I met Ruta Sepetys at the 2012 SCBWI LA Conference and she moved me. She inspired me. She motivated me and I hadn’t even read her book yet. And then I did read it–cover to cover on the plane ride home from LA–and I realized that I kind of hate her, even though I love her, because she wrote one of THOSE books. A book that is a game changer. It’s what I want to write, perhaps not the content specifically, but I long to leave words behind that make the world a better place.  She’s the kind of writer I want to be. When I talked to her and read her words, I saw her standing on the shoulders of the greats–like Harper Lee, Lois Lowry and Laurie Halse Anderson–that’s how good she is. And I wondered if there would still be room for me up there someday. But then I realized that I don’t have to be jealous–these women are not my competition–they are my heroes. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they’ve known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin’s orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously–and at great risk–documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father’s prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

You can purchase BENEATH SHADES OF GRAY here…

*Amazon

*Barnes & Noble

*IndieBound

*Other Online Booksellers

Kimberly’s Review of BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY:

I met Ruta Sepetys very recently at the SCBWI Annual LA Conference. I’m going to be honest, after hearing her speak, I moved BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY to the top of my to-read list and devoured it on the plane ride home from California.

Since I finished this book, I’ve recommended it to everyone. But as you might imagine, there are some funny conversations that come after I’ve passionately explained about this Lithuanian World War II story. For instance, I promised to bring the book over to my mother-in-law when I was done with this review. Yesterday I received a text message from her…

MIL: Kim, what was the name of that book you wanted me to read again? Some of the girls at work said it was Fifty Shades of Grey, which is kind of weird. Is that the same book?

Of course I set her straight LOL! But it got me hoping that more people will accidentally find Ruta’s book because of Fifty Shades. This would be a good thing because I’ve read them both and in my humble opinion, one of them WILL be read by enormous numbers of people and one of them SHOULD be read by enormous numbers of people.

BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY asks…”Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth?” I say we don’t wonder this enough. History is full of secrets, but I often question if this is by choice. Too often we fill ourselves up with books like Fifty Shades, so that we can claim that there is no room in our lives to uncover the real secrets–the ones that make us feel things and look at ourselves. What IS a human life worth?

Since we can not change history, I believe that history’s victims are owed a voice and a witness. Ruta Sepetys is the voice for those in Lithuania–the voice for human kindness. I am the witness. You are the witness. We can not change history, but by being cognizant, we do have the power to change the present. We must take the darkness out of secrets and bring the inhumanity out into the light–where we can keep our eyes on it. Where we can watch to make sure it never happens again. How can we prevent genocide, if we can’t even look at it. We get to choose what a human life is worth in the future. We have that power.

So, before you get your Christian Grey panties in a twist, I’m not saying you shouldn’t read Fifty Shades of Grey. I’m simply challenging you to read this book too. If you can be titillated by what goes on in that book, then you have the stomach to read about the real stuff. If you can stay up all night to read Fifty Shades from cover to cover, you can squeeze in a chapter a day of BETWEEN SHADE OF GRAY. I challenge you to step outside your comfort zone–fill yourself up with more than one kind of book. Be a witness. Help create a world where we never have to question what a human life is worth.

Read BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY.

Ruta Sepetys was born and raised in Michigan in a family of artists, readers, and music lovers. Her award-winning debut novel, “Between Shades of Gray” was inspired by her family’s history in Lithuania and is published in 40 countries. Her new novel, “Out of the Easy” is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 1950. A historical tale of secrets and lies, “Out of the Easy” is a haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny. Ruta lives with her family in Tennessee.

You can find out more about Ruta Sepetys and BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY here…

*Ruta’s Website

*Between Shades of Gray Website

*Facebook

*Twitter

So I need to know. Have you read this book yet? Do you plan to? What do you think of it? Talk to me people!!!

Tags: Between Shade of Gray, Kim Sabtini, Kimberly Sabatini, LA12SCBWI, Ruta Sepetys, SCBWI

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I think I mentioned earlier that this conference had some of the best panel discussions that I’ve been to at a SCBWI event. Up first on Sunday morning was the AGENTS PANEL–REALIZING YOUR CREATIVE DREAMS:WHAT THE PUBLISHING WORLD CAN OFFER YOU. (LO) Lin Oliver (Moderator)

(JC) Jill Corcoran

(DW) Deborah Warner (Filling in for Rubin Pfeffer)

(LP) Linda Pratt

(JA) Josh Adams

Here are their best pieces of advice…

What are you looking for?

JA-We don’t look for perfection, we look for potential that needs to be highly polished.

