Mills College SCBWI

I always come back from conferences with a list about a mile long, and that doesn't include laundry, dishes, groceries and cleaning the entire house. Tim Meyers, author and all-around good guy, said it best, “You are all feeling completely overwhelmed and like you can’t wait to get started.” (Not on the house cleaning, but on the other stuff.) Tim also told us to “take time to notice the sun.” He lifted our spirits at the end of the day by emphasizing the importance of what we do for kids. Thanks, Tim. We needed that.


Mills College, a beautiful, all-female campus where bathroom graffiti is mermaids, sits in Oakland, California. Volunteer Anne Reilly and I arrived before the sun came up to hang up SCBWI signs in the rain in the hopes that members wouldn’t end up at one of the other multiple events on campus. We watched the day open and members arrive ripe with anticipation. It struck me how it takes a village to throw a conference.

There were two sessions to choose from and speakers moved between both tracks. One track focused more on older YA/middlegrade and the other on picture books. In a stroke of brilliance, sessions were staggered to keep hallways, bathrooms and the snack table less jam-packed.

I was in the main session. All the speakers brought unique offerings. Joe Cepeda started the day with a look into his creative process and prefers to “make it up” rather than copy. He says if you can’t remember what it looks like, close your eyes and remember what it “feels” like.

Agents weighed in. Caryn Wiseman (Andrea Brown) discussed specifics of the market—where it’s been, where it’s going. Joan Paquette (Erin Murphy Literary Agency) talked about the writing process and what needs to be in a manuscript.



Editors gave insight. Kaylan Adair gave a look inside Candlewick (Boston). She covered the 5 W’s of the publishing company and by the time she was done, I felt like I had been there. Lisa Yoskowitz talked about what to make sure is in a manuscript and also announced that she is moving from Dutton to Hyperion (both are in New York and fairly close to each other) and will only be able to receive agent submissions there. (Both very nice editors and instrumental in helping me get out of the Mills College campus when my nav system got thoroughly confused by errant locked gates.)

Authors Pam Turner and Ginger Wadsworth covered the world of nonfiction, including matching photos with manuscript. (Kimxa, did you save the original PMS photos? I might know what to do with those now.) Both seem to love where the world of nonfiction takes them, physically and mentally.

Perhaps the most hysterical speaker of the day was Bruce Hale. I think he should hold workshops and teach writers how to present. If he does, I’m signing up! (Think Toastmasters on crack.)

So many synchronicities happen at these events. For example at Mills, I met a new friend named Angie (an SCBWI newbie). Turns out her best friend was my 23-year-old daughter’s 4th grade teacher in Manhattan Beach where I also taught. Random? I think not. SCBWI synchronicity reigns once again!

SCBWI Pioneers Come to Cottonwood

If we define pioneers as those individuals who go out and explore new lands then Co-Regional Advisers, Erin Dealey and Patti Newman, proved themselves SCBWI pioneers today. They made the trek from Sacramento (two hours south) and landed at North Cottonwood Elementary School's multipurpose room, a perfect venue to meet local members and children's book writers and illustrators.

Due to my ongoing camera issues, my camera died immediately after my first shot so I'm lacking on photo support here. In this picture is Patti Newman (left) and Maggi Milton, first timer talk before we get started.

The day began getting to know each other. Beginning, pre-published authors to veteran multi-published authors were represented. Each shared where she is in the process. And it is a process. Nobody learns this stuff in a day. It's encouraging to hear other's stories. It makes us realize there are so many paths to publication.

We covered some points from the Big Momma LA Conference like what editors are looking for, how to get your manuscript publisher-ready and how to get to know your character's voice. Ahh, the mystical voice.

Erin did an awesome exercise on listening, something we can so easily forget to do. She put a bunch of ojects in the middle of the floor and asked people to pick one. My personal favorite was the rainbow-colored mohawk head mask. As you listen to your object, you find voice. (Lou, the bulldog in this picture, was not there, but if you want you can practice with him. He lives at my doctor's office.) One of the most fascinating parts of this exercise was to see how two different people hear such different story from an object. The point: your voice is unique. Find that.

Erin and Patti represent 33 counties in Northern California, and since Cottonwood sits over two (Shasta and Tehama) they can knock a few more off their list. Thanks, Pioneers. We appreciate your pilgrimage to the great North-North.

