SCBWI Regional Writer’s Conference – Sept. 15, 2012

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If you’re serious about writing and want to get inspired, here’s your chance to learn more about the process. Whether you write fiction, nonfiction, middle grade, young adult, picture books, adult, historical fiction, etc., this writing conference is for you.
 
The San Antonio, Texas, chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators is hosting a one-day conference at the University of Incarnate Word on Saturday, September 15, 2012. Your tuition includes attending a keynote session, general sessions with agents and editors, intensive breakout sessions with published authors and illustrators, a buffet lunch, a silent auction, and a networking social.
Vineyards

 The topics/sessions conducted by published authors and illustrators, agents, and editors:

 The Importance of First Pages

 Character Development
 Finding Your Hook, and Reeling in an Editor or Agent
Cooking Up a Proposal
Mechanics of a Picture Book
Getting to Point B (Or How to Survive in Publishing by Learning from My Mistakes)
Illustration Basics
Plot Building

 If you’re in the San Antonio or outlying area, don’t miss this opportunity to learn and network with other authors and illustrators who are just as passionate about their work as you are. Come join us! Click here for a link to details and registration.

Writing Scenes

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Do you have trouble writing scenes in your story? Writers are always told that scenes should propel the story forward. Just how does a writer know if that’s really happening? In an interview on the Institute of Children’s Literature (ICL) blog, author Chris Eboch goes into comprehensive detail on the topic of scenes.
 
In her interview, “Scenes and Chapters,” Eboch mentions that scenes are “…an important thing to keep in mind — a summary of events is not a scene. Scenes are written out in detail, shown, not told, so we see, hear, and feel the action. They often have dialog, thoughts and feelings, and sensory description, as well as action.”
 
In her discussion with Jan Fields, web editor of the ICL web site, Eboch further elaborates on just how to write a scene, what to include, and how to end it. This is an excellent read that any writer will appreciate. See for yourself.



Grapes in California Vineyard

“Refrain from editorializing in descriptions of your work. An agent or editor shouldn’t have to be told your story is thrilling or heartbreaking; your description should show or reflect these qualities.” – Writing tip from Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

Diversity in Children’s Books

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“Every librarian is looking for multicultural books all of the time,” Wisconsin librarian Dahl said. “By and large you see children choosing books that reflect themselves. We need more.”

 This quote was posted by Matthew DeFour on the Wisconsin State Journal blog. You might find DeFour’s article, “Books fail to accurately represent our increasingly diverse world,” about diversity in books or the lack thereof very interesting.  

 
While at the SCBWI-LA conference, I attended an outstanding writing session by Deborah Halverson, author of Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies. She’s also the founder of DearEditor.comblog. She’s offering a free edit of a manuscript. Deadline for entering is August 28, 2012. So hurry!
 
“Professionalism is an attitude. For a writer, this means professional presentation of queries and manuscripts, a thorough study of the market, and the ability to deliver assigned work on time.” — Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

Laredo Book Festival

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Just returned from the Laredo Book Festival where several local and out-of-town authors celebrated “The Best of Texas and Beyond.” As authors, we did readings and served on different panels throughout the day.  
I served on an afternoon panel plus I did a morning reading of my latest book, Alicia’s Fruity Drinks. It was great meeting some of the local authors. I got to meet the 2012 Texas Poet Laureate, Jan Seale, and I eagerly bought one of her books of poetry, The Wonder Is, which she graciously autographed for me. She lives in the Rio Grande Valley.
The librarians at the Laredo Public Library where the event was held, did an outstanding job of coordinating a full day’s worth of book activities. The public was invited and it was a pleasure interacting with the locals, both grownups and children, on the subject of books.
I hadn’t been to Laredo, Texas, since I was a child. When I saw the St. Augustine Church in the small plaza across from the hotel, it brought back memories of when my abuela used to take me to Sunday Mass there whenever I visited. The church is as majestic as ever. It was a nostalgic trip for me as well as a writer’s event.
While in Laredo, I met a bear. Yep! I kid you not! Here’s the pic. Is the bear real or not? You be the judge!

2012 SCBWI-LA Conference

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Absolutely amazing is all I can say. I just returned from the SCBWI-LA conference (after taking a side trip to visit family for another week in California) and am now getting ready to digest and decipher my notes from the Los Angeles conference. I attended a workshop conducted by the famous author, Newbery Medalist, Linda Sue Park, of A Single Shard. She did not disappoint. The session was intense and covered so much that I found myself whipping out notes as fast as I could. Her class was a combination of writing exercises and lecture all intended to make our work-in-progress shine. She provided excellent writing tips on scenes, pacing, internal and external quests, layering, endings, and revisions, revisions, revisions.   
Author and Patricia MacLachlan
Author and Karen Cushman
Author and Linda Sue Park

 A great treat for me was the Autograph Party on Sunday night. Newbery Medalists, Linda Sue Park, Karen Cushman (The Midwife’s Apprentice, 1996), and Patricia MacLachlan (Sarah, Plain and Tall, 1986) signed copies of my books. Imagine that! It was thrilling!

