Awesome!  Inspiring!  So many books, so many authors, so little time!



Neil Gaiman (!) and me.  The highlight of the weekend was meeting him, getting my copy of The Graveyard Book signed and hearing his Newbery speech in person.  Wow.



Me and Tammi Sauer with her new picture book, Chicken Dance.  Check out this youtube

link www.youtube.com/watch of her publisher (Sterling) having fun with her book.  I wish all publishers were like this!  Tammi's coming to Wisconsin's SCBWI Fall Retreat in October.  We'll be bawkin' n rollin'!



Me, Kashmira Sheth, gbeaverson , and Ann Bausum.  Kashmira, and Ann are in critique groups of mine and Georgia's, though not the same one, if that makes any sense.  If not, oh well, it's not important.  :)  Kashmira received the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for her beautiful picture book, Monsoon Afternoon.



This is Ann Bausum and Kashmira Sheth, who both had signings of their awsome books!




The illustrious Richard Peck so graciously signed two books for me, Newbery Honor A Long Way From Chicago and and an arc (advanced reading copy) of his newest, A Season of Gifts!



Mo Willems.  Love him!



I couldn't decide which copies of Sarah Dessen's books to get for my daughters (I read them, too!) so I bought six, and she signed every one! 



Lisa Albert, a fellow Wisconsin SCBWI-er, whose Enslow biography of Stephenie Meyer just came out!



Me and Georgia with Janet Halfmann, another fellow Wisconsin SCBWI-er, signing her wonderful book, Seven Miles To Freedom.



The SCBWI booth fantastically decked out by the Illinois chapter.  That's Esther Hershenhorn on the right, the fabulous Illinois Regional Advisor.



Talk about BONUS!  I had my copy of The Calder Game signed by author Blue Balliett and her editor, David Levithan, was there!  Squeeee!  I loved Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist!  (He wrote the boy parts)  :)



Georgia, Holly Black and me.  I got my copy of Geektastic signed AND got the coveted Geektastic pocket protector.  Does that make me a geek?  Hell, yeah, and proud of it!



Gennifer Choldenko signed both my copies of Al Capone Does My Shirts and Al Capone Shines My Shoes.  Saweet!



You may know her asthatgirlygirl , Tanya Seale was in my very first critique group when we were greenhorns, waaay before we even knew what SCBWI was!



Jon Scieskza and Lane Smith



Laurie Halse Anderson



Judy Blume.  Love her!  I grew up with her books.



Georgia, Ingrid Law, me



Libba Bray



 Libba Bray sat in the loooooooong line for her signing (before it started) and chatted with fans.  How cool is that? Had my copy of A Great And Terrible Beauty signed AND got an arc signed of Going Bovine!

That's the great thing about ALA, you're surrounded by people who love books as much as you do.  Publishers give away tons of arcs, I scored bags full!  Bags people!  Can you say a little piece of heaven?  I just wish I could hole up for weeks and read, read, read. 



Isn't that a beautiful sight!  :)

For now, don't be surprised if you happen to run in to me at one of my son's baseball games and I seem to be engrossed in the player's list.  It's hiding a book.  :)

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Bridget Zinn is a good friend and critique group member.  She was recently (and shockingly) diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and is undergoing treatment.  Bridget is a talented author and her writing friends have banded together with an auction to help offset her escalating medical costs. 

Come join in and bid on manuscript and portfolio critiques, signed first edition books, marketing and promotional consultations, original artwork, even a chance to have a character named after you!  Much, much more - just click on the link below.  Auction ends May 31. 

http://bridgetzinnauction.wordpress.com/

Happy Bidding! 

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I spent the weekend with Simon and Schuster editor Alexandra Penfold and one of her authors, Laura Schaefer.  Laura’s latest book, The Teashop Girls, is out and fabulous!  I reviewed it for Dane County Parent and will post that soon.

Alexandra Penfold and Laura Schaefer

 

The best part of any conference or workshop is reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.  We had a small group of 23 smart and knowledgeable writers, many who are already published.  I learned just as much from them as I did the presenters, which is a testament to our enormously talented chapter.  Wisconsin Writers Rock!

