 2023
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The Art of Getting Noticed
Series
Renegade X
1. The Rise of Renegade X (2010)
2. The Trials of Renegade X (2013)
2.5. The Haunting of Renegade X (2016)
3. The Betrayal of Renegade X (2015)
3.5. The Torment of Renegade X (2017)
4. The Phobia of Renegade X (2017)
4.5. The Persistence of Renegade X (2019)
5. The Rivalry of Renegade X (2020)
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Dragonbound
1. Dragonbound (2016)
2. Honorbound (2019)
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Demon in My Dorm Room
1. Demon in My Dorm Room (2020)
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Novels
The Case of the Dropped Diva (2012)
Fire and Chasm (2015)
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Graphic Novels
The Art of Getting Noticed (2023)
Bigfoot and Nessie: The Haunting of Loch Ness Castle (2023)
Novellas
Growing Up Dead (2014)
Starlight (2014)
Bio
Chelsea Campbell grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where it rains a lot. And then rains some more. She finished her first novel when she was twelve, sent it out, and promptly got rejected. Since then she’s written many more novels, earned a degree in Latin and Ancient Greek, become an obsessive knitter and fiber artist, and started a collection of glass grapes. As a kid, Chelsea read lots of adult books, but now that she’s an adult herself (at least according to her driver’s license), she loves books for kids and teens. Besides writing, studying ancient languages, and collecting useless objects, Chelsea is a pop-culture fangirl at heart and can often be found rewatching episodes of The Office, listening to her favorite podcasts, or dying a lot in Dark Souls.
You MADE that?
Yes. Yes, I did.
I get asked this question most often about my knitting and crochet projects. (As opposed to my writing, where people are more prone to say, “YOU write novels?”) I love working with yarn and learning new techniques. I used to worry that I wasn’t very good, so I wouldn’t tell people I’d made their gifts myself. I thought it would be painfully obvious and didn’t want to call attention to it. But then they’d be like, “Huh, where’d you find this?” and I’d be all ashamed-like, “Oh… I made it.” Which they would follow up with gaping jaws and, “You MADE that?” So now I’m not afraid to tell people the truth.
Can I see some ID?
I look a lot younger than I am. I don’t drink, even though I’m old enough to, but I’ve been carded for ordering water in the bar section at Denny’s and at the grocery store for buying those fancy-ish six packs of soda that come in bottles.
How long is your hair? or How’d you get your hair to grow so long?
This one is cheating because it’s not something I get asked anymore. But I used to get asked this question so frequently — strangers would shout it at me across parking lots even — that I cut my hair short. I like it much better this way. Easier to take care of, not as heavy, takes less dye to color it, and people don’t ask me how long it is everywhere I go.
Is your thumb broken?
No, it just bends really far back. I used to not know that was weird until about ninth grade, when someone pointed it out to me. And I’d always wished I was one of those people who was double-jointed or whatever it is, so I was very pleased. It just goes to show that even if you think you don’t have some innate talent, you might and not realize it.
Oh. But what are you going to DO with that?
This is always a follow-up question to “What did you major in?” I designed my own major in Latin and Greek. To make a long story short, I started out in creative writing but hated the classes. So I switched to Latin (with a brief stint in Linguistics in between), and I didn’t look back. When you major in something most people consider “useless,” they get this look on their face like they’re secretly patting themselves on the back for majoring in business or being too cool for school and not wasting their time “learning” something they know they wouldn’t have made any money off of. But when you study Latin and Greek, you not only study grammar and language and ancient cultures, but philosophy, farming, poetry, politics, graffitti, history, science, rhetoric, oration, war, theater, writing, medicine, travel, love, loss, and home ec. Basically, you get a walloping dose of humanity, which honestly hasn’t changed that much in the last couple thousand years, and that isn’t useless. (Plus even when people look at you funny for being “useless,” you know Latin and they don’t.) Even if I never make a dime off of my Latin and spend the rest of my life paying back student loans, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. So what am I going to do with it? Just about freakin’ everything.
Out Now – Bigfoot and Nessie: The Art of Getting Noticed
It’s HERE. My first graphic novel, Bigfoot and Nessie: The Art of Getting Noticed, is out today in hardback and ebook! (I, personally, own both and can vouch that they are in fact great.)
Introducing a hilarious and heartfelt graphic novel in which an unlikely pair of cryptids–one a Bigfoot whose failure to get himself photographed disappoints his family, and the other a Loch Ness Monster, who seems unable to escape the spotlight wherever she goes–meet up and find friendship, creativity, and just the right amount of attention.
