SCBWI Conference Reflections - Correction

Quick update on the "SCBWI Reflections" I posted on Sunday 5/17: my writer friend, Amanda, recently got a comment on her blog, literallyhumann.blogspot.com from literary agent Michael Stearns, who said he wanted to "squash the rumor before it gained any traction."

The rumor is that Mr. Stearns "likes" lists. Not true. Mr. Stearns can appreciate a good list, but he is not actively looking for them.

And so I wanted to correct my own 5/17 post on echoarna.blogspot.com. Why does this matter? Agents are inundated with queries from writers, so it's better to be clear about what they want AND they don't want. We writers can run with an offhand comment made at a conference and end up in Bhutan, apparently. (Someday I'll get to Bhutan, but not via misunderstanding an agent's preferences for submissions.)

To read Mr. Stearns own blog, see http://astheworldstearns.wordpress.com/.

American Idol - And the Winner Is...

...No, I'm not kidding, but let me explain. The winner is Kris Allen, the "dark horse" contestant, who looks and sings like a skinny teddy bear. He is skinny, with bigish ears, and his voice is kind of fuzzy too, not in a bad way but it has a bit of raspy burr in it.

Yes, I started out this year by following American Idol. It sounds like a confession because Dumb TV is like buying a "People" magazine, something that generates a little bit of shame in me. Writers are supposed to write from 8 or 9 until midnight on weeknights, even after a Very Busy Day at work. But there I was curled up watching a snowy screen, after dinner, angling the antenna just so. Does everyone have the same kind of interest in witnessing a dream come true? Is this that why the show is so popular?

Here is my secret: when it gets boring I imagine the contestants as animals.

Guess what animal Adam Lambert is in my writer brain? Yep, an Orca Whale, one who is capable of flying leaps, dines on seals, and has accentuated eyes. Had I been of the voting kind, I would have gone with the Orca, in spite of the theatrical overblown style he had at times. I always liked listening and watching him perform because he had no fear of the stage, made me expect the unexpected from him, and god, what a voice.

But 100,000 million voted (100,000 million people!) and the preference was for a teddy bear. It doesn't matter in the end. They will both have careers to watch out for. And for those of us who sing only on the freeway when driving alone and even then it sounds scary, there is something inspiring by watching a person get up and sing his heart out in front of millions in a competition with an uncertain outcome, and still sound like a pro, stuffed animal or killer whale aside. Kudos to them both.

Post SCBWI Conference Reflections

This'll be a list, because I think all conference attendees are still digesting two full days of information. My brain is busy with ideas and goals, but here are the first little snippets and impressions:

• The agent who spent years being an editor likes lists = Michael Stearns.
• The editor who announced that she like books about dead animals later told everyone she's acquired a book about a talking pig = Connie Hsu.
• I discovered Ellen Hopkin's prose verse books = Where the hell have I been?
• Many business cards from the people that I was delighted to meet and greet = I've updated links to "Network of Writers" with new blogs and websites. Note: I expect this list to grow, so I am only listing you in this category if you define yourself as a writer or editor; I'm also adding the author of the book that most recently kept me up past midnight (E. Hopkins).
• There's a new Six Degrees of Separation experiment for those of us children's writers who live in the Pacific Northwest = instead of Kevin Bacon, switch that to Peggy King Anderson.
• Please no books about merfolk = mermaids and mermen are not the new vampires.
• BTW: vampires are over, which means that none of us will become the new Stephanie Meyer = That said, expect parodies on vampires in print soon.
• Writers who really take their time to research the agent or editor before submitting = success.
• Success comes in all shapes and sizes = it is about your readers and the impact that you have on them.
• Write from the ...even if you are science geek like me.

All in all, a great learning experience, as always. More details to follow in the coming week.

Count down to SCBWI Conference

SCBWI stands for the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators. Say that name twenty times fast. And it's not about monsters, either. If you are interested in writing books for very young children, middle grade readers, young adults, or adult nerds (like me), SCBWI is an international organization that welcomes the novice and nutures the pro.

I am somewhere on the long road, traveling from the complete beginner to the published author. Three years ago, I joined SCBWI Western Washington. (Website is http://scbwi-washington.org/.) I got into my first conference from the wait-list, read through the materials at the last minute, took a big pad of paper and pen, swallowed my fear of strangers and went, wide-eyed and overwhelmed.

It was fabulous and grueling all at once. Two full days of information overload. Who knew that there were that many children's writers and illustrators in the Seattle area? The conference room was filled with 300 to 400 people; acronyms flew through the air like bits of binary data on wireless super-highways. Attending the conference was like learning a new language. Bruce Coville's keynote speech made me cry because he was so generous anyone willing to call herself a writer. He is the kind of human being I want to be when I grow up. See his website at http://www.brucecoville.com/ for more information on his amazing career.

And oh I was envious of the People Who Knew Other People, those writers who greeted each other like the long lost friends or at least people who liked each other a lot and had not seen each other in months.

Fast forward to this year: I have a writing buddy that I met at that first conference. Since then we've become great friends, starting our own critique group that is currently meeting monthly. We're also both exploring-- separately from each other--other critique groups because feedback is now essential to the process of making work publishable. I'm thinking about joining the Pacific Northwest Writers Association because I also write in adult genres. See their website at http://www.pnwa.org/.

Now my worries are specific and concrete: should I use the business cards I made last year, or do I have enough time to revamp them to include my blog address? Will the editor who is consulting on the first five pages of my manuscript have tangible advice, suggestions which I can use to make The Odyssey of Zomas better? And then there are all my self-imposed deadlines of the breed, "I am going finish the latest re-write of Zomas by conference time," that will expire. For example, I am still working on the short story The Stone Fields, weaving in feedback from about a dozen people. Everyone says it's a novel. Call it denial but I want to achieve a sellable piece of less than 5,000 words. So I am slugging away, like I'm cutting and triming an overgrown garden with a pair of fingernail clippers. (Next post: Ruyard Kiplings' advice, "Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh how beautiful' and sitting in the shade.")

I will be in good company at the conference: there are hundreds of us out there with the same affiliction, each person writing because she has something to say. Becoming one with one's computer in a cafe is an activity I love beyond measure. Being alone is not. And so after three years going to the SCBWI conferences I now have a writing best friend, a critique group, the ability to bump into other writers on elevators and start conversations, and as always, my writing time, with pizza...or is that a pancake?

Post Script:

The picture to the right is taken from another blogger''s post. The blogger is Devon DeLapp, in Los Angeles, and the entry is entitled, "Writing at the Insomnia Cafe," found at http://www.devondelapp.com/weblog/?entry=254004.