 Thelma Godin and Sara Akin

 Michael Kress-Russick and Zach Loveland

 Sharon Addy and Kate Heling

The weekend started with Alexandra having us spend some time on a character study.  Not necessarily your main character, it could be any character. You know the drill - describe your character, where s/he lives, their family situation, friends, fears, goals.  We all know great novels start with a great character. 

 

What’s interesting about character studies is that most of what you discover won’t end up on the printed page.  But, the secrets you uncover will add a depth to your characters emotional development that will resonate throughout your novel.  It’s vitally important that your reader care about your character.  Otherwise, they might not keep reading. 

 

Some of Alexandra’s questions I had never thought of before:

 

·       Who is your character’s best friend?  Why are they friends?  (It was the second part of this that I found very intriguing.)

·       If your character got $20 for their birthday, what would they do with the money? 

·       What is your character’s most memorable experience?  Why?

 

At all times you should be thinking, how would your character feel about this, react to that?  Stay true to your character.  I was excited about what I discovered and immediately started jotting notes about what I could add to flesh out my mc. 

 

We did a meaty first pages session (actually about a page and a half). 

 
First Pages Session
 

You can really learn a lot from this exercise, but you have to pay attention.  It’s not something that uses a step-by-step instruction manual.  I love hearing everyone’s beginnings and then thinking about ways to make them even better.  I’m taking those ideas and applying them to my own manuscript, and not just the first page but to every scene.

 

It’s difficult to summarize this exercise except to say it gets you thinking like an editor.  Did you find the mc’s voice appealing?  Did it hold your interest?  Was the language and word choice engaging and appropriate for the character?  Did the opening scene have enough description?  Dialogue?  Did it pull the reader in?  First pages are tough!  Maybe that’s why we revise them over and over and over . . .  or is that just me?  J

 

One more note about first pages, or more accurately your first scene.  Oftentimes it’s hard to know where to start a novel.  TIP:  begin on the day when things are different.

 

Chapter endings are important, too.  One way to end is on a hook.  Something so suspenseful the reader can’t possibly put the book down and compels them to turn the page.  Sometimes a chapter should end for emphasis, like putting a period or exclamation point on what just happened.

 

Revising an entire novel can be overwhelming.  Take your time and really think about the revisions you want to make.  Work on developing one character at a time.  Add suspense or conflict in a different round, plot development in another.  This makes it more manageable.

 

Alexandra and Laura took us through the many revisions of TSG’s first chapter.  They shared Alexandra’s editorial revision letters to Laura and we even got to hear Laura’s agent’s pitch to Alexandra.  A good behind-the-scenes look at everything.

      
Alexandra and Laura                                      Alexandra Penfold          Laura Schaefer

 

Laura also gave us a dialogue exercise.  Shhhh, I’m secretly admitting that I worked on revising my first scene instead.  Laura, if you’re reading this, sorry!  But, but, but, I had some ideas from first pages and I just had to get started!

 

In my current round of revisions, I’m switching from third person to first.  It turns out that Laura also went through this revision with TSG, so I’m in good company!  I like the way I can get into my character’s head in first person and it’s working much better for this particular novel.  Though, I sure wish I would have realized that from the beginning!  *sigh*  Live and learn.  J

 

An aside:  a question came up about using song lyrics.  It’s very expensive – around $1,000 per line.  Yikes!  You have to go through the music publisher to get the rights, not the artist.  But, titles aren’t copyrighted, so you can use those.  Good to know!

 

On Sunday we discussed grass-roots marketing.  Long gone are the days when an author can sit back after getting published and shout, “Yes!  I have arrived!”

 

Alexandra has a marketing degree and started out in publicity.  She had a lot of good ideas.  Workshop participants also added their ideas and strategies.  Did I mention how brilliant our Wisconsin writers are?  Some marketing and publicity ideas:

 

·       Get a website!  Have excerpts, reviews, activities, teacher’s guides, discussion questions, interview your characters and have them answer questions.  Kids love this!

·       Blog, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Flickr - Web presence is a must.

·       Vistaprint.com is an online printer and a great place to order business cards, postcards, bookmarks, etc.

·       Do a book trailer.  Post it on Youtube.

·       The publisher’s publicity department should put together a press release and contact bookstores like Borders and Barnes & Noble to set up signings.

