Awesome!  Inspiring!  So many books, so many authors, so little time!



Neil Gaiman (!) and me.  The highlight of the weekend was meeting him, getting my copy of The Graveyard Book signed and hearing his Newbery speech in person.  Wow.



Me and Tammi Sauer with her new picture book, Chicken Dance.  Check out this youtube

link

gbeaverson

Lisa Albert, a fellow Wisconsin SCBWI-er, whose Enslow biography of Stephenie Meyer just came out!

I spent the weekend with Simon and Schuster editor Alexandra Penfold and one of her authors, Laura Schaefer.  Laura’s latest book, The Teashop Girls, is out and fabulous!  I reviewed it for Dane County Parent and will post that soon.

Alexandra Penfold and Laura Schaefer

The best part of any conference or workshop is reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.  We had a small group of 23 smart and knowledgeable writers, many who are already published.  I learned just as much from them as I did the presenters, which is a testament to our enormously talented chapter.  Wisconsin Writers Rock!

 Thelma Godin and Sara Akin

 Michael Kress-Russick and Zach Loveland

 Sharon Addy and Kate Heling

The weekend started with Alexandra having us spend some time on a character study.  Not necessarily your main character, it could be any character. You know the drill - describe your character, where s/he lives, their family situation, friends, fears, goals.  We all know great novels start with a great character. 

What’s interesting about character studies is that most of what you discover won’t end up on the printed page.  But, the secrets you uncover will add a depth to your characters emotional development that will resonate throughout your novel.  It’s vitally important that your reader care about your character.  Otherwise, they might not keep reading. 

Some of Alexandra’s questions I had never thought of before:

·       Who is your character’s best friend?  Why are they friends?  (It was the second part of this that I found very intriguing.)

·       If your character got $20 for their birthday, what would they do with the money? 

·       What is your character’s most memorable experience?  Why?

At all times you should be thinking, how would your character feel about this, react to that?  Stay true to your character.  I was excited about what I discovered and immediately started jotting notes about what I could add to flesh out my mc. 

We did a meaty first pages session (actually about a page and a half). 

 
First Pages Session
 

You can really learn a lot from this exercise, but you have to pay attention.  It’s not something that uses a step-by-step instruction manual.  I love hearing everyone’s beginnings and then thinking about ways to make them even better.  I’m taking those ideas and applying them to my own manuscript, and not just the first page but to every scene.

It’s difficult to summarize this exercise except to say it gets you thinking like an editor.  Did you find the mc’s voice appealing?  Did it hold your interest?  Was the language and word choice engaging and appropriate for the character?  Did the opening scene have enough description?  Dialogue?  Did it pull the reader in?  First pages are tough!  Maybe that’s why we revise them over and over and over . . .  or is that just me?  J

One more note about first pages, or more accurately your first scene.  Oftentimes it’s hard to know where to start a novel.  TIP:  begin on the day when things are different.

Chapter endings are important, too.  One way to end is on a hook.  Something so suspenseful the reader can’t possibly put the book down and compels them to turn the page.  Sometimes a chapter should end for emphasis, like putting a period or exclamation point on what just happened.

Revising an entire novel can be overwhelming.  Take your time and really think about the revisions you want to make.  Work on developing one character at a time.  Add suspense or conflict in a different round, plot development in another.  This makes it more manageable.

Alexandra and Laura took us through the many revisions of TSG’s first chapter.  They shared Alexandra’s editorial revision letters to Laura and we even got to hear Laura’s agent’s pitch to Alexandra.  A good behind-the-scenes look at everything.

      
Alexandra and Laura                                      Alexandra Penfold          Laura Schaefer

Laura also gave us a dialogue exercise.  Shhhh, I’m secretly admitting that I worked on revising my first scene instead.  Laura, if you’re reading this, sorry!  But, but, but, I had some ideas from first pages and I just had to get started!

In my current round of revisions, I’m switching from third person to first.  It turns out that Laura also went through this revision with TSG, so I’m in good company!  I like the way I can get into my character’s head in first person and it’s working much better for this particular novel.  Though, I sure wish I would have realized that from the beginning!  *sigh*  Live and learn.  J

An aside:  a question came up about using song lyrics.  It’s very expensive – around $1,000 per line.  Yikes!  You have to go through the music publisher to get the rights, not the artist.  But, titles aren’t copyrighted, so you can use those.  Good to know!

On Sunday we discussed grass-roots marketing.  Long gone are the days when an author can sit back after getting published and shout, “Yes!  I have arrived!”

Alexandra has a marketing degree and started out in publicity.  She had a lot of good ideas.  Workshop participants also added their ideas and strategies.  Did I mention how brilliant our Wisconsin writers are?  Some marketing and publicity ideas:

·       Get a website!  Have excerpts, reviews, activities, teacher’s guides, discussion questions, interview your characters and have them answer questions.  Kids love this!

