WIFYR Conference Update 2

What a week. I can't believe how fast it went, and am grateful for the new friendships made and the new things learned. This is one the best conferences I've attended and the most fun.

Alane Ferguson was definitely a daily highlight. She kept me laughing in her class, while showing how to critique manuscripts well. Learning from her was more like an osmotic-process than a bottling process, if that makes any sense. Here are a few Lanie-isms that I enjoyed walking away with:

"That is absolutely one of the unbreakable rules, except for the fact that it will be broken next week."

"My curtains are always closed, because I know there are people like me out there."

"Does he glitter? I get a lot of gratification when people glitter."

"I'm the rebel, but I'm also so compliant."

"That is brillance in action, people."

"I'm giving you the Lanie Guarentee. Editors will love this."

............ I can only hope!


I also attended break-out sessions. Here are a few words of wisdom.

"Sometimes what your characters don't say reveals more than what they do." -- Ann Dee Ellis (Everything is Fine)

Mette Harrison (The Princess and the Hound) wasn't there, but she was quoted. "Clarity first. Pretty words second."

"Does each scene move the plot forward? Does each scene deal with internal/external conflict?" -- Ann Cannon (The Loser's Guide to Life and Love)

I took a few notes during Krista Marino's address. Krista is an editor with Delacorte. She highlighted 4 books from her list and discussed why she had chosen them. They were:

The Witch's Alphabet by Caitlin Kitteridge (Feb 2010). A "steam-punk novel described by her as A Great and Terrible Beauty meets The Golden Compass, which was the original steam-punk novel.

The Owl Keeper by Christine Brodien Jones. Described as The Penderwicks, as perceived by Tim Burton.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Described as The Lord of the Flies meets The Hunger Games.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which is a love story with a zombie threat, described as 28 Days Later meets The Hand-Maids Tale.

The best part of the conference was the send-off extravaganza, in which Carol Lynch Williams and Cheri Pray Earl danced and sang and Will Terry showed the story of The Little Red Toyota. I have pictures, and as soon as I get them downloaded, I will add them here.

Ramblings (Or, Yes, This Post Could Have Been Tighter)

Okay, so it had to happen someday. And even though I didn't want it to, it did.

During a recent conversation with my daughter, in transit to a soccer practice or game--I can't remember which--she used I word that I hadn't the foggiest idea of how to interpret. It brought our conversation to a halt, drew my eyes from the road, added a slight swerve to our vehicular travel, not to mention, aged me instantly in her eyes--the horror!

"What did you just say?" I asked.

She gave a giggle. "I said, 'that's so tight.'"

"As in?"

"Cool. Good." She pulled a face, one probably matching my own. "Everyone's saying it. What's wrong with that?"

What's wrong with it? What's wrong with it?

Lots, but the most grievous offense being that I was suddenly my mother 30 years ago--out-of-touch, uncool--(not that I think she is now, but I might have just a little back then) when I first dished up the word, awesome, to her, and she'd pretty much had the same reaction.

After a moment, though, I laughed. Heartily. (Which, in turn, made my daughter nervous). But I couldn't help it. That's just what the world needs, I thought. One more definition of the word tight, to really stir things up.

I mean, have you ever considered the word tight, and it's numerous contexts?

I did, but only recently. As in, five minutes ago.

According to the Compact American Dictionary, tight graces the English language with 13 definitions. 13!!!!!!

Allow me.

1. fixed firmly in place

2. drawn out fully

3. imperable in construction

4. compact

5. fitting close or too close to the skin, as in snug

6. personally close (slang)

7. constricted

8. stingy

9. difficult, as in a tight spot

10. closely contested, as in a tight race

11. drunk (slang) ---This was news to me!!!

12. securely, as in Hold on tight!;

13. soundly, as in Sleep tight!

No wonder I was confused. And to think I'd thought my daughter had suffered a bump to the head.

Anyway, here's my plea. Just drop it. Walk away. Expunge this new connection of tight=cool from your brains, please, whoever you are that started it. It's not good. And I can't see it getting any better.

So, enough of all that.

On a local, seasonaly note, the sandhill cranes returned to Cache Valley a few days ago, bringing me out the door with their sing-song, high-pitched croaking, to watch as they flew overhead. They were enroute to the wetlands down the road, which they use as a yearly stop in their migration. They'll be here a couple weeks, fueling up on the grains from nearby agricultural fields before heading off again. Although with all the developments that have been built within the past year, I hope the picking are not too slim.

