Tuesday I wrote a blog post called Working Like a Dog. Actually, I wrote TWO.
Just as I finished…the entire post (except for one dog picture) disappeared. I sucked in a huge breath, but quickly calmed myself, figuring I could < back-up a couple pages to the original post. Or at the very least, I’d get a little computer announcement exclaiming that an earlier version of my writing had been happily saved in cyber space.
Nope.
Nada.
Nothin’.
I wasn’t a happy camper.
At this point (I’ve got other stuff to do, people) so I thought about posting the dog picture with a very long and throaty growl underneath it and letting it be an interpretive piece.
But I’d liked the concept, so I decided to suck it up and plow forward, rewriting as best as a could from memory.
And then something weird happened. I wrote a BETTER post.
The topic was the same. It still had almost all the same points, but it was clearly better.
As I scratched the dog’s ears, I couldn’t help but ponder the situation and what I came up with was…
WE HATE TO KILL OUR DARLINGS!!!!
In the small expanse of time that it took to craft a relatively short blog post, I’d gotten attached and invested in how I’d already started to write my piece. (Even if it wasn’t doing exactly what I wanted it to do.) But, the minute I no longer had that original structure of words, it freed me up to take the more fleshed out concept and roll it out like like a hiker’s sleeping bag at the end of a long day.
I don’t recommend losing blog posts. It’s aids in the loss of tooth enamel as you grind in frustration. But maybe–just maybe–sometimes it isn’t such a bad thing to start at the top.
Lesson accepted.
What’s the worst thing you’ve ever lost on the computer and had to start over?
Traditionally, when writers hear the phrase Working like a Dog, their minds go to coffee fueled, butt-in-chair, word sprints with fingers flying over keys. We picture grabbing a hold of the task at hand and refusing to let go until we find a book on the other end.
But having observed my pup, Riley, walk a half a mile down to the bus stop the other day, I’ve discovered there’s more to working like a dog then one might expect…
There’s exploration.
And it resonated with me. Sometimes part of working like a dog means needing to explore the world around us. When we do some mental meandering, we might find the spark that ignites our next story. Or, if not the actual spark, we may be filling our mind with all kinds of creative kindling. Which is just as important, because when the spark does arrive, it has something to ignite. There must be dots to connect–ideas to set aflame.
Dogs are smart.
It’s as important to give ourselves as much time to fill up, as we give ourselves to empty out between the pages of a book.
This is the balance of art and life.
And naps–don’t forget the importance of naps! Trust me, Riley knows what he’s barking about.
As a thanks for the canine guidance, tell me your favorite dog book. It can be anything from picture book to novel. I think mine is The Art of Racing in the Rain.
When I wrote my first book, TOUCHING THE SURFACE, I was obsessed with my musical playlist. I hardly ever wrote without it playing in the background. When I was brainstorming parts of the novel, I listened to certain songs over and over again. To this day, any of the songs on that list evoke very strong writing/book memories for me.
And then I stopped. Cold turkey.
I haven’t listened to a thing while writing since. And I’ve tried. I’ve made playlists for books I’ve worked on, but they never took on the life of that TTS playlist.
But… There’s always a BUT, isn’t there? Recently I found myself turning off my audiobooks while I’ve been running and listening to my workout music while giving the boys in the basement (my inner creative genius workhorses) time to day dream.
It’s been very helpful. I’ve had things I’ve been stuck on (for a thousand years) come bubbling to the surface. In excitement, I’ve done silly little dances of gratitude mid-run. Luckily I run on back mountain roads where there’s a limited amount of people witnessing my foolishness. Eek!
I’m not sure if these music fueled runs, or something else entirely, piqued my curiosity, but recently something possessed me to pull out the old, hardly been listened to playlist for my work in progress, CHASING ADAPTATION. Part of me wonders if it may have been morbid curiosity that caused me to dust it off. This novel has been written and rewritten so many times and with so many changes, I couldn’t even imagine the playlist being connected to my current scribbles.