Autograph Party
These are some of the pictures I took at the conference. Not only was the event productive, but I enjoyed the camaraderie of other writers and illustrators and the inspiring speeches by the wonderful keynote speakers. I highly recommend attending the annual conference if you can. Happy writing!

Bookstore
Conference Session
 

If a man is keeping an idea to himself, and that idea is taken by stealth or trickery-I say it is stealing. But once a man has revealed his idea to others, it is no longer his alone. It belongs to the world.”  — Linda Sue Park from A Single Shard

Book signings

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While meeting with my critique group today, I mentioned that I couldn’t help chuckling as I read a post on The Guardian blog on the subject of book signings. The article,“On the perks and pitfalls of signing books,” written by author Rick Gekoski, was hilarious but unfortunately true. Been there. Done that.
He took it all in good stride, like most of us do. I know many of us, at one time or another, have experienced what this author went through with book signings. I recently wrote a humorous similar article myself on this topic. It was accepted by SCBWI and will be published sometime soon in the national bulletin. I’d love to hear from other authors about their book-signing experiences.

 “A writing group should share your goals – whether it’s getting published, getting critiqued, getting support, or getting out of the house. Avoid those that do nothing other than sit around and gripe.”– Writing tip from Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

Writing an author bio

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You know when you send in queries to publishers how sometimes they ask for a brief author bio? (You, as a writer, wonder: how brief is brief?) What do you include in that bio? How much do you say about yourself? Should you be witty? What if you don’t have any publishing credits to your name? Is there a difference if you’re submitting fiction or non-fiction? How long should the bio be? Rachelle Gardner has a post on her blog, “How to Write a Terrific Author Bio,” that offers excellent tips on this topic.

 

Here’s a more detailed post on The Book Publicityblog that covers what to include in email signatures, websites, and “what authors (and venues) need to know about scheduling book talks/signings.”

“No matter what your writing life brings, believe in yourself and keep moving forward. Most writers cycle between periods of self-doubt and periods of confidence.” – Writing Tips from Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

Making your story great

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What do we need to make our story not just the best, but the greatest that it can be? Here’s a really great article, “7 simple ways to make a good story great,” by Elizabeth Sims on the Writer’s Digest blog. It doesn’t matter what genre you’re writing in for this to work. The seven steps include believability, the five senses, freeing up your writing, not dumbing down your work, leaving  out stuff that doesn’t have a purpose, and lastly, “…make them laugh, … make them cry.” Excellent article.

“Young readers have the right not only to read, but to read about themselves, about who they are and what they want.” – Virginia Hamilton

Copyrights and Picture Books

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One of the questions I hear frequently at writers’ workshops is: “Do I need to copyright my story before I send it out? Here’s a very brief post by Scott Francis on The Writers’ Digest blog on the topic of copyrightsthat should answer that question.
 Here’s a blog post by Emily Temple on “The 20 Most Beautiful Children’s Books of All Time.” The illustrations are awesome. Illustrators, you will really enjoy seeing these.
I am pleased to post REFORMA’s blog book review of Alicia’s Fruity Drinks/Las aguas frescas de Alicia. Click here to read the review.
Birthday Cake Display
“What I do with my books is to create windows to my world that all may peer into. I share the images, the feelings and thoughts, and I hope, the delight.” — Walter Dean Myers

Abandoned Wal-Mart Becomes a Public Library

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When I was growing up, my favorite place was the school library. It was not only cozy, but the books I read took me to faraway places I could only imagine. I would get lost in those books. That’s where I discovered the magic of words and the fun of reading. So when I read that a former Wal-Mart had been converted into a public library in McAllen, Texas, I was overjoyed. What a marvelous gift for the people of that city.  
Acording to the article, “How an Abandoned Wal-Mart Became an Award-Winning Public Library,” posted by By Daniel Lametti and Katy Waldman in the New York Times blog, “When a Wal-Mart retailer moved to a larger facility down the road, the city purchased the old building and created the McAllen Public Library.”

You must read the above post and view the pictures of the massive library. Great news isn’t it?

“Search through your childhood memories and rediscover what it felt like to live in the world of a child; the joys, the fears, and the dreams.” — Audrey Wood