Tag Archives: SCBWI
O First Pages (Retreat Edition)
The last event of the SCBWI Working Writer’s retreat consisted of 3 minutes allotted to each attendee to read aloud their first page of a manuscript. Professional critique was squeezed into that 3 minutes from a panel comprised of 4 … Continue reading
Retreat!
Heading to the SCBWI Working Writers Retreat tomorrow. This will be my second time attending this annual event. The workshops are small and focused. I learn tons about my work (my middle grade novels) and it’s a joy to read … Continue reading
Festival Weekend (creativity-obsessed edition)
Saturday morning, my husband and my middle-grade son zoomed to the Los Angeles Convention Center for its uber-serving of Minefaire. Minecraft. All. Day. While up the street at USC I attended the Los Angeles Festival Of Books. Mostly I hung … Continue reading
THIS HAPPENED
I won runner-up (there were only two of us who won in the Middle Grade category). SCBWI-LA Writer’s Day, Skirball Cultural Center . I pitched an agent, connected with a dream agent, dashed around assisting the totally-on-it RA’s, made new … Continue reading
SCBWI Los Angeles Writers Day 2018
I’m going. Are you? Gary D. Schmidt is giving the keynote. That’s right, author of one of my favorite YA books: ‘The Wednesday Wars’. You’ve probably already read it, but here’s the SCBWI GDS Interview from 2/16/18. I especially … Continue reading
Writer’s Retreat: What Was It Like?
SCBWI Working Writer’s Retreat, September, 2017 The “working” aspect in Working Writer’s Retreat (for me)=the retreat provided printers, so there was no excuse (for me) for not sprinting to my sparse (sweetly existential) weekend bedroom after a workshop, whipping open … Continue reading
SCBWI WWR 9/2017
Me–prepping for the upcoming SCBWI Working Writer’s Retreat: Fortunately I got in, thanks to iphone alerts, Alexa/Echo alerts, the wall calendar with a particular date circled so thickly in red it could never become invisible, no matter the … Continue reading
SCBWI-LA Writers & Illustrators Day 2017 (Links Edition)
I was asked by SCBWI-LA to write about my experience at the recent WID. The piece is up on the Kite Tales blog. 1, 2, 3: LINK. Such a luxury for me to discard certain hats (taxi-mama, chef of sorts, … Continue reading
Article At ‘Through The Tollbooth’!!!
My writing mentor, Kathryn Fitzmaurice, was interviewed by Catherine Linka (I’ve heard Catherine speak at SCBWI events–she is positively famous in our SCBWI Los Angeles circles) over at Through The Tollbooth. The interview is about Kathryn’s mentoring experience–er, of me! … Continue reading
The Women’s National Book Association
I was made aware of the WNBA/LA thanks to my middle grade writing mentor, Kathryn Fitzmaurice (ask me if I am lucky to have her as my mentor and you will hear amplified hell yeah’s). She gave one of this … Continue reading
Notes From The Retreat #2: Critiques
Yes, I am going to go here. Out of the 10 copies of the first 25 pages of my novel returned to me, scribbled on by the writers in my core group at the SCBWI retreat, I kept 4. Those 4 … Continue reading
Spring Spirit Conference, 2012
What a delightfully smooth, well-run, 1 day conference. As I drove away, the GPS taking me on a spooky off-the-freeway-then-back-on mini-adventure, as I sped past miles of crops (previously mist-blanketed, cooling off from a day of baking in 93 degrees), … Continue reading
Writer’s Day 2011
This photo is from the SCBWI Central-Coastal Writer’s Day 2010, at which I won a Special Mention for my middle grade novel and half off the price of this year’s Writer’s Day, which took place today, all day, and in which … Continue reading
Rocking Muses
YA Muses are having another contest/giveaway and all week have reposted tons of valuable writing advice. Their story is inspirational–seriously, check them out, especially today’s post. Really wish I was going to SCBWI-LA this year so I could meet them … Continue reading
Books Interlude
Have you visited YA Muses? They are a lovely, helpful, inspiring quartet, all with backgrounds, current writing-situations and future-talk I appreciate. They inspire me. They give me hope, or remind me that there is hope when it comes to writing … Continue reading
Hi Ho!
My little shining writing-prize moment of 2010 made the Kite Tales newsletter. I am the giant on the far right. (???) I will never forget hearing the name of my book called out and almost falling off the auditorium chair, … Continue reading
Ready, Set, Write!
Preschool is a go! (See my other blog—or, not) I now have 3 hours 3 days a week to write. Am very confident that by next week (after the holiday excitement dies down around here) I will have my Number … Continue reading
Poet Distracted By Whales
Had to take a break from editing Trouble. Did so by editing a new poem. It’s almost 9p.m. My spouse has once again passed out with the toddler when putting him to bed. There is nothing to distract me from editing … Continue reading
When You’re Writing…
My official “Trouble” roughhead blenny mascot returns The good news is, I haven’t been posting because I am going over Trouble Beneath The Waves. I do this while my son eats his meals. I do this when my husband returns … Continue reading
SCBWI Writer’s Day
Trouble Beneath The Waves received a Special Mention at today’s SCBWI Writer’s Day. For some reason I thought winners of the contests (2 honorees in each category—Most Promising Manuscript and Special Mention) had already been announced and printed on the … Continue reading
Writer’s Day Approach(eth)
I am ready to attend tomorrow’s SCBWI Writer’s Day in Thousand Oaks. I just finished submitting my printing order(s) to whatever Kinko’s is now called, so that I may swing by in the morning and pick up stuff that may … Continue reading