But, as I listened, I found myself more than a little surprised at how perfect the songs were for the book I’m writing NOW. It seems a part of me has always known what I’ve been trying to say. The emotions, the questions, the feels and the wonder haven’t changed at all. Perhaps, the truly hard part is finding the RIGHT words to connect the dots between what’s always inside me and what gets printed on the page.
In honor of the boys in the basement, finally finding their groove, I thought I’d share one of the songs from the CHASING ADAPTATION playlist…
FIX YOU by Coldplay
When you try your best but you don’t succeed When you get what you want but not what you need When you feel so tired but you can’t sleep Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face When you lose something you can’t replace When you love someone but it goes to waste Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home And ignite your bones And I will try to fix you
And high up above or down below When you’re too in love to let it go But if you never try you’ll never know Just what you’re worth
Lights will guide you home And ignite your bones And I will try to fix you
Tears stream down your face When you lose something you cannot replace Tears stream down your face And I
Tears stream down your face I promise you I will learn from my mistakes Tears stream down your face And I
Lights will guide you home And ignite your bones And I will try to fix you
Do you have a playlist for your writing or any of your creative ventures. How does it work for you? What ignites your bones?
As I’ve been following the good, bad and ugly at my children’s former school district (lots of families feeling ambushed with an unwelcome and unorganized redistricting) I recently came across a few conversations where one group of people were having a violently strong reaction to ANOTHER negative thing happening in the district. But within these conversations there was debate, a bit of a clash on how this new problem should be emotionally and physically handled.
As someone who is no longer ankle deep in the WCSD do-do, I can absolutely understand the calmer heads who are trying to stay logical and grounded. But as someone who’s had this same school district pile negative things on top of me faster than I could push them off, I also feel a huge amount of sympathy for those who are hurt, frustrated and angry. *A Person’s a Person No Matter How Small In fact, I feel a little bit nuts in my ability to relate to the wide range of emotions people are feeling.
But to step outside of THIS particular situation, the whole thing has gotten me thinking about why some people are filled with an inferno of need to right wrongs. And why some people have the ability to roll over any ups and downs with little to no resistance. I think there are a zillion factors that play into this–especially individual personalities. But one thing that resonates with me is that each person has a TIPPING POINT. I think of this as the spot when everything changes. A tipping point might happen when someone has been asked to carry too much and the weight of a dust bunny might be enough to push them to fight.
But a tipping point can also be something that flips a person into a state of understanding, acceptance or perhaps defeat and exhaustion. As I said, I’m a bit familiar with both kinds of tips *Entangled Roots
Ultimately, it’s complicated. And while tipping points in real life are so stressful, we don’t want to be caught up in the middle of them on a regular basis, as a writer, we want LOTS of tipping points. It’s important for us to digest what we’ve experienced, so we can call upon it later to write relatable words that make people feels real emotions. We want to study other people’s tipping points and add what we’ve learned from them to our writing.
True story–no one wants to see a character that doesn’t struggle and grow. No one falls in love with a book where nothing ever happens.
As you observe yourself growing and changing and you see the people tipping around you, remember it’s more important to call on the universal feelings than the particular details. For me, surviving the WCSD has been a study in tipping points. What tipping points have informed your writing?
PS–sending all my love to my WCSD peeps. I’ve always got you on my mind. <3
Three day weekends mess me up. The rest of the week I’m usually late for everything. Accidentally doing Monday things on a Tuesday can make things interesting too. In order to solve this problem, I really think we should ALWAYS have three day weekends. One day for running errands and working around the house. One day for hauling kids to sports and doing other high octane fun things and then one day to just chill the heck out.
I see you nodding your head in agreement. The person who can make this happens totally gets a cupcake–a really good cupcake.
But in the mean time, while we’re waiting for the implementation of the standardized 3-Day Weekend format, you can give me a round of applause because I didn’t just write this blog post on time (despite the weekend confusion) but also managed to get in today’s YA Outside the Lines Blog written in a timely manner to. If you’re interested (and waiting for 3-day weekends) you can check it out…Getting Schooled is a Mobius Strip
Now I’m off to get some writing done. What would you do if you had an extra day added to your weekends?
