Singing the Praises of SCBWI - Part II

Nearly a decade ago I attended my first SCBWI regional conference. It was in Seattle, Washington. I’d recently moved to the west coast, leaving behind my beloved critique group, all of my family, my neighborhood, and pretty much all the familiar.

SCBWI was a revelation. There I found a roomful of amazing, like-minded people dreaming my dream, loving what I loved. A decade later, and with no little thanks to SCBWI, I am a published writer.

But SCBWI isn’t a monolithic entity. It is a community of people. And I remember meeting one particular person at that first conference. It was during a break and we’d both chosen to escape outside to a little brick courtyard. Somehow, we got to talking about publishing, agent issues, goals, family life. We’ve been talking ever since.

Just recently, we chatted about writers block. Deb’s comment about that fraught-with-peril phrase:

“If you label it, then you don’t have to really look into it—to deal with the underlying issues.”

I thought that was pretty insightful. But to hear it, I had to meet Deb first. You know, at an SCBWI conference.

Deb can teach you more, too. Go visit her at www.deblund.com/blog.