JC-Do your research. Pick 5 ideas you love , then pick the one that seems the most exciting. Be sure to research comp books. You can change the setting to make an idea you love more unique.

JA-We are looking for something that is truly unique. If we love something, we will find a home for it. What is expected of an author besides writing?

JA-Social media, tours, school visits, marketing. First books allow you take lots of time but after that, you’re expected to produce.

LP-Second books can’t be obscure and quirky. Your sales are being tracked (Book Scan) and you have to be pragmatic about what you pick in the beginning of your career.

JA-There is less time today to build a career.

Advice?

DW-Placing your second book is just as important as placing your first.

JA-Do your homework first. LP-Make decisions that progress your work, not just add another book. Selectivity. And be professional!

JC-About social media: Why do we all have to say EVERYTHING we feel. Have a filter. Be cautious and professional.

LO-Ask…Is this the highest and best use of your time.

Money?

JA-Children’s and YA have historically done thing differently than adult publishing and that is why we’re doing well.

Now on to the picture book panel. I’ve dabbled with picture books but don’t consider myself a picture book writer at this point in my career, but I am so glad that I stayed for this session. The wonderful insight and messages transcended the world of picture books and I walked away with a large amount of wisdom and inspiration–plus a whole bunch of laughs.

(JK) Jon Klassen

(AP) Antoinette Portis

(DY) Dan Yaccarino (Moderator)

(EY) Eugene Yelchin

(LW) Lee Wardlow

Trends?

EY-Trends? I don’t know what that means–we are in a very specific cultural moment. We must consciously be aware of being in THAT moment. We are helping to create the culture

JK-Trends apply more to novels because PB’s don’t have as much trouble explaining themselves. Don’t need comps the same way.

DY-We never get tired of hearing the same stories–we just want to have a unique delivery.

EY-You do your research, but it still has to filter through you.

JK-What makes a classic? It has something unreachable about it that makes you want to keep returning to it to try to figure it out. (GOODNIGHT MOON; GO, DOG, GO!)

The first breakout session of the day was one that is close to my heart. The Class of 2k7 (The founding class of 2k’s) is celebrating it’s 5th anniversary and of course that makes me a member of the 5th class to come through. Of course I had to attend this session by Greg Fishbone, Jay Asher and Greg Neri called CLASS OF 2K7: SOCIAL NETWORKING YOUR WAY TO THE VIRTUAL TOP.

Here are some of the stats on the Class of 2k7…

39 Members (13 Middle Grade and 26 Young Adult)

Releases: 17 Spring, 12 Summer and 10 Fall

When they started…

*They may have started as a group of balding male writers. LOL!

*Online marketing was very new and not the primary focus.

*MySpace was the big thing LOL! But it shows that social media is a moving target and you can put a lot of effort into something that just goes away.

Why group branding?

*Lends credibility to the authors–looks professional. There are groups beyond the Class of 2k series that do this also–like the Apocalypsies and the Lucky 13s.

*Joint presentations/signings make something an event.

*You better control your own spin.

Class of 2k’s Websites:

*Class of 2k7

*Class of 2k8

*Class of 2k9

*Class of 2k10

*Class of 2k11

*Class of 2k12

*Class of 2k13 They are just getting started!

Up next was the SCBWI Golden Kite Luncheon. If you’re not familiar with the SCBWI Golden Kite award, you can find out more about it HERE. The awards given out at this luncheon also include the illustrator awards, the humorous Sid Fleishman Award and the SCBWI Member of the Year Award, which was deservedly won by Suzanne Morgan Williams.

 And this year was also very special for me because Kate Messner won the Golden Kite Picture Book Award. Kate is a member of my SCBWI Eastern Upstate New York and one of the authors I used as a role model when I first started this journey. Congratulations Kate!!!!

And here are the other amazing winners…

So proud to see what the SCBWI is producing. Each book is a stone in a path that we are all creating together. I’m so amazingly proud to be a part of this tribe. After the luncheon I got to go to another breakout session with Ruta Sepetys!!! This allowed me to get an up close look at a Golden Kite award…too stinkin’ amazing!

Who needs an Oscar when you can have one of these? And of course, Ruta sent out a message of thanks to all of Verla Kay’s Blue Boarders when she saw Verla in her session too.

Okay, back to topic–which is–SELLING, PROMOTING & TOURING IN FOREIGN MARKETS. I wasn’t sure how much I’d get out of this session because I have 3 young kids and hopping on a plane and touring overseas isn’t going to be the easiest thing for me to do, but I’d learned so many fabulous things in my other sessions with Ruta that I couldn’t pass it up. I wasn’t disappointed. I learned a ton of information that will give me lots of advantages to dealing with foreign markets even if I’m staying right at home.