One Writer's Place: Day 3

So I hit the send button yesterday inadvertently. My mission was to get photos, add them, take out the line about my camera (though I did want to give a shout out to the nice camera man), but "send" was what went out. Best laid plans.

Here's the beach of which I wrote. It's one of those places that's hard to capture on film it turns out. It lies west facing in a bay which I think is where the grass thing comes from. There are lots of paths like this one.

It's a very quiet, meditative place and I really wanted to sit right where this seagull was sitting, but he looked so content I couldn't chase him off.

So instead I went and picked up potentially the best Chinese take out food I've ever eaten in my life at this little hole in the wall place that somebody told me about when I was waiting in the amusement-park length line at CVS for my antibiotics (to cure the ear infection I hope to not take on the plane.) There, I found my new mantra for my book.

And I came back to the cottage to do just that.

One Writer's Place

Having survived the Bourne Bridge Rotary on the way here (what the...?), I am happy to write to you from the Edna St. Vincent Room at One Writer's Place. As most of you (my three loyal subscribers--Mom, is that you?)know I was selected to come here after going through the application process last year. (Do I get to put that under the "Awards" section of my resume?)

This is only Day 2, but already I must say this is the best idea ever, and I am so thankful to have this space to slog through First Break and let Paige tell her story. Thank you, Jackie Mitchard, for picking me and for providing this type of support for writers. You have inspired me to work towards getting a cabin in the woods where I can do the same for others one day. (Get that, honey, "working towards.")

An interesting venture, this debut novel thing, and sometimes there just needs to be cricket-chirping silence to do it. That's what there is here. I'm on the third floor, surrounded by evergreens and sky, with breeze that flows through the windows just enough to make it nice, but not so much it blows my papers all over.

On Day 1, I never left (butt glue). But today, lest I turn into a hermit, I drove down to Paines Creek Beach. My camera was broken when I arrived in Cape Cod, but some nice fellow down at the South Patriot Square Camera shop fixed it for me today and didn't charge me a dime so now I will go back tomorrow so I can show you this amazing beach. You can walk out a mile it seems and it is only three inches deep. When you look out, it looks like people walking on water. It's not a straight sandy beach, but is filled with wild grasses and a stream running into it. People sit in little coves or out on their own little sand islands. Not a wave to be seen. Truly unique.

Anybody know what's up with all the "we make our own ice cream" places on Cape Cod?

I’ve attended three SCBWI LA Conferences, and this one was hands-down the best. The faculty always shines, the best of the best in children’s literature, but this year was exceptional. After every breakout session my hand ached from copious note-taking. I also look so forward to seeing friends I’ve made over the past three years and following the storyline of the lives they are living.

The master class with Diane Muldrow, “An Editor Over Your Shoulder” gave permission to writers to use art notes, something nearly every writer in the room had been told not to do at one time or another. When you think about it, telling the story’s subtext is difficult to do if you do not provide those notes unless everything is in the text, which is another mantra you hear to avoid: “Don’t overwrite, leave room for the illustrator.” Muldrow, editor/author of Random House/Golden Books, spoke the obvious: “The illustrator can’t read your mind.” Somehow, we all thought they could and that putting artist’s notes in was taboo, or at least off-putting at best. In a market that is treading just above the surface (some would argue just below), who wants to be off-putting? Whatever the answer, we all found breaking out the text and taking charge of the art notes liberating, whether or not they end up in the envelope in the end. (Show of hands of who will send off single-spaced mss with art notes?)

Across the board, one thing I heard many different authors say was a practice I am taking up immediately. When I revise, I always have the “dump file” where parts that are cut go to live and rarely--okay, never--are seen again. What many authors use, though, is a third document, a sort of hybrid emotional-informational dumping ground called “notes.” They drop in constantly while writing to say, “I have no idea what I’m doing here,” or cathartic ramblings like that. Pure brilliance. I’m getting one.

The other repetitive theme threaded through the weekend concerns revisions. I am just happy to know so many other writers with piles of published books on the table in front of them revise relentlessly and throw huge clumps of text into the dump page. In college/grad school, I wrote a paper (draft 1), turned it in and got it back with an “A” more times than not. So when it comes to the concept of rewriting, I am a bit of a newcomer. Listening to authors at the conference made me feel like part of a club, the Rewriters Club, and I wondered why SCBWI wasn’t SCBRWI if rewriting is really the bulk of writing. (Is it strikingly obvious what stage of my YA I’m in?)