ONE WEEK FROM TOMORROW MY KIDS WILL BE BACK IN SCHOOL!!!!!
(Me doing the happy dance)
Please don’t judge my enthusiasm–I really do sympathize with the back-to-school teachers. (((hugs)))
Truly, it’s not because I didn’t love having them home–we had a fabulous summer.
I got some projects done around the house. Cleaned out and organized all my clothes and the closets and drawers that hold them. *fist pump*
Then it was vacation time…
We went to Vancouver on our way to Alaska.
Then on to the Disney Wonder.
Tracey Arm, Alaska
Skagway, Alaska
Juneau, Alaska
And Ketchikan, Alaska too!
We also did some local stuff with visiting family…
The 9/11 Museum.
Summer in NYC
And then it was off to LA SCBWI!!!!
Caught a baby dragon <3
And happily hanging with my tribe. <3
And then a road trip to Lake Placid with my Mom…
Miracle on Ice
AuSable Chasm
And Whiteface Mountain.
But even when I was home, there was lots going on. Camps for the kids and just hanging out and enjoying the gorgeous Hudson Valley.
And while I absolutely did lots of writing over the summer, it was always writing that was done in and around other things. It was moments stolen here and there.
Which sometimes made it feel as if I was trying to type with a wee beastie in my way.
So, as great as the summer was, I’m looking forward to some longer, quieter, uninterrupted stretches of writing time.
And while my boys are moaning and complaining about their impending doom…
I think they’re secretly excited to see their friends again and perhaps to get away from their annoying mother.
(I know–hard to believe *snort*)
And of course, the trade off for that newly acquired work time will be lunches and homework and a never-ending schedule of after school and weekend sports and activities. But that’s okay. Although I have a reputation for hating change, I’m a seasonal girl–always more than ready for the next change of weather after the previous three months. And maybe, since I can’t slow down time (even if I wanted to) it’s a good thing that there’s some change I actually enjoy.
Love the one you’re with.
How do you do with the change of seasons? Back to school? Did you get more writing done over the summer of less? And what’s your favorite season? Mine’s fall–I consider it my own personal new year. <3
A couple weeks ago you may have heard me talking about The Ladies Noir, a group of YA writers who’ve banded together to help each other with the creation and marketing of our stories. Since then, the group realized The Ladies Noir wasn’t the right name to encompass the diverse writing styles of 30 different authors. So…drum roll please…we are now the YA Story Sisters (YASS) which I LOVE!
And to celebrate our, we are kicking off our new group with an epic back to school giveaway that includes 15 books from 11 of our authors…
In case you’re wondering, by Day 3 of #LA15SCBWI I’m a little tired. But I’m not alone. You should have seen what happened when we had a coffee break and there was no coffee left! Kinda funny actually–is it still called a keg stand when you’re twisted upside down to get your mouth around the dregs of a coffee urn?
Anyway–now that I’ve fried your brain, it’s time to hear the Sunday morning special. Deborah Halverson and the UP-TO-THE-MINUTE MARKET REPORT.
I never miss this keynote–Deborah goes to great lengths to keep us up-to-date on publishing and trends. My fingers were flying as I took notes. Here’s a bit of what I captured…
*Last year’s children’s book sales were highly impacted by movies. Think The Fault in Our Stars, Insurgent etc… But even so, sales are not flat in the children’s market.
How to understand how what you’re already writing (no following trends please) fits in…
Picture Book
-short and bold
-character driven
-illustrations tell 1/2 the story. Ex-Sam and Dave Dig a Hole
-Non-fiction still of interest-particularly narrative non-fiction
-Common core related books seem to be settling down. There’s still room for growth, but not explosive growth.
-PB’s that have layers
-re-readable
-funny character driven that has series potential
-emotional depth/connection
-diversity
-authentic experiences
Chapter Books
-there is room for new series
Early MG
-Diary of a Wimpy Kid has become a very popular format
MG
-MG has perked up
-Everything goes in MG
-Slow and steady can sometimes break out as a hit. Ex–Wonder
-Editors are seeing a wide selection in their inboxes but still not enough diverse submissions.