Here are some general tips that everyone will find useful…

*If you send video content–attach a script for easy translation.

*Have a selection of author photos because tastes vary widely.

*Create your own Q & A.

*Send thank you notes.

*sob* The last Keynote speaker of the conference. I hate saying goodbye to this kind of inspiration.  Gary Schmidt–THAT KID IN THE BACK ROW, THE ONE WITH THE RED SHIRT ON. Gary is the author of one of my favorite books–THE WEDNESDAY WARS.

*We are at our best with good and healthy routines. We need to pay attention to our surprises.

*I was put into Track 3 in first grade–I didn’t learn to read for a very long time.

*Never doubt your stories will effect kids.

*You write the stories that give your readers more to be a human being with.

*You will never learn to love art well until you learn to love what it mirrors better…the world.

-Love the world

-Love the stuff of your craft–words.

-Give your readers the deepest questions not easy answers.

-Pay attention

*Does the writing serve? We do not want to be hacks who simply seek fame and fortune. We are in a culture where we cease to cherish our children. We are called to cherish our readers.

The child deserves…

How do we get started?

Look.

Yes, it’s a miracle that I’m still alive today because by all rights, after that speech and all the others I heard at the conference, no one would have blamed me if my heart had burst. But that is how you should leave a conference so full of inspiration, hope and motivation that the touch of a feather would cause it to leak out of you. Now it’s time for the autograph party or as I like to call it…Kim gets to hug her heroes.

Of course, everyone feels the same way I do, so the line is outrageous LOL! But it goes rather quickly and it’s so worth it.

After hearing Eugene Yelchin in the Picture Book Panel I had to have this book, BREAKING STALIN’S NOSE. Can’t wait to read it with the boys!

 The second page of KINDRED SOULS by Patricia MacLachlan has a Red Tailed Hawk on it. Perfect.

Awww Bryan Collier blew me away with his keynote. From that moment on I became a life long fan. The SCBWI doesn’t get better than this.You must read DAVE THE POTTER!

I love Clare Vanderpool and can’t wait to read MOON OVER MANIFEST!

It’s Karen Cushman!!! Karen has published seven books since she started writing at age 50, including Newbery award winner THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE.

OMG!!! My kids are going to be soooo jealous. They LOVED reading Gary Schmidt‘s  THE WEDNESDAY WARS together. It was such a wonderful experience to share my children’s enthusiasm for his writing with him. We can’t wait to read his next book, OKAY FOR NOW together.

Pictures are worth a 1,000 words and sometimes us writers CAN just leave it at that–or maybe I’ll have just a little bit more to say about Ruta on Wednesday LOL!

And then it’s over…waving goodbye to LAX.

This is still the only view I’ve ever had of the Pacific LOL!

Turning back around over the ocean and doing an LA fly by on my way home.

Can you spot the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza?  It’s the low building with a curved shape next to the white tower.

On Monday there was also a wonderful day of Intensives but I didn’t attend, I was ready to head home and see my family. On my way out, I did see this little cloud and I can only imagine that some day it will show up in one of my stories LOL!

Don’t forget that you still have a chance to win a Pre-order of TOUCHING THE SURFACE right HERE!

Now that you’ve had a virtual SCBWI Conference, what do you think? Interested in joining the tribe? Already a proud member? Find any authors that you would love to hear? Make sure you request them with your SCBWI RA for your local conferences. Or just check out their amazing books and if you do love them, be sure to take the time to write a review for Amazon, B&N and Goodreads. Your positive support means the world to all authors and illustrators. It will never go unappreciated.

Tags: Antoinette Portis, Bryan Collier, Clare Vanderpool, Class of 2k12, Dan Yaccarino, Deborah Warner, Eugene Yelchin, Gary Schmidt, Golden Kite Award, Gre Fishbone, Greg Neri, Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Jay Asher, Jill COrcoran, Jon Klassen, Josh Adams, Karen Cushman, Kate Messner, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, LA12SCBWI, Lee Wardlow, Lin Oliver, Linda Pratt, Patricia MacLachlan, Rubin Pfeffer, Ruta Sepetys, SCBWI, Suzanne Morgan Williams, Touching the Surface, Verla Kay's Blue Boards

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It’s Saturday. The alarm seems to go off earlier and by alarm I mean my roommate poking me with her finger. The Starbucks line seems longer and the excitement seems bigger. Maybe it’s the caffeine or maybe it’s because SCBWI Conferences are freaking awesome. Realistically–it could be both.