·       Blog, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Flickr - Web presence is a must.

·       Vistaprint.com is an online printer and a great place to order business cards, postcards, bookmarks, etc.

·       Do a book trailer.  Post it on Youtube.

·       The publisher’s publicity department should put together a press release and contact bookstores like Borders and Barnes & Noble to set up signings.

·       You should contact your local newspapers, news channels, schools, magazines, clubs and organizations, librarians, book reviewers.

Laura does all of this.  Wow!  Both Alexandra and Laura are open and super friendly.  It was a lot of fun hanging out with them, especially since Alexandra bought several different kinds of Michael’s Frozen Custard and shared them with us.  J 

Happy Writing!

Judy


More Pics





Alexandra Penfold, RA Pam Beres, ARA Judy Bryan (Moi) and Laura Schaefer



Shawn McGuire-Brown and Jamie Swenson



Jennifer Motl and Jeannee Sacken



Kate Heling and Karen McQuestion

New York was fantastic!  I went to the top of the Empire State Building, saw Wicked, barely survived a NY taxi ride, and got lost only once.  Not bad for my first visit!

 The top of the Empire State Building

pamberes

     and    esther hershenhorn


 A view from the top ~ breathtaking! The pictures don't do it justice.
 

The SCBWI conference was the highlight, of course.  J  So many people, so little time. 

Me, S&S Editor Alexandra Penfold, and Pam


Me, Pam, Denise Vega, and Ellen Hopkins


stacy_dekeyser  and pamberes
 

Hey, we're Wisconsonites, we found a pub!  :)


Me, Pam, Michael Kress-Russick and

gbeaverson

Onto the conference ~ the keynote speakers were fantastic! 

Jarrett Krosoczka started us off with a funny and entertaining look at his work.  He’s working on a graphic novel series called The Lunch Lady (coming out this summer), which started out as a picture book.  His other work includes:  Baghead, Punk Farm, and Good Night Monkey Boy.  He debuted a hilarious video.  Check it out here. 

• The best piece of advice he ever got was from Paul Newman -  pay no attention to reviews.  The good ones will give you an inflated ego, the bad ones you’ll spend a lot of time recovering from.

The legendary editor Richard Jackson, even though retired, still has three books coming out.  Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca in 2009, Black Crow by Chris Roshka in 2010, and Julia Delaney by Theresa Nelson in 2011. 

• Words of wisdom:  No great novel is remembered for its plot, you need a great character

Jay Asher gave an inspirational luncheon presentation.  It took him 12 years to get published, but what a book!  13 Reasons Why made it to the New York Times bestseller list.  I highly recommend it.

SCBWI is entering a brilliant new venture.  The first two DVD’s of the SCBWI Master Class Video Series had a Red Carpet Premiere.  They feature Tomie DePaola and Richard Peck!  Linda Sue Park introduced the legendary Richard Peck.  He’s amazing.  Tomie DePaola is recovering from pneumonia and couldn’t be there, but Lin Oliver called him and put him on speaker phone.  She’s so funny!  We saw snippets of the videos.  V. impressive.  I couldn’t find anywhere online to buy these, so I’d recommend keeping an eye on the national website for information.  

Bruce Hale was awesome.  Simply awesome.  He’s quite debonair and can sing, too, which he did during his presentation.  Author of the mid-grade series The Chet Gecko Mysteries and a picture book titled Snoring Beauty, he injects humor into his work and talked about some of the techniques he uses.  Farts, for one.  Boogers for another.  Kids LOVE this.  And anything gross, make them squirm.  But, he cautioned, be sure to include some beauty in your books, too.  Kids get enough ugliness every day (bullies, divorce).  They need beauty.  Also very important, tell the truth.  Kids have a built in BS detector.  Show them both the dark and the light, but make sure hope triumphs.  More words of wisdom:

·       Beauty has the power to transform us.

·       Write what you love - with humor, truth, beauty and lots of squirming.

·       Write with heart and passion because it matters.

·       Put heart and love in your stories and you will be loved in return.

The editor breakout sessions I attended:

·       Michelle Nagler with Bloomsbury

·       Caitlyn Dloughy with Atheneum

·       Jennifer Greene with Clarion

 And the agent panel:

·       Michael Sterns, Firebrand

·       Michael Bourret, Dystel and Goderich

·       Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Media Group

·       Edward Necarsulmer IV, McIntosh and Otis

All had inspiring and hopeful things to say about the industry.  Despite the sagging economy, it was the consensus the publishing industry and particularly the children’s division, would survive.  We were reminded many times that it’s all cyclical and there have been hard times before.  Work on your craft.  Good stories will get published.