-WANT: Books with a literary soul and commercial legs
YA
-Editors are intensely selective
-Seeing a lot of contemporary in their inboxes. People are often too quick to writ to the “middle” and hit genre expectations.
-WANT:
-beyond a black and white view of the world
-deep personal experiences
-scifi/horror
-looking to diversify their lists so it’s not all contemporary when the pendulum swings
And in the internal world of publishing…
-our past sense of unbalance is stabilizing.
-eBook subscription packages are a thing.
-Indie sales are up due to the Buy Local movement, slower eBook growth and publishers rethinking their practice.
Next up was our second morning keynote by Stephen Fraser—MIDDLE GRADE PERFECTION: WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM CLASSIC AND BEST SELLING BOOKS
Poor Stephen, he ended up in the seat next to mine at breakfast one morning and we chatted. FYI he’s a tremendously pleasant guy to talk to as you’re shoving muffins in your mouth. But as the conference went on, Jodi and I (my breakfast buddy and roomie) kept bumping into him. Our fear was that he might think we were stalking him. But really, we just kept turning up in his path like pennies. Hopefully he feels richer for having met us. LOL!
But on to the fabulous keynote…
*MG readers are some of the most loyal readers in the book world. They are strong, willing attentive readers but they are also strong critics.
If we examine the classics and best sellers, what do we learn from them?
The third keynote for the morning was Shannon Hale–Opening up the Clubhouse: Boys, Girls and Genderless
Shannon was INCREDIBLE. There has been so much on the internet lately that has made me sad and discouraged about all things boy, girl, man, woman, feminine, masculine etc… Truth be told, I found myself shutting down because the heart of most of the rhetoric was about raising people up–even if we have to do it by knocking other people down so we can get a leg up. I found it spiritually discouraging. Shannon was different. She was honest. She was thoughtful. She was hopeful. She was generous. She was above all on Team Human. Here’s some of what moved me…
*You are not NO thing. You are something–with YOUR thing. (On writing in your own voice and style.)
*Shakespeare wasn’t afraid of writing interesting women. I don’t know what happened?
*Boys–why are you so afraid of Princesses???? I’m so sorry you have to live in such fear. ROTFL!
*Boys, who told you you can only do half the stuff? (On girls being told they can do or be anything.)
*It’s NOT an equal playing field for women authors or boy readers.
*Boys are taught to be ashamed if they want to read a book about a girl or a “girly book.” We have a lot of work to do.
*Quoting editor Jordan Brown when asked where the Judy Blume for boys is? “Judy Blume is the JUDY BLUME for boys!”
*It wasn’t until people read novels about people in other circumstances that they were able to empathize. Reading novels creates empathy.
*Can you dig it? I CAN DIG IT!
At this point in the conference I came up with not one conference word, but two. Here’s what came together for me as the conference was winding down…
MINE–I picked this word because one of the messages thumping me over the head over the weekend was that it will be my unique voice, heart and soul that will sell my books. Chasing trends and the success of others will only leave me in the shadow of others. I don’t want to be standing beneath or behind anyone else. I intend to shine my own light.
TOGETHER–This made me laugh because my words are so oppositional, but while my writing is mine and mine alone–publishing is so much harder to navigate if you are alone. My tribe is instrumental in me reaching to be a better writer. They help me keep my inner compass pointed in the right/write direction. They inspire me and remind me that this isn’t easy for anyone. They mean the world to me.
My first Workshop of the day was with Allyn Johnston and Mem Fox–LET’S TALK PICTURE BOOKS…Q&A AND SOME READ ALOUD FUN
Let’s just start off by saying I could listen to Mem read picture books for days. That voice! But in addition to captivating the audience with her fabulous PB’s. Here is what Allyn and Mem had to share…
*I’m inspired by emotional experiences.
*I don’t want 5 of your 20 manuscripts–I want the one you care about–the one that’s going to change the emotional temperament of the reader.