·       You should contact your local newspapers, news channels, schools, magazines, clubs and organizations, librarians, book reviewers.

 

Laura does all of this.  Wow!  Both Alexandra and Laura are open and super friendly.  It was a lot of fun hanging out with them, especially since Alexandra bought several different kinds of Michael’s Frozen Custard and shared them with us.  J 

 

Happy Writing!

Judy


More Pics





Alexandra Penfold, RA Pam Beres, ARA Judy Bryan (Moi) and Laura Schaefer



Shawn McGuire-Brown and Jamie Swenson



Jennifer Motl and Jeannee Sacken



Kate Heling and Karen McQuestion

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New York was fantastic!  I went to the top of the Empire State Building, saw Wicked, barely survived a NY taxi ride, and got lost only once.  Not bad for my first visit!

 The top of the Empire State Building

pamberes

     and    esther hershenhorn


 A view from the top ~ breathtaking! The pictures don't do it justice.
 

 

The SCBWI conference was the highlight, of course.  J  So many people, so little time. 

Me, S&S Editor Alexandra Penfold, and Pam


Me, Pam, Denise Vega, and Ellen Hopkins


stacy_dekeyser  and pamberes
 

Hey, we're Wisconsonites, we found a pub!  :)


Me, Pam, Michael Kress-Russick and

gbeaverson</lj>

 

 

 

Onto the conference ~ the keynote speakers were fantastic! 

 

Jarrett Krosoczka started us off with a funny and entertaining look at his work.  He’s working on a graphic novel series called The Lunch Lady (coming out this summer), which started out as a picture book.  His other work includes:  Baghead, Punk Farm, and Good Night Monkey Boy.  He debuted a hilarious video.  Check it out here. 

 

• The best piece of advice he ever got was from Paul Newman -  pay no attention to reviews.  The good ones will give you an inflated ego, the bad ones you’ll spend a lot of time recovering from.

The legendary editor Richard Jackson, even though retired, still has three books coming out.  Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca in 2009, Black Crow by Chris Roshka in 2010, and Julia Delaney by Theresa Nelson in 2011. 

 

• Words of wisdom:  No great novel is remembered for its plot, you need a great character

Jay Asher gave an inspirational luncheon presentation.  It took him 12 years to get published, but what a book!  13 Reasons Why made it to the New York Times bestseller list.  I highly recommend it.

 

SCBWI is entering a brilliant new venture.  The first two DVD’s of the SCBWI Master Class Video Series had a Red Carpet Premiere.  They feature Tomie DePaola and Richard Peck!  Linda Sue Park introduced the legendary Richard Peck.  He’s amazing.  Tomie DePaola is recovering from pneumonia and couldn’t be there, but Lin Oliver called him and put him on speaker phone.  She’s so funny!  We saw snippets of the videos.  V. impressive.  I couldn’t find anywhere online to buy these, so I’d recommend keeping an eye on the national website for information.  

 

Bruce Hale was awesome.  Simply awesome.  He’s quite debonair and can sing, too, which he did during his presentation.  Author of the mid-grade series The Chet Gecko Mysteries and a picture book titled Snoring Beauty, he injects humor into his work and talked about some of the techniques he uses.  Farts, for one.  Boogers for another.  Kids LOVE this.  And anything gross, make them squirm.  But, he cautioned, be sure to include some beauty in your books, too.  Kids get enough ugliness every day (bullies, divorce).  They need beauty.  Also very important, tell the truth.  Kids have a built in BS detector.  Show them both the dark and the light, but make sure hope triumphs.  More words of wisdom:

                              

·       Beauty has the power to transform us.

·       Write what you love - with humor, truth, beauty and lots of squirming.

·       Write with heart and passion because it matters.

·       Put heart and love in your stories and you will be loved in return.

 

The editor breakout sessions I attended:

·       Michelle Nagler with Bloomsbury

·       Caitlyn Dloughy with Atheneum

·       Jennifer Greene with Clarion

 

 And the agent panel:

·       Michael Sterns, Firebrand

·       Michael Bourret, Dystel and Goderich

·       Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Media Group

·       Edward Necarsulmer IV, McIntosh and Otis

 

All had inspiring and hopeful things to say about the industry.  Despite the sagging economy, it was the consensus the publishing industry and particularly the children’s division, would survive.  We were reminded many times that it’s all cyclical and there have been hard times before.  Work on your craft.  Good stories will get published.