Jack Gantos closed the conference.  He’s the author of The Jack Henry Books, The Joey Pigza Books, and The Rotten Ralph Rotten Readers, plus a few YA’s.  A very entertaining speaker, he left us with this final message:

·       Get it done.  "I want to see you in print, because I'm tired of reading my own work."

A final farewell from Bruce Hale:  May the muse be with you.  J

Double whammy!  I've been tagged by both bridgetzinn and gbeaverson. 

The rules are as follows: link to the person who tagged you; write down six things that make you happy; post the rules; tag six others and let them know you have done it; tell the person who tagged you when your entry is up. 

Six Things That Make Me Happy ~

1. Lazy days with nothing to do but curl up with a great book, like Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.  :)
2. Watching a thunderstorm roll in on a hot summer day.
3. Fun family dinners full of laughter.
4. The ocean.
5. Opening a perfectly aged bottle of cabernet sauvignon.
6. Sharing it with good friends.

pamberes, dorichaconas, stacy_dekeyser, mjdiem, thatgirlygirl, and kidlit_kim

Have fun with this!  Seriously, it gives you warm fuzzies.  And I can really use those right now as it's -6 degrees outside. 

 

The annual SCBWI-Wisconsin Fall Retreat was held this past weekend and it was fabulous!  It's so much fun to catch up with old friends, make new ones and leave inspired and energized. 

We had a great faculty line up: 

• Stacy Cantor, Associate Editor, Walker Books
• Steven Chudney, Agent, The Chudney Agency
• Linda Sue Park, Author (Newbery Medal – A Single Shard)
• Holly Black, Author (The Spiderwick Chronicles)
• Henry Cole, Illustrator. (Jack's Garden)

   Stacy Cantor, Linda Sue Park, Holly Black, Henry Cole, Steven Chudney

 A close-up :)

Krista Marino, Editor, Delacorte Press, was unable to join us due to a death in her family.  Her Grandfather passed away and our thoughts are with her and her family.  She will be joining us next year at the retreat, though.  J

Holly (blackholly) started us off with a great presentation on the rules of fantasy. I don’t write fantasy, but enjoy reading it.  It turns out that there are a lot of rules to follow.  You can’t just make stuff up, people!  And if you write a fantasy set in a specific country, you must adhere to the folklore of that country.  Holly does a lot of research for her wonderful books.  I brought my stack of books for her to sign.  I even had the Spiderwick ones that were in the cereal box promotion!  I think she was surprised to see those.   

Holly regaled us with hilarious stories of her family.  My fav, words of wisdom from her mother:  Never astroproject.  You might not be able to get back into your body.  Is it any wonder Holly grew up to write fantasy?  I, for one, am very thankful to her mother.  J

I make a coffee run every morning at these events.  I NEED my morning expresso.  It turns out that Holly does, too.

During a coffee run, Holly told me about a couple of things that creeped her out about the Siena Center, a retreat facility run by nuns on the beautiful shore of Lake Michigan.  First, the slightly creepy religious symbol hanging on the wall of her room.  Let’s just say it definitely wasn’t the kind that invokes warm fuzzies.  All night long, it watched.  Holly needed to astroproject at night.  J

Second, and I never noticed this until she pointed it out to me, there’s a big sign in the dining room.  I mean BIG.  It takes up half a wall.  I need to work on my observation skills.  It reads:  You Are The Eucharist.  Ewww.  And in the dining room?  Double Ewww.   Kind of gives an Ed Gein meaning to those sloppy joe's we had for dinner.  Oh come on, you know that's funny - in a sick and twisted sort of way.  :)
 

Can you tell how much I enjoyed Holly?  She’s so much fun and has this great sense of humor and infectious laugh that gets everyone around her laughing too. 

Steven Chudney was up next.  He told some very funny stories about what to do and what not to do when dealing with an agent.  To see if he’d be the right agent for you, check out the current guidelines on his website.

We had time for plenty of socializing at night and way too much time to visit our heavenly snack table.  Brownies, popcorn, cheese curds, cookies, shrimp, sausage, crackers, truffles, pralines, peanut brittle, nuts, chips, apples, muffins, pound cake, chocolate, pretzels, chocolate covered pretzels – that’s just a small fraction.  Seriously.  It’s so yummy!

Henry Cole gave a lively and entertaining power point presentation about what an illustrator does and his many (70) wonderful books.  He was amazing.  Truly.  And he's self-taught!  You can check out his website here.

  Henry Cole, Me, Holly Black and Silvia Acevedo

Stacy Cantor gave a great presentation about picture books, making every word count and revision.  

 Stacy Cantor.  Isn't she cute?  And so young!

She had early drafts of Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  Did you know that Where The Wild Things Are started out being called Where the Wild Horses Are?  But, Mr. Sendak didn’t draw horses very well, so he changed it.  J  One advantage to being your own illustrator. 