Starting off the morning with Karen Cushman and COURTING SURPRISE. She was fabulous so I must share some of my favorite bits of advice and wisdom…

*The function of freedom is to free someone else.

*Rules: Make your own rules, or better yet, don’t follow any.

*We find the unconscious gifts we give ourselves.

*There is a difference between and editor and a critic.

*Tell the truth–there are things we are morally certain of and that the kind of truth I’m talking about.

*Write with passion and heart.

*Lighthouses don’t run around looking for boats to save–they just stand there and shine. (My favorite)

I’m going to be honest–this year was the year of the Panels. The Editor, Picture Book and Agent Panels were among the best I’ve ever seen this time. I was truly impressed. This was the Editor Panel: HOW TO SUCCEED IN PUBLISHING–FINDING YOUR VOICE.

From left to right with some of their best tips…

(JB) Jordan Brown

(EH) Elise Howard

(NP) Neal Porter

(LO) Lin Oliver–Moderator

(FJ) Farrin Jacobs

(TB) Tamar Brazis

(LG) Laura Goodwin

How do you define voice?

LG–It’s what makes an author unique. Equated with style, not to be confused with being stylish. The more you know who you are the clearer your voice is.

EH–Read Dan Gutman’s faculty bio from the conference and 1,200 people knew who she was talking about. That’s voice.

FJ–Things can be “too voicey” and feel unnatural.

JB–Bad voice is when you are picturing an author in their house trying to write a scene instead of being swept into a scene.

What are the attributes of successful authors/illustrators?

LG–Flexibility

EH–They are a contradiction. When you send an editorial letter, they do what you’ve asked but they likely do it in their own unique way, bringing something new and unexpected to the table.

TB–The ability to revise–separate your ego from the project to make the work the best it can be.

FJ–They keep their “stuff” to themselves.

NP–Expensive presents. Ha!

JB–The knowledge that the editor and the author know that they are working together towards the same goal.

There is something special about Bryan Collier. Something very special. Once again he was one of those speakers who I listened to and wondered how my life could have been complete without knowing that he was in it. He blew me away when he talked about FROM A SEED TP A TREE. I’ll share some of him most moving bits, but know that it can’t possibly do him justice–he wears his heart on his sleeve.  Every emotion he has is illustrated clearly on his face and he is a charming, funny, intelligent, beautiful soul. If you ever get a chance to meet him…you will come back here and tell me that I was right.

*What I do with my work–I’m chasing HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON every time. *heart squish*

*On Ezra Jack Keats–I never met him and he never met me, but when he wrote the SNOWY DAY, he spoke to me directly.

*In high school–I loved sports, but nothing touched me deeper than making art.

*You have to protect and nurture this artistic seed inside of you, but you still have to eat. Give up the romantic notions and do what you have to do.

*On visiting the lobbies of publishing houses every week for seven years, in order to try to sell a book–The publishing houses didn’t know what they did to me when they let me sit in their lobbies. It was magical, incredible. Julie Andrews walked by one day. I just wanted to get there.

*Everybody’s afraid of your dream–nobody knows what is going on inside of you.

Of course I floated down to my first break-out session of the day…

Lots of fun and great information from Jay Asher–NO BOOKMARKS ALLOWED: HOW TO INJECT SUSPENSE INTO YOUR NOVEL

Jay used one of the greatest suspense stories of all time to teach us what we needed to know…

There’s a Monster at the End of This Book! LOL!

So what do we need to keep the bookmark from slipping between the pages?

*Anticipation

*You have to have one character the reader cares about.

*A satisfying ending is unpredictable, but you believe it had to happen just that way.

*Inject suspense

*Use chapter endings to your advantage.

*Suspense killers: bad dialogue, unnecessary description, forced motivation, vague action.

After a yummy break for lunch. (Frozen yogurt with M&M’s and chocolate sprinkles may have been involved.) We returned for another bang up keynote by Clare Vanderpool, author of MOON OVER MANIFEST. Clare was hysterical and moving when she talked about WRITING IN THE CROSSROADS: WHERE CRAFT AND CREATIVITY MEET.

Loved it when she talked about a little neighborhood boy who booked her to come into his classroom and talk. (too stinkin’ cute) He also asked her to sign his book–unfortunately for Clare it was the 4th Lemony Snicket book. ROTFL!!! Of course she did it. <3

*There is no “What to expect when your win the Newbery.” (Clare won as a debut author)

*Knowledge of craft can form the foundation to create.

