Woo Hoo!!!! GOOD NEWS NELSON is the second picture book by my wonderful friend and critique partner Jodi Moore, author of WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN. My boys and I were thrilled to receive a copy of GOOD NEWS NELSON for review from Story Pie Press. Here’s a little bit about it to get you started.

GOOD NEWS NELSON

By: Jodi Moore

Publication Date: December 4, 2012

Nelson delivers the news. Cranky old Mrs. Snodberry complains about the news. But when the headlines expose the plight of 100 abandoned cats, they both realize that the news is more than just a paper on a doorstep. Challenged by Mrs. Snodberry’s statement that “no one cares anymore,” Nelson develops a plan that will not only help the animal shelter, the cats, and ultimately the environment, but a plan that just might change Mrs. Snodberry’s pessimistic view of the world. The story dramatizes that children can do big things…and that bad news can turn to good news when everyone works together.

Here’s what the Jodi Moore fans in the Sabatini household had to say about GOOD NEWS NELSON…

Aidan (age 7)–“I liked how it was so creative–how it started one way and ended another way.”

Ty (age 9)– **spoiler alert**  “I liked how a lot of things were connected, like how delivering the news led to saving the kittens.”

Jamison (age 11)–“I liked how thoughtful it was. Not a lot of people go out of their way like Nelson did.”

All three boys were unanimous that their favorite characters were Nelson and the kittens.

Now, here’s my take on GOOD NEWS NELSON: This is a quiet, simple book and I say this in the most complimentary of ways. I’m raising three boys who often find themselves in the position of wanting to make a positive change in the world, but they aren’t really sure how to make that happen. GOOD NEWS NELSON is a story that shows it’s readers how small, but heartfelt actions, can make a big difference. It empowers children. It also illustrates the benefits of having a positive attitude and reminds us that saying “good morning” is a worth while investment. GOOD NEWS NELSON clearly shows that people are interconnected and we are all at our best when we work together–that is a message that I want my children to be exposed to. My kids loved this book, I loved this book and I know you’re going to love it too.

At this point, I know you’re already sold on GOOD NEWS NELSON, but the good news is far from over. Story Pie Press, in addition to putting out eco-friendly, fun, inspirational books for children, also connects each book it publishes with a charitable cause. GOOD NEWS NELSON supports The Humane Society of the United States with 30% of it’s proceeds. This isn’t just good news–it’s GREAT NEWS!

If you’d like to be a part of spreading the good news about GOOD NEWS NELSON by Jodi Moore AND help The Humane Society of the United States in the process, it is available for pre-order here…

*Amazon

Since I am absolutely going to be purchasing copies of this book for my children and their school and local library (and I hope you might consider doing the same) I will be giving away my review copy to one lucky reader of my blog today!!!! I want to share the GOOD NEWS!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tags: Good News Nelson, Jodi Moore, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Story Pie Press, When a Dragon Moves In

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I always like to start of the recap with some of Lin Oliver‘s Conference stats. I’ll be honest, it’s soooo much funnier when she lays them out, but I do still think they are interesting even when she’s not delivering.

The 41st Annual SCBWI Summer Conference had…

1,234 Attendees
46 States (Yes, the Dakotas and a few more were missing again!)
15 Countries
411 Published and the remainder Pre-published
171 Males (Yes–we stole their bathroom again.)
941 Females
122 Undeclared (They had more bathroom options than anyone LOL!)

This year’s opening ceremonies included an Olympic theme and we even had a torch match to help kick things off. And kicking things off meant we got to hear about TIMELESS books from the great Arthur Levine.

The question was asked…Should we look at a book with timelessness in mind? Do you have an answer? Opinion?

For this Keynote, we looked at the books that spanned Arthur’s career–the ones he felt were timeless.

*GOODNIGHT GORILLA
*MIRETTE ON THE HIGHWIRE
*THE ROUGH-FACED GIRL
*THE GOLDEN COMPASS
*WHEN SHE WAS GOOD
*HARRY POTTER
*HOW ARE YOU PEELING?
*MILLICENT MIN
*THE ARRIVAL
*THE SNOW DAY

Throughout the whole conference, this theme was revisited in many other keynotes and sessions, all with differing opinions on what makes something timeless, but almost everyone seemed to agree that it couldn’t and shouldn’t be predicted.

