Monday, January 6, 2014

Confirmation for Conference

I got my confirmation in the mail on Saturday for the SCBWI OK Spring Conference.  I am excited for that day. It will be a chance to mingle with other writers and as Anna (our SCBWI Regional Advisor) says, "Learn the craft." Learning for me has been ongoing since I joined SCBWI.

At the conference, our guest speakers will be:
Liza Kaplan, Editor, Philomel Books, Penguin Group
Melissa Manlove, Editor, Chronicle Books
Andrew Harwell, Editor, HarperCollins
Kristin Miller-Vincent, Agent, D4EO
Tricia Lawrence, Agent, Erin Murphy Literary

This is BIG! To actually be face to face with editors and agents and have one of them critique your work...it's an opportunity that doesn't come along everyday. We hold these people in such high esteem. Can you tell, I'm getting anxious for March to arrive?



In Limbo

I'm sure every writer goes through it. One day the ideas are flowing, the next day, not so much. I guess I'm in that predicament. I'm working on a story, and I'm stuck. I know kind of how I want the story to go, but I can't seem to make it there. I thought if I relaxed and forgot about it for a while, it would come to me. So far, I can't seem to make it past that hurdle. I don't want to say I'm a quitter, but I am seriously thinking about putting this story in a file and coming back to it sometime way down the road. I will be starting a new project today. Hopefully, this one will come easier. Actually, no one ever said children's writing would be easy. In fact, it's the hardest thing I've ever done.  I still believe in going after what you want, so I will keep fighting my way through. Someday, it's going to happen, and when it does, it's going to be BIG! Dream big or don't dream at all!