IWSG Wednesday: SCBWI Summer Conference

Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thank you again to Alex J. Cavanaugh, the creator of the group. The first Wednesday of every month is dedicated to this group of supportive writers. If it's something you're not familiar with, then please click on Alex's link above for more information and to sign up!

This past weekend was the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Summer Conference at the beautiful Hyatt Regency on the edge of Beverly Hills. There were about 1300 attendees from (I believe) 46 states and 14 countries. And with all those people swarming the hotel, I found fellow blogger, Morgan Shamy, within ten minutes of arriving! It was great to meet her and discuss all the joys and woes of writing with her and her blogging friend, Ryan Dalton. So for the first time in three years, I didn't have to walk into the ballroom and find a seat alone.

There is always an amazing lineup of keynote speakers, but my favorites this year were Laurie Halse Anderson, Jon Scieszka, and Matt de la Pina. I loved Laurie's speech so much I attended one of her breakout sessions that extended halfway into lunch, though no one seemed to mind. She's also a children's book writer with the voice and potty mouth of a Drill Sergeant--quite entertaining. One big takeaway I got from her was the commitment to write at least 15 minutes every day to build discipline and momentum. There are so many days with huge time constraints and prior commitments, but you can always find 15 minutes (if you're committed). I needed to hear that.

The other new experience I had at this conference was receiving a professional consultation from a literary agent. I had the pleasure of meeting with Jennifer Azantian, from Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. She gave me feedback on the first chapter of my new story, Project Winter. Overall, she seemed to enjoy it and expressed that the story had a unique and marketable concept. I have to admit that I've been procrastinating on this project, anxious of what comments would come from my consultation. It was a great experience and I'm excited to continue writing. Thanks, Jennifer!

And if you read Morgan's recap of the SCBWI conference earlier this week, you may remember her mentioning a "table war" with Arthur A. Levine. Well...it was less of a war and more of an immediate surrender. Sorry, Morgan...haha. We were hungrily searching for a table to eat our lunch at a nearby food court. There were blood-thirsty lunch lurkers everywhere diving for tables at just the hint of someone about to stand up. And then as fate would have it after a fortnight of searching, we found an empty portion of a table. Just as we were about to sit down, Morgan looked over at two men approaching and stepped away from the table saying, "I can't steal a seat from you." [may not be an actual quote...but it's close] The men were hesitant, but eventually graciously took our seats. I was like, what just happened? As we walked away to find another elusively empty table, Morgan told me that one of the men was Arthur A. Levine (the guy who published the American editions of Harry Potter). Oh... Now I understood. We should have gotten autographs--or left a manuscript on the table.

Well, my August is off to a great start. How about yours?

Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest!

Welcome to the “Cheers, Cavanaugh BlogFest.”

Thank you to Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King and Stephen Tremp for hosting this blogfest, which runs from December 10 - 12. And thank you to Capt. Ninja Alex for being such a good sport!

So, here are my answers to these questions four:

1.      In +/- 20 words, what does Alex look like? Like any good ninja, Alex is a master of disguise. One day he’s clean-shaven, with long hair, and the next he dons a straggly beard and nose prosthetic.

2.      In +/- 20 words, who could play Alex in a documentary? (Living or dead.) Robin Williams from Good Will Hunting.

3.      In +/- 20 words, who does Alex remind you of? Robin Williams from Good Will Hunting. He’s the lovable mentor.  

4.      In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts:

·         Cavanaugh

·         Ninja

·         IWSG

·         Cosbolt

·         Guitar

Cavanaugh & the Ninja

The ninja pushed open the batwing doors and strolled into the saloon. Conversations stopped and everyone except Cavanaugh looked over. The musician in the corner put down his guitar, leaving the bar in sheer silence.

Cavanaugh continued to sip from his Cosbolt. He couldn’t hear the ninja approaching, but he could feel him—feel him drawing closer.

The sharp sound of unsheathing steel rang through the quiet saloon.

“IWSG!” a lady in a crimson dress screamed.

Cavanaugh eyed her suspiciously. She’d had more than her share of Cosbolts.

“I mean, OMG!” she said, correcting herself and flushing the color of her dress.

The ninja was now just a few steps away with his blade raised and gleaming.

“This ends now,” Cavanaugh growled, slid his hand to the revolver on his hip, and finally turned to face the masked man.

For Bonus Points:

In +/- 40 words, leave a comment for Mrs. Cavanaugh.

Thank you, Mrs. Cavanaugh, for sharing your husband with us crazy blogging folks. I’m sure it’s hard at times to pry him away from the computer, from his countless adoring friends and fans. The blogosphere wouldn’t be the same without him!