The arrival of the cranes is somewhat bittersweet, though. Usually the in-laws are out visiting at this time of year, and the seeing the cranes is always a highlight. Sadly, with the fuel prices so high, they aren't with us this year. (They were going to drive).

So, here's what I have to say about that.

Down with the fuel mongers! It's all a scam! Far too few people are making far too much money, at the expense of the little people--the people that matter, which are mainly, everyone else, like me. Shame, shame, shame. (We're these fuel-people ever reprimanded when they were younger????)

Other than that, I am considering attending a regional SCBWI conference in Salt Lake City on November 15. It's a bit pricey, but Jill Dembowski, Editorial Assistant from Little, Brown will be there. As will, Ted Malawer from Firebrand Literary Agency, and Victoria Jamieson from Greenwillow, and a slew of talented writers like, Kristyn Crow, Mike Knudson, Kristen Landon, and Emily Wing Smith. .... Decisions, decisions. .... Since an early flu kept from from attenting the conference in Boise with Samantha McFerrin from Harcourt Houghton, I may have to hit this one.

The Lost Notebook

I'd lost part of my conference notes. That's the only reasonable explanation I could come up with. Because I knew I'd written down the address for Beach Lane Books (the new S&S imprint being run by Allyn Johntson and Andrea Welch). In my mind's eye, I could see Allyn at the podium giving the address--see myself writing it down--checking with the person next to me to make sure I'd spelled the street correctly--AND YET, it was no where to be found in my legal notepad.

Granted, my notepad was falling apart.

Barely held together with two staples, and missing the cardboard backing, it was highly possible that I'd lost a few, if not several sheets of paper, during all of the moving and shuffling of August. As it was, some sheets were already not part of the whole.

But then, I took a day to clean my office. Go through the tote bags that were left on the floor, sort through the piles piling on my desk, and I found it. The OTHER CONFERENCE NOTEBOOK. The one I'd taken to other conferences earlier in the year and had taken to SCBWI-LA to completely fill up, lest I waste paper if I left the end papers empty. I'd forgotten about it.

Hallelujah!

There was the address for Beach Lane Books, along with notes from other speakers (some of which I posted about last time from memory).

So, here are a few more tidbits from the conference.

Diane Muldrow of Golden Books said she is actively looking for manuscripts that fit the Golden Book style (age 2-5, light on text, depicting lively stories that convey the wonder of everyday experiences that are new to a child.) Golden Books is now a part of Random House. She mentioned the Little Boy with a Big Horn, The Pokey Little Puppy, The Seven Sneezes, Cowlick, The Donut Chef, and Lucky New Year.

Two other books mentioned by Allyn Johnston were Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes. She mentioned writers Deb Fraiser and Cynthia Rylant. Andrea Welch mentioned Officer Buckle and Gloria, Black Beauty, and Because of Winn Dixie.

Regarding the sometimes tortuous path to publication, writer Paula Yoo said, "Do you want to be published or do you want to write? Do you want to get married, or do you want to be in love?" which I thought was really cool.

Abigail Samoun from Tricycle Press didn't really see her imprint as a small press. They are growing. She said her list of PB to YA titles has grown to 18 books/year, which has tripled since 2000. They are an editorial-driven house, and encourage 1st time authors. Books she mentioned are G is for Googal, Hey, Little Ant, Yesterday I Had the Blues, and Urban Babies Wear Black.

So there it is. If you saw the state of my conference notes, you'd understand why it's a good thing I'm not a secretary to the president.

Summer Conference Recap

Whew!

Well, I have finally made it back from my coast-to-coast tour, after starting in Los Angeles on July 31 and leaving New Hampshire on August 26. Actually, I didn't really travel through all the states in between -- I only hit two others and those were Pennsylvania and Delaware. Such is the power of air travel!

All in all, it was a fun month, with the SCBWI conference in LA kicking things off (more on that later). And I survived a speeding ticket I hardly deserved. (As far as I'm concerned, when you're driving downhill, the laws of gravity and inertia prevail--that's physics 101!! But apparently, this course was lost on the powers-that-be who set speeding limits.) But I digress. I also outsmarted ticks looking for a way out their briny coastal wetlands and thunderous waves that wanted to thrash me around in their undercurrent.

On the brighter side, I got to run along the shore every morning in Delaware with the riplets of waves splashing around me, while enjoying the company of dolphins, pelicans, and these cute little shoreline birds I must track down the name of.