Jack Gantos closed the conference.  He’s the author of The Jack Henry Books, The Joey Pigza Books, and The Rotten Ralph Rotten Readers, plus a few YA’s.  A very entertaining speaker, he left us with this final message:

·       Get it done.  "I want to see you in print, because I'm tired of reading my own work."

A final farewell from Bruce Hale:  May the muse be with you.  J

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Double whammy!  I've been tagged by both bridgetzinn and gbeaverson. 

The rules are as follows: link to the person who tagged you; write down six things that make you happy; post the rules; tag six others and let them know you have done it; tell the person who tagged you when your entry is up. 

Six Things That Make Me Happy ~

1. Lazy days with nothing to do but curl up with a great book, like Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.  :)
2. Watching a thunderstorm roll in on a hot summer day.
3. Fun family dinners full of laughter.
4. The ocean.
5. Opening a perfectly aged bottle of cabernet sauvignon.
6. Sharing it with good friends.

Now I have to tag six others.  Hmmmm . . .  I choose:

pamberes, dorichaconas, stacy_dekeyser, mjdiem, thatgirlygirl, and kidlit_kim

Have fun with this!  Seriously, it gives you warm fuzzies.  And I can really use those right now as it's -6 degrees outside. 

 

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I'm so excited about the Newbery winner ~ 

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.  A fabulous book by a fabulous author!

Check out all the ALSC winners at:

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/2009medawardwin.cfm

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I joined Facebook today.  If you're on, come friend me!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1396411722&ref=name

I hope that link works!  :)

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I've made two New Year's resolutions this year:

                   1)  Clean off my desk (!)
                   2)  Lose the pounds I put on over the holidays

I'm doing good with one.  Care to guess? 

My desk used to be so covered with books, binders and stacks of paper that there was no room for my laptop, which is why I bought it in the first place.  I had to buy a bookcase, but now the books and binders are neatly organized on said bookcase and my papers have been filed.  Whew!  I should have taken before and after pictures.  I didn't because the before pics would have been way too embarrassing!

As for #2 on my list.  Well, pfffft.  Why is it so hard to lose weight after 40?

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I want to recommend a fantastic book by a friend of mine ~ 

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I posted over at Kidlit Central today.  It's a Meet and Greet Monday - come and meet Kashmira Sheth.  :)  She's an award-winning author whose novels and picture books weave together love, family, traditions and daily life in India. 

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The annual SCBWI-Wisconsin Fall Retreat was held this past weekend and it was fabulous!  It's so much fun to catch up with old friends, make new ones and leave inspired and energized. 

We had a great faculty line up: 

 

• Stacy Cantor, Associate Editor, Walker Books
• Steven Chudney, Agent, The Chudney Agency
• Linda Sue Park, Author (Newbery Medal – A Single Shard)
• Holly Black, Author (The Spiderwick Chronicles)
• Henry Cole, Illustrator. (Jack's Garden)

   Stacy Cantor, Linda Sue Park, Holly Black, Henry Cole, Steven Chudney

 A close-up :)

Krista Marino, Editor, Delacorte Press, was unable to join us due to a death in her family.  Her Grandfather passed away and our thoughts are with her and her family.  She will be joining us next year at the retreat, though.  J

 

Holly (blackholly) started us off with a great presentation on the rules of fantasy. I don’t write fantasy, but enjoy reading it.  It turns out that there are a lot of rules to follow.  You can’t just make stuff up, people!  And if you write a fantasy set in a specific country, you must adhere to the folklore of that country.  Holly does a lot of research for her wonderful books.  I brought my stack of books for her to sign.  I even had the Spiderwick ones that were in the cereal box promotion!  I think she was surprised to see those.   

 

Holly regaled us with hilarious stories of her family.  My fav, words of wisdom from her mother:  Never astroproject.  You might not be able to get back into your body.  Is it any wonder Holly grew up to write fantasy?  I, for one, am very thankful to her mother.  J

 

I make a coffee run every morning at these events.  I NEED my morning expresso.  It turns out that Holly does, too.

