Hello, Everyone! Photos from SCBWI-LA Illustrator's Day 2010 are up!





You can view the full SCBWI-LA Illustrator's Day album on Facebook here: http://on.fb.me/i5QwA3
and on Flickr here: http://bit.ly/dK0MSS

Captions in the online albums were provided by Ken Min, my very good friend and a superstar illustrator. Thanks, Ken, for organizing the event, and for asking me to photograph it!

Illustrator's Day was an amazing conference held in San Gabriel last Saturday, featuring illustrator Brian Floca, agent/author Jennifer Rofé, Art Director Rich Deas, Editor Abigail Samoun, and illustrator Dan Santat as speakers; with door prizes, portfolio displays, awards announced, hijinks, and touching surprises. Check out the photos to relive the excitement, or to glimpse what it was all about!

With thanks again to organizers Ken and Milla for the wonderful job they did this year, as well as to all the hardworking volunteers they recruited! The entire day was inspiring and delicious! (Speaking of delicious, several of us went out for dumplings at Din Tai Fung afterwards . . . yum, yum.)

Cheers, and Happy Holiday Week, Everyone!*
Rita

* gobble, gobble

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Hi, Everyone! Here's a mini-roundup of smiley news from my corner of the world. 

First, check out the current, Fall 2010 issue of Kite Tales, SCBWI-Los Angeles's online quarterly magazine, wherein my SCBWI Summer Conference photos have been featured on Page 25. (The layout is beautiful! Thanks, talented Kite Tales crew, and thanks, Editor Rilla, for including all the gorgeous, smiling faces of our good friends!)

Next, check out more of my SCBWI Summer Conference photos in a double-page spread in the September/October 2010 Edition of the SCBWI National Bulletin! Pages 24-25, baby!! (You may have to log in as an SCBWI member to view.)



Also, please admire this Bulletin's particularly gorgeous cover, which was done by You Byun (and lifted by me off SCBWI.org). It's amazing!! (FYI, I think this illustrator has the best first name ever, and I hope she really pronounces it you. That's even more brilliant than our friend's name Ai. I wish I'd thought of it.)

Since we're on the subject of photos from the Summer Conference, here's another one--used last week in the SCBWI Children's Market Blog, where Sara Wilson Etienne has been featured as a brand new SCBWI Success Story! Check it out! The interview questions by Alice Pope are brilliant, and Sara's answers even more so. Extra! Extra! Read all about her!


Sara Wilson Etienne, shown here with her agent to the stars, Michael Bourret, at the 2010 SCBWI Summer Conference.

I'd also like to send a shout-out of congrats to Lee Wind for the plethora of good news he's been receiving lately, among them, the Honorable Mention for this year's SCBWI Sue Alexander Most Promising New Work Award--and--(and, and!) a plum spot in the 2010/2011 Nevada SCBWI Mentor Program! Check out his blog post and congratulate him there!



The super empowered Lee Wind! Photo also by me. What can I say. My friends are beautiful.


The magic continues,
r

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Some of my favorite reads (and examples of Voice!) this year: Agnes Parker . . . Girl In Progress, by Kathleen O'Dell; The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick; I Am A Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want To Be Your Class President, by Josh Lieb; Hold Still, by Nina LaCour; Gorgeous, by Rachel Vail; The Monstrumologist, by Rick Yancey. (All images from GoodReads.)


All right. So here's the promise Lee and I made to the world in our latest e-blast about the SCBWI Westside Schmooze.

Subject: The SCBWI Westside Schmooze -- Wednesday, October 13th at 7 PM

Does October mean thrills, chills, and suspense to you? Well, it should if you attend the next meeting of the SCBWI Westside Schmooze! Because on October 13th, at 7 PM, we will meet to unmask . . .

VOICE: The End-All Definition

That's right. Editors and Agents often say that while they can fix everything else in a manuscript, Voice is that one special quality a manuscript must have from the start, for them to fall in love. Yet when it comes to defining what Voice IS, even the greats flounder, with many falling back on the axiom "You know it when you see it."

What is THAT about? Are we in the business of describing things or aren't we?? At the next Westside Schmooze we aim to settle this mystery once and for all--AND come up with an End-All Definition--by showing great examples of Voice, analyzing WHAT IT IS, and sharing exercises that will help each of us find and perfect our own. For Picture Book through Young Adult, fiction and non-fiction. Let's do this. It's time.