But that’s the thing about SCBWI LA. As Marion Dane Bauer said in her keynote, “The Shape of Our Stories”, “You will hear what you are ready to hear. Relax, and let the rest fall away.”




The most prophetic comment of the weekend came in Rubin Pfeffer’s keynote. He challenged SCBWI, a 39 year-old organization rooted in the traditions of the publishing industry, to consider the moment we are in with creative content, appoint a steering committee and consider e-publishing as a legitimate form of publication. (In Redding, we have seen several well-published writers turning to this option, holding seminars on the subject and creating excitement with the idea.) Pfeffer has been around the industry for years and has always seemed to me prophetic. Time will tell.

Immersed: SCBWI Nevada

Who knew it snowed like this in May in Tahoe? At the Novel Immersion workshop at the Granlibakken just over Donner Pass (remember the one where people died?), dainty little snowflakes danced amongst the cherry blossoms. Hours later they turned into what seemed like a blizzard right before my eyes.

I asked my roommate Susan if she wanted a ride back down the hill to our room. What should have been a one minute drive morphed into a 30 minute ordeal with us sliding sideways down a hill and nearly into a rocky ditch with no control whatsoever over my car. At one point she jumped out and made tracks with her shoes so my car could get some traction. It worked and we made it to our room.

I couldn't help thinking how similar that was to writing. You take off often unprepared for where your story might go. Sure you have some semblance of an outline (maybe), but characters evolve and make choices you may not have seen coming. You go with it and you write your story. You think it makes sense. You think it's beautiful. Then you pick it up after some time and it's a mess and you wonder whose eyes read this before because it certainly couldn't have been yours.

And so you invite someone to read your work, critique it, give you feed back. You think there might be a quick fix to your 100th revision. But as you sit and listen, you suddenly realize that writing years are like dog years and there is nothing quick about this process. What helps you get there, to that point when you see what needs to be done, is someone hopping out of the car and helping you make tracks in the muddle so you can get some traction and stop sliding down the hill.

That's what makes weekends like this one invaluable. A group of writers, editors, agents--people who care about books--helping each other make each story the best it can be. It may be magical at first, then a bit stormy and perhaps feel a little out of control. But in the morning, when the sun comes up and the day shows what the storm has created, it's back to magical--times five.

That's why I write.

Since beginning my "serious" writing career four years ago, I have attended multiple writing events, both SCBWI and other (Book Expo America, Independent Book Store Events, Library Conferences, you name it). Truth be told, I've become a bit of a conference junkie. Last year I cooled it a bit, what with selling one house, moving across the state and trying to find another one in our ruthlessly small town. But this year I'm back. My second event of the year was my second NorCal SCBWI event and what an event it was.

First, let me just say my writing buddy, Linda Boyden, and I wore tiaras on the way there keeping with her family tradition. It's a good way to begin.

Writers conferences are just plain inspiring and this was no exception. What this one had that many don't have though, was such a sense of friendly mixed with professionalism, that I am stumped to find a comparison.

First time Co-RAs Erin Dealey and Patti Newman were organized and inclusive as proved by the the matrix of volunteer duties! The conference sold out at 175 and they managed to incorporate about 16 volunteers into the mix.



First time Spirit Conference goer, I was pleased to be included. (Not everybody is as good at delegating as the Nor Cal Co-RAs.) The night before the conference, volunteer Catherine Felt had a group of fellow helpers over to her house for spaghetti. We met a group of new friends and were able to have some circle time talking to a group of other writers over dinner.



The next day started very early with us picking up Brian Farrey (Flux) and Mary Rodgers (Lerner) at their hotel and driving them to the Rocklin Sunset Center where we would then pitch them in a pitch-a-thon. Luckily, they were both very friendly and easy to be with although that did not stop my voice from shaking at an 8.4 while delivering my pitch. (Embarrassing!) Throughout the conference, both Mary and Brian added so much with their perspectives on their respective houses and with those details you don't get by reading blog interviews. While this looks like it could be an improv act, here they are explaining the ins and outs of their houses in "Meet the Editors".