*PREPARE FOR SHAMELESS PLUG*

On that note, I will not be so bold as to say that my friend Mike Jung‘s up and coming Arthur Levine book will be timeless–but I’m pretty sure that GEEKS, GIRLS AND SECRET IDENTITIES is going to be made of awesome!!!!!

*BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING*

The second keynote of the morning was NEVER ABANDON IMAGINATION by the very funny Tony Diterlizzi.

Tony started out with an amazing quote…

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
― Albert Einstein

Ummm how did I live my life not knowing that one?

But here are some of Tony’s best lines too…

*Imagination has to be instilled at a very young age. In my opinion–when they pop out!

*Each year, as I get better at my craft, I’m another year further away from the kid in me.

*All that Dorothy, Wendy and Alice ever wanted was to go home. There is a longing to be in a place that makes us feel safe and loved.

*I’m a Jedi. (On Star Wars love…all the best ones are *wink*)

It’s Apocalypsie Time!!!!!

One of my buds from the debut group of authors called the APOCALYPSIES is the lovely Lissa Price, author of STARTERS. And she had a wonderful breakout session called HOW TO APPLY SCREENWRITING TECHNIQUES TO MAKE ANY BOOK BETTER.

Lissa helped explain high concept movies and books.

*High concept is to be thought of as an internal phrase, not something we should be using in queries or throwing around with editors. It’s how we need to visualize our own work to make it very competitive.

*High concept creates an “ah-ha” moment in one or two sentences–often with a touch of emotion and/or irony.

Lissa then became hands on with the crowd, helping them to tweak pitches and first lines to their best advantage. She was also very clear that not all books are high concept and literary works can be equally as successful, but how they capture the attention of agents, editors and readers is very different.

And there may have been some Apocalypsie goofing around that Lissa had to deal with also LOL!

Next up was Sara Shepard talking about SCANDALS, LIES AND MURDERS: HOW TO MAINTAIN MOMENTUM IN A SERIES.

Sara is the author of the PRETTY LITTLE LIARS and LYING GAMES series. Here are some of her best bits…

*Know who your murder is before you set out.

*Always incorporate a red herring into the series.

*Leave a bit to chance. The narrator has to be a little bit unreliable, especially is suspicion is cast upon them.

*You have to be willing to change.

The next Keynote of the day was Patricia MacLachlan–REVISING MY LIFE.

I really didn’t take many notes, I sort of just soaked her up and enjoyed every minute of her speech. Aside from writing HILARIOUS!!!!! and putting hearts all over the page, I captured this one to keep…

Childhood is powerful–children experience life along side us. We are all children.  The child knows all…

My next break out session was with Ruta Sepetys. I’m going to warn you. You are going to be hearing a lot about Ruta from me. I am going to refrain from gushing like a fool right off the bat, but consider yourself warned. You may want to come to the blog prepared for full-on-hero worship because it is inevitable.

Ruta–don’t hate me. I have many flattering pics of you and I fully plan to use them, but this one just captured how funny and accessible you were and it made me smile. This breakout session, MEDIA PREP: AUTHOR TIPS FOR RADIO, TV AND PRINT COVERAGE was part of the PRO Track–classes designed for the student who has different needs now that they are published.

I now have an endless amount of information to contemplate. Here are some of the broad strokes…

*Develop message points

*Distill them down to sound bytes

*Bridges allow you to communicate your message with a less than perfect question

*Pivots allow you to take something negative and turn it positive

*Never wing it…EVER!

The last Keynote of the day was HOW A DUMBASS LIKE ME GOT 100 BOOKS PUBLISHED by Dan Gutman. As you might imagine, this speech was funny, irreverent and very smart. Dan started off by giving us a list of advice starting with…

#13  Ignore all advice

#12  Join SCBWI (which negates number 13)

#11  Be persistent

#10  Try everything

#9    Don’t get stuck in a rut

#8   Become famous (like Madonna and then you can write anything and someone will print it LOL!)

#7   Find something really popular and then write something better

#6   Never write on an empty stomach (use paper)

#5   Break the rules

#4   Promote the hell out of yourself

#3   Take the Bull by the horns

#2   Use your strengths

#1   There is NO SECRET…when you do what you love, you love what you do.

Time for the Pizza Party and Book Sale honoring SCBWI Published Attendees. *yum and squee* Next year I’ll have pizza AND a book!!!!