Now, I'll admit I've been frustrated in my life lately, and I wrote this email with a mad gleam in my eye when the weather had taken a turn for the worse.

But.

I think it's hilarious to set out to do "impossible" things--especially because (in my experience) 60-65% of the time, it totally works. Most of the time, the only

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I've been tagged by Wendy on Facebook for the "15 Books" meme. Since my entries on LiveJournal automatically post to FB as Notes, I decided to go ahead and post the meme to LJ first.

* * *
Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note.)

- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
- The Bartimaeus Trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
- Holes, by Louis Sachar
- Half Magic, by Edward Eager
- The Changeling, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
- The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
- Interview With The Vampire, by Anne Rice
- Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
- A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park
- The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynne Reid Banks
- The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Watership Down, by Richard Adams
- There Must Be More To Life Than Having Everything, by Maurice Sendak
- The Sea-Thing Child, by Russell Hoban
- The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston

I'm embarrassed by my list--especially as I can't remember much of Interview With The Vampire and have the sneaking suspicion Good Omens wasn't good. It's a little ambiguous what "always stick with you" means. I'm counting those two as half.

My 17th pick would be Tuesday, by David Wiesner.

I just finished Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell three days ago, so I'm deep in the thrall of that book. The Bartimaeus Trilogy (another cheat, since that's three books) comes partly in association with that, I'm sure. But I'm gambling both of those oeuvres are sticking with me for good.

:)
r

Wow, what a singular portrait of me this is. And that wasn't even the first reason I was embarrassed.

Tagging via Facebook. Feel free to join in!

Oh! I forgot The Princess and The Goblin, by George MacDonald! One of these others has got to go.

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Hooray!! Photos from the 2010 SCBWI Summer Conference are up!



Photos by Rita Crayon Huang, Copyright ©2010, SCBWI.

You can view the full set of photos in three different places online: at the official SCBWI Flickr photostream (which can also be reached via the SCBWI Web site), at my own Flickr photostream, and on Facebook here. Feel free to tag yourselves in the Facebook album!*

(*Disclaimer: If ever I post a photo you are not 100% comfortable with, let me know and I will pull it immediately, no questions asked. I am here to be your friend!)

As always, you are all invited to use these photos on your own blogs, Web sites, etc. Please credit the photographer whenever you use images; in this case, me, Rita Crayon Huang. I love being able to contribute to SCBWI in this way.

This year's SCBWI Summer Conference was magical and magnificent. Highlights for me included Jon Sciezska's talk on multimedia; M.T. Anderson's talk on "Literary Experiment in Books for Children"; Rubin Pfeffer's riveting call to action as the world of book publishing changes; Rachel Vail—whose books I discovered several months ago and who is a master of Voice—speaking on Voice; and Ashley Bryan—whose books I'd already bought in stacks to give to friends—altering my understanding of reading poetry aloud forevermore. And getting to hang out with great friends, and meeting new, fantastic, creative people.

Actually, Ashley Bryan changed what I now have to tell people when I give out his books. I'm glad I heard him speak first!!

And here are a few momentos from this year's conference that are just for me, that were

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Hello!

So I'm at the annual SCBWI Summer Conference right now, and so far, it has been amazing.

This is just a quick post to say hi to anyone that happens to stop by (thanks!!). I should have photos from the Conference up by the end of next week.

Cheers! Please come back!!

Rita

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I have tons of books I want to tell you about, that are so amazing.

Right now, though, I just want to share one book. It's online, and you can read it here:


The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, by so many of your favorite children's book writers.

This is the most hilarious story-go-'round ever, being played by an awesome line-up of children's book writers!! Linda Sue Park, M.T. Anderson, Susan Cooper, Katherine Paterson, Jon Scieszka, Kate DiCamillo, Shannon Hale . . . just to name a few. Irvin, AJ, e, Anna, Benji, D, and others and I have sometimes played the hilarious storytelling card game "Once Upon A Time," which requires a group to weave disparate elements into one coherent narrative, each of us taking turns while holding our storytelling cards close to the chest. In The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, Jon Scieszka lays out all the starting pieces and then you see what the masters do. (Also, I wanted to write a paragraph just now that put my friends in a continuum with my writing heroes. Sweet!! It's like we're playing together!!)