In New Hampshire, Lake Winnipesaukee treated us right. The relentless summer rain gave way after we arrived and treated us to a week full of sunshine. We waterskiied, tubed, sailed, swam, shopped, canoed, fished, .... it was a blast. But now I'm home and facing a yard and garden in dire need of attention. It's so scary and overgrown, I'm afraid to go outside. Which is probably why I'm in here in my office catching up on my blog.

The only bad thing I seem to have brought back with me from vacation is a swollen ankle. Consultations with highly qualified people like my mother and a couple friends indicate I may have a stress fracture from all that running on the beach. I suppose I should have stopped running after it started hurting the first day around mile three. Wearing footwear might also have helped. But the coast was so beautiful and inspiring, I just couldn't think of doing anything but run every morning. (Plus, the au naturale pedicure (sand, salt, water) was a bonus for the whole deal. As far as I was concerned, each step forward was a step toward baby-buff skin.) And then, when I was in NH, I had to keep running with my daughter and her friend to help them stay in shape for soccer (coach's orders). But now, here I am, with my foot propped on my desk, wondering when I should call the doctor for an appointment. I'm thinking if I stay off it for a while, it might get better. Then again, I've been popping motrins like they're candy for the past two weeks. ..... Oh well, first things first. Blog. Lawn. Writing. Garden. Soccer games. More yard. Sleep. Repeat. Along with a list of a thousand other things that need to get done.

But anywhoooo, the conference in LA was fabulous! I made some great friends, and heard from lots and lots of talented writers and editors. Perhaps one of the more entertaining, enlightening, and table-turning (not quite a word, but I'm using it anyway) was from Arthur Levine, VP at Scholastic, Inc. and Editorial Director at Arthur A. Levine Books. According to his tallies, contrary to what the publishing industry has been saying for the past few years, the picture book is NOT falling.

In fact, the picture book has been doing quite well, at least, as well as it always has done in the past. The biggest challenge for sales of picture books, however, are the depressingly high number of independant book stores that have closed. 2,840 since 1996, to be exact. That's scary.

Lesson? Buy local. Support your indies!

Those independant booksellers play a big role in hand-selling titles, especially new picture books.

Throughout the conference, numerous editors highlighted favorite books or wish lists. Of course, some of those editors are only taking submissions from agents or conference attendees, but the information may be useful to those wondering what's new, hot or wanted in the market at large.

Dianne Hess with Blue Sky Press. Loved getting the mss for Henry's Freedom Box and Adios, Oscar.

Debra Dorfman with Scholastic. Likes funny, laugh-out-loud, high concept series, like Hank Zipper.

David Gale with Simon & Schuster. Greek mythology, SF, page turners, horror (or so it seemed).

Elizabeth Law with Egmont. Mentioned the Moffats. Cheaper by the Dozen. Penderwicks.

Brenda Bowen with Bowen Press. Herbert's Worm Hole. Fresh, unusual, emotional response.

Allyn Johnston with Beach Lane Books. Looking for mss for very young "readers." Mem Fox is a favorite author.

Nancy Conescu with Little, Brown is "always looking for character driven chapter book series. She mentioned a book, This is What I Did. She likes untraditional writing styles, edgier YA with strong voice, and steers clear of quiet literary reads. She also talked about Living Dead Girl, The Patron Saint of Butterflies, and Wave. She said she'd like a YA about living in a cult.

Gretchen Hirsch with HC likes smart, sexy chick-litty novels and offbeat, funny PBs.

Amalia Ellison with Abrams is new and still developing her editorial voice. She mentioned Holes by Louis Sachar, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, and Goosegirl by Shannon Hale.

Namrata Tripathi with Hyperion looks for voice. She mentioned John Rocco's Moon Powder, Julian Hector's The Little Matador, and a nonfiction picture book, One Thousand Tracings.

We also heard from other authors, who were all entertaining and inspiring. Here are a few tidbits.

Leonard Marcus said that in stories, it is the emotion that is important. As he shared the letters written by Ursula Nordstron from his book, Dear Genius, he showed that everyone has had self doubt, even Maurice Sendak. His advice for finishing a novel was this (or maybe it was Ursula's): write a catalog copy. What does the book say or do when the reader is getting to the end?

Alan Katz, author of OOPS! and other books, advised writers to take poetic license and make up words to make rhymes work.