Jodi Moore holding down the fort while Verla Kay had to step away. Seriously, doesn’t every one want to be Verla, mom of the Blue Boards?

Woo hoo!!! Got to meet fellow Apocalypsie Robin Mellom (Author of DITCHED) with her new MG novel THE CLASSROOM. Already loved DITCHED so had to get a copy of this one for me and the boys!!!!

I didn’t list the event times like I sometimes do, but in case you’re wondering…Jodi and I, registration and the Starbucks line were in full swing by 7:30 am and the Book Sale finished at 7:30pm. Somewhere after that hunted down dinner before I stayed up too late talking.  For clarity, there was a quick break for lunch and I got to share a meal with my lovely RA for SCBWI Eastern Upstate New York—Nancy Castaldo. (Fun pics coming in future installments LOL!)

Don’t forget that I have an on going contest to win a pre-order of TOUCHING THE SURFACE right HERE! The contest will be open the whole time I’m recapping the conference. Stop over to win!!!

Are you tired yet? Any presenters that I’ve convinced you that you must see? Oh, my friend, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Be back on Friday with more.

Tags: Apocalypsies, Arthur Levine, Blue Boards, Contest, Dan Gutman, Ditched, Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities, Jodi Moore, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, LA12SCBWI, Lin Oliver, Lissa Price, Mike Jung, Nancy Castaldo, Patricia MacLachlan, Robin Mellom, Ruta Sepetys, Sara Shepard, SCBWI, SCBWI Eastern Upstate New York, Starters, The Classroom, Tony Diterlizzi, Touching the Surface, Verla Kay

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Another successful SCBWI Eastern PA Pocono Mt. Retreat! Every time I attend this conference there is something special going on. This year I was thrilled to spend the weekend with Laurie Halse Anderson and to bring a friend to her first writing conference, but more about that later. First off, everyone celebrated the 20 year anniversary of the conference by exchanging memories. I was still in transit, but my buddy Jodi Moore (author of WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN) told the very special story of the Golf Bag Holder. If you haven’t heard this story you can read about it HERE.

Now we have two of our “babies” sitting in the Golf Bag Holder with us. <3

Now that everyone knows the secret of the Golf Bag Holder, everyone wants in on the love. This just makes me smile.

First up was my Workshop Session with Sara Sargent, who talked about Inspiration, World Building and Other Indoor Sports.

My favorite thing she said in this session was that watching a character evolve is fun. Seeing it happen live is exciting, so take your reader on the ride with you instead of giving them so much backstory. I don’t think I can ever be reminded of this too much. Great advice.

The first Keynote speaker of the Conference was New York Times best selling illustrator Amy June Bates…

***WELCOME SATURDAY***

This is the part of the program where the Friday all-night gab-fest mutates into a dire need for coffee AND the heart thumping anticipation of knowing that Laurie Halse Anderson is going to be the morning’s guest speaker. *SQUEE*

Laurie’s keynote was Writing the life of Your Dreams. Crap! How am I going to pick out just a few choice phrases for you to savor when everything she says resonates with me and makes my heart grow by three sizes? I’ll do my best…

*Never Google your name–You only need to know what YOU think of your work.

*Writing time will not magically appear.

*Having a dedicated writing space opens up a dedicated writing space in your brain.

*Give yourself the gift of art, especially if you’re feeling dry. You need new stuff going into the well.

*”I would rather have a root canal and then chew on aluminum foil that write a first draft.” I LOVE THIS WOMAN!

*Ideal ratio of time spent for writers–10 hours writing : 5 hours reading : 1 hour farting on the internet. *head thunk*

Next up I had the pleasure of having a second Workshop session with the lovely Sara Sargent. 

It was a packed house so I pulled up a section of rug, which was actually rather comfortable. This session with Sara was about TENSION and how to take your novel to the next level.

My third Workshop session was outside of my usual box, but I enjoyed it tremendously. YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP: HOW TO USE PRIMARY SOURCES TO CREATE NARRATIVE NON-FICTION by Deborah Heiligman.