The conference appealed to writers and illustrators at all levels because breakout sessions were carefully calibrated. There was a pitch-a-thon for PAL (published and listed) members at the same time as nuts and bolts for beginners. Breakout sessions covered building a plot, synopsis, book trailer, first page, artists' best of show, art sample critiques, an inside look at publishing houses and what the editors are looking for, how to use social media and a packed out revisions. (When I say packed out I mean sitting on the floor room only, as proved by this shot of Jean DuPrau, author of City of Embers, which ironically I had just finished reading with my eleven year old son. I told Jean I would always remember her by her feet because that's where I was sitting.)



The conference wrapped with a Q&A, manuscript consult handout and clean up. A post conference dinner at PF Changs was a great way to debrief, cheers to a great conference and talk about what to do next year. I'll be first to sign up.

(In this shot Kris McLeod--artist extraordinaire; Cheri Williams, writer and my co-shepherd in the first page synopsis session; and Brian Farrey, Flux.)

Transitional Youth (Young Adult) Resources

The Child Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF)is a stellar resource for parents of children with bipolar disorder. During our early years following Amanda's diagnosis, I relied heavily on the list serve parents in this organization across the country: they were the ones that told me about NAMI and Family-to-Family, about various docs, about things to watch out for that I hadn't thought of and gave tons of support.

I continue to look to them as a resource both for my writing and for random questions that inevitably pop up. Our family is proud to be a lifetime member. On a regular basis, they hold chats. Today's chat focused on transitional youth (18-25) and the special challenges faced by both young adult and parents. The professional at the helm: Cinda Johnson, Ed.D.

As you probably know, I am passionate about this topic and it is the subject of my soon-to-be completed (as in revised 80 billion times over and completed at One Writer's Place) young adult novel and Amanda's accompanying screenplay. Listening to this chat today inspired me to pass on resources that Cinda most excellently offered.

Two points really stuck out as "take aways."

First, the evidence-based characteristic that helps young people cope with mental illness that could happen later in life is self-determination. Cinda gave this definition of self-determination: "Define and reach goals based on foundation of knowing and valuing oneself" (Field & Hoffman, 1998, 2006).

Cinda points out that starting this skill-building early is essential. It seems to me this is a tool necessary for many purposes, mental illness or no. But how to teach this?

"Model it. Help the child know their strengths and barriers."

One example Cinda gave was gaining the confidence to interview therapists (or any authority figure), a process that takes time and skill-building. The earlier you start teaching these skills, the less you have to jam in that senior year of high school!

The second point. Why not proactively get an Advanced Directive? When children turn 18, parents are not able to help them because of various state and federal laws which strive to effect privacy, but often just result in disaster for the compromised individual. If a child turns 18, gets into a car accident and sustains a brain injury, his parents would be limited in the help they could give that child. But if an Advanced Directive were in place, that could be avoided. (The Advanced Directive is a legal document in which an individual designates another person to make health care decisions if he or she is rendered incapable of making their wishes known. http://www.medicinenet.com/advance_medical_directives/article.htm)
Just do this proactively for your child and make sure to initiate when they are thinking clearly so they understand the importance of this collaborative process.

Mostly what I liked about the chat was uncovering the mother/daughter team of Cinda and Linea Johnson behind the scenes. It's like we have new stigmabusting friends! Healing happens when we are able to share and through sharing, help someone else along their journey.



Resources for transitional youth (18-25 years)from Dr. Cinda Johnson:

NICHCY: http://www.nichcy.org/EducateChildren/transition_adulthood/Pages/Default.aspx

Summary of transition services for students with IEPs

PACER: http://www.pacer.org/

PACER is the Minnesota Parent Training and Information Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs.

YouthHood: http://www.youthhood.org/index.asp

This Web site was built to help you plan for the future.

Adolescent Health Project: http://depts.washington.edu/healthtr/

University of Washington project, transition and students with health care needs

Full Life Foundation: http://www.fulllifeahead.org/

Connecting students with life after high school

Wrights Law: http://wrightslaw.com/

http://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/10/nl.0316.htm (latest publication on preparing kids with disabilities for life after high school)

P.A.V.E : http://www.washingtonpave.org/

Sedonalicious

Ahh, Sedona. Where New Age meets Naturalist. Where geologist meets Reiki Master. Where Native American tradition weaves with modern culture. Where metaphysical conversation is the norm. What is it about the place?