(I wish.)

Warning: The book is not finished. I did not know this when I started. I got to page 150 before hitting the "To Be Continued" placard. You cannot believe how fast the chapters fly. (You read one writer's cliffhanger, turn the page and see the next author's name, and of course you have to find out what that person does!) They're adding new installments every two weeks.

I should have known by page 130 ("of 150"), that I'd stumbled upon this midway. I only suspected it at page 140—but still wondered if the last writer might not have found a brilliant way to wrap it up. That's how amazing each installment has been.

(And some of them take multiple turns! So you really don't know what's coming next.)

I can hear every author laughing at each next author's contribution. I can feel them ribbing each other around the room. Everyone's playing together!! It's, um, it's, well, it's, er, exquisite!!

(Your turn!)

r

P.S.
Read more about the project at the Library of Congress Web site. Apparently the book will be completed within a year of its inception. So they've got nine more episodes to go.

You can also listen to it at that link.

With thanks to Linda Sue Park, whose blog tipped me off!

P.P.S.
This reminds me of a game Damon and I have been playing lately. We just saw Peter Gabriel at the Hollywood Bowl (amazing), and during the show (as on the new album) he does a haunting, beautiful version of the song "The Book of Love." (Listen to it here!)

Now, Damon and I do not know the song very well. We heard it a couple months ago (when C first got the tickets) and then we heard it at the show. After the concert, of course, we wanted to sing it. But we still don't know the words.

So we've been making them u

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SCBWI-LA WRITER'S DAY 2010
Saturday, April 10th
San Gabriel, CA

 
Books by this year's Writer's Day speakers include: Agnes Parker . . . Girl in Progress, by Kathleen O'Dell; Going Bovine, by Libba Bray (winner of this year's Printz Award!); and Old Cricket, written by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by Ponder Goembel.
Also pictured above: Robin Mellom with agent Jill Corcoran (another of our esteemed speakers today!), and authors Lee Wind and Eve Porinchak, kickin' it at lunch.

Hi, Everyone!

Photos from SCBWI-LA Writer's Day 2010 are up! Check them out by clicking any of the images above, or by clicking the foregoing link. Feel free to use these in your blogs or anywhere, and please credit me if you do (Rita Crayon Huang).

I've also added these photos to Facebook here. You're welcome to tag yourselves and each other there--or to untag yourselves, if that is your will. Better yet, if any photos make you uncomfortable, let me know and I will pull them immediately. (The necessary disclaimer every time I post photos from SCBWI.)

This year's Writer's Day was absolutely amazing. I've inserted tidbits from my notes in the captions (you'll see when you go to the albums), but the highly unoriginal bottom line is that this day was terrific. All the speakers were so warm and engaging, and packed their sessions with practical insights. And delivered them hilariously!!

Do you doubt it? HarperCollins Editor Rachel Abrams, picture book goddess Lisa Wheeler, agent of fabulousness Jill Corcoran, middle grade master Kathleen O'Dell, and YA queen (and Printz-Award winner) Libba Bray? The line-up was incredible. Congratulations to Claudia and Edie for putting together another amazing Writer's Day, along with all the other volunteers!

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Woo hoo! The latest issue of Kite Tales came out! And so many awesome people are in it, including my good friend Mark Fearing, the super awesome Katie McDee, the dashing Lee Wind, and yours truly--for being a "Volunteer in the Spotlight" with Lee and co-Coordinating the SCBWI Westside Schmooze.

Check check check it out. Mark is on pages 11 and 12: "Illustrator's Perspective." Katie's "Illustrator's Gallery" is on page 25. And Lee and I are on pages 30 and 31: "Volunteers in the Spotlight." The whole issue is packed with great articles and information.

Congrats to the Kite Tales staff for putting out another great issue! Thanks for including us!

:D :D
Rita

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My friend managed to get through an entire day of work last week with horrific food poisoning, without taking any time off. He hid the symptoms all day long—when people passed by his office, when he attended meetings, when he drove across town for a conference (at which, it turned out, he had to speak).