As I mentioned, narrative non-fiction is not something I ever plan to write myself. Research makes me break out in hives, but I LOVED hearing about how Deborah created CHARLES AND EMMA and I’m biting at the bit to read it now. Attending this session gave me lots of great take aways that I could translate into my own writing life, but the one thing that really struck a cord was when Deborah said…”It all has to be in service to the love story.” What she meant was that, with an avalanche of facts and interesting information to pick from, the only way to successfully chose what to put in the book came when she reminded herself that her story was a love story and all the information needed to progress that plot line of Darwin’s life. I loved being reminded of that–I know how helpful it is to have that focus in my own writing. So, as a little side note, I highly encourage you to step outside of your box every once in awhile and take a session that you don’t think will be a perfect fit, because you just might find something wonderful in the unexpected.

Now it’s time for Laurie Halse Anderson to get mean about revision in Workshop #4

I’ll share a couple of her secrets with you…

*Everything needs to be on the table to be cut or changed–even the main character.

*It doesn’t matter if it REALLY happened. It’s only good if it informs the story.

*It can always be better.

*The fun of reading is the mystery–don’t weigh down it down with too much back story.

*Make the character’s life hard.

*Kids reach for books to find out how other people deal with situations.

*THE GAP-this magical place between the reader and the story. You want to trust the reader enough to let them fill out some of the places on their own.

At dinner, Taylor and I had our very first knitting lesson. It was so much fun when it stopped being confusing LOL!

This is how I started…

And this is how I ended…

Megan, Carli, Kim, Stephanie and Taylor

After dinner the lovely Kay Winters talked about THE POWER OF PICTURE BOOKS.

BTW–Guess who had an ARC in the Silent Auction?

ME!!!!! I’m very happy that TOUCHING THE SURFACE could help raise funds for next year’s scholarships. And the auction winner was…

My girl and yarn guru, Carli Bandeira. I really hope she loves it. <3

And just when you think that we’d exhausted our sugar rush from the Sweet Inspirations candy bags with writing prompts…

It’s time for a dance party… Twist and Shout!!! Oh, and Mary–we did Jagger LOL!

***YAWN…WELCOME SUNDAY***

Heading back in after checking out of our room and putting our bags in the car, Taylor and I were cruelly reminded (by Megan and Jodi) that we had yet to make it to the table with the morning beverages LOL!

Next I got the chance to hear Deb Heiligman speak some more…

*Writing for children is the most important job in the world.

*When I am writing I recognize myself–I know who I am when I’m writing.

And to finish off the conference there was a FIRST PAGES/FIRST LOOKS Panel that evaluated the first pages of picture book, middle grad and young adult manuscripts in addition to a selection of three illustrations by three of our artists. And of course, because the conference was so wonderful, I can’t help but avoid saying goodbye. Here were some more highlights from the weekend…

Friends sharing their books.

I finally was formally introduced to Carli’s tea duck. He totally quacks me up!

A full circle moment for me–getting to share one of my heroes with someone I love very much. Laurie personally welcomed Taylor into our tribe.

We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us…

Laurie and Taylor. This makes my heart squish.

Laurie signing books for the Fishkill Frogs!

Taylor with knotted yarn barf. ROTFL!

Sara Sargent and I have a very similar chocolate addiction. We bonded. Green & Black’s Organic

Yep, I was totally trying to put Angie in my suitcase. I love this lady.

And speaking of love…

I know it’s a little blurry, but the thing is…I can see it clearly and that is all that matters.

Monday is almost here and I’m more than tired. I stayed up too late talking to my friends all weekend, but very moment was a gift I couldn’t pass up, and speaking of presents…

I’m now the proud owner of my very own Time Turner. It feels good to have it–you never know when you might need it. But for now…

I don’t want to go back and change a thing–it was perfect.

I’m taking questions about the conference or the magic of the Golf Bag Holder.  Or you can feel free to chime in about the sheer awesomeness of Laurie Halse Anderson or the SCBWI Eastern PA. Wish you all could have been there.

Tags: #SCBWIPA, Amy June Bates, ARC, Carlu Bandeira, Charles and Emma, Deborah Heiligman, Golf Bag Holder, Jodi Moore, Kay Winters, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Knitting, laurie halse anderson, revision, Sara Sargent, SCBWI, Simon Pulse, Time Turner, Touching the Surface, WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN by Jodi Moore

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Claire Legrand, author of The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls (August, 2012), started a game of author tag.  Patty Blount, with her debut novel SEND coming out August 1, 2012, has claimed to have tagged me. I’m skeptical. I ran seven miles on the morning of said “tag” and I’m pretty darn sure she didn’t even get close enough to touch me but–this sounds fun–so I’m going to play along anyway.

