Frank recently completed the illustrations for a book written by her brother-in-law entitled, PC Fear Factor, a layman's book on how to avoid and recover from certain common computer problems. Frank, who holds a Bachelor of Arts from Temple University with a focus in fine art and advertising, had never done cartoon illustrating before.

Although inexperienced in this aspect of the craft, this wife and mother of two did not let that stop her. She purchased books on drawing cartoons and set to work after the rest of her family had gone to bed. The deadline set by Alan Luber, the book's author was so ambitious, due to constantly changing computer technology, that Frank found herself working all night sometimes.

"I was going to do it because it's my brother-in-law and I wanted to participate in his book. Had I known the deadline was going to be so short, I might not have been so ready," said Frank. "But I got through it and soon I'll have the book in my hands and be proud to say I'm a published illustrator."

The cartoon illustration in the introduction to the book depicts a man obviously at his wits end, balancing on a huge rubber ball and juggling a computer monitor, screen, and keypad.

According to Luber, this illustration captures the central theme of the book, "that personal computers are unstable equilibriums, naturally prone to disruption and disaster."

The book was published October 24 by Que Publishing, one of the largest publishers of computer learning books ranging from amateur to expert. Many major retail chains in the area have signed on to carry it, including Barnes & Noble and Wal-Mart. It is also being marketed internationally.

Although art is her passion, Frank said that after college she did not want to be a poor, starving artist so she worked in advertising sales, a job with minimal artistic creativeness.

"I didn't think I'd make any money doing illustrations and here I am, after having gotten married and had kids," said Frank. "He (Luber) sounded like he had so much confidence in me. You don't realize what you have inside you sometimes. Each one seemed to come out better than the next, so it definitely progressed."

The book, written in non-technical, easy to understand language, serves to inform the average person on the cyber problems they may encounter, such as computer crashes and on protecting previously saved data. As the introduction states, "The three certainties in life are death, taxes, and computer disasters."

Although she has no plans to making illustration a full-time job (complete with the stress and demanding deadlines), Frank is contemplating doing illustrations for a select few books.

"Two of my girlfriends have given me copy for their children's books. I might try to do them," said Frank. "That would be nice to do children's books now that I have children to enjoy them."

No stranger to children's illustrations, Frank has completed blown-up color illustrations from children's stories and greeting cards that now hang prominently in her daughter's bedrooms.

For more information on the book, visit www.pcfearfactor.com.

Kristin Smith can be reached at ksmith@phoenixvillenews.com