 

 

 

During a coffee run, Holly told me about a couple of things that creeped her out about the Siena Center, a retreat facility run by nuns on the beautiful shore of Lake Michigan.  First, the slightly creepy religious symbol hanging on the wall of her room.  Let’s just say it definitely wasn’t the kind that invokes warm fuzzies.  All night long, it watched.  Holly needed to astroproject at night.  J

 

Second, and I never noticed this until she pointed it out to me, there’s a big sign in the dining room.  I mean BIG.  It takes up half a wall.  I need to work on my observation skills.  It reads:  You Are The Eucharist.  Ewww.  And in the dining room?  Double Ewww.   Kind of gives an Ed Gein meaning to those sloppy joe's we had for dinner.  Oh come on, you know that's funny - in a sick and twisted sort of way.  :)
 

Can you tell how much I enjoyed Holly?  She’s so much fun and has this great sense of humor and infectious laugh that gets everyone around her laughing too. 

 

Steven Chudney was up next.  He told some very funny stories about what to do and what not to do when dealing with an agent.  To see if he’d be the right agent for you, check out the current guidelines on his website.

 

We had time for plenty of socializing at night and way too much time to visit our heavenly snack table.  Brownies, popcorn, cheese curds, cookies, shrimp, sausage, crackers, truffles, pralines, peanut brittle, nuts, chips, apples, muffins, pound cake, chocolate, pretzels, chocolate covered pretzels – that’s just a small fraction.  Seriously.  It’s so yummy!

 

Henry Cole gave a lively and entertaining power point presentation about what an illustrator does and his many (70) wonderful books.  He was amazing.  Truly.  And he's self-taught!  You can check out his website here.

  Henry Cole, Me, Holly Black and Silvia Acevedo

 

Stacy Cantor gave a great presentation about picture books, making every word count and revision.  

 Stacy Cantor.  Isn't she cute?  And so young!

She had early drafts of Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  Did you know that Where The Wild Things Are started out being called Where the Wild Horses Are?  But, Mr. Sendak didn’t draw horses very well, so he changed it.  J  One advantage to being your own illustrator. 

 

Linda Sue Park is a dynamo!  

 Linda Sue Park

She’s intelligent, decisive, and insightful.  When she starts talking about writing, keep up!  She goes a mile a minute and has so many great ideas!  One of her many fabulous tips: 

·       Write in scenes.

·       Break down each chapter by scenes.

·       Write one sentence that describes each scene. 

·       If you can’t capture the heart of a scene, your scene has a problem.
 

Another tip:  Write two pages a day.  Everyone can do that.  Give yourself permission to stop after two pages.  Sometimes you will, sometimes you won’t and will go on to write a chapter (or two, or three . . .).  Either way, you will make progress.

 

I love that idea!  It’s simple and doable.  So that’s what I’m off to do.  Right now.  Write my two pages.  Come join me.

 

Happy Writing!

More Pics ~

 

 

 Peggy Tromblay, pamberes and Holly Black blackholly

 

  dorichaconas, Moi, and Dori's lovely daughter stacy_dekeyser

  Ann Bausum

 

 

 

 

 

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I attended the Charlotte Zolotow Lecture last night presented by Judy Blume!  What an amazing woman.  She's lovely, compassionate and has become a fierce leader in the anticencorship movement.  She titled her speech The Accidental Activist, soon to be uploaded on the CCBC website.

Judy Blume didn't set out to take on cencorship.  She set out to write the most honest books that she could.  And I, for one, am thankful that she did.  I still remember reading her books, the emotional impact they had, and the fun times my friends and I had reading/discussing them.  "We must, we must, we must increase our bust."   Does that ring a bell with anyone?  LOL!   

My friends and I passed around her books.  Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret was a favorite.  Forever, Deenie, Blubber, Then Again Maybe I Won't all hold a special place in my heart.  We had sleepovers to talk about the issues raised in those books.  We came away more thoughtful and caring. 

If you want to read more about Judy Blume on cencorship, click here.  If cencorship is touching any of you right now, whether you're a writer, reader, teacher or librarian, she has some great tips on what to do if it happens to you.

Have a great weekend, everyone.  I'm off to the SCBWI-Wisconsin Fall Retreat! 