Meet Bigfoot and Nessie! Yes, that Bigfoot and Nessie. Only…Well, things are a little complicated right now.
Bigfoot is having trouble fitting in with his family. He can never quite manage to get himself into the picture, much to the disappointment of his mom, dad, and sister, who always want to be in the spotlight. When he meets Nessie, who’s equally desperate to get away from the cameras, he begins to ask himself the ultimate question: What’s the price of fame after all?
Big-hearted and clever, The Art of Getting Noticed by Chelsea M. Campbell and Laura Knetzger invites us to explore our most tender selves through friendship and creativity—and have quite a bit of fun in between!
I wrote this book three years ago. I’d been talking about writing a graphic novel for about a year, but hadn’t actually started anything. Then Terry Jones from Monty Python died. And a thing you have to know about me is that I was VERY OBSESSED with Monty Python in my youth. And by “in my youth” I mostly mean a period of about six months when I was 15. I wanted to know what to do with my life, career wise, and I thought maybe they had the answer. I watched every episode of Monty Python, plus all the movies, and then I read every book I could find either written by or about the members. I knew their birthdays and what colleges they went to and what they majored in. I watched Ripping Yarns. I read all the Fawlty Towers scripts before I ever saw the show. I asked my friends if they thought I could write sketch comedy. (They said no.)
And at that time in my life, I was also drawing a lot. I’d make funny drawings and give them important-sounding titles. (I still have them all. I’ll scan them and show them to you sometime.) Some of these pictures had words with them, some more than others. But it was a lot of visual, absurdist comedy, which is basically my thing.
That was in 1998. Flash forward to early 2020, when Terry Jones died. And it made me remember the kind of comedy that inspired me and that I wanted to be making. So I talked to my agent and was like, “You remember how a year ago I said I was going to write a graphic novel? Well, I still want to, and I’m really going to do it this time.” I pitched some ideas I had, including this one:
Bigfoot and Nessie
Bigfoot longs to be famous like the rest of his family, and Nessie just wants to escape the paparazzi. When the two of them meet, worlds collide and adventures ensue.
She liked it, and I sat down and wrote it in about a week. And even though I’d been wanting to write scripts for 22 years and thought it was probably too late and that if it was really something I cared about or would enjoy that I would have done it by now and must, in fact, be some kind of wannabe imposter who should just stick to what they know, I LOVED it. Writing scripts is like writing novels, except with only the parts I love to write and none of the parts I hate. Everything about it was just so much easier. And I can actually have VISUAL JOKES that just don’t translate to prose.
So that’s how this book came about. Or at least that’s how it started. Over the course of its life, it has become a group project, mainly between me, Laura Knetzger (the amazing illustrator who brought it to life), Rachel Sonis (editor extraordinaire and great all-around person), and Jay Emmanuel (designer). Not only did I discover how much I loved script writing with this book, but also being part of a creative team. It was just such a great experience, unlike other, um, less great experiences I’ve had in this business.
And now it’s finally here and I’m so excited to get to share it with everyone! You can get it here, or pretty much wherever you like to buy books.
by Chelsea CampbellPosted onFebruary 7, 2023Leave a commenton Out Now – Bigfoot and Nessie: The Art of Getting Noticed
CAMPBELL, Chelsea M. The Art of Getting Noticed. illus. by Laura Knetzger. 64p. (Bigfoot and Nessie: Bk. 1). Penguin Workshop. Feb. 2023. Tr $12.99. ISBN 9780593385722.
