SCBWI NYC 2012 Wrap-Up

Last weekend, I went to New York City to rub elbows with writers, editors, and agents from all over the kidlit world.

It was amazing. I got to hang out with my wonderful friends Helaine Becker, Mahtab Narsimhan, Maureen McGowan, Robin Walton, and Kari-Lynn Winters. I got to meet my amazing, gorgeous, ridiculously talented critique partner and friend, Antje. And I got to meet incredible people like Cassandra Clare, Sophie Blackall, and Dan Yaccarino.

I got to hear Chris Crutcher say that if you listen to enough stories, the truth starts to float, and it is that truth that you write. He was an amazing speaker, but when I ran into him at the gala on Saturday evening, I learned that he is also an amazing person.

I met and had a great chat with Lin Oliver, who is a really neat person, on top of being incredibly talented and funny and wonderful. And she read my joke out in front of EVERYBODY, which was totally awesome.

I came away inspired and bursting with ideas. I have so many great ideas, I'm having trouble deciding what to work on next. Thank goodness I'm in the middle of something - by the time I finish, something will have settled out of the mix and I'll know where to go next.

But most of all, I met this guy:

Henry Winkler ZOMG!

And he loved my hair. I have it in writing.

And that pretty much sums up my weekend.

What's going on with you guys?

SCBWI Winter Conference 2012 According to Ishta

It's two short days until the start of the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York City, and if you're in the same boat as me, you've already gotten down that suitcase and started planning your gala outfit. (Mine? Black slacks, black fitted top, and silver and black jacket. Oh, yeah.) You've read the how-to's and the Do's-and-Don'ts, and you're pretty much ready to go.

But what about the finer points, like potty breaks, where to eat, and how to get your tongue unstuck from the roof of your mouth come citique session time? Have a gander at my little list, where I'll walk you through some of the things I learned last time around.

Number One: For the restroom, look no further than your hotel room. The bathroom lines on the main conference levels are ca-RAY-zee in between sessions, so if you're staying at the venue, your own room is a much faster bet. Plus, the people who have no other option (because they're staying somewhere else) will thank you. And let's not forget the advantage of a guaranteed supply of toilet paper.

Number Two: Holy dog-doodles, if there are slower elevators than the ones at the Hyatt at conference time, then I don't know about them. Like, seriously, I think they must have a guy standing on each one hoisting them up by hand. They're great for getting up and down to your room (even at potty break time), but for the love of print, to get from Breakout Session A to Breakout Session B, use the stairs or escalators. MUCH faster. (Unless you HAVE to use the elevators, of course. Wheelchairs on the stairs are obviously not a good idea.)

Number Three: The person who told you you could switch breakout sessions with your roommate is a liar, liar, pants on fire. They've got a list at the door and they're keeping track, so don't even try. You'll just embarrass the gatekeeper, and piss off the people behind you who did their homework and signed up months ago to see that speaker and are now missing the first ten minutes while you argue with whomever is at the door. BUT...


Number Four: Sharing notes from breakout sessions with friends is totally, 100% kosher. Encouraged, even. Do it with everyone's blessing, and everybody wins.

Number Five: The surrounding streets are packed with amazing places to eat; you can literally follow your nose. But if you don't feel like braving the cold, the food court at Grand Central Station is an awesome place to chow down! The Spanish food place is super good. Just...

Number Six: Avoid the washrooms at Grand Central Station. Anyplace that has signs limiting teeth brushing to five minutes* isn't the place to be doing Mother Nature's business. See Tip Number One.

Number Seven: Another must-do at Grand Central is the whispering gallery in one of the hallways: you stand at one corner of the intersection, your writer-buddy stands at the other, and the domed ceiling carries your whispers to one another's ears. Pretty neat-o.

Number Eight: The critique sessions aren't just about you getting feedback. They're also about you offering your best, well-intentioned feedback to others. Those editors and agents aren't just interested in your pages: they're interested in you. So be generous, and give as you would like to receive.

Number Nine: Plan meeting places WAAAAY ahead of time. Like, now if you haven't done it already. And be specific. "The entrance to the Ballroom" won't cut it, because there are several of them; "The corner of the fountain in the lobby closest to the elevators" probably will.** Think 2,000 people, guys. It's busy in that there hotel.

Number Ten: Have business cards and a warm handshake at the ready, and be prepared to make friends. The people you will meet are all kinds of awesome - people who make books for kids are some of the nicest, most generous people in the world. Say hi to everybody, introduce yourself, and have a great time.

See you there!

*I have real photographic evidence of this.
**But you can't have that corner - that one's mine.

Is it Really the End of January Already?

My first post of 2012, and we're already in the last full week of January. Where did it go?

Well, I'll tell you. It went into reinsulating my attic (myself), and lots and lots of revision, and some querying, and many many discussions that began with, "You know, we live pretty far from the kids' school, and our old house is  a lot of work - maybe we should move," and ended with, "I love our house."

