Conference snippets, and ducks

As promised, here are gems from the SCBWI-WWA Spring conference (that's the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Western Washington division, in case you wanted to know).

Ducks... in the pool!
That's the way we do conferences in the Pacific Northwest.

Celebrity sightings!
Author-illustrator Dana Sullivan and the wildebeests showed off some of his book magic.

Richard Jesse Watson encouraged us to question our characters:
           What do they do for fun? What do they think about marmalade? Do they like chickens?
           What would they be like in dinosaur times?

Sketch notes.

Maybe perseverance is worth it. - Patricia Hruby Powell

The writing process is really about revision. - Stephanie Pitts

I'm thankful for the reminder this weekend that writers are more aptly called rewriters.

 

Don't be afraid to do a bad job. Just jump in and do it! - Laurie Ann Thompson 

Sometimes I mire down, stuck so hard looking for the perfect story.  

I love this permission from author Laurie Ann Thompson to loosen up.

I was smitten with Sarah Stewart and David Small, the author and illustrator team behind the books The Gardener, The Library, The Friend, The Journey. Both Sarah and David are so gracious, their words stirring and deep.

Kazu Kibuishi, creator of The Amulet books, got into writing 

because a high school teacher believed in him.

Thanks to a teacher's words- "You can DO this! You can be a writer!"
he got serious about making stories.

It just goes to show you that words
can transform the entire course of a life!
Yay for teachers! Yay for words!

Speaking of encouragement, I got to enter a juried portfolio show.
 
Gorgeous portfolios!
 
Stunning illustrations!
 
And here's one surprise that blew me away:

{quote from the SCBWI WWA Chinook blog:

A jury of faculty judges reviewed all of the portfolios for our 2017 SCBWI Western Washington Juried Portfolio Show.

           Booster Award winner: Faith Pray
           2nd runner up: Margaux Meganck
           1st runner up: Alexander Mostov
           Grand Prize winner: Tracy Subisak    }


What a gift!
I'm so thankful for this honor.
Wow.


I am thankful to the lovely SCBWI Western Washington circle
of illustrators and authors.

What a dazzle of people!
I'm inspired by their diligence and heart.

Books!

The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken
Bloom by Doreen Cronin, ill. by David Small Digger and Daisy Plant a Garden by Dana J. Sullivan
Be a Changemaker! by Laurie Ann Thompson
Pickle by Kim Baker
Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi

Lucky?

 SCBWI's drawing prompt for March is LUCKY.

I got to thinking about luck,

and what it means to me. 

With or without four-leaf clovers, book contracts, 

double-rainbows or pots of gold,

I am wishing-wells full of the best kind of luck.

I have beauty all around me -

in sky and earth, 

in people with all their glorious quirks,

in a roof over my head, clean water,

in laughter and forgiveness.

And I am free - 

free to write, to make art, to learn,
dream, wish, pray,
to hope.

I believe thankfulness and hope can fill the darkest sky with stars.

That's my kind of lucky.

Books:

The Wishing of Biddy Malone by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Christopher Denise

The Woman Who Flummoxed the Fairies by Heather Forest, illustrated by Susan Gaber

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Wings and Winners

I am Icarus. 

Except instead of wax and feathers,
I'm patched together with glitter glue,
writing morsels and
cups of hot tea.
Struck by a blaze of new story lightning,
I'm going down.

That's a good thing, right?
...Right?

Muttering at walls, scribbling
"Words are my wings!" on sticky notes,
covered in ink smudges,
I'm delightedly doomed.

But not too doomed
to help with peg dolls.
Indeed!
And Ancient Greek peggies at that.
Thank you, Margaret Bloom!
 
Here is Athena, patron of wisdom, and arts and crafts!
She's an owl lady.
 
Aphrodite, patron of love.

Posiedon. Sea guy. And that's his trident.

Hera, wife of Zeus, patron of marriage.
Peacock lady.
Also compared to a cow in some circles.
Now you know.

Parthenon?

Ruler. Cardboard. Scissors. Tape. White glue. 



And now for the drum-roll, please...
we'd like to announce a winner!
 
A hearty thanks to all of you who entered
Margaret Bloom's Making Peg Dolls giveaway,
and thank you to Margaret for the fantastic blog tour.

Our winner is... Barb Davis-Pyles. Congratulations, Barb!

I hope you will all go out and find this beautiful book.
You are going to LOVE it.

And did you know SACRED DIRT has a facebook page?
"Like it" to get posts on the beautiful mess of artsy writing,
daily dirt, and parenting sent directly to your facebook feed.

Ancient Greece on the page:

Greek Myths For Young Children, by Heather Amery, ill. Linda Edwards
Explore Ancient Greece!
Greek Myths - Ann Turnbull, ill. by Sarah Young
A Gift From Zeus - Jeanne Steig, ill. by William Steig
The Adventures of Odysseus, by Hugh Lupton, Daniel Morden, ill. by Christina Balit
Aesop's Fables - Lisbeth Zwerger

Rain or Shine

On Monday it rained a little bit,

but we said "happy summer" anyway,



doled out umbrella pencils to our friends

and flower bookmarks to our teacher

 with blooming "school's out" smiles.

We shuffled out next morning in pajamas and slippers,
un-hurried,
no school bell,


content with our pancakes.

Not to fret!
In all the summer revelry, I didn't forget our
DEVINE INTERVENTION book giveaway contest!
Congratulations, Dawn Simon!
You won! I'll zip you a message soon.
Thank you, Martha Brockenbrough, for writing and gifting us with this excellent book!

 
More excitement this week: speaking to the
Port Townsend Library Teen Writers' group.
Thank you, PT Library for the opportunity!
 
Look at those smiley faces.
Thanks, guys. 

And thanks to those of you who let me take pictures of your shoes

 

and for humoring me

with all the talk about books and words 

and what to do with the voices in our heads,

about showing up to write 

every day, rain or shine.

It was a delight to hang out with you.

I'll share more of my notes on our talk later this month.
 
In the meantime, happy writing,
and happy summer, rain or shine!