Happy writing ~

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Did you know that Wisconsin is one of the most haunted states in the country?  Me neither.  Until I did a little research for an article in Dane County Lifestyles magazine.  You can read it on their website by clicking here.  There's also a link to a trailer for an upcoming movie called The Witches Of Whitewater.  I should warn you, it creeped me out!

There's even a disclaimer at the end of the article.  Did I write somthing *gasp* controversial?  I didn't think so.  As it turns out, an historical expert from Whitewater ends up having to field tons of phone calls whenever something about the witches comes up.  So, my wonderful editor greenlinnet1  put in a disclaimer to make him happy.  Though I have a feeling when the movie comes out, he might need to change his phone number.  Poor guy.

I had fun with this one.  I love everything spooky!  And there's something about October in Wisconsin that brings out delicious down-the-spine shivers.  A cool nip in the air, crisp leaves skittering across the pavement, the trees slowly turning skeletal - perfect weather for me!

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Lots of great things are happening in the children's writing community around Wisconsin.  Check out my post on Kidlit Central for details.

Happy Writing!

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I posted over at Kidlit Central today, if you want to take a look.  :)

Happy Writing!

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The Golden Kite Luncheon was fabulous!  Lin Oliver had warned us about the rubber chicken, so I ate before I went.  Turned out the chicken wasn’t as bouncy as it has been in years past.  A pleasant surprise to everyone.  :)

 

The winners all gave gracious acceptance speeches:

 

Picture Book Illustration: LITTLE NIGHT

Illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales

Roaring Brook Press

 

            Fiction: HOME OF THE BRAVE

by Katherine Applegate

Feiwel and Friends

 

Picture Book Text: PIERRE IN LOVE

by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Petra Mathers

Orchard Books

 

And my favorite . . .                                                         

 

           Nonfiction: MUCKRAKERS            
             

by Ann Bausum

                      National Geographic Society                        

 

Ann is a wonderful person and a Very Talented Writer.  She makes history come alive!  Which is the reason her books rake in awards.

 

During her speech, she said something that seemed to resonate with the audience.  “If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes a critique group to raise an author.”  I heard the murmuring and applause start and looked around to smiling, nodding people.

 

Anyone in a critique group knows the simple truth of this statement.  I don’t send anything out without it getting my group's stamp of approval.  And let me tell you, they are tough!

Ann then went on to thank a couple of her critique group that were at the luncheon and said their names!  Up there on that big stage!  In front of a gazillion Very Important People!  Okay so yeah, one of them was me.   The other was Pam Beres.  OMG!  We felt so special.  ;)


Moi, Ann Bausum and Pam Beres at the Golden Kite Luncheon.

 

Way to go, Ann!!!

 

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 I'm back from my world travels!  Well, okay, it was only Los Angeles and Chicago, but I'm back!

The SCBWI conference in Los Angeles was wonderful, amazing, absolutely fantabulous!  I spent four days going to workshops on craft and listening to wise and insightful keynote speakers, many of who were v. v. funny.  Life doesn't get any better than that!

On Thursday, 19 ljers went out to dinner.  Lovely and talented ladies, each and every one.




* * * * * 

Lin Oliver, Goddess of SCBWI, is so funny!  When she gets the giggles, look out!  You can't help but giggle along.  Bruce Coville is an amazing speaker, full of energy and passion.  Susan Patron ended the conference with warmth and heart.  All of the editors, agents, authors and illustrators there were so willing to share their wisdom and act as tour guides on this incredible journey.  I'm feeling thankful for that warmth and generosity. 


* * * * * 

For more posts about the conference, check out Kidlit_Central, a new blog spot featuring the HOTTEST children’s publishing news, reviews, entertainment and more—by and about those involved with children’s literature in and around the Central U.S. Featured states include: Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.  (They are currently closed to new contributing bloggers, but you can add the community as a friend to keep up on all the news from the Central U.S.)

More later, but for your viewing pleasure . . . .

The LJ dinner at Carmine's:






Paint The Town Red Party:

Setting up, the view from my balcony



Doesn't Jay Asher make a great Elvis?  Next to him is Bridget Zinn, Me, Pam Beres, Ann Bausum and um, someone named Naomi?



