Midsouth SCBWI Conference

I was looking SO forward to last weekend's Midsouth SCBWI Conference, and it did not disappoint! It boasted a stellar list of faculty headlined by author Caroline Cooney, who was delightful. As a big fan, I was super-excited to meet her. She was a wonderful speaker and so personable one-on-one. I was lucky enough to have one of my paid critiques assigned to her, and she took such care and went into such detail. The fact that she was really complimentary of my writing didn't hurt either :), but it really was one of the most in-depth critiques I've ever had.

The rest of the faculty, like editors Cheryl Klein and Kaylan Adair, were also great, and the Midsouth "staff" was incredible. Genetta, Sharon, and Susan were all so helpful and really put together a smoothly-run event.

Personally, it was great to see "old" friends like my critique group who all met at this conference last year. We have stayed together ever since, doing monthly critiques and offering advice. That's us in the top picture--David, Beth, Maria, Joyce, Ruta, Grace, and me.

The pictures below feature my roomie, Kristi Valiant. She won the illustrators contest for the second year in a row and was the star of the conference! Her amazing talent is impossible to overlook, and on top of that, she is always willing to spend her time helping out new illustrators, just as she did again this year.

What a great weekend! I can't wait to see what they new next year to try to top this one!

Reading and Writing--the Staples of Life

My latest reading list has been made up exclusively of Rick Riordan's Olympians series. I have read 1 through 5 straight through, though I'm not done with #5 yet. I believe The Last Olympian is the conclusion of the series, though I read Riordan is working on a new Camp Halfblood series. These books have been great fun to read. I have really, really enjoyed them, and have added Riordan to my Twitter list. My son is a huge fan of these books too, so if Riodan is ever at a book signing within a reasonable driving distance, we'd love to hop in the car and go meet him.

On the writing side, I am waiting for the last of the critiques for The Doorway short story from my online group. Next week I hope to edit the story and get it ready to send out!

I have been staying busy writing online articles to supplement my regular and paltry writing income. These are no masterpieces, and I don't receive writing credits, but they do pay...and that's pretty important too!

Yesterday I submitted my latest article for the Westside Courier. This one was on teenager Kortney Fuller, who has had a pacemaker since she was six months old! She and her family were very nice to interview.

I have also been getting ready for this weekend's Evansville SCBWI event with Margaret McMullan. I anticipate that Margaret will be a great speaker. Kristi Valiant, Elsa Marston, and Marlis day will also be there to sign and sell their own books!

Pancit and Popcorn!!

Kristi Valiant had a wonderful turnout on Saturday, July 25th during her book signing for Cora Cooks Pancit, the beautiful picture book she illustrated for Shen's Books. The crowd at Barnes and Noble in Evansville, Indiana got to sample homemade pancit, which Kristi's husband made using the recipe from the book. It was an exciting first signing; no doubt Kristi will have many more!

As for my own publishing update, I received slightly less exciting but still fun news! After entering a poetry contest a few weeks ago at the Stories for Children Magazine blog, I received an email Friday from a friend who saw the results. I won 3rd place and some free popcorn!

Please visit http://familiesmatter2us.blogspot.com/2009/07/its-finally-here-popcorn-poetry-contest.html to read the poem. The editors also had some very kind editorial words. "As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of humankind on the moon, your idea of aliens coming to earth and smelling popcorn and wanting it so badly, combined with your awesome title, made your poem very funny and a kid-pleaser, Christi. WOHOOOOO FOR YOU, CHRISTI!"

Congrats to Kristi Valiant!

Congratulations to Kristi Valiant, whose first trade picture book is due in stores this month!! Kristi beautifully illustrated Cora Cooks Pancit, as everyone will soon see! I can't wait to show it off to everyone.

I am working on final edits for an article on USI grad student Kristi Scott and will be sending that to the editor later this week. Kristi was very sweet to interview. Though she was full of cutting-edge thoughts on technology and society, she was very down-to-earth and easy to talk to.

I am also working on editing my book's first 50 pages to get sent off this week for an Indiana SCBWI conference critique.

During my moments of relaxation, I am rapidly devouring the fourth book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Unfortunately, that will mean I'm caught up and anxiously-awaiting publication of the fifth!