SCBWI Los Angeles 2013 - Inspirational Moments

This past weekend I attended my 5th year of Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Los Angels Conference, filled with encouragement, inspiration and craft.  Woven between each keynote speech and workshop session were unforgettable moments with friends.  We laughed. We cried. We learned from one another. But most of all, we reminded each other that we are not alone.

It's not a surprise that I gleamed from the talent and love for our craft that was oozing from the California Ballroom stage and throughout the Century Plaza conference rooms all weekend. From the moment SCBWI founders, Steve Mooser and Lin Oliver welcomed us, I listened and watched and learned from authors, illustrators, publishers and agents. Here are just a few moments that inspired me.

FRIDAY

Your job is to defend, protect, and celebrate childhood. - Laurie Halse Anderson





















Don't put kids to sleep, for God's sake. Wake'em up. - Jon Scieszka



Do the unexpected. - Deborah Halverson

We hold a mirror to [our readers], but behind them is a world of fiction. - Peter Lerangis

Look right into the eyes of your audience; children. Know what they are going through and what inspires and excites them. - Michelle Markel

SATURDAY



Editors Panel, moderated by Lin Oliver, with
Nami Tripahi, Andrea Pinkney, Donna Bray, Claudia Gabel, Allyn Johnston, Melissa Manlove
This was the best editors panel I've ever heard. Everyone spoke candidly and was full of heart.




The story about Nico and his whale. - Mac Barnett

Read every line you write, out loud, standing up. - Richard Peck

Enjoy your writing. Don't worry about perfection. - Carolyn Mackler

You just have to sit down and work or nothing's ever going to happen. - David Wiesner

SUNDAY

Agents panel, moderated by Lee Wind

 The bar has been raised for all of us. - Steve Malk

Keep trying. Don't let rejection hold you back. - Jenny Bent

Publishers want to put out a personality. - Mela Bolinao

You can't force yourself to be a different person. - Ginger Clark

Know the market. Read books. Know what others are doing. - Joanne Volpe

If the story deviates from the image, ditch the image and follow that story! - David Wiesner

We are in an age where we compete with media. We need genre breakers. Attention grabbers. - Andrea Pinkney, author and editor at Scholastic

The craft of writing is getting your brain to bleed directly onto a blank page. - Richard Peck



















History is cool. Nonfiction is a way to remember truth. - Jeri Chase Ferris, Golden Kite Winner for Nonfiction

We live in a world where awful things happen, but sometimes there are things that are so atrocious that happen to kids and

we can't fix them. We create magic, wonder, escape.

- Jarrett Krosoczka, author of the Lunch Lady book series

Fellow writers, Meg Lentz and Bridget Casey, building characters through improve
in our intensive workshop with Henry Winkler

Don't overthink. It's all in your mind. You need to let it out.

- Henry Winkler

And a few more fun moments...


Joanne Rocklin, Golden Kite Winner for fiction



Mo Willems won the Sid Fleishman Award for humor, but unfortunately
he was tied up and couldn't be at the awards luncheon.

 


Meg and I enjoyed laughing with Marla Frazee at the book signing on Sunday



After Mike Jung signed a copy of his new book for my son, a lucky few of us
had the opportunity to enjoy our own personal concert as Mike played
the ukulele and sang with Arthur Levine.



You never know who you're going to spot in line at Starbucks. 

Meg and I met Jarrett Krosoczka on Monday.

Having a blast at the Black and White Gala with Lori Degman and the "checkered people"
(I later found out that they were Jessica Freeburg and Jay Asher)



This photo truly summarizes the weekend for me. Hanging out with my peeps. My tribe. My family.
I don't know what I'd do without the friends who help me through the ups and downs of this crazy literary journey.
I have a heart filled with gratitude to be a small part of the best organization in the world,
including many of you who were unable to attend the conference this year.

 I love you SCBWI!!!

Please be aware that the inspirational moments in this post were taken from my conference notes and may deviate from the speakers exact quotes.
All photos are copyrighted material and may only be used with direct permission.
(But, I'm pretty cool, so just ask.)


SCBWI-LA Writer's Day 2013

Me with my friend, Paula Yoo

I had the privilege of attending the SCBWI Los Angeles Writers Day 2013 on March 9-10 and the theme was Diversity.  It was a great time connecting with friends, learning about writing, and being inspired.

Here are a few highlights that resonated with me as a writer.



Steven Mooser greets the audience

 Author and SCBWI-LA Co-Regional Advisor, Lee Wind, began the weekend with a talk about our world of diversity and what that means for the characters you create. "What are the things that make your characters complex?"

Adriana Dominguez with Full Circle Literary Agency spoke about the market for diverse literature including challenges and opportunities. She spoke about the importance of children seeing themselves in literature. "Good literature seeks to bring as many readers as possible and is universal."