*You should have only enough words that you’re ready to turn the page when the child is done reading the pictures.
*Adults are so much more inept at reading and understanding the illustrations than children.
*Worry more about the soul of the story than the word count. <3
*Beautiful language doesn’t undercut illustration.
*Illustrator notes are outrageous.
And it’s time for the Golden Kite Luncheon & Awards presentation with a keynote by Dan Yaccarino
“By writers and illustrators, I mean friends and fellow dreamers.”
“Deep joy is only found in fulfilling our purpose.”
“I write to discover my own empathy–or to be honest–to work towards it.”
Kristy has been someone I’ve followed and admired on social media since I first started my journey as an author–it was amazing to see someone who has inspired me–have an impact on more of her peers. Her speech was incredible. <3
*Don’t forget the power of visualization. Take time to picture your dreams happening every day.
*Get addicted to the divine spark of inspiration–try to bring the divinity of that spirit into your stories.
My afternoon Workshop was with Jordan Brown–FIVE PRINCIPLES OF REVISION
Just and FYI I will go to hear Jordan Brown talk about anything publishing related and quite a few things outside that topic too. He’s fabulous. I was taking notes like a boss because he had at least 45 principles I needed to remember. Here’s some of his best and most useful bits…
*Revision is hands down the most important part of the writing process.
*Your book should be about the most important story of your main character’s life.
*It’s hard to get perspective on your own work.
*You shouldn’t think of revision as an extension of the first draft.
*Revision is the opposite of drafting.
-DRAFTING is peeling back layers.
-REVISION is putting back layers that are more refined.
When revising…
-Nothing is sacred.
-Character drives plot.
-Revision more often than not starts with cutting.
-Surprise yourself–if it feels familiar to you, it’s probably familiar to the reader too.
-Don’t be afraid to smart small–revision can be overwhelming.
*There are always things that are clearly important at the end of a book that weren’t at the beginning–go back and plant clues.
*READ, READ, READ!!!!!
The final keynote of the conference was by Kwame Alexander: #BasketballRules Kwame’s NEW #LA15SCBWI Keynote (Because Varian Johnson stole his other one Hahahaha!)
Rule #1–It might look like a long shot but you’ll miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Rule #2–Put in the work.
Rule #3–There’s no single formula for success, but you have to have a game plan.
Rule #4–A loss is inevitable.
Rule #5–When the game is on the line, don’t be afraid, grab the ball and take it to the hoop.
Rule #6–You’ve got to have teammates. It’s important to surround yourself with people who believe in you. Look around…we are going to do great things.
And while that ends the formal part of the conference, you know I was in line half the afternoon to get my books signed and talk to all of these amazing authors and illustrators.
Candace Fleming–yup–we both joined the SCBWI when we were 12 LOL!
I loved talking about writing with Anna Shinoda and Debra Wiles also, but we chatted so long I got hustled on my way and never got a picture with her LOL!
I was so stoked to finally get this book in my hands and to see Martha Brockenbrough have such an amazing moment. She has been a friend and an inspiration for such a long time. I consider myself so lucky to have her in my life.
Yup, I may have cried a little with Shannon Hale, but you can’t blame me–she moved me to tears. <3
I’ve been getting books signed by Dan Santat for years. It put a smile on my face to see all his hard work come to his greatest success to date. I KNOW there will be so much more in store for him.
And then before I knew it, it was Monday and I was on my way to the airport, full of ideas, inspiration and determination…and too many books in my suitcase.
I had to pull out 13lbs of Baby Dragons and Beekles out of my suitcase to avoid a $50 luggage charge. But that’s okay–I always feel better when my signed treasures are close at hand.
If you missed the first two installments for the #LA15SCBWI Conference Recap, you can find them here…
I would love to see you there next year and if you have any questions about the conference, I’d be happy to answer them for you. It’s really a fabulous event, worth planning for if you’re able.
