Disability Inclusion 101: Five Tips for Writing Disability “Right”

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authors, disability, illustrators, inclusion, Karol Ruth Silverstein, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, writing tips

by Karol Ruth Silverstein

Disability is everywhere, sometimes hidden, sometimes unmistakable. Disabled people make up the largest and most diverse minority group in the world. So—yes—disability should be abundant in our children’s literature as well. But is “bad” (i.e., inaccurate, inauthentic, insensitive) representation better than no representation at all?

Writers Day 2022 Back in Person: Craft, Community, and Book-ish Costumes

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Alex Slater, Andrea J. Loney, Joseph Taylor, Mitali Perkins, Natasha Khan Kazi, Orlando Dos Reis, Rebecca Langston-George, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, Sue Ganz-Schmitt, Toni Gallagher

By Natasha Khan Kazi

October 22, 2022, marked the return of Writers Day at the Skirball Cultural Center, hosted by SCBWI Los Angeles and CenCal. I was thrilled to be back in person with the SoCal kid lit community. With smiles, under our masks, we welcomed a day of craft, community, and book-ish costumes.

SCBWI-L.A. Writers Day Contest: And the Winners Are…

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authors, Laurie L. Young, middle grade, Nicholas Ponticello, Patricia Toht, picture book, Ronna Mandel, SCBWI events, Vincent X. Kirsch, young adult

by Brenda Scott Royce, Contest Coordinator

A highlight of Writers Day every year is the announcement of the winners of the writing contest. It’s not only exciting for the lucky ones called to the stage—hearing what the judges had to say about the stand-out manuscripts can also be instructive and inspiring for the rest of us. While cheering on our fellow writers, we just may hear something that sparks an idea for a revision or a whole new story.

Please join us in celebrating the 2022 Writers Day Contest runners-up and winners, who were announced at the SCBWI-L.A./CenCal Writers Day event on Saturday, October 23. Excerpts from the judges’ comments are included in the list of honorees below. If you’d like to contact any of the winners to request their manuscript or discuss publication, please let us know!

SCBWI CenCal Save the Dates: Fall and Winter Events 2022

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authors, CenCal, Critique Day, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, small press, webinar

by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

Join us for a couple of fun programs this coming November and December. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to write for a small press, be with us in November for our Small Press Webinar. Also, we will be holding a Critique-a Thon, online, in December. Please see the details below for both events.

Crossing Borders and Letting Go with Mitali Perkins

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authors, editing tips, Hope In The Valley, intercultural, middle grade, Mitali Perkins, nonfiction, picture books, plotting, SCBWI events, Writers Day 2022, writing tips, young adult

Joining us as keynote speaker for Writers Day 2022 is Mitali Perkins! An explorer of boundaries both physical and literary, she has written books for all ages of young readers, including You Bring the Distant Near (nominated for a National Book Award) and Rickshaw Girl (adapted into a film by Sleeperwave Productions) and the upcoming picture book, The Story of Us (Beaming Books, 2022). She seeks to make readers laugh and cry, all while opening their hearts to understanding the mysteries of the wider world.

Jessica Chrysler: Welcome Mitali, and thank you for taking the time to interview with Kite Tales! As an author of picture books, YA and nonfiction for adults, your work crosses categories as fluidly as you explore the theme of crossing borders. What inspires you in your work? And what gives you that spark to take on the next project?

SCBWI CenCal Writers’ Contest Winners 2022!

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Anita Perez Ferguson, CenCal Writer's Day, contest winners, Eloise Freeman, Judith Torres, middle grade, nonfiction picture book, picture book, Rachel Waterstone, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, young adult

By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

The SCBWI Central-Coastal Region held its Writers’ Day webinar, Perfect Your Pitch, on Sunday, July 10. Lynn Becker, author of Monsters in the Briny, and Lisa Kerr, author of Wake, Sleepy One: California Poppies and the Super Bloom, were our Spotlight Speakers, sharing their paths to publication. Agent Joyce Sweeney from The Seymour Agency offered advice on composing pitches and gave live feedback on a handful of pre-selected pitches.

A highlight of the event was the announcement of the winners of the writing contest.

Just Do It! Enter the 2022 SCBWI-L.A. Writers Day Contest

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Christine Van Zandt, contests, Erica Rich, middle grade, Nicholas Ponticello, nonfiction, picture books, poetry, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, Toni Gallagher, Writers Day 2022, young adult

by Brenda Scott Royce

Why do we enter writing contests? Prizes are awfully nice, and hearing your name announced as the winner is a definite thrill. But perhaps even more motivating is the validation that comes with recognition of your work. There’s nothing like learning that the speck of an idea you plucked from thin air and coaxed into shape over weeks, months, or maybe even years, actually has wings and can fly. 

Getting the Most Out of Critique: The Art of Listening

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critiques, kidlit, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, writing tips

This weekend on June 12th, SCBWI-L.A. will be hosting its annual Critique Day which is open to all members of SCBWI. Creatives from all over the tri-regions (and beyond) will have the opportunity to share their work with each other in a safe and structured environment. It is one of the best places to get started when taking those first steps into honing your craft without having to fully commit to a class or pay for a workshop. This event is always free to our members. (Registration for this year’s event is now closed, however, so be sure to check back on the regional page for next time!)

But we’re here to talk about getting the most out of that critique. For first timers it can be nerve-racking just having someone else read your work, but for the seasoned pro it might be a testing ground for an experimental piece. Both need open and honest feedback about the work, but with only a few minutes to read and talk about each piece, how can we best make use of that time?

How Attending SCBWI-L.A. Writer’s Day Led to a Book Deal

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Asa Gilland, authors, Charlotte Offsay, editing tips, Frances Gilbert, picture books, publishing, Rejection, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, writing tips

by Charlotte Offsay

Unpublished and unagented, I attended SCBWI-L.A. Writer’s Day 2019 full of hope but never expecting that the events of the day would ultimately lead to a big five publishing contract. 

For the second year in a row, I attended as an aspiring picture book author, and this time around I knew what to expect. I arrived eager to soak in the wisdom of the day’s fabulous lineup of speakers and had submitted a picture book manuscript for critique by one of the event day faculty. The manuscript that I submitted was one that I had been working on for months, Gram’s Got the Magic Touch. Here is the pitch:

Gram’s leaving, and she’s taking her magic with her. Without it Rose’s baby brother Henry wails and life as Rose knows it is dooooomed. There’s only one solution, Rose needs magic powers too.

Illustrator’s Day 2022: Welcome Laura-Susan Thomas!

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digital illustration, digital tools, illustrator tips, illustrators, Laura-Susan Thomas, SCBWI events, SCBWI members

SCBWI-L.A. Illustrator’s Day is coming around the corner and we have a wonderful presenter lined up, ready to dive deep into the craft of digital art making with you!

Please welcome Laura-Susan Thomas, a digital artist extraordinaire with experience creating art on a grand scale as a Walt Disney Imagineer where she was able to embrace her inner 10-year-old every day, working on designs for Paris, Orlando, and Tokyo theme parks. She has had her work featured in the LA Times Kids’ Reading Room and Babybug Magazine. A professor of Fine Arts at the Allan Hancock College, she is also the Gallery Director at the Ann Foxworthy Gallery and the Illustrator Coordinator for the SCBWI-CenCal region.

For Illustrator Day, Thomas will share with us different strategies for working creatively with technology. The workshop will delve into two of the main applications artists use for creating on the computer and will have a little “sandbox” time for participants to begin experimenting in the medium as well. If you haven’t signed up yet, please visit the regional events page to register.