*If we think we’re going to get our hands slapped every time we write a sentence, than it’s almost impossible to create.

*You really do have to put in the miles–just like running.

*It’s about writing, writing and more writing–you can’t learn to ride a bike without actually riding the bike.

*Sometimes we think something is wonderful and it’s not, but sometimes we think something is horrible and it is not.

* My theory is that the universe is made up of story.

Next up was Deborah Underwood and THE POWER OF QUIET.

Shhhh…

*It might look like I’m doing nothing, but at the cellular level I’m very busy.
*Quiet is not validated in our society at all.
*There are built in pauses in our life.
*We owe it to the kids who read our books to make time for quiet–great things come from those pauses.

Back to the last break-out session of the day.

Jordan Brown–WRITING FOR BOYS

False perception: Writing for boys=Writing for people who don’t like to read. It has less to do with the ability to read and more to do with how to pitch to boys.

*Boys won’t like reading if they don’t like what they’re reading.

*Boys live in a multimedia world.

*Rise of the “Do it Yourself Aesthetic.”

*Developing connections with authors and readers

Kinds of things that have boy appeal.

*Boys don’t like to be talked down to.

*Boys do like gross-out humor but they know when it’s just thrown in randomly.

*Don’t assume that the things they like in life (sports etc…) are the only connections they will make to reading.

*Tether your fiction to the truth.

*It doesn’t have to be a boy character, but it helps.

*Guys just want to be yelled at less. Avoidance. They aren’t all about the personal development like girls.

*High concept doesn’t mean low quality.

*Don’t be afraid of illustrations or technology.

Okay–I’m read to start to gush again. It’s time for more Ruta Sepetys, SCBWI success story and author of BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY.

Ruta talked about YOU CAN’T BREAK THE BROKEN: WRITING EMOTIONAL TRUTH

Ruta started to write because someone asked her what her story was and she dared to dig deep. She repeats often that history holds secrets, but it’s not just a political history that does this–it’s our own.

*How much of your emotional stuff are you willing to give?

*What is the novel only you can write?

*What scares you?

*What causes you pain?

*What do you wish would just go away?

*Expose your emotional truth, putting it behind your fiction–that is timeless.

*The things you are feeling–there is a reader out there who experiences the same thing.

*I met my savage self when I undertook this writing.

*You can’t break the broken–but you can glue yourself back together.

*Reveal yourself–you have a safety net–the SCBWI

By the time Ruta asked us “What is your story?” I was in tears and profoundly moved. Just like Bryan Collier, I can’t begin to translate the power of this keynote on to the page but I can tell you that I walked away feeling as if I give anything less than this to my writing than I’ve sold myself short.

Deborah Halverson did an amazing job with AN UP TO THE MINUTE SURVEY OF MARKET NEEDS AND TRENDS.

Just the broad strokes…

*Picture books–improved market, but still fragile.

*Chapter books–room for growth.

*MG–best spot for acquisition.

*YA–More successful that ever, but very dependent on the big list authors while the mid list authors are still struggling.

General Submissions:

*High use of agents (conference appearances and referrals)

*What’s in the slush pile is sent prematurely–not usually a thought out fit.

*It’s hard to find self-published authors who can turn into successful acquisitions.

Internal Mood:

*Cautiously optimistic

*Tastes of editors doesn’t change because of the market.

*Creativity is at the heart of what we do.

TIME FOR THE HIPPIE HOP!!!!!

Jodi Moore and Mike Jung

Amy Nichols and Me!!! (We’re blurry because we hippy hopping LOL!)

Me, Stephanie Ruble and Jodi Moore

Gretchen McNeil and Me!!!! Love her. <3

Debra Driza and Me…who knew she was so tall???

RA of Eastern Upstate New York…Nancy Castaldo in a fabulous jump suit!

Yes, we LOVE Lin Oliver!!!!

Leeza Hernandez had my favorite costume of the night!

Can you guess who this is? I’ll give you a hint from above…he loves Grover.

And don’t forget you can still win a Pre-order of TOUCHING THE SURFACE…HERE. 

PS. It’s now 2am and I don’t have the braincells to read this over. I’m too tired to ask a creative conversational question so pop in if you’ve got something to say and if it’s got typos or formatting bloopers…I’ll fix it later *yawn* Night…

Tags: Bryan Collier, Clare Vanderpool, Conferences, Contest, Deborah Halverson, Deborah Underwood, Hippie Hop, Jay Asher, Jordan Brown, Karen Cushman, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, LA12SCBWI, Ruta Sepetys, SCBWI, Touching the Surface

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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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