Author and 2012 Crystal Kite Winner Eugene Yelchin

After lunch the 2012 Crystal Kite Award winner, Eugene Yelchin, delivered a moving keynote about his thoughts on emotional writing for children. "The only way to make it easier for readers is to make it terribly hard for us, the writer. Our courage will help them feel less frightened and less alone."

Young Adult Author, Melinda Lo discussed cultural intersections and how she came to write what she does. "It took me a long time to believe in myself." Melinda added, "I wonder what it would have been like if I read about people like me [when I was growing up]."

Daniel Nayeri, Digital Editorial Director for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group spoke to us about what diversity isn't.  He spoke to us about censorship and encouraged society to have healthy disagreements, adding, "Whatever your opinion, there will always be a group that wants to silence [it]."

Me with the talented poet and author,
Nikki Grimes

Finally, one of my favorite poets and authors and Coretta Scott King Award Winner, Nikki Grimes, shared her keynote, The Poetry of Patience: How to Create a Classic.  Nikki told us about how powerful words are on the page and how our work as writers is sacred. Nikki closed telling each of us to bring that energizing power, presence and authority out into the world through our stories. "There are children who need it. All around."

A few of us returned on Sunday for the master class intensives offered by each of the guest speakers. I, along with my talented friends Paula Yoo and Claudia Harrington,   was honored to have the opportunity to attend Nikki's poetry intensive.  She shared an array of poetry styles. I have to say, it was quite mesmerizing to hear her read from a select few poems, some of which were from her books.

We brought our pre-intensive developed characters (pre-class homework) and worked independently on writing our own poems for both a picture book and a teen novel in verse.  It was illuminating to hear Nikki's writing process as she broke things down in a simple doable way. I walked away with what I think is a seed beginning of a novel in verse for tweens. 

Overall, the weekend left me emotionally spent and creatively encouraged to be more diverse in my writing.

On a similar note, I visited the library last week and checked out several books on poetry. One of my favorite poets is Langston Hughes, who I heard about from the awe-inspiring Ashley Bryan at the 2010 SCBWI Summer Conference when he delivered a stunning recital of Hughes' poem, My People.  I gave an example to my family of how different poetry is when it's read with real emotion by reading My People twice. First, quietly, almost monotoned with very little emotion. Then with gut wrenching emotion, volume, and passion (as closely to Ashley Bryan's delivery as I could muster up). It was pretty cool to see their reaction.  And for the first time, I think they got a glimpse of why I love poetry so much.

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!!!

SCBWI Summer Conference Budget

Hello Kidlit Peeps! I have LOTS of amazing news to share very soon, but first…

If you know anything about SCBWI, you know that the rockin’est party of the year is the Summer Conference, which takes place in July or August each year in Los Angeles, CA. That’s right… Ain’t no party like a KID LIT PARTY ‘cause the KID LIT PARTY don’t stoooooooop!

Now that we’ve established the importance of attending this fabulous party… errr…. conference each year, I’d like to touch on something that is not often talked about on discussion boards and blogs; budget.  For those of you who are new to writing or even those who are established writers but have never attended this conference, I’m sure money is an issue when considering a trek out to L.A.  So I’ve decided to dedicate this post to help you determine a monthly savings goal for the next 10 months that will help you attend the 2013 SCBWI Summer Conference. 

Ready?

Before we start, consider if you are on a low, medium, or high budget.  This will be determined by your actual monetary availability and your personal preferences (lodging priorities, what you eat and drink -- and how much, and if you are interested in the “extras” at the conference, like a manuscript or portfolio submission, or adding the extra day of intensives. Additionally, you might choose to check in on Thursday or Friday and check out on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. 

Everyone has their own wants and needs, so in order to generalize I’ve broken things down into three levels; Low Budget, Mid Budget, and the affectionately named “Party On” Budget.  Of course, these are only estimates, but they’re pretty close since they’re based on my experience attending the past 4 years.  The one line item that will be most “personal” will be the food/drinks. And to be honest, I’m not a big food/drinks person, so you may be better off determining how much you’ll spend each day and plug in your own numbers.  Also, I’ve included airfare (and estiate) and shuttle cost, so if you live locally, you can remove those from your total.

Keep in mind, the monthly savings goal is based on a 10 month plan (October through July) so you can start saving right now for next year. Of course, if you plan ahead or have some money throw into the pot to begin with, you can decrease your monthly savings amount if you base your plan on a 12 month cycle. Just take your total and divide by 12 instead of the 10 like I did.

Confused yet? OK. Here goes...

Oh, and remember, if you have any questions or comments at all please post them here.



By the way, don't forget to budget  extra money to buy some great books from the SCBWI Conference Bookstore!

I hope to see you there next year!

SCBWI Summer Conference 2012 is Coming!

Registration for the 41st annual Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Summer Conference will begin on April 18th. With last year's sell-out, don't miss this opportunity to join hundreds of kid lit industry professionals for keynotes, workshops, and lectures by some of the  best in the world.

Go to SCBWI's website for detailed information and I hope to see you there!