It’s Day 2 of #LA15SCBWI and I can’t imagine a more inspirational start then hearing Dan Santat speak. Dan was this year’s Caldecott winner with BEEKLE, but what really makes it this keynote special is that Dan “grew up” in the SCBWI. Like many of the speakers I’ve heard over the years, he got his start in this tribe and he made that very clear…ALL IT TAKES IS A LITTLE TASTE: STORIES OF HOW THE SCBWI HELPED ME AND HOW I GREW AS AN AUTHRO WHEN I WASN’T AT THE CONFERENCE
Over the course of Dan’s keynote, he made us laugh and he imparted tons of wisdom and inspiration. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the place at the end of his speech. Here was my best take aways from Dan…
*Understand why YOU like–don’t be censored.
*If you have a closed mind, you’re going to miss out on the beauty of things.
*Comic books are soap operas for nerds.
*Learn from others. Ex. BREAKING BAD is a study in character development.
*Read Goodreads reviews with some common sense. You know when someone is giving you useful information that can help you grow. Also read the bad reviews of the classics to gain some perspective.
*Study the fundamentals–when you understand them, you then have the freedom to move around.
*Learn by imitation–don’t become a clone, use it to ADD to your fundamentals.
*If you do something hard once, you know you have it in you to do it again.
*Find your voice–stop imitating and start INNOVATING.
*Do what you love when the work will find you.
*Do it because you are passionate about what you do.
*If you put money in the equation, you’re never going to find it. It’s like chasing a shadow.
*Live and die by your own sword. If you put your faith in yourself you will tread water and survive.
*You don’t want to live with regrets. If I had quit I never would have had the Caldecott Medal. *cue sobs*
Next up was the AGENT’S PANEL: INSIDE THE CHILDREN’S BOOK MARKET
The next keynote of the day was Jane O’Connor–BORROWING FROM LIFE: CREATING A CHARACTER
Here were some Fancy Nancy style tips to remember…
*Leave out all the stuff that’s boring.
*Eavesdropping is crucial to writing.
*Middles are a bitch.
Jane was followed by Varian Johnson–IF IT WERE EASY, EVERYONE WOULD DO IT
Varian was open and honest and so touching with his ability to share his hard publishing moments with the audience. He had so much inspiration to share…
*The hard is what makes it great.
*We make the time.
*We all deserve to be part of the conversation, but we have to do the work.
*My job is to put words on paper. If the muse shows up that day–BONUS.
*Writing is a job that deserves to be treated as such. Set up a schedule.
*Don’t talk about it. Be about it.
*And while I’m not looking forward to my next failure…I know it’s coming.
*We’re writers…IT’S OUR JOB TO MAKE FICTION COME TRUE. <3
My second Workshop of the day was with the lovely Wendy Loggia–FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
…I loved learning a little bit more about Delacorte Press. Did you know…
*Delacorte plans their books out way in advance to give them the best marketing attention they can give. If you were to sell a book to Delacorte today (8/15) It would not be slotted for publication until Spring of 2017.
*Delacorte does not have a acquisitions board. Editors can acquire what they choose.
*Delacorte does not compete with other imprints at Random House
*Wendy does all her own editorial reading.
*Why Wendy purchases a manuscript?
-emotional connection
-loves the voice
-thinks it deserves to be published
Our next keynote was Molly Idle–YES, AND: SETTING THE STAGE FOR CRAZY CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT
Sorry–was having an afternoon brain fart or a caffeine low and missed getting a picture of Molly. Just imagine a highly energetic creative teaching us how to use theater to create stronger writing and illustration on the page.
Ummm no pictures here either. I swear I wasn’t sleeping LOL! This was a great panel on DIVERSITY IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
This may have been my favorite diversity panel I’ve heard yet. Here are some bits from my notes…
VJ–You don’t need permission to write diversely, but you do need to do your due diligence. And remember you aren’t trying to write the experience of ALL the people–just the one that’s your character. Your research is not different than any other research for a character.
JC–I try not to overthink the issue too much.