Bruce Coville, author of numerous books, including My Teacher is an Alien, said the best endings turn on a moral choice between two mutually exclusive goods--not between good and bad, or between 2 mutually exclusive bads. And the choice has to be difficult for the character to make. Also, write your story by asking questions and then inventing scenes that answer them.

Rachel Cohn, author of many YAs, including the soon to be released as a major motion picture, Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist, said she asks and answers three questions in her stories. What does the character want? What is in the way of them getting it? Do they still want it after they get it?

Margaret P Haddix, author of the Missing series, asks this important question in her critique group. Why? What is your character's motivation for doing that? (and her personal real-life-nightmare is a computer hooked up to a piano keyboard that could only use the letters A thru G.) funny!

Quotable quotes...............

"If you feel like you're taking a flying leap, I guarantee you that you are." Mark Teague

"To act from joy takes more courage than to act from fear." Bruce Coville

"The first audible sound we make is through tears. The first comprehensible sound we make is laughter." Bruce Coville

"Slow down, and be patient. Become an expert in your field." Steven Malk

Lastly, from Susan Patron, author of The Higher Power of Lucky: "We, our books, are doing good in the world, and that is a fine thing."

A Good Day

So, I spent Saturday at the SCBWI spring workshop in Salt Lake City where I got the chance to meet Molly O'Neill, who is the assistant editor with The Bowen Press, a new imprint at HarperCollins Children's Books. And guess what? She loved the new middle grade novel I'm working on! Based on the premise and first ten pages, she wants to see it when it's done, which absolutely tickled my toes. I'm so thrilled. That's just the sort of revived up energy I need to carry me through the home stretch. Thank you, Molly!

Not only that, she gave a fantastic presentation titled "How to Catch (& Keep) an Editor's Attention," which focused on the beginnings of stories -- basically, what draws a reader (and editor) in. If you're wondering what sort of books Molly likes, I'd have to say, she likes a lot. (She talked about 21 different books, and that was her short list.) But here are a few she mentioned.

That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell & Neal Layton.
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D Schmidt

Toot and Puddle by Holly Hobbie

Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Orville: A Dog Story by Haven Kimmel

Happy writing, everyone! Time to get busy........

Finally!

Okay, so it's been well over a month since I last posted, and I've got good reason.

What have I been doing? For one thing, I've been teaching eighth grade science (physics--aghh!) for a teacher on maternity leave. It's been fantastic, overwhelming, rewarding, tiring, and everything in between, but all in all, well worth the time spent. Plus, I've also been coaching soccer (for my youngest son's team), shuttling my other two kids to their practices and games, and getting in a last few runs of winter skiing. Put all that together, along with everyday living and writing, and it doesn't leave much time for blog posting.

But, here I am, ready to fill you in on stuff that might be worthwhile to share. Like the writer's conference at UVSC. I did go to it, and better yet, I got the chance to hear Kirby Larson speak and then later chat with her, which in and of itself, was like opening a beautifully wrapped, unexpected gift.

In the picture above, Kirby is in the middle, my friend and fellow writer, Sara Olds, is on the left.

Kirby wrote the wonderful, Newberry Honor book, Hattie Big Sky. Did you know she wrote 7 books and had them published before she got an agent? I didn't. I mean, as writers, we hear that this happens--that writers sell books on their own without an agent all the time--or, some of the time--I'm not sure on the exact "time" reference in that . . . . And we hear that it takes lots of hard work, but getting published is doable, if you take time to learn the craft and make the contacts at conferences . . . but to actually talk with another writer who has found so much success and acknowledgement for her talent by doing it that way, makes the goal of publication and pursuit of writing seem all the more tangible.

I also got the chance to hear David Small and his lovely wife Sarah Stewart. My friend Claudia bonded with Sarah and David during the last moments of booksigning. I'm so happy I captured the moment--or, the after-moment. Tears in photos can be so misunderstood. At any rate, I believe they are kindred souls.
And I couldn't leave the book store without getting David's hilarious illustrated book, When Dinosaur's Came With Everything, which was written by Elise Broach.




And I just ordered Sarah's The Gardener, which David also illustrated.

According to my friends, Sara and Claudia, this book is their favorite book EVER. So, I can't wait to get it.


Lastly, I got the chance to meet Alexandra Penfold, assistant editor at Paula Wiseman Books at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Let me just say that any author who gets to work with Alexandra is incredibly lucky and blessed. Alexandra is smart, witty, kind, and definitely knows her stuff. Kudos to them. If only, if only.

That's all for now! Happy spring!