28 Wednesday Nov 2018
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
HAPPY HANNUKAH! There is a lot to celebrate this season, including SCBWI members’ publishing news! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world:
Hanukkah Hamster, by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Andre Colin, Sleeping Bear, ages 5 – 7, Picture Book, ISBN: 978-1-58536-399-5, released 09/15/2018.
21 Wednesday Nov 2018
Posted in Great News!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! SCBWI members have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, including this GREAT NEWS! We love celebrating our members’ successes and noteworthy news, so read on to find out who’s got something to shout about. Digital high-fives welcome in the comments!
Hatching Chicks in Room 6 by Caroline Arnold is the winner of the 2018 Cybils Award for Elementary Non-fiction.
26 Friday Oct 2018
Posted in #KT250, Tips and Tools
#KT250 is a Kite Tales quarterly community contest, but unfortunately this quarter we did not have enough entries to complete the contest. So instead, we’re offering you some tips as you prepare your work for any kind of contest submission and re-posting all our winning entries from this year! We’re so grateful for all who participated and made our first contest year so special. We can’t wait to see what you do next year!
And if you have any news to share about your entries, we’d love to hear it in the comments or via our “Great News” feature!
To find out how YOU can enter, check out contest info here. Entries are now being accepted for next quarter! (Please re-submit if you submitted for 4thquarter 2018 and would like to be considered for the coming quarter.)
5 TIPS TO GET YOUR WORK CONTEST-READY: Continue reading
24 Wednesday Oct 2018
Tags
E. Katherine Kottaras, Jessica Chrysler, Katya Dove, Kelsey Horton, Nephele Tempest, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, Stephanie Guerdan, Victoria Wells Arms, Working Writer's Retreat
By JESSICA CHRYSLER and KATYA DOVE
This year’s Working Writer’s Retreat brought together writers of all skill levels and backgrounds to the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, Sept. 28-30. From actors to teachers, newbie writers to seasoned veterans, participants had something to gain from the faculty and each other. In workshops, writers were grouped by category and genre and had ample opportunity to mix and mingle throughout the weekend, including a karaoke party.
Faculty included agent Nephele Tempest, agent Victoria Wells Arms, Delacorte Press associate editor Kelsey Horton, Harper Collins assistant editor Stephanie Guerdan, and author E. Katherine Kottaras.
In this post, writer and illustrator Jessica Chrysler and writer Katya Dove share a conversation about their experiences at the retreat.
Jessica Chrysler: It was so great to see you again at the retreat this year, Katya. As much as I love getting to know new people, it’s always nice to find friendly faces. Every year the organizers try to change up the panels and workshops, so I’d like to know, what was the highlight of your weekend?
Katya Dove: I thought the critique sessions were amazing. Listening to other writers read their work, sharing my own, and bonding over words was by far one of the most powerful experiences. There’s so much talent among the attendees. I was blown away by how focused and committed everyone was. Though I must say, the karaoke party brought out a whole new side to fellow writers and faculty—a wild and vivacious side!
JC: I have to agree on the karaoke! It’s always my favorite part of the retreat since it gets everyone out of their quiet, writerly shell. I also really enjoyed the presentation by Katherine Kottaras on “The Joy of Revising.” It’s important to love revision as part of the writing craft and it felt like everyone had similar challenges when facing editing demons. It was great to share and learn different strategies to tackle those obstacles. Continue reading
17 Wednesday Oct 2018
Posted in Central Coast, Tri-Regional News, Writers' Retreat
By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison and Rebecca Langston-George, SCBWI CenCal Regional Advisor
Join us for a weekend of writing, revising, and crafting your pitch at an ocean side resort. In addition to craft workshops and the opportunity to pitch your work to an agent, you’ll enjoy sunset fire pits and s’mores overlooking the ocean, life-size checkers and chess games atop the cliff, and strolls on the sand.
10 Wednesday Oct 2018
Posted in LitMingles!
By Renee Carter
What happens when Southern California Mingle Coordinators gather together? Magic. A few weeks ago, Jennifer S. Pitts and SCBWI-L.A. provided the venue for this special meeting.
Being a Mingle coordinatorcan be challenging. We research children’s literature, secure guest speakers, send out email invitations to SCBWI members and network to encourage the public to attend Mingles. Sometimes meetings are attended by large numbers and sometimes attendance is small. There are times we receive feedback from guests and other times we are left to interpret how the meetings are perceived. Our annual meeting allows us to brainstorm, recharge, and make sure YOU get the best mingle opportunities for the 2018- 2019 Mingle season. Continue reading
19 Wednesday Sep 2018
Posted in #KTChat, Author's Perspective
By Kayla Cagan, Author of Piper Perish and Art Boss
On Twitter this Friday (9/21/18) from 4-5 PM PST, Kayla will take your questions and discuss why our stories matter, even when we think they don’t. Log into your Twitter account during our chat hour and use the hashtag #KTChat or @mention @KaylaCagan and @SCBWISOCALLA to join the discussion! If you aren’t on Twitter, leave questions in the blog comments before we chat!
How do we, as writers and readers, make sense of the world when it no longer feels like it makes sense to us? When facts are questioned and questions aren’t answered, do words matter? More importantly, do stories still matter? And what are we doing to make sure we are sharing the stories that can make a difference in a reader’s life?
Reading and writing books are the most valuable arenas of space and territories of time we can occupy to process the noisy world around us. When readers tweet that they lost track of time because they were reading, what they are doing is engaging with a story that was necessary for them. In Brené Brown’s book, Rising Strong, she states, “Neuroeconomist Paul Zak has found that hearing a story — a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end — causes our brains to release cortisol and oxytocin. These chemicals trigger the uniquely human abilities to connect, empathize, and make meaning. Story is literally in our DNA.”
Simply, we need to read and tell stories not just to survive on a personal level, but to thrive as a world community. At first glance, some stories might appear as quiet or common. Maybe they even seem unimportant. The question may be asked: Why this story? Why now?
05 Wednesday Sep 2018
Posted in Author's Perspective, Community Corner
Tags
A Bug Collection, cancer survival, Melody Mansfield, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Sue Alexander Grant, The Life Stone of Singing Bird
When a rabbi-friend urged me to “share my story,” my heart sunk in my tumor-riddled chest. Did the world really need another story about breast cancer? And if I wasn’t willing to tackle this “important” topic, then why did I write, anyway? Continue reading
29 Wednesday Aug 2018
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world:
22 Wednesday Aug 2018
Posted in Great News!
SCBWI loves celebrating our members’ successes and noteworthy news, and there are many! Read on to find out who’s got something to shout about. Digital high-fives welcome in the comments!
