New Year's Blah Blah Blah

2014 was a bumpy year in authorville. The second book is doing well but I'm struggling to get a third off the ground. I've been all over the place in terms of characters, plot, form, bouncing from one idea to another. I wrote an entire ms that's not quite right, along with giant chunks of two others. Maybe I wrote too much. You know, sometimes you ought to tell yourself to change out of the sweats and look up from the keyboard because this sh** isn't going anywhere.

Thankfully, I had an epiphany on Thursday, December 18th. Sorry for waiting to tell you about it :)

The afternoon began with 90 of minutes helping 100 kids (grades K & 3) make "Candy Trains," which are very messy gingerbread house type dealies. I left covered in frosting.

Isn't he darling?

From there, my third-grader and I raced to a local Panera Bread Bakery,
went inside, ordered fast, and met with a high school senior I am tutoring in writing. I ordered something delicious but full of onions. Translation: Bad breath to go with the eau-de-frosting I already had going on.

Dashed to my son's baseball clinic and thought about calling it a day. That was where my delightful husband turned up and said he'd take the boy home and I should go into Seattle for the SCBWI Holiday Meeting & Cookie Competition. I don't know why I went, but I'm so glad.

• Even though it took 90 minutes of driving in the pouring rain to get there.
• Even though I really smelled interesting.
• Even though my cookies didn't win.

It was wonderful to connect with my tribe, to hear stories of success and frustration, to admit things you can only admit to other writers. Then Martha Brockenbrough gave an inspiring presentation about the writing life in which the vital point was that THE ACT OF WRITING HAS VALUE even if a given work doesn't find its way into a binding. There was lots more but here's my take away.

1. Yes, it's worth doing what I'm doing.
2. (And this was more of an indirect lesson) I HAVEN'T BEEN WORKING HARD ENOUGH.

I've gotten cocky. A few nice reviews, and a couple of award noms (no wins) made me think I could send something imperfect to an editor. I've realized that, for whatever reason (and I know some people can sell books on a three-sentence pitch and a promise), I need to stop rushing, stop waiting for gratification because it "feels like time" to have another book in the pipeline.

I NEED TO WORK HARDER.  I NEED TO TAKE TIME. AND I NEED TO BE OKAY WITH IT.

I think, finally, I am.

PS: My friend Dawn won the Best Tasting Cookie Prize!

You Are Invited to SCBWI INSIDE STORY - SUNDAY in Seattle!

I'd be delighted if you'd join me at...
 

 

Local Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators share the "stories behind the stories" of new and upcoming books! 4:00 PM on Sunday, November 3, at Mockingbird Books (7220 Woodlawn Ave, NE, Seattle).  Librarians, teachers, writers, bloggers & book fans are all welcome! Presenters include Dana Sullivan, Karen Lewis, Patrick Flores-Scott, Jaime Temairik, Roy Kindelberger, Elizabeth Rose Stanton, Nina Laden, Kathryn O. Galbraith, Dia Calhoun, Craig Orback, Brenda Z. Guiberson, Suzanne Williams, Richard Jesse Watson, Samantha R. Vamos, Stasia Ward Kehoe, Lorie Ann Grover, & Matthew Porter.

 If possible, please RSVP to info@mockingbirdbooksgl.com

Singing the Praises of SCBWI - Part III

Not gonna pitch a novel this weekend.  Not gonna schmooze an agent this weekend. Not gonna feel unimportant this weekend...even though I'm going to a writing conference.

They're helpful lyrics. Don't ask me to sing them because I am NOT American Idol material. I may not even be sing-in-the-shower material.  But set the words above to your own tune and hold onto these notions if you're going to the SEA OF WONDERFUL that is SCBWI Western WA this weekend.

I have the joy and privilege of being a presenter this weekend. But, conference junkie that I am, I have attended MANY conferences where I've experienced disillusionment, despair or even plain old jealousy. I've had an agent read my work and give me nothing but a blank stare, heard beloved authors speak only to realize I've heard them give the same speech (more or less) before, sat with people who were just mad that their first manuscript (the one they'd worked a whole MONTH on) hadn't been grabbed by a superstar editor. Yeah, all that. But none of it matters. The BEST advice I can give to anyone about to attend a conference is to go with OPEN EARS, OPEN EYES, OPEN HEART and a goal of making ONE WRITER FRIEND and learning ONE NEW THING about your craft or career path.

Attend with an attitude of openness and you will (1) achieve your goals and (2) possibly exceed them.

Seriously, I LOVE conferences and I've done 'em the right way and the wrong way. I wouldn't dare try to teach someone how to write a novel but this is advice about which I feel super-confident.

Back to Business: Singing the Praises of SCBWI - Part I

It's April again. You know, time for those proverbial "showers" (actually we've been having April showers since November here in Washington and the forecast has 'em happening through July). The kids are just starting to count down the days until school's out. But for me, the BEST thing about April is the SCBWI Western Washington Chapters Annual Conference of Awesome. And I'm not just saying that because I'll be giving a presentation with my amazing editor, Kendra Levin. I'll also be fangirling Robin LaFevers and Mac Barnett; learning from amazing agents like Joanna Volpe and Ammi-Joan Paquette; and hangin' with writer friends at all stages of the process from published wordsmith wonders to just-you-wait-cuz-when-they-get-published-they're-gonna-get-a-Kirkus-star friends who have beta read, encouraged and, er, drunk a lot of wine and coffee with me.

HERE IS THE LINK:

http://www.scbwi-washington.org/20/annual-conference.html

HERE IS THE UBER PRETTY LOGO:

Not to get repetive but attending SCBWI meetings and conferences was an essential part of my education in the craft and corporate aspects of children's literature.  So...

It you're anywhere near. I mean ANYWHERE. Idaho? Yeah. British Columbia? Drive on down. San Francisco? Get your arse on a plane.

You will not regret it.

Click. Register. Leave a comment so I can find you and buy you a coffee. Actually, they give it out for free at the conference. Plus there's yummy lunch. But I would love to chat with you all the same :)