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?

IWSG Wednesday: Apologies & Updates

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!

I feel bad that I missed last month's post and had to make sure I did not repeat the folly so Alex doesn't kick me out of the group. Sorry, Alex! Where did May go? The last few weeks have just flown by and I leave for Kauai tomorrow for a week-long vacation. Maybe that had something to do with the month disappearing in a flash. I just bought Dan Brown's new book, Inferno, to read as I lie on the beach for the better part of a week. I hope I don't get too burned...haha.

It's only taken a little over a year, but all the ebook versions of my books, Provex City and SUSY Asylum, are now available: Kindle, Nook, iBookstore, Kobo, and Smashwords. I've been working on getting the 2nd Edition of Provex City out, and it is finally available! It has been a lot of work getting both of my books formatted for paperback (on Amazon) and multiple ebook readers, but in the end, I believe it was worth it. Now I can get back to writing and promoting again.

I've put a lot of thought into what I am going to write next, and I have decided to step away from the Lorne Family Vault series for a little while and write a brand new book. And this decision came after I'd already fully outlined the third book in the series--figures. I ultimately decided to start a brand new project because I'd like to submit again, to work on getting traditionally published while continuing to promote my self-published books. The new book will be written as a standalone, so once I start submitting, I can dive right back into the Lorne Family Vault and pick up where I left off. Hopefully, I'm making a good decision, but only time will tell.

My new book is codenamed Project Winter, and it's a YA contemporary/dystopian in a female POV. It will be quite a change for me. I have a complete outline, synopsis, and first chapter thus far. It feels really good to be writing again. But as usual, starting a new project brings on a whole lot of anxiety, especially with the pressure of future submissions looming overhead. I know how hard it is, but I think I'll be better prepared this time.

Are you ready for summer? Are you at the beginning, middle, or end of your primary project? Anyone going to the SCBWI Summer Conference in August? I am and can't wait! The conference is always a great motivator...and getaway. And as always, thank you for reading!

SCBWI Summer Conference & A Muddy Good Time!

I hope everyone's had a great weekend. I've had family in town for the past week, so it's been a little hectic...but definitely a blast. Last Thursday we made the short drive to Disneyland, which was my daughter's first time. She loved Astro Blasters and the churros (just like her mommy!). Then on Saturday we did a 5K mud run in Temecula (little Gwendolyn had to sit this one out). That showed me how out of shape I'm in. I survived, but I'm still sore. I'm not really a big fan of running, but a mud run makes it fun. You can see my after picture. I need to start training for a next one!

One the literary side of things, registration for the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) summer conference began last Thursday.

Click on the picture to visit the webpage

This will be my third year going and I'm very much looking forward to it. They always have great speakers and break-out sessions. And the Hyatt Regency isn't too shabby, either. This year I've signed up to get a professional consultation. For a small extra fee (I hope it's worth it), I'll be submitting 10 pages ahead of time, which will be reviewed by a literary agent or editor. Then during the conference, I'll get one-on-one feedback from that agent or editor. I'm excited, but a little intimidated. Now all I have to do is start my new writing project so I have something to submit...but more about that later.

To those of you participating in the April A to Z challenge, good luck on the final leg! You're almost there! I haven't gotten around to many blogs over the past few weeks, but I'll try to do a better job of that this week. Happy Monday!

My Experience at the SCBWI SUmmer Conference 2012

The Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Summer Conference is held annually at the Hyatt Regency in Century City, about a mile from Beverly Hills. Not a shabby place to have a conference. This was the second time I'd attended the conference, the last time being two years ago.

There were over 1200 attendees this year from 46 states and 15 (I think) countries. And there were only about 300 guys, which was interesting conference trivia, but I'm happily married. Haha. What I loved most about the conference was the amount of energy, excitement, creativity, and motivation all under one roof. Even though I was exhausted when I left on Sunday afternoon, I was energized about my writing--and my writing future.

The two highlight keynote speakers for me could not have been more different. Tony Diterlizzi is an author and illustrator, and is probably most famous for co-authoring The Spiderwick Chronicles. He was the most dynamic author speaker I'd ever seen, part comedian and part motivational speaker. And an extremely gifted artist. He spoke about imagination and connecting with your inner child in writing children's books. What would your inner child find interesting, not what the adult author thinks a child will find interesting. And it all came back to the limitless imagination of a child. He also left us with a touching quote from Albert Einstein:

If you want your children to be intelligent, then read them fairy tales. If you want your children to be more intelligent, then read them more fairy tales.

