My first meeting as Regional Director for the (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) SCBWI, Southwest Texas chapter on March 23, 2019, was great. I was presented with some awesome SCBWI gifts before the meeting started. We hope to make this a great year for our chapter. If you are in the Southwest Texas area, and wish to join our group, go to the main SCBWI website, www.scbwi.org, and click on Regional Chapters, Southwest Texas. Loads of information there. 
We discussed craft books on writing. Some members brought their favorite books on the topic and shared their comments with one another. I shared with the membership that our regional team is there to support, inspire, and encourage our members, writers and illustrators, to pursue their craft and dreams.
Here is a list of books we talked about and recommended.
Writing With Picture: How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books, by Uri Shlevitz © 1997
Sowing Seeds: Writing for the Christian Children’s Market, by Kathleen m. Muldoon © 2010
The Magic Words: Writing Great books for Children and Young Adults, By Cheryl B. Klein © 2016
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert © 2015
Your Elusive Creative Genius – Ted Talk – Elizabeth Gilbert © 2009
Writing Down the Bones: Feeling the Writer Within, By Natalie Goldberg © 1986
Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write with Confidence, by William Kenower © 2017
Save the Cat! The Last Book On Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need, By Blake Snyder ©2005
Children’s Book Illustration: Step by Step Techniques, By Jill Bossert © 1998
Directing The Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation, By Francis Glebas ©2009
Writer’s first Aid: Getting organized, Getting inspired, and Sticking to It
By Kristi Holl ©2011
Take Joy: A Writer’s Guide to Loving the Craft, by Jane Yolen © 2006
2000, by Noah Lukeman ©2000
Illustrating Children’s picture Books, By Steven Withrow, Lesley Breen Withrow ©2009
The Encyclopedia of Writing and Illustrating Children’s Books: From Creating Characters to Developing Stories a Step-by-step Guide to making Magical Picture Books, By McCannon, Thornton & Williams ©2008
Write it Right: Seven Steps to Revising, Editing, and Polishing all Kinds of Writing, By Ron Benson ©2010
Here’s a cool article on descriptive writing, “Why You Need Physicality in Your Descriptive Writing,” written by Laura Ojedga Melchor, on the Re-Fiction Blog. She touches on the five senses: Touch, Taste, Sight, Sound, and Smell. Great info for writers.
“The imagination is a muscle. If it is not exercised, it atrophies.” – Neil Gaiman
This is the weekend for the San Antonio Book Festival! Held on Saturday, April 6, 2019, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., this promises to be a day for book lovers and artists and everyone else. Authors and illustrators from around the nation will be signing their books and speaking on panels. 
I just finished six school visits in Duncanville, Texas, a couple of weeks ago. It was fun! The librarians were awesome and so were the students. Several Texas authors and illustrators were also on board for these school visits.