Pam Beres, Peggy Tromblay, Caldecott-winning illustrator David Diaz, Me and Ann Bausum



Rumor has it this was none other than Verla Kay! (with Carolyn Crimi)



Me and Carolyn Crimi, one of my favorite pb authors



Fun, fun, fun!










General pics:

Tammi Sauer, Me, Flat Lisa (Lisa Albert) and Peggy Tromblay at the wine and cheese reception



Me and Lisa Wheeler, another of my favorite pb authors


The day me, Pam, Peggy and Ann all got a mysterious memo to wear black and white.


Ann, Bridget, Peggy, Pam, Me and Kate Blackwell celebrating Ann's Golden Kite and Kate's pb being nominated for a Sue Alexander Award!




 

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1)   My son's baseball team is on fire!  Last weekend they won the district tournament.  This weekend they won state and are now the Junior Little League State Champs!  Now it's off to Indiana for regionals.  If they win that they'll be in the Little League World Series!  Very exciting stuff.

2)  The SCBWI national conference in Los Angeles is this coming weekend.  My first national conference.  Squeeeee!!

3)  The baseball tournament and the conference are on the same weekend.

Of course.


Edited For Update:  

My son's team made it to the playoffs, but lost the first game.  

They had two injuries in the second game of the tournament.  My son fractured the growth plate in his ankle and two innings later the catcher fractured the growth plate in his wrist.  Who knew baseball was such a wicked sport?  We found out quick where Urgent Care was located!  Both are in air casts for a month, but will be just fine.

With two players out, they were fighting an uphill battle.  We're very proud of the way the team pulled together and made it to the playoffs.  It was quite a season!

 

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I did a couple of book reviews for the July issue of Dane County Parent magazine.  One of the books was about boobs.  Yes, you read that right.  Boobs.  To be exact:  If These Boobs Could Talk:  A Little Humor To Pump Up The Breastfeeding Mom written by Shannon Payette Seip & Adrienne Hedger.  Funny book I'd recommend giving to someone who's expecting or breastfeeding.  But, since that has nothing to do with children's books, you'll have to pick up the magazine to read the review.  :)

The other book I was supposed to review was a humorous memoir by a famous Saturday Night Live alumni, who shall remain nameless because, well, I really don't want to p**s off him or any of his fans.

Not even half way along, I had a conversation with the editor of the magazine and told her I was having trouble getting through the book and thought the man was a blathering idiot.  Funny on SNL, not so much in real life.

Being the wonderful editor that she is, she told me I could review a different book, to which I am eternally thankful.  I hate, hate, hate(!) wasting my time on bad books.  

I jumped on the chance to give one of my favorite authors, Kevin Henkes, some much deserved praise for his latest novel.  I could have went on and on about how wonderful and fast-paced this novel is.  Alas, I was constrained by word count.  If you get a chance, pick it up and give it a go.  You won't be disappointed.

Bird Lake Moon

Written by Kevin Henkes

 

Kevin Henkes, Madison children’s author, has written an engaging novel full of secrets and rich language.  Henkes is the writer and illustrator of such favorites as Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, 2005 Caldecott Medal winner Kitten's First Full Moon, and 2004 Newbery Honor book Olive's Ocean.

 

Following his parents’ separation, Mitch Sinclair is spending the summer with his mother at his grandparents’ house on Bird Lake.  As tensions rise between his mother and grandmother, he escapes to the empty house next door and marks it as his, hoping he and his mother can eventually live there.

 

Spencer Stone arrives at Bird Lake with his family, their first visit since the accidental drowning death of his brother eight years ago.  Spencer sees the signs Mitch left and is convinced the house is haunted by his brother.  Determined to get the family to leave, Mitch plays some tricks on them.

 

Told in alternating viewpoints, two boys form a summer friendship with each learning to accept their situation. Bird Lake Moon is a beautifully written novel about the different ways to lose someone.  

 

Bird Lake Moon

By Kevin Henkes

Greenwillow Books

ISBN:  978-0-06-147076-9

179 Pages; $15.99

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And a question I have been agonizing over for several months now.  I wrote my novel as a YA.  But, it is the general consensus of my writing groups that it reads younger.  More mid-grade.

Whaaa?  It can't be mid-grade!  The characters are all 16 and most of them drive.  This is imperative to the plot.  They can't drive down a spooky road at night - 3 times(!) - if they don't drive.  If you're curious and want to know why they have to drive down the spooky road 3 times, read A Haunted Road.  

