AN ADULT COLORING BOOK + VENTING JOURNAL
Color Before Responding™
Write it. Color it. Get over it.
For the things you probably shouldn’t say out loud.
Put them on paper. Pick up a pencil. Give your better judgment a minute to catch up.
Put them on paper. Pick up a pencil. Give your better judgment a minute to catch up.
New 8.5 × 11 edition · Written & illustrated by Leena Hannonen
Existing cover shown · New edition: 8.5 × 11 inches
“Smart, Hilarious, Genius!”
— Tess Sweet, Amazon review
Before you hit send.
A LITTLE PAUSE. A LOT YOU COULD SAY.
Some
thoughts
deserve
a page,
Not an
audience.
SO… WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS?
One side for the rant.
One side for the restraint.
A funny adult coloring book meets a venting journal. Write what you’re actually thinking on one page. Color the facing page while your better judgment catches up.
The Package
“Three stops away.” Four hours ago. — Actual sample spread
The Parking Lot
It’s the cart. It’s always the cart.
Who did it. What happened. What you’d really like to say.
There’s room for all of it. And no one needs to receive a beautifully worded insult.
“This book helps me laugh at times like that.”
Bonnie · Amazon review · Verified Purchase
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Life’s tiny little
tests of character.
Modern life supplies the material. You supply the commentary.
01 / THE DELIVERY
Your package is “almost there.”
You now know every vehicle on your street. None of them has your package.
02 / THE PARKING LOT
The cart return was right there.
Three more feet. That’s all civilization was asking.
03 / THE EVERYDAY STUFF
And then someone hits Reply All.
The leaf blower. The hold music. The meeting that could have been an email. You probably have your own list.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Three things to do
before the fourth thing you’ll regret.
01
Write it.
The uncensored version. The one you wisely didn’t put in the group chat. Give it somewhere to go.
02
Color it.
Pick a color. Give your hands something to do while your internal monologue finishes its presentation.
03
Get over it.
Or at least get through the next five minutes without sending that message. Small victories count.
OTHER PEOPLE HAVE HAD IT, TOO.
Don’t just take my word for it.
Selected Amazon reviews of Color Before Responding. Reviews refer to the book, not specifically to the new 8.5 × 11 edition.
“Color Before Responding is brilliant. A great gift idea!”
Tess Sweet · Amazon review
“I could relate to almost ALL of these annoying situations—funny, great drawings.”
Cecilia Stanford · Amazon review
“It’s not just coloring… it makes you think about what you’re doing and what’s bothering you.”
Cynthia S. Chidester · Amazon review · Verified Purchase
“This book helps me laugh at times like that.”
Bonnie · Amazon review · Verified Purchase
KEEP ONE. GIVE ONE.
For your favorite person
who is so over it.
A funny gift for the friend with the running commentary. The coworker who has mastered the mute button. Or yourself, because you were there when today happened.
Stress-relief coloring with a sense of humor. A venting journal with somewhere for the colorful language to go. No inspirational speech necessary.
The book, in black and white.
Title — Color Before Responding™
Edition — New edition
Page size — 8.5 × 11 inches
What’s inside — Facing pages for writing and coloring
Made for — Adults with things on their minds
Words & art — Leena Hannonen
THE WOMAN BEHIND THE PAGES
Leena Hannonen.
Artist. Author.
Also annoyed.
Leena is a Finnish-born artist working across painting, glass, sculpture, photography and design. Sometimes an idea belongs on a canvas. Sometimes it needs a whole book.
In Color Before Responding, her words and illustrations turn familiar aggravations into something you can write about, laugh at, and color.
Because having something to say and saying it out loud are two very different decisions.
COLOR BEFORE RESPONDING™ · 8.5 × 11 EDITION
Your next response
could use a little color.
> Write it. Color it. Get over it.
The rest of the world can wait a minute.
The new edition’s purchase link and price will be posted here.
LITTLE FILMS. FAMILIAR FEELINGS.
There’s more where
that came from.
Everyday aggravation, in short form. Shorts & Reels will appear here as they’re added.
The things we don’t say.
UPCOMING CLIP
A little color. A little restraint.
UPCOMING CLIP
Modern life. So much material.
UPCOMING CLIP
Your inner monologue gets a page.
UPCOMING CLIP
Write it. Color it. Get over it.
UPCOMING CLIP
A FEW PERFECTLY REASONABLE QUESTIONS
Before you ask.
> What is Color Before Responding?
> Who is this book for?
> What is the new edition?
> Would it make a good gift?
> Where can I buy it?
Behind the humor
Before the coloring book, there was a courtroom.
After years of fighting foreclosure, writing legal briefs and living with the battle that consumed far too much of my life I needed something lighter. Something that made me laugh again.
Color Before Responding™ grew out of that need to reclaim a little joy, and a little perspective.
The serious story is in At the Helm.
#2 Hot New Release on Amazon | 4.9 stars
Book 2 is coming.
Get first word on new volumes and fresh annoyances.
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