We had a lot of plans for this house when we bought it. Plans that involved an addition and at least one more washroom and drywall in the attic. Needless to say, we hadn't really costed out those things, and then life happened and five years later, here we are in the same house with all this potential - exactly the same potential it had when we bought it.

We could call it a day, but we still love the house. It has a solid foundation, a nice layout, and the rooms are in proportion to one another. It flows nicely, and feels balanced. But some of the rooms aren't used as well as they could be, and there's still only one washroom. So we did some rethinking, and some re-enivsioning. We revised our idea of what this house can be. And a year or two from now, it's going to be AMAZING. I can't wait.

If you have a manuscript lying around that hasn't really gone anywhere - maybe the plot is solid but there's a character missing who really needs to be part of the story, or maybe the setting needs more personality, or maybe there's something else that needs to be changed - try re-envisioning it. Try looking at it from a different angle, and maybe you'll see how to make it work.

Happy revising.

Happy Holidays!

May your bookcases runneth over, and may your mailboxes be full (of publishing contracts!).

See you all in 2012!

Friday Favorites WORLD RECORDS!

I once aspired to be in the Guinness Book of World Records. I was 9, and I saw a picture of a woman standing on a chair. Her hair went all the way down to the floor, came back up, was draped over her arm, and went down to the floor again. That was some L-O-N-G hair. I decided that I wanted to have even L-O-N-G-E-R hair.

Of course, genetics kind of got in the way of that one. Same for the tallest and shortest categories, and a lot of other categories.

But who am I kidding? I still want to be a world record holder. It's just a thing. Don't you feel the same way?

Enter Corey Henderson and Dan Rollman, yellow jacket wearers extraordinaire and founders of THE RECORDSETTER BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS, whose philosophy is that everyone can be the world's best at something: you just have to figure out what that something is.

With records like Longest Time Hula-Hooping While Standing on One Leg (12 minutes, 1.45 seconds), Most Balloons Used in a Costume (a whopping 154), and Most Bunnies Snuggled With in a Hammock (50, held by none other than Cameron Diaz), this website and accompanying book bring the fun back to record-setting, and prove that you don't have to be genetically blessed or favored by the Universe to be a World Record Holder - you just have to be creative, and have a healthy sense of fun.

Check out their website at www.recordsetter.com and their Facebook page at fb.com/recordsetter, and follow them on Twitter at twitter.com/recordsetter. And get their book, but be warned: you won't be able to resist trying to set your OWN record!

As for me, I think I might go for "Most Toy Cars Stacked and Balanced on a Forehead." Or maybe, since my hair is pretty big, "Largest Straw Wig." Or "Largest Toothpick Wig." Or maybe ALL THREE. Heh-heh-heh...

What record have you always wanted to set?

Wisdom on Wednesdays: When Networking was Always Social

"Social Networking"

Let's admit it - it's a buzz word. Possibly THE buzz word. But why?

Because the gadgets DO allow us to lose touch while we think we're keeping in touch, so we need to remind ourselves that all that time we spend MyFaceSpace+TweetBlogging shouldn't just be about us and our product. We need to build in the time to connect with other people, ask them questions about their interests, talk about life and science and cupcakes, swap stories about our kids and share our favorite songs.

But that isn't the only way. Once upon a time, networking meant going to a place where there were others in your field, like a meeting or a conference or an awards ceremony and shaking hands with people and starting a conversation.

In the publishing industry, it still means that. We have SCBWI conferences (and CANSCAIPmeetings and conferences too if you live in Canada), and awards ceremonies, and book launches, and book clubs, and all kinds of fun writerly things going on.

As we spend December cramming in the pre-Christmas gift exchanges and charity dinners, let's think about how we can make a new start in January by either starting a local writerly event, or finding one to attend regularly. Some of my most treasured friendships and best person-to-person connections in the publishing world started with a handshake and a conversation. I hope it will be the same for you.

How do you plan to put the "social" back in "Social Networking" in 2012?

NaNo, No, No.

So I didn't make the 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo. To be honest, I didn't even come close.

I did outline, and I did write a few scenes. I've made a great start on my novel. But I didn't finish.

It came down to this: my Physical Therapy team told me that in order to heal my shoulder, I would need to do about 40 minutes of exercises and stretches three times a day for several weeks.

40 minutes x 3 = 2 hours a day = my NaNo time.

I hated making that decision, but when it comes down to healing and taking care of my body versus spitting out 50,000 words of crap, taking care of myself wins every time.

SO.

I don't have a crappy novel that will need months and months of revision. I DO have a couple of well-crafted scenes that will probably change anyway, but are serving as a good foundation. I have a solid outline. I have a chapter book whose first half is beautiful and whose second half is about to go out to my crit group for feedback. And I have a bunch of many-times revised picture books that are nice and shiny and polished. (You'd be amazed how much work you can get done on a picture book when you only have slivers of time scattered here and there.)

All things considered, I did okay.

How was your November?