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On Sunday, November 14th, at the very groovy Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar (and Champagne!) in very groovy downtown Asheville, we schmoozed like we've never schmoozed before. Okay, I didn't have champagne, but I did have a lovely glass of Shiraz.
We chatted, enjoyed the ambiance, snacks and a gorgeous autumn day outside the big plate glass windows. It was simply fabulous to be among all these great writers and illustrators. All these people who are so dedicated to children's lit. I truly had a great time and I think everyone else did, too! Hooray!!
So much talent in that place, I could've plotzed. We listened to the wonderful Beth Revis http://www.bethrevis.com/ (there she is, just over my fabulous new hairdo as seen from the back) talk about her journey to publication and her upcoming Sci-Fi YA novel ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, (Razorbill/Penguin, January 11, 2011- we can't wait!) What struck me the most about her presentation was when she told us how many books she'd written before finding an agent with this one (I think it was 11!) Wow! Beth definitely gets the prize for Stick-to-it-iveness (as well as many other prestigious prizes!) How do you keep writing and submitting after those first 11 novels don't sell?
Because you have to!
Gotta write! Gotta Schmooze!
NaNoWriMo's making me crazy, by the way! just saying...
My favorite part of the whole wonderful Schmooze was going around the room with brief introductions and hearing all the beautiful-est people there (meaning, my pals) introducing themselves as Secret Gardeners. Like we're this very fascinating underground cult and now we're coming out to the world. I'm a Secret Gardener!
Plus I got a groovy pin with a photo from the cover of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. And I love to chat.
Thanks to (superstar) author Beth Revis for some of these pix and for being so great and telling us all about your work and your process and encouraging us to keep going!
And thanks to (superstar) author Alan Gratz (http://www.alangratz.com/) for the other pix and for being part of the funnest day I've had in awhile.
Hope to see you at the next Schmooze!
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Great pictures. It looks like you had a really good time.