Authors Judy Enderle and Stephanie Gordon on Founding the Working Writer’s Retreat, Making the Most of Critiques and Writing with a Partner

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critiques, editing, Judy Enderle, Little Zack?, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, Smile! Principessa!, Stephanie Gordon, Where are You, writing tips

Since they met during a UCLA writing class in 1979, Stephanie Gordon and Judy Enderle have led prolific careers as writing partners, publishing more than 20 picture books, middle grade, and young adult novels like Smile! Principessa! and Where Are You, Little Zack?  They have also published books individually and under the joint pen names Jeffie Ross Gordon and J.R. Gordon.

They were also the co-editors of the Fox Broadcasting Children’s Network magazine, Totally Fox Kids, and story editors and writers for the first season of the Fox children’s television program Rimba’s Island. They have been lecturers, teachers, and editors for Boyd’s Mills Press, and are still famous for saying, “yes.” Today, they also run the manuscript critique and editing business Writers Ink.

Enderle and Gordon have crafted writing communities, founding SCBWI’s Southern California chapter (which would later be segmented to include the Los Angeles Chapter) and were the first Regional Advisor Chairpersons, taking SCBW(I) from six chapters to sixty and international, as well as launching the Working Writer’s Retreat. The retreat returns this year, Sept 15-17, with Enderle and Gordon again serving as faculty.

We asked them about their careers, working with a writing partner, and making the most of a critique.

SCBWI Summer Conference 2017 Wrap Up: Attending the Pro Track for the First Time

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Helena Ku Rhee, Joy Preble, Laurie Halse Anderson, Linda Sue Park, Miranda Paul, Rubin Pfeffer, SCBWI Annual Summer Conference

By Helena Ku Rhee, Kite Tales Contributor

Lin Oliver, left, and Judy Blume chatting it up during the Golden Kite Luncheon & Awards Presentation.

As in years prior, SCBWI’s annual summer conference was spectacular. We laughed, we cried, and at the end, we were inspired to rush home to create good art. A highlight for me was attending the pro track for the first time. With my debut book coming out in 2018, I knew I could benefit from sessions such as Rubin Pfeffer’s “Be Empowered, Publishing is Your Business” and Linda Sue Park’s marketing overview.

I was amazed to be sitting in the pro sessions with industry veterans. Hello, Laurie Halse Anderson! My first thought was: After publishing 20+ books, don’t these veterans already know everything? And my second thought was: If such luminaries are here, maybe I don’t belong! But later on, I discovered that artists in all phases of their careers were in attendance – from the pre-published to the many-times-published. I have to admit, before I got my first book deal, I didn’t think I was allowed in the pro track so I never even thought to attend. But I admired the forward thinking of the aspirants in the audience.

Get to Know Samantha Swank, Scholastic Assistant Editor and Working Writer’s Retreat Faculty

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Mobi Shinobi, Samantha Swank, Scholastic

Samantha Swank is an assistant editor at Scholastic, where she works on fiction and non-fiction for ages zero-eight. She is a faculty member for the Working Writer’s Retreat, set for Sept. 15-17 at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino. She talks to Kite Tales about her work, children’s publishing, and her love for Benjamin Franklin.

EV: What made you decide to sign on as faculty for the Working Writer’s Retreat? What can participants expect from you?

SS: I thought the Working Writer’s Retreat sounded like a great opportunity for me, both professionally and personally. It’s great to get out there and meet other industry folks and talent, and there are worse places to do that than in California! My goal is to offer the participants some helpful feedback about their manuscripts and give them an idea of what I’m hoping to acquire going forward. And they can definitely expect an impassioned karaoke performance on Saturday night.

Critiquenic 2017 offers children’s authors community, feedback on works in progress

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critique groups, Critiquenic, critiques, SCBWI community, SCBWI events

By Claire Moore

So you’ve written a book – devoted countless hours (hopefully you weren’t actually counting) toward its creation. Bravo! Well done! But wait, how do you know if your book reads as you imagined, or that you’re on the right track? Critique groups, baby.

“They’re necessary,” said Sue Berger, a published author and one of the minds behind The Pen and Ink Blog, a blog devoted to the “wild, wild world of children’s literature.” This is why the Los Angeles chapter of SCBWI hosts a Critiquenic each year. This year’s event took place on Sunday, June 11th at the Skirball Cultural Center.

More than 70 writers – some aspiring, some published but beginning new works – gathered to give and receive feedback on their picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult manuscripts. For longer manuscripts, writers kept their critiques to the first five pages.

