And the Winner Is....

I am so very honored and excited to share some fantastic news. I attended the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Summer Conference in August, which has truly been the highlight of my year for four years now.  It's a time to meet up with my beloved writer friends, make new friends, share stories and nuggets of gold, meet the awe inspiring publishers, editors and agents that help make this kidlit machine run so beautifully, and a time to learn more about this amazing craft of writing and the business side of being an author.

This year I submitted my manuscript, STARRY KALAHARI, for a consultation and I WON the MOST PROMISING PICTURE BOOK AWARD!!!! Words honestly can not explain how blessed and honored I feel.  The fact that this is the very first year for the award is truly an award all within itself.

SQUEEEEEE!

P.S. A HUGE congratulations to the winner of the 2012 Sue Alexander Award, Kat Yeh!!!

Starry Kalahari's expert review! "Wonderful!"

Jenni's picture book manuscript,
Starry Kalahari,
received a fantastical expert review! 

You can read more about it HERE.

And the winner is....

I just found out that I won the SCBWI 2010 Barbara Karlin Runner-Up Grant. This grant is awarded each year to recognize aspiring picture book writers for their work in progress. The Barbara Karlin Grant is funded by Amazon.com and the Runner-Up Grant is funded by a generous donation by Ann Whitford Paul, which I am honored to receive. Thank you Ann!

Much appreciation and thanks to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and to the 2010 Barbara Karlin Grant Committee! THANK YOU!!!

I applied for the grant, submitting Starry Kalahari as my work in progress. I posted my USPS delivery confirmation receipt to my computer monitor with Scotch tape, taking a hopeful glance daily. It's an amazing thing when hope becomes a reality. 

I received a phone call yesterday afternoon from my SCBWI Assistant Regional Advisor, Q.L. Pearce who shared the exciting news. I can't describe the feeling, except to say that I'm honored, excited, and hopeful to share my books with young, curious minds all over the world... very soon!

Starry Kalahari WON!

The 2010 SCBWI-LA Writer's Day contest winners have been officially posted. HOW EXCITING!!!

See all the winners and titles posted here, including your's truely with my narrative nonfiction rhyming picture book manuscript, Starry Kalahari.

Spring Break Recap and Some GREAT NEWS!

Well, as you can see by my last blog post, I've NOT been blogging. So, what have I been doing???

In addition to all my PTO Secretary, Room Parent, School Raffle Organizer, New Girl Scout Daisy Troop Leader, Mom, Wife, and Schnoodle Owner duties... Let's see...

Of course, Spring Break was amazing. After spending some lovely time with some friends in Chandler, Arizona, we enjoyed an excursion on the Grand Canyon Railways with our kids.There was snow on the trail and it was C-O-L-D, but it was beautiful and lots of fun!

Here's my husband and two older kiddos on the trail...

Okay, so here's a zoom shot...

We all admired this super-cool squirrel from afar. As you can tell, he loves living on the edge of excitement, just like me.

Now, on to the GREAT NEWS! Warning: I'm taking the scenic route to get to the best stuff...
This past weekend I was privileged to attended the SCBWI-LA Writer's Day. I really don't know where to start! First of all, I had the pleasure of meeting one of my talented critique partners from the PICTURE THIS critique group, Sherry Dargert. We hadn't met in person yet, so we decided to carpool up together.
We heard about "How to Wow an Editor" from HarperCollins Editor, Rachel Abrams. She said to find your voice, write effective dialog, develop your characters and she discussed plotting, pacing and style.
Next, my rhyming hero and friend, Lisa Wheeler, shared her tidbits on Rhyme with Reason with the group. Right about that time I was pretty much in a daze. At the break, I added four of her books to my library, including Castaway Cats, and managed to walk away with this lovely picture. THANK YOU LISA!!!
I also met Nancy Sanders, author of D is for Drinking Gourd, one of my favorite picture books! She spoke to the published authors at the break out session, so I didn't get to glean from her speech (this year, that is... just you wait).
Now, on to the SUPER-DUPER-GREAT NEWS!

As if seeing lots of friends, making new friends, and learning from other brilliant and hilarious speakers (including Rachel Abrams, an editor at HarperCollins Children's Books, Herman Agency's, Jill Corcoran; middle grade author, Kathleen O'Dell; and YA author, Libba Bray), something even more exciting happened.

Just before we were dismissed, the contest winners were announced and my very own manuscript, Starry Kalahari, WON the non-fiction category! My friend, Rita Crayon Huang, posted a photo of my win on her blog here. All I can say is that my head is still spinning from it all and I'm floating on a cloud. Now I have something awesome to reference on my BIO for my query and cover letters - woooo hooooo!!!