My other favorite speaker was Sara Shepard, who is the author of the popular teen series Pretty Little Liars. I was inspired by her because she was not a dynamic speaker. She actually seemed nervous in front of the large ballroom audience. She inspired me because that's how I see myself reacting to being in a similar situation, and if she can do it, then I can, too! I just need to sell a few million copies. Sara talked about how to keep a series going, and she's contracted to go to book 14 in the Pretty Little Liars series, so it was interesting to hear her strategies for keeping it going after about 10 books while remaining separate from the television show. She focuses on a good scandal, which she defines as "good people doing bad things."

My favorite breakout session was with debut author, Jennifer Bosworth (someone from So Cal like me), and her topic centered around becoming a conspicuous writer--standing out in this huge ocean of writers. Attract attention. Be visible. Stand out. I found her discussion about extraverts vs. introverts interesting. Extraverts are people who gather energy in social settings while introverts hemorrhage energy in social settings (losing it to the extraverts). Even though she is a debut author, she already has the experience of participating in a multi-city book tour for her young adult novel, Struck. When she started out by saying she was a horror fanatic, I was hooked.

The conference was such a wonderful experience. It gave me a chance to learn more about the industry I want to professionally be a part of straight from industry leaders. I was also given a few new suggestions and strategies for my writing and promotion. What I need to get better at is networking and talking to new people. My parents must have conditioned me "not to talk to strangers" when I was a child a little too well. I have a genuine interest in talking to people, I just second guess their willingness to want to talk with me. I know, it's something I need to work on if I want to become a conspicuous writer. A next step for me will be to connect with a regional chapter for SCBWI to meet with local writers more regularly throughout the year.

This was the view from my 16th floor balcony. I wish I could have stayed longer!

I'm Not Ready!

Sorry, but the title amuses me.

I just got back from the SCBWI (Society of Children's Books Writers & Illustrators) and it was a blast! I will post about my experience at the conference on Wednesday. I also want to take some time checking out your blogs because I didn't get to visit over the weekend. I'll catch up! I hope you all had a great weekend, too. :)

Monday Musings: Olympic Blog Relay & Happenings

Today I have the privilege of guest posting on  Nicole Singer's Blog: Write Me A World for her Olympic Blog Relay: Ignite the Fire.

Have you been watching the Olympics this past weekend? I've caught bits and pieces in between all the work I have to do around the house on weekends. These athletes are so motivational. I hope you enjoy my guest post and find some inspiration to do something you may have been putting off that you know will get you closer to your goals.

Thanks, Nicole! She has an impressive list of guest bloggers over the next two weeks, so be sure to check them out. Here's who you can expect to see:

• Me :)
• Leigh Covington
• Misha Gericke
• DL Hammons
• Chris Fries
• Mark Coopmans 
• Alex Cavanaugh
• Nicole (she's opening and closing the relay)

Holy crap, I'm the first guest post! No pressure.

This Week in Happenings

I had my first live interview about a week ago and it got posted as a podcast over the weekend. Check it out at Vic Caswell and Emily White's blog: Pod People - YA Lit & Loving It. I was so nervous to do the phone interview, I'm not going to lie. But it's great practice for the future. Thank you, Vic & Emily for the interview!

Provex City received a wonderful review from Laura McQuillen @ Kick Back & Review! I get giddy with each new good review that comes back. Thanks, Laura!

Wednesday is the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Also, I have an interview with Julie Flanders @ What Else is Possible? for her Books Column talking all about Provex City...with a slight mention of SUSY Asylum. Don't worry, I'll remind you on Wednesday. :) Thanks, Julie!

On Friday, I will be posting my third Flash Review. I had the opportunity to receive an ARC of Amy Saia's YA novel The Soul Seekers. And Amy will be here to answer a few questions of mine. Put The Souls Seekers on your Goodreads TBR list and check out Amy's blog!

Also on Friday, I will be at the SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles. I had the pleasure of going two years ago and it was amazing. I can't wait! And the Hyatt Regency, only a few miles from Beverly Hills, isn't a shabby place to stay.

How was your weekend?