Maybe it was my high school fascination with Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged that draws me here. Maybe it's the azure sky against the red rock moutains and the way the light plays on both. Or maybe it's that I just feel a unique blend of creativity, peace and balance in Sedona. It just feels really good.

In fact when you chat with people in Sedona that's what you find. They came there on vacation and they felt so good they never left. That's a fairly common response.

That's the case with our mountain guide, Kurt.



Kurt visited Sedona from Wisconsin 13 years ago and stayed. He knows the land and he knows people. We learned about the indigenous tribes from Kurt as he hiked us to the top of a mesa behind Big Thunder Mountain (yeah, just like Disneyland but better) and lead us in a meditation, followed by a Hopi ceremony. Here we are basking in the glow of our mesa-top sage bath. He explained this is where you take in the “big picture” of life, like the eagle flying high above who sees below. Kurt is a great storyteller and told us about the various tribes that believe this canyon is the beginning of all creation.



We spent my birthday with Kurt and his partner, Mariposa, a Reiki Master and all-around energy guru. Kurt took us to several gorgeous spots and taught us about the medicine wheel while Mariposa made sure all chakras were in good working order.

Each time we visit Sedona it is different. We usually stay at Enchantment in Boynton Canyon and never want to leave. This time we stayed on the creek at the Creekside Inn B&B and were mad explorers. We hit the wineries (Javelina, Oak Creek and Page Springs.) Wineries in Arizona? A little weird and no competition for California, but we did enjoy Page Springs, the subject of a new limited release film called "From Blood to Wine." Sadly, it didn't make the top 10 at the Sedona Film Festival so not sure how far that will go.

We visited the art galleries in Tlaquepaque, drove along Oak Creek where snow was still on the ground, visited the Holy Cross Church built into the cliffs, found some new shops we liked and hiked the cliff dwellings of Montezuma Well. There an underground lake was once covered with rock. The Synagua people built their homes in the cliffs and laddered down to get in? Here is one of their homes.



Our favorite restaurants? We were right across the street from Shugrues in the Hillside Galleries and highly recommend the clam chowder, but Yavapai at Enchantment is our favorite! Their food is art.



One of my favorite things was just sitting down by the creek with our new locally made Navajo blanket wrapped around us and watching the creek flow. I could do that for hours. It seems to me that's how we should live--in the flow. When we start to feel like we are salmon swimming upstream, we need to re-evaluate our choices. In contrast, when we are moving in conjunction with our life purpose, the journey is clear, directed, sometimes shallow and sometimes deep, but directed and synchronistic.



Here's to happy flowing! Namaste.

SCBWI Asilomar - Day 3 - The Book List & Thinking Like an Editor

What I like most about being at a literature conference of any type is that you are surrounded by people who love books. At SCBWI conferences, that focus becomes children's literature. As Sunday morning opened with a panel of the amazing Asilomar faculty, a great take-away was the reading list. RA Amy Laughlin asked, "What books (that you don't represent) were your favorites over the last year?" Here's the list:

When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead
Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Story and The True Meaning of Smekday, Adam Rex
Tales of Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan
Red Sings for the Tree Tops, Joyce Sidman and Pamela Zagarenski
All the World, Liz Garten Scanlon
Lips Touch, Lani Taylor
How to Say Good-bye in Robot, Natalie Standiford
Charles and Emma, Deborah Heiligman
Ages and Angels, Adam Gopnik
Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan
The Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker
Diego, Bigger Than Life, Carmen Bernier and David Diaz
Jeremy Draws a Monster and Henry in Love, Peter McCarty
Marcello in the Real World, Francisco X. Stork

And there you have it. The books the agents, editors and authors liked.

Tracy Gates, senior editor at Viking's Children (she's blurry in top right because I didn't want to flash her), presented "Thinking Like an Editor" with visuals via PowerPoint that gave you a real feel for what an editor does. Her favorite part of the job is the reading (not necessarily the emails which can suck up a whole day), but her responsibilities extend far beyond that. She covered topics like how to get her attention (attend conferences, get an agent), what she is thinking when she reads a manuscript (is it as good as these?) and whether or not she can work well with the author (do we have a connection?) Also, are you ready to revise, Revise, REVISE? She looks for people who are ready to work. I've seen editors talk before, and I've worked with editors in my freelance work, but Tracy's insight into the thought process of an editor was outstanding and very helpful to both newbies and veterans alike.