If you’re tagged, you have to do the following:

1. Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next seven lines/sentences as they are – no cheating
4. Tag 7 other authors

Here are my seven lines from page 77 from the first draft of THE OPPOSITE OF GRAVITY…

Today, keeping a low profile worked for me, although every time I looked up I’d catch Charlie staring at me. I pretended not to notice.

   When the bell rang I gave an audible sigh. I was relieved that from here on in I didn’t have class with Danny, Julia or Charlie. I wouldn’t have to make small talk or have them checking up on me every time I found myself drifting into space. I could feel free to focus on trying to anticipate exactly what Mr. G was going to say and what I was going to say back. 

                                                                                                *   *   *    

            I’m not going to lie.

And there you have it. And in case you’re interested–there will be lies.

Now I must tag seven writers. Here they are…

1. Jodi Moore

2.Mindy Weiss

3. Megan Gilpin

4. S.J. Pajones

5 Carli Bandeira

6. Jeni Bell

7. Linda Hanlon

Tags: Carli Bandeira, Claire Legrand, Jeni Bell, Jodi Moore, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Linda Hanlon, Megan Gilpin, Mindy Weiss, Patty Blount, S.J. Pajones, Send, Tag, The Opposite of Gravity, Touching the Surface

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It’s Sunday.  Technically it’s Super Bowl Sunday and I’m sitting in the middle of a football party in my living room. I’m in the big chair in the corner with my lap top and a heavy-duty set of ear plugs, digging into this last conference post that took place last Sunday. I’d like to say this is dedication, but truly it’s not.  I’m *gasp* not a football die hard and I only feel compelled to even be in the living room (instead of hiding upstairs) because my kids think I should be thrilled about this spectacular sports event. I do not begrudge them the excitement and passion of the game, I feel the same emotion when I go to the “Super Bowl” of kid lit writing events.  To each his own and if you like both…more power to you.  Let’s kickoff this last conference post!

Sunday January 29th, 2012

8:30-9:00  AWARD PRESENTATION for the Tomie dePaola Award and the Art Showcase winners but first a HUGE shout-out for the staff of the SCBWI.

Feel free to stop reading and give them a little standing ovation…I’ll wait.

Now, on to the Portfolio Showcase Winner: Mike Curato

This could have easily been a picture of me standing in front of the cupcake counter at the Magnolia Bakery.  Mike obviously knows how to capture a moment!

You can check out the art from the rest of the winners on the SCBWI Conference blog and also find artwork from more of our talented illustrators on the SCBWI’s Illustrator Gallery.

9:00-9:15  SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT by Jane Yolen

I don’t know about you, but I get tingly just thinking about Jane Yolen speaking–she always captures my attention and has something fantastic to say.  This year was no exception.  The SCBWI has started the Jane Yolen Mid-List Author Grant.

Here is what Lee Wind on the SCBWI Blog had to say about it…

“Congratulations to Mary K. Whittington for winning this year’s inaugural Jane Yolen Mid-List Author grant! A published author who hasn’t had a new book come out in a while, Mary recently had a stroke, and is halfway through writing a new novel using voice recognition software. Jane calls Mary her hero, and hopes the grant helps her get that novel finished and out into the world.

And our cheers as well to Ann Whitford Paul and Barbara Diamond Golden for their honor grants.

More information about the Jane Yolen Mid-List Author Grant (and how to nominate a mid-list author you know for next year) will be forthcoming on scbwi.org, where you’ll find information on all the author and illustrator Grants and Awards.”

Yes…Jane Yolen is made of awesome!

9:15-10:15  PANEL: METHODS TO THE MADNESS: THE PROCESS OF MAKING PICTURE BOOKS: Featuring the Bookmakers Dozen and  moderated by Laurent Linn

Don’t hate me–I loved the Bakers Dozen, but there were just too many people for one panel.  So many, I’m not even going to list them all.  It took me the first half hour of the presentation to figure out who was who.  But I did jot down a couple gems from Peter Brown…

*If you plan on making a career in this business–you have to be an idea factory!

*You need to take the reader into account–you don’t want to make the best book ever that no one reads.

*You don’t want to be the last one to write a vampire book–you want to be the first one to write a robovamp book.  Don’t steal that.

Time to goof off a little before the next panel…Lin said to stretch.