I revised and revised and tried to make it edgier.  Apparently unsuccessfully because it is still the general consensus of my writing groups that it reads younger.  I dove into scary YA's and How To books, hoping to get a feel for what it was exactly that wasn't working.

Then Bridget had a wonderful idea.  A positively, wonderful idea.  She asked, why don't you just drop the ages of the main characters, keep the older brother who drives, and write it as a mid-grade?  Doh!  So simple and yet so brilliant.

I've started revising it as a mid-grade and you know what?  It just feels right.  :)

If you've been through this before and would care to share, I'd love to hear about it.  Did you know what genre you were writing for before you started?  Did you not worry about it and go with the flow?    

Just wondering.

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Yesterday SCBWI Wisconsin put on a program celebrating summer reading.  Seventeen authors arrived at Martha Merrell's bookstore in downtown Waukesha to promote their books with readings and signings.  Woot!



And what fabulous books!  Everything from early readers to edgy YA was represented.  There was something for everyone, even face painting by our fantastic ARA.

 
Peggy Tromblay greeted everyone with a smile :)
 
We have the best publicity director, Denise Martin, who made this all possible.  Of course our RA, Pam Beres, and the aforementioned sunny painter of faces, ARA Peggy, put in loads of time and effort to help promote our many talented, award-winning authors.  Here are some, in no particular order:


Deb Jacobs and Kathleen Ernst


Ann Angel


Julie Bowe


Kashmira Sheth


Deb Hembrook and Kate Heling


Stephanie Bodeen

For more pics, see dorichaconas.  She has a way better camera than I do!  I missed lots of photo opportunities, including getting a picture of Dori (sorry Dori!), because I was changing batteries, figuring out lighting - how do you change the flash setting anyway???, etc.  I really do need to take a class on digital photography.

Lots of kids and books and candy and fun and sun.  I can't think of a better way of spending a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  

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Do not put statements in the negative form.

And don't start sentences with a conjunction.

If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.

Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.

De-accession euphemisms.

If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.

Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.

Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

~William Safire, "Great Rules of Writing"

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Squeee!  The movie doesn't come out until December, but I'm excited already!

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 Had a writing weekend at the cottage with three fabulous ladies from my critique group!


Georgia, Pam, Elizabeth and Moi

Had no idea this tornado was in the area.



Photo taken by Robert Beaverson (Georgia's husband)


Yikes!  You see, we're completely unplugged up there (no cable, no internet).  We knew it was storming, but had no idea there were tornados around until Georgia's husband, Robert Beaverson, called and said he was storm chasing and got a great pic of the tornado - could he stop by and show us?

Tornado!  Whaaa?  There's a tornado?  So completely engrossed in writing and revising, we were blissfully unaware of the danger we were in.  I'm thinking that's a good thing.  Otherwise we would have been huddled in the basement getting no work done.

On the upside, revisions on my novel are going great!  Nothing like a tornado to get those creative juices flowing.

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 Hi Everyone,

I'm hoping you'll help spread the word about this heinous crime.  An illustrator in my chapter of SCBWI (Wisconsin) has had his artwork stolen, along with 92 other illustrators!  Below is a post from the illustrator, Jeff Miracola. 

* * * * *

This isn't the good news an artist likes to wake up to.

My artwork, along with the work of 92 other illustrators (both
well-known and up-and-coming), has been stolen and published in a book
titled "Colorful Illustrations 93ºC." It appears as though the book
originated in either China or Japan. Myself and other artists are
trying to get to the bottom of this.

To make a long story short, the book basically took all of the content
from one art community web site called "The Little Chimp Society" and
reprinted all the interviews and art in this book. The fake publisher
claims in the book that they wrote the interviews and they even
slapped their own copyright on the book. How do you like that?

You can learn more about this at:
http://apefluff.com/colorful-illustrations-93c-please-do-not-buy-this-book/

or at my blog:
http://www.jeffmiracola.com/blog/

To see the artwork of artists affected:
http://apefluff.com/ci93/main.php

Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully spread the word.

Jeff Miracola

* * * * *

*Do Not Buy This Book!* 

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