The conference ended with a commitment ceremony. People wrote out a commitment for the year on two cards--one they took home to remind them what they selected and the other they burned in the fire. I was reminded of GirlScouts. Before the cards were burned, everybody stood in an energy circle as if to say, "We're all in this together."

And, really, we are.

Meals at Asilomar are a great way to get to know other SCBWI members and conference faculty. Many have been coming to this conference for a very long time and come with their whole critique groups. This, however, did not keep them from warmly engaging with me. This is a friendly group and I so enjoyed everyone I got to know.

Saturday started out with agent Sarah Davies (Greenhouse Literary Agency) giving the recipe for a breakout novel. The first ingredient: write the story you are excited about. Work out the “USP” or unique selling point and avoid information dumps. (A light sprinkling, perhaps, but no dumping.) She addressed six aspects of a successful novel: larger than life characters, inspired concept, high stakes story, deeply felt theme, setting as character and voice.

Ken Wright (Writers House agent/New York office) followed with a question and answer approach, allowing the session to take its own unique form. (Ken, I learned in my private critique session, prefers his synopsis to look like a book jacket and he would rather not know the ending.) An interesting tidbit: 70% of his clients come from referrals from other industry professionals. He also emphasized the subjective nature of evaluating manuscripts.

Breakout session speaker AnnMarie Anderson (Scholastic editor) spoke next on paperback series. She gave examples of series (Goosebumps, Baby Sitters Club, Geronimo Stilton for reluctant readers, The Amazing Adventures of Nate Banks and the Poison Apple series which she described as supernatural chick lit for 8 – 12 year olds.) She described the paperback series as the mac and cheese of the publishing world. Each series needs to have a hook (which was certainly the thematic word of the weekend launching with Erin Dealey’s rap, “You Gotta Have a Hook”). That hook can be recurring characters (Babysitters Club) or thematic continuity (Goosebumps). Plots must resolve from book to book. My social media session with Greg Pincus was scheduled during this session so I needed to leave before it was over. On the way to my session, three deer walked in front of me as if to say, “Really? Social Media?”

Greg took quite a bit of time to inventory what portals were being used and how they may work together more efficiently. He let me know what I was doing wrong (never status both Facebook and Twitter through Tweetdeck) and offered suggestions in extensive notes on how to zero in on what you are trying to achieve with the social media (make it easier for people to subscribe to your blog and subscribe to other blogs which you can centralize and read from one place with http://www.google.com/reader) Just having someone to ask questions was great.

Following lunch, I found new friend and another first timer, Kristi Wright. We were both wandering around trying to figure out which way to walk in the conference grounds maze. We ended up deciding to take a walk down to the gorgeous coastline and see the great Pacific. Kristi and I discovered we had much overlap in our lives and I was reminded of the synchronicity that reigns over these SCBWI events.

After our speed walk down the beach, my two hours of sleep was starting to show. Sleeping in a tiny bed next to my poor, sick coughing roommate who was very close by in her tiny bed made for very little sleep on Friday night causing me to reevaluate Saturday’s sleeping arrangements. All cabins are different, but I think we picked the short straw. I didn’t want to be a zombie Sunday, so I jumped on Hotwire and found the most charming hotel in Monterey with a king bed called Pacific Hotel. Friendly people, cute place. Officially, a diva.

Sleeping arrangements in place it was back to class. Social media was the next topic presented by Greg Pincus. Greg asks writers to ask questions like “Who do I want to read my blog?” If you can’t answer that, he suggests you wait to blog until you can. Greg tracks who is reading his blog and suggests you do the same. He talked about his success with social media using poetry and how he was able to land a double book deal with Arthur A. Levine without actually having books. Way to go, Greg!

Ellen Klages (The Green Glass Sea (2006) won the Scott O’Dell for historical fiction and the sequel, White Sands, Red Menace (2008) won the California and New Mexico Book Awards) and whom I had the pleasure of dining with Friday night talked about the young adult crossover novel and not being pigeon-holed. She is quite funny and her refrain was “the interesting things happen on the edges.” When asked why she writes for children, she says, “I don’t. It just happens that way.” I can relate to that.