Linda Sue Park is a dynamo!  

 Linda Sue Park

She’s intelligent, decisive, and insightful.  When she starts talking about writing, keep up!  She goes a mile a minute and has so many great ideas!  One of her many fabulous tips: 

·       Write in scenes.

·       Break down each chapter by scenes.

·       Write one sentence that describes each scene. 

·       If you can’t capture the heart of a scene, your scene has a problem.
 

Another tip:  Write two pages a day.  Everyone can do that.  Give yourself permission to stop after two pages.  Sometimes you will, sometimes you won’t and will go on to write a chapter (or two, or three . . .).  Either way, you will make progress.

I love that idea!  It’s simple and doable.  So that’s what I’m off to do.  Right now.  Write my two pages.  Come join me.

Happy Writing!

More Pics ~

 Peggy Tromblay, pamberes and Holly Black blackholly

 

  dorichaconas, Moi, and Dori's lovely daughter stacy_dekeyser

  Ann Bausum

The Golden Kite Luncheon was fabulous!  Lin Oliver had warned us about the rubber chicken, so I ate before I went.  Turned out the chicken wasn’t as bouncy as it has been in years past.  A pleasant surprise to everyone.  :)

The winners all gave gracious acceptance speeches:

Picture Book Illustration: LITTLE NIGHT

Illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales

Roaring Brook Press

            Fiction: HOME OF THE BRAVE

by Katherine Applegate

Feiwel and Friends

Picture Book Text: PIERRE IN LOVE

by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Petra Mathers

Orchard Books

And my favorite . . .                                                         

           Nonfiction: MUCKRAKERS            
             

by Ann Bausum

                      National Geographic Society                        

Ann is a wonderful person and a Very Talented Writer.  She makes history come alive!  Which is the reason her books rake in awards.

During her speech, she said something that seemed to resonate with the audience.  “If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes a critique group to raise an author.”  I heard the murmuring and applause start and looked around to smiling, nodding people.

Anyone in a critique group knows the simple truth of this statement.  I don’t send anything out without it getting my group's stamp of approval.  And let me tell you, they are tough!

Ann then went on to thank a couple of her critique group that were at the luncheon and said their names!  Up there on that big stage!  In front of a gazillion Very Important People!  Okay so yeah, one of them was me.   The other was Pam Beres.  OMG!  We felt so special.  ;)


Moi, Ann Bausum and Pam Beres at the Golden Kite Luncheon.

Way to go, Ann!!!

Bird Lake Moon

Written by Kevin Henkes

Kevin Henkes, Madison children’s author, has written an engaging novel full of secrets and rich language.  Henkes is the writer and illustrator of such favorites as Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, 2005 Caldecott Medal winner Kitten's First Full Moon, and 2004 Newbery Honor book Olive's Ocean.

Following his parents’ separation, Mitch Sinclair is spending the summer with his mother at his grandparents’ house on Bird Lake.  As tensions rise between his mother and grandmother, he escapes to the empty house next door and marks it as his, hoping he and his mother can eventually live there.

Spencer Stone arrives at Bird Lake with his family, their first visit since the accidental drowning death of his brother eight years ago.  Spencer sees the signs Mitch left and is convinced the house is haunted by his brother.  Determined to get the family to leave, Mitch plays some tricks on them.

Told in alternating viewpoints, two boys form a summer friendship with each learning to accept their situation. Bird Lake Moon is a beautifully written novel about the different ways to lose someone.  

Bird Lake Moon

By Kevin Henkes

Greenwillow Books

ISBN:  978-0-06-147076-9

179 Pages; $15.99

And a question I have been agonizing over for several months now.  I wrote my novel as a YA.  But, it is the general consensus of my writing groups that it reads younger.  More mid-grade.

Whaaa?  It can't be mid-grade!  The characters are all 16 and most of them drive.  This is imperative to the plot.  They can't drive down a spooky road at night - 3 times(!) - if they don't drive.  If you're curious and want to know why they have to drive down the spooky road 3 times, read A Haunted Road.  

I revised and revised and tried to make it edgier.  Apparently unsuccessfully because it is still the general consensus of my writing groups that it reads younger.  I dove into scary YA's and How To books, hoping to get a feel for what it was exactly that wasn't working.

Then Bridget had a wonderful idea.  A positively, wonderful idea.  She asked, why don't you just drop the ages of the main characters, keep the older brother who drives, and write it as a mid-grade?  Doh!  So simple and yet so brilliant.

I've started revising it as a mid-grade and you know what?  It just feels right.  :)

If you've been through this before and would care to share, I'd love to hear about it.  Did you know what genre you were writing for before you started?  Did you not worry about it and go with the flow?    

Just wondering.