VJ–I’m not a fan of the term, CASUAL DIVERSITY, but it’s when the characters featured are diverse, but the diversity isn’t the issue. Ex-Lando in Star Wars
NY–I’ve never been sassy a day in my life! (on sassy diverse sidekicks)
JC–Write and illustrate without fear and if you have fear, pretend you don’t.
And then it was time for the Saturday Gala! This year’s theme was Sparkle and Shine. And FYI the sugar cookies were amazing–I ate them before I could get a picture LOL!
I hope all this fabulous information is helping your writing to sparkle and shine. You can catch me first conference blog installment here…LA SCBWI 2015 Part 1 At the end of that blog, you’ll see that I’m still running a contest to win a signed copy of…
WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN AGAIN by Jodi Moore
So don’t forget to head over there and take advantage of the opportunity. I’ll be back on Thursday with LA SCBWI 2015 Part 3!!!
I had the perfect flight lined up for #LA15SCBWI. (The 44th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference) I was leaving NY at 1pm which gave me enough time to get the dog and the boys where they needed to be and plenty of time to get settled in LA before the conference kicked off on Friday morning. That was the plan, anyway. After getting through security I realized I had an hour delay on my Virgin America flight, so I grabbed a sit down lunch. Then that one hour delay turned into a two hour delay.
So I read my magazines–standing up so I’d be ready for that 5+ hour flight.
And I also checked on the puppy. Riley is the 10 month old GSD in the middle. I am the spy LOL!
And of course I checked the #LA15SCBWI twitter feed, where I discovered that @alioop7 (Sky Pony Editor Alison Weiss) was on the same flight. Let’s just say we bonded by the time we arrived in LA–MUCH later than we’d planned. After the 2 hour mechanical delay, this is how it went down…
Everyone is loaded, but it’s starting to drizzle.
Hmmm doesn’t look like we’re getting off the runway. A big storm is rolling in.
The airport closes completely and we are stuck on the runway for over 3 hours. But…is that a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel? Yeah–not so much. It’s back to the gate to fuel up and hear more potential bad news. Now I’ve got my fingers crossed we get off the ground some time tonight. And I’m grateful that I didn’t have my kids stuck on the plane for five hours prior to the five hour flight. All those kiddos were fabulous BTW! And eventually, as the sun was setting, we were finally heading out.
We arrived at the hotel at 11:37pm which was 2:37am EST. *yawn*
I’d like to tell you I went right to bed, but I was in a room with my favorite writing roommate–Jodi Moore and her baby dragon!!!!
I think we both fell asleep mid-sentence. Basically nothing unusual.
After coffee and breakfast and more coffee, the first order of business was finding my RA the fabulous Nancy Castaldo.
I was proud to be her one and only Eastern Upstate NY attendee. We need to at least quadruple that number next year–start your conference fund NOW!
And then we are in conference mode. Poor Lin Oliver, she was suffering with a horrible tooth ache, but you’d never know it. Such a trooper!
Every year the faculty lines up to introduce themselves and they are each responsible for shouting out one word that is representative of them at the LA conference. Here were some of my favorite words…
community
backbone
intentionality
perspective
preparation (the H is silent)
juggle
codpiece
AND
YES!
anticip…
flip flops
curiouser
These words and my experiences over the conference always help me to come up with my own word or words as a takeaway. So watch for that in my last recap post.
And you can’t forget Lin’s Conference Stats. No Conference is complete without them…
*1173 Attendees
*437 Published
*736 Pre-published
*19 Countries in attendance
*48 States
-This year we were missing West Virginia and New Hampshire.
There were also 225 different occupations listed on applications…
*pediatrician
*car pool coordinator
*choreographer
*VP of transformation
*event planner
*trucker
*opera singer
*bonsai artist
*incentives manager for Victoria’s Secret
and my personal favorite…
*International small arms dealer–mostly doll arms LOL!
You’ve got to love us wacky children’s writers.
The first Keynote of the conference was with the legendary Mem Fox: INSIDE THE WRITER’S HEAD–THE WRITERLY THOUGHTS THAT LEAD TO SUCCESS.