Following a fun dinner where I got to know Linda Joy Singleton and Nathalie Mondo, my Twitter buddy, for the first time, we headed back to the Fred Farr Forum which is where most everything happened.

The keynote speaker Gary Schmidt was incredible (Wednesday Wars won the 2008 Newbery and he has written more than fifteen books for children/ young adults and has won numerous other awards). I thought he might be a religious leader because he had this hypnotic and inspiring way of capturing his audience and telling them, “what happens next.” Master storyteller, he began his talk by reading a pile of recipes. (Later we find out they were recipes written down by Holocaust prisoners who wanted to leave part of their legacy behind.) He told the story of Humphrey the whale. The message was not just what was said, but the way he delivered it, modeling for listeners how to stay awake and tell a good story. My favorite story was one he told where he was taken to a “book group” by a librarian following a talk and ended up in a prison with some fans. Despite his success, Gary does not have a website, an agent or cards and maintains a humble, encouraging demeanor.

What an amazing day.

Stay tuned for Day 3: the entire faculty weighs in on their favorite books of the year and Tracy Gates puts on a power point presentation with some great visuals that show us what "thinking like an editor" looks like.

SCBWI Asilomar Conference - Day 1

Day 1 at Asilomar – SCBWI Nor Cal Conference

Driving into the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove/Monterey for my first SCBWI Nor Cal SCBWI event brought me back to the ocean smells and ever-present mist of Central California. I never tire of it. Asilomar sits next to the Inn at Spanish Bay just off 17 mile drive. You can see the golf course and hotel from the beach on the Asilomar property which is like dangling ice cream in front of a toddler and saying “Don’t you wish you could have some?”

The grounds are beautiful, quite rustic—and HUGE. During the course of the conference I lost my room on several occasions, once in the dark, which my roommate warned was not good because there are “Beware of Mountain Lion” signs. (On the second day, I saw three deer standing in front of the sign…but no mountain lions.)

What an excellent program San Francisco South put out. Friday launched around 4ish with Ari Lewin of Disney Hyperion taking the audience through the multiple steps an editor must move through with a pitched piece that the editor wants to buy. The number of meetings alone the piece must travel through (sales, acquisition, launch, marketing, blah, blah, blah) makes me appreciate the miracle of each publication. She wrapped up with a list of “don’t evers” and “do-s”. (Don’t ever complain to a bookstore that they don’t have your book and do establish yourself online.)

A shout out to writer Beth Graubert who mentioned the critique time was on the back of my name tag so that I did not miss my Friday session with Ken Wright of Writer’s House which I easily could have done just having just arrived from a fun Thursday night of dancing with my daughter and her friends in San Francisco the night before. Not accounting for the size of the grounds made check in take longer than planned, but having the early time was great. Thanks, Beth, for the heads up.

Every time I have a critique I learn something new. Ken’s encouragement and suggestions were both helpful and inspiring. (Yay! My Young Adult novel First Break is very marketable!) It can be a mysterious industry and it was nice just to be able to sit down with a real live agent and ask questions that roll around a newcomer’s mind in an agent demystified sort of way.

Up after Ari was illustrator Yuji Morales. Her unique and stunning art has won numerous awards. Harvesting Hope is one of my favorites. Can you imagine how beautifully she could illustrate “Sunshine’s Song?” Sadly for the writers of the world, I learned in a conversation later with Yuji that after finishing out her contracts she will stick to illustrating her own writing.

Watching Yuji’s thumbnail sketches transform into images and hearing how she blends mediums using her magic tools (pencil and eraser) then later photo shop and paint, building layers from the background forward, was fascinating. It made me want to be an artist. To hear her in her charming way say that she did not think she could draw anything at one point inspired the audience to its core. I swear you could hear "I think I can, I think I can" and the sound of wheels screeching up a track.

The evening concluded with a cocktail party giving me a chance to meet a couple of the savvy San Fran South organizers, Kristin and Naomi, who were quite warm and welcoming. What a fantastic job they do. I wondered if they start planning next year’s conference today.