Scott, Jodi, Kim and Sam

Allan, Justin and Scott…ready to tackle the agent panel. LOL!

10:30-11:30  PANEL” THE CURRENT MARKET FOR YOUR WORK: FOUR AGENTS’ VIEWS

Moderator (LO) Lin Oliver

(GK) Ginger Knowlton, Agent, Curtis Brown LTD.

(RB) Regina Brooks, Founder and President, Serendipity Literary Agency, LLC

(CR) Chris Richman, Agent, Upstart Crow Literary

(KW) Ken Wright, Agent, Writers House

***I’M INTERRUPTING THIS BLOG WITH A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT…THE GIANTS HAVE SCORED A TOUCH DOWN!!!!  EVERYONE SEEMS EXCITED. NOW BACK TO OUR REGULAR PROGRAMING.***

State of the market…

(KW) Every time I make a submission, editors are asking where is this book going to go and how is the author going to get me there. The days are gone when someone can acquire a book just because they “like it.”

(GK) Exciting, Exhilarating, Exhausting

What are you looking for?

(CR) Voice…but a lot comes down to the hook.

(KW) I choose based on what I know about individual editors.

(RB) My job is to come up with ways to position the book.

(GK) Lots of debut novels being published, so agents and editors are looking for fresh voices.

(KW) YA is going to continue to trend.

On building a career author…

(GK) Nurture every connection–small community, play nice.

(CR) The more attractive you can make yourself, the more likely we are to want to work with you.  (No…not physically attractive. *head thump*)

11:30-12:30  CLOSING KEYNOTE: KEEPING YOUR FOCUS by Kathryn Erskine

I love how animated and enthusiastic Kathryn is!

F-freedom

O-organization

C-creativity

U-understanding

S-sharing

Here’s the best of each category…

FREEDOM

*Create whenever you can.

*Free yourself from the guilt that you’re taking time away from other people.

*Free yourself from self-doubt. Do you remember what books got awards when you were 15? No–you remember what books moved you.

*Whenever you think about hanging it up–remember there is a kid out there who needs you.

ORGANIZATION

*Organize your workspace.

*Organize your MS–Scrivener.  (I’m a personal fan.)

CREATIVITY

*To be creative you really have to take care of yourself.

*Being creative is hard, sublime, ridiculous.

*You’ve got to do what works for you.

UNDERSTANDING

*What do you want to say?

*Understand your audience–how to relate you your readers.

SHARING

*At some point you have to let your “baby” out into the world, but have it ready.  Taking some time to do it right is worth it.

*Published of now, take some time to connect with your readers NOW.

STAY FOCUSED…

*You know your passion–that’s why you’re here.

*talent plus determination.

*Books save us.

12:30-1:00  DOOR PRIZES AND CLOSING REMARKS

1:00-3:00 AUTOGRAPH PARTY!!!!!!

Chris Crutcher and Me!!!!

Making a cyber friend into a real life friend.  Cindy Rodriguez and Me.  And yes, I have on my TEAM WOLF PACK T-shirt!!!!

Class of 2k12 love–Me and Lynda Mullaly Hunt.

Kim and Kathryn Erskine–totally LOVE her!!!!

Kathryn Erskine signed one special for my Fishkill Frogs!

Me and my best buddy, Jodi Moore–author of WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN. *love*

Me and the love triangle queen, Cassandra Clare.

Cheryl Klein is AWESOME!!! That’s all I have to say. *grin*

Lin Oliver signing for my boys who ADORE her books!!!!!!

The perfect end to a perfect weekend. (Magnolia Bakery)

Hope you enjoyed my virtual tour of the NY SCBWI Conference.  Next I’ll be heading to the Eastern PA 20th Annual Pocono Mountain Retreat, where I’ll be spending the weekend with…drum roll…Laurie Halse Anderson. *SQUEE*  If you’re not too far away, think about signing up, I’d love to hang out with you.

Any conferences in your future?  Tell me where you’re heading–I always love to hear about your writing adventures and I’d love to read about what you’ve learned along the way. Were you at NY?  What was your highlight? And who won that Super Bowl?  And were you watching?

Tags: Cassandra Clare, Cheryl Klein, Chris Crutcher, Class of 2k12, Jane Yolen, Jodi Moore, Kathryn Erskine, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Magnolia Bakery, NY12SCBWI, SCBWI, Super Bowl, Touching the Surface, Wolf Pack

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