If her rich voice and hilarious expressions weren’t enough, Mem also shared tons of wonderful and inspirational information with us. Here were my favorite bits of advice and encouragement…
*Adults love soggy sentimentality that makes kids want to throw up.
*Timeless books arise from genuine events that touch the author, not necessarily sadness.
*When writing picture books she keeps four children in mind…
-One on her lap
-One on the couch
-One in bed
-And the rest in the classroom.
*Mem WANTS to write books that kids don’t completely understand. She’s not here to keep kids trapped in familiar language.
*I can kindle a love of language or I can kill it.
*Rhythm is in the marrow of your bones if you’re a picture book writer. Often books are written as if word choice doesn’t matter–rhythm matters.
*Without the right words, the death of a book is imminent, which gives new meaning to the end.
I’ve heard MANY editor panels over my years of attending conferences, this one was very, very good. Lots of laughs, information, support and tough love. Here are the highlights…
WL–Dream Submissions?
SS–Fantasy–think escapism, swoony, transportive.
RM–Send me your awesome things.
AJ–Fresh take on universal themes. I want goosebumps. I want to read it again. Lots of room for illustrations.
JB–Character. We are doing our best work when we are expanding the reader’s capacity for empathy.
AW–Something that shakes up my own perspective.
JSG–Sense of humor.
Other bits of wisdom I jotted down…
JSG–I admire risk–even if it falls apart. I’m willing to work with that. It speaks to ambition.
JB–On the flip side, envy can be a powerful and useful emotion.
LOVE THIS…There should be picture books for every age. It’s not a form that people should grow out of.
Next was another workshop with Wendy Loggia–FINDING YOUR YA VOICE
*I think it’s possible to hone a voice that’s authentic to you and captures your reader.
*Voice is the first thing I look for and it’s non-negotiable.
*I know I’m reading something good when I’m swept away and not thinking about the author.
Oh boy–sorry to interrupt this workshop with a critique. This was my first LA crit–I was looking for a little guidance on an unusual project I’ve been messing around with. Just so you know, Bonnie Bader was super awesome and helped me so much.
***NOW BACK TO WENDY***
*Establishing multiple voices is HARD!
*What sets Delacorte apart? We do our own editing.
The last Panel of the day was the SUCCESS STORY PANEL: TIPS ON HOW TO REALIZE YOUR DREAM
Across the board, every single person on this panel was persistent, putting in years of effort and hard work to cross into success. My biggest take away was there are no short cuts. Here are some of their best bits of advice…
SL–On attending an SCBWI conference…I felt as if I owed it to my story to go.
MB–Family comes first, but you shouldn’t be making sandwiches when you can be making stories.
MB–There is always a moving target in publishing–what satisfies us are the meaningful relationships.
MB–Resistance makes you stronger.
LW–The pressure is making us diamonds! #sparkleandshine
MC–It should ultimately be a joyful process.
MB–Just finish the draft–it’s got to be finished.
After a full day of conference fun, there was the PAL bookstore where I adopted a whole bunch of baby dragons!!!
And–because I love you–I bought an extra signed copy of WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN AGAIN by Jodi Moore for a special giveaway.
Coming… September 1, 2015 from Flashlight Press
A dragon friend understands the ups and downs of becoming a big brother
Preparations are in full swing to welcome a new family member in this sequel to the award-winning When a Dragon Moves In. A young boy has become a big brother and he and his beloved dragon dedicate themselves to entertaining the little baby. But when the drooling, crying baby somehow charms the dragon and his attention, the boy decides he’s had enough of this baby business. Adult readers will see the dragon as the boy’s alter ego—eager to cuddle with the new baby before the boy himself feels quite ready, then as a conduit to the boy’s acceptance of the baby, and finally as kindred spirit with whom the boy can commiserate. Younger readers will love the boy’s wonderful, though perhaps invisible, dragon friend who helps him be a good big brother.
Please spread the word about the contest if–I’d love to see this dragon find a wonderful new home. And watch for the rest of my conference recap blogs coming next week.
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