After wandering the grounds in search of my room, I arrived back in my room. (I vow never to sleep in a twin bed again in this lifetime). I met my roomie Katharine Wright. The picture is Katharine hard at work editing her photos. Even though she had laryngitis and flashed me an index card saying she couldn’t talk, we managed to stay up until 1:00 talking.

I lay in bed thinking how thankful I was to have been touched by so many creative, talented people during the course of the day.

Next post: Day 2 at Asilomar...when I check into a hotel room.

NAMI Book Signing - Voices of Bipolar Disorder

Tonight was my first book signing. I was invited to come sign books at the Redding NAMI meeting last month and agreed to do that. With the release of their monthly newsletter, it became clear not only was I going to be signing, but I was the main speaker as well. Public speaking has never been my fave; I'd rather write out my thoughts which probably makes sense since I'm a writer. But I have endured my share of Toastmasters meetings during my marketing career (I would actually sit in my office and cry before I had to do my speeches--true story)so I was okay with the evolving role I would play in the meeting. As my daughter had written in the anthology in a side-by-side perspective of what living with bipolar disorder during adolescence feels like it only seemed right she would be with me to talk. But she was working 3 hours away, in work she's loving, and I did not want to interrupt that in anyway. I would speak alone (and drag my husband along for moral support.)

The day of the reading, the NAMI President told me they would be expecting 40 people, more than their usual group. I had ordered books from LaChance Publishing, but really was not sure how many to order. All I knew was I couldn't have a book signing without books to sign. But I also didn't want that "inventory" writers are always talking about trying to clear out.

We got to the meeting and I wondered how I was going to fill up two hours. I didn't so much have a speech as index cards with bullet points. Those bullet points never got read. Fifty five people came (helpers were scrambling to find chairs)and after I read, there were so many questions people had to take numbers. I signed far more books then I had planned. People traveled from outlying rural areas. And everyone was so thankful.

What this says to me is that there is a thirst for knowledge about bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. My husband and I often say the statistics are inaccurate: the prevalence of mental illness in our society is much higher than is talked about in the literature. At least it seems that way from the street. Stigma can prevent people from speaking up, but once people know I write mental health material, they often open up with their stories or concerns about a loved one.

What I am always struck with at NAMI meetings is the incredibly, heroic work that is being done by people who have a mental illness, and people who love people that have a mental illness. It feels rock solid honest and it's inspiring.

If this is what all book signings are like, I'm in. Especially the NAMI ones.

*** MEDIA ALERT ***

Local Author and Daughter Featured in New Anthology,“Voices of Bipolar Disorder”
--Upcoming Reading at National Alliance on Mental Illness Meeting in Redding—





WHAT: LaChance Publishing announced today the release of Voices of Bipolar Disorder: The Healing Companion: Stories for Courage, Comfort and Strength. With a forward by the creators and cast of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Next to Normal, a play that explores the challenges faced by those with the disorder, this new anthology is the first-of-its-kind publication to openly share the experiences of some of the approximately 1-2 percent of the people in the U.S. that suffer with bipolar disorder.

The eighth in a series of books that brings to light the real-life accounts of those living with chronic illnesses, Voices of Bipolar Disorder is intended to provide support and comfort to those living with the disease and those who care for them.

The anthology includes more than 34 stories of parents, spouses, children and loved ones who have flet the impact of the disease. These tales of courage, strength and compassion offer insight into the challenges of living day by day with the disorder and the terrible isolation experienced by its victims , but most importantly, the writers’ hopes for the future and the strength of the human spirit.

WHO: Local author Jamie Weill says, "My daughter, Amanda, and I believe the best way we can bust stigma and help other families dealing with brain disease is to share our story. We hope that through our story others will find inspiration and know they are not alone. And, honestly, the best pathway we have found to recovery is in looking outside our own internal chaos and serving others."

Diana Clayton, NAMI President – Redding, "The membership is so excited to have Jamie Weil come to our February 1 meeting, tell her story to the group and sign books. Talking openly and honestly about mental illness helps to erase stigma and discrimination which is a giant barrier that gets in the way for finding early treatment."

SPECIFICS: Redding National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) meeting
Monday, February 1, 2010
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Northern Valley Catholic Social Service
2400 Washington Street, Redding

CONTACT:
For more information, contact Jamie Weil at jamie@jamieweil.net or Diana Clayton, President, NAMI Redding at Dianaeclayton@aol.com