Helena Ku Rhee: Debut Author’s Perspective

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agents, authors, Bill Contardi, Colleen Kong-Savage, contracts, Helena Ku Rhee, illustrators, picture books, publishers, publishing, The Turtle Ship

Jessica Echeverria (editor, Lee & Low), Helena, and Colleen Kong-Savage (illustrator)

Helena Ku Rhee is the author of The Turtle Ship, a forthcoming picture book by Lee & Low (Fall 2018). Helena, trained as a lawyer, followed an uncommon path by negotiating her own book deal. She tells Kite Tales about her debut and navigating publishing without an agent.

Vroman’s Steve ‘Mr. Steve’ Ross Shares Lessons From Storytime

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Bony Becker, Ezra Jacks Keats, Helen Palmer, Jon Agee, Kady MacDonald Denton, Mo Willems, Mr. Steve's Storytime, P.D. Eastman, Sandra Horning, Scott Campbell, Steve Ross, Valeri Gorbachev, Vroman's

Steve Ross has worked at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena since 1989, but chances are good that if you call the store and ask for him by his first and last name, the employee on the phone will think you have the wrong number.

That’s because Ross is known simply as Mr. Steve, as in Mr. Steve’s Storytime, a Vroman’s staple that takes over a bright corner of its voluminous children’s book section twice a week. Since taking the helm of Storytime in 1993, Ross has become a store icon whose image is captured in life-sized cardboard cutouts displayed around the store.

2016 Sue Alexander Service & Encouragement Award, Crystal Kite Award, and 2017 Writers & Illustrators Day contest winners

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Brian Won, Cheryl Bommarito Klein, Christina Wise, Cindy Marcus, Crystal Kite Award, Eliza Wheeler, J.R. Krause, Jill Tuckman, Kara B. Wilson, Kate O'Shaughnessy, Kes Trester, Kristen Baum, Laura Belevica, Molly Ruttan, Outer Space Bedtime Race, Sara Bayles, Sue Alexander Service and Encouragement Award, Tony Piedra, Wherever You Go

While Writers & Illustrators Day on Feb. 25 gave attendees a roadmap for projects upcoming and in progress, it also was a day to honor the creative and volunteer success of SCBWI members. Read on to find out the winners of the Sue Alexander Service and Encouragement Award, Crystal Kite Awards and Writers & Illustrators Day writing and illustration contests.

The 2016 Sue Alexander Service and Encouragement Award, selected from member nominations and presented to an SCBWI member for outstanding volunteer service, went to Jill Tuckman, SCBWI-LA webmaster.

Here’s what Sally Jones Rogan, SCBWI-LA co-regional advisor, said when presenting the award:

Lisa Cron: Story Coach’s Perspective, Writer’s & Illustrator’s Day Faculty

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Lisa Cron, Story Genius, Wired for Story

Author and story coach Lisa Cron writes books for writers, but she doesn’t teach writing.

In her books Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence and its follow up Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere), Cron maintains that it’s not beautiful prose that captures readers, but the emotions driven by story.

“If beautiful writing is what we really crave, would 50 Shades of Grey have sold 100 million copies?” she asked during her keynote speech at Writers & Illustrators Day on Feb. 25.

Throughout her speech, she gave attendees a snapshot into the science behind storytelling that will help craft a work of fiction that is more than “a perfectly-penned ‘who cares?’”

“Writing is the handmaiden of story,” she said.

And what exactly is story?

Writers & Illustrators Day 2017: Lynn Becker, An Illustrator’s Perspective

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Clelia Gore, Jon Klassen, Lisa Cron, Lynn Becker, Pam Gruber, This is Not My Hat, Writers & Illustrators Day

Author and SCBWI member Lynn Becker reports on this year’s Writers & Illustrator’s Day.

This year, the Los Angeles Writers & Illustrators Day at the Skirball Cultural Center added a strong illustrator component to the mix. Along with a double dose of illustrator challenges and paid portfolio reviews, there were two breakout sessions specifically geared toward illuminating the intersection of picture book art and text. These presentations offered a chance for writers and illustrators alike to think about picture books as intertwined parts of a medium.

Writers & Illustrators Day 2017: PB Rippey, A Writer’s Perspective

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Lisa Cron, Melissa Manlove, Pam Gruber, PB Rippey

Author and SCBWI member PB Rippey reports on this year’s Writers & Illustrator’s Day.

The Skirball Cultural Center, nestled in the Santa Monica mountains, presides serenely over the 405 freeway’s regular traffic jams, yet is removed from city chaos. Inside, a foyer of vaulted glass, contemporary murals and magical installation lighting exudes a calming aura—one absorbed by the friendly mob checking in to the annual Los Angeles Writers & Illustrators Day on Feb. 25. I sipped complimentary coffee and mingled with chatty strangers, feeling transported from Los Angeles to a rural writer’s retreat.