Gr 2-4--Unlike his fame-seeking family, young cryptid Bigfoot Littletoe's attempts to photobomb campers' selfies always result in disaster. After a mysteriously disguised long-necked creature named Nessie rescues him from his latest effort, they bond at a campfire and decide to figure out what Bigfoot enjoys when not chasing the limelight. Exploring different activities like chalk drawing and scrapbooking eventually leads Bigfoot to a newfound appreciation of hedge sculpting. His incredibly realistic sculptures attract unexpected fame for Bigfoot and unwanted attention for Nessie. Young Bigfoot must now decide what is more important--fame or friendship? In this short but sweet graphic novel, Campbell and Knetzger emphasize themes of creativity, uniqueness, and camaraderie. Young readers will appreciate the overall messaging of finding your niche and doing something because you enjoy it, not because of external attention. Nessie's aversion to attention is also relatable. The cute, chibi-reminiscent character design and cheery palette are a great fit for the story, helping to introduce the concept of cryptids in an engaging and humorous manner to audiences who might not otherwise be familiar with them. The wordless panels where Bigfoot and Nessie try out different hobbies are a standout and particularly neat, and the variety of creatures add to the visual interest. Secondary human characters present as diverse. It is not inherently obvious that cryptids and humans exist peacefully together; hopefully, any future sequels might explore Bigfoot and Nessie's world further. VERDICT An enjoyable introduction to legends of Bigfoot and Nessie that is certainly worth noticing. Recommended for public and school libraries.--Pearl Derlaga
KEY: * Excellent in relation to other titles on the same subject or in the same genre | Tr Hardcover trade binding | lib. ed. Publisher's library binding | Board Board book | pap. Paperback | e eBook original | BL Bilingual | POP Popular Picks | SP Spanish
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
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Derlaga, Pearl. "CAMPBELL, Chelsea M.: The Art of Getting Noticed." School Library Journal, vol. 69, no. 2, Feb. 2023, pp. 67+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A735605002/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c3129859. Accessed 16 May 2023.
The Art of Getting Noticed (Bigfoot and Nessie #1)
Chelsea M. Campbell, illus. by Laura Knetzger. Penguin Workshop, $12.99 (64p) ISBN 978-0-593-38572-2
Two cryptid cteatures navigate the lute and perils of notoriety in this witty and whimsical graphic novel, the first in a series. Bigfoot Littletoe the Third, a sasquatch, is trying to continue his family's tradition of photobombing tourists, but he hasn't had much luck; in one instance, he fumbles, slipping into a river. When another attempt leads to him getting tangled in a camper's tent, he meets Nessie, of Loch Ness fame, clad in scarf and sunglasses to avoid being recognized. Nessie suggests that "maybe the tourist photo scene isn't for you," and sets out to help Bigfoot find his calling. A psychedelically colorful montage shows the cryptid duo making sidewalk chalk murals, scuba diving, DJing, and scrap-booking, before Bigfoot realizes a knack for hedge sculpture, and his creations earn him acclaim from passersby. But with Bigfoot's newfound fame comes increased scrutiny that threatens Nessie's peaceful incognito existence. Campbell's wink-and-a-nudge humor pairs with Knetzger's rounded lines and adorable creatures to deliver a sincere story that explores friendship, social media exposure, and finding one's niche. Ages 6-9. (Feb.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"The Art of Getting Noticed (Bigfoot and Nessie #1)." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 52, 12 Dec. 2022, p. 73. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A731350564/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1eb5d627. Accessed 16 May 2023.
Campbell, Chelsea M. THE ART OF GETTING NOTICED Penguin Workshop (Children's None) $12.99 2, 7 ISBN: 978-0-593-38572-2
An adorably legendary pairing unfolds in this creative, cryptozoological graphic novel.
Bigfoot Littletoe III just can't seem to stand out. The rest of his family members make headlines with their epic photobombs of humans. Try as he might, Bigfoot keeps goofing it up, tripping, slipping, or stumbling and missing many opportunities to have his picture taken. When, one day, he gets tangled up in some campers' tent, a smartly disguised stranger stumbles upon the forlorn Bigfoot. With the flap of a flipper, she shakes him loose, and after a campfire heart-to-heart, she assures Bigfoot that there's more to life than being noticed. Bigfoot's new pal is none other than Nessie, but the fluffy fella does not recognize her as the Nessie of Loch Ness fame. Nessie suggests Bigfoot stop fixating on fame and start figuring out what he actually enjoys doing, leading to an artistic montage that culminates with Bigfoot finding his true passion: hedge sculptures, which finally bring him the fame he's long sought! Conflict arises when Nessie's true identity is uncovered and Bigfoot has to decide which is more important: the adoration of masses of people he doesn't know or the love of his one true friend. Far from being a one-note monster story, this tale has strong social-emotional elements, like Nessie's calm reassurance, which inspires Bigfoot to create art despite self-doubt, woven into the narrative to create unexpected depth and complexity. The cheerful, manga-inspired artwork pops with color and expression, adding a dreamy quality to the work. Luckily for readers, this darling duo will appear again, as this is the first in a planned series. Humans depicted are diverse.
A friendship story as rare as the creatures in it. (Graphic novel. 6-10)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Campbell, Chelsea M.: THE ART OF GETTING NOTICED." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729072604/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5b2c01f2. Accessed 16 May 2023.