"Every time someone walked by my office, I was like, 'Hey!' and then as soon as they were gone, you know," he said, holding his arms around himself and closing his eyes. "Rocking a little."

I could not stop laughing at every detail. The sweating. The shaking. The strategic running up back stairwells to remote restrooms so bosses and new interns wouldn't see him—both so they couldn't stop him and introduce anyone, and so they wouldn't hear . . . anything. Or know how long he'd been in there.

My friend couldn't understand what was so funny. Being a decent and humble guy, he kept interrupting himself and trying to change the subject with, "Sorry, this is a really boring story," and "And that is way more than you wanted to know about that!" And I kept laughing and saying No, I want to hear more!, and before I could explain why, he would remember something else and go on.

Like how, at one point, before heading across town to a meeting, he stopped at his house, because he had ten minutes to spare. And then he barfed a little, and thought, "Okay. . . ." pant, pant. "Now I'm good." Then he had to sit down again and spend a couple minutes breathing. Then he was running late and had to go.

Because he was only stopping for ten minutes, he parked on the street instead of in the garage. When he got back into his car, he went, "YEAHHHHHH!" Both hands gripping the wheel, face screwed up, screaming. "YEAAAHHHHHHHH!!"—twice—before starting the engine.

I laughed the hardest at that. I totally grilled him about it.

"What do you mean?" I said. "You were just . . . psyching yourself up?? Do you psych yourself up like that in general?? Whenever you have something hard to do?" I thought of all the scenes I'd seen on TV with guys karate chopping themselves in mirrors.

"Yeah. Why?" My friend had no idea why this was interesting.

I kept asking why he didn't go home—or stay home—and my friend insisted that at every turn, he thought the worst had passed.* Until it was too late again.

(*I found out later from his wife that, in fact, the worst did not hit until he was driving home from his meeting, and she came home to find him shivering, feverish, moaning. She was completely frightened. She thought it might be swine flu. At which point I rebuked him roundly, because if there is any chance you could have flu of any type—especially right now—you have to go home!! It's the responsible thing to do!! But he insisted he knew the whole time what flu felt like, and even though he didn't know what was going on, it wasn't that. I find this sketchy and scandalous, but anyway, he didn't have flu, so we'll leave it at that.) 

The rest of the episodes from his day were equally entertaining. The stuff of nightmares. Opening a document with 20 minutes before a meeting, and realizing it's 140 pages. Getting to the conference, which your boss's colleague said the company only needed someone to show up at, and realizing you're one of the few attendees with a nameplate. Thinking frantically of what you're going to say, the whole time the long-winded panel is working its way around to you. Pulling off your spiel so that people are coming up afterward to shake your hand and say they appreciated your presentation, even while you're too disoriented to realize you parked your car in the wrong lot.

I kept pulling details out of him. It amazes me when people don't realize

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When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Transcendant. I read it in one day and then read it again--from start to finish--the next. I am buying this book ASAP.

The content-less hype (by all who recommended the book to me) is well-deserved. Thanks, everyone!! For both sharing and preserving the mystery!

I chose this as the first book I'd read in 2010 (and in my brand new home) because the sources of hype were so solid. So far, my year is going stellar.

Happy New Year!!

View all my reviews on GoodReads >>

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One of the challenges of heading The SCBWI Westside Schmooze (as Gregory K. explained before he and Sara Wilson Etienne handed off the reins to Lee Wind and me at the end of last year) is finding a Schmooze guest speaker--at least once a year--that can address to the interests of a group as varied as ours. We have writers of all genres of children's books attend our Schmooze, from picture books to young adult; fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels, you name it. And we're at all stages in our careers. We average 35 people at every meeting, with a much larger list supplying the "regulars" that rotate in and out.

So.

Since blogging has been sparse around here, I thought I'd direct you to this blog entry Lee and I just posted at the official SCBWI Tri-Regions of Southern California Schmooze Blog, about our first year's guest speaker! Because that amazing, multi-talented person turned out to be . . .

Paula Yoo!!

Yes, that's right. We asked Paula Yoo, and she said yes. Here's an excerpt from the e-blast we sent to our Schmooze list last month, announcing this greatness:

Special Guest Speaker: Paulo Yoo!!

Yes, it's true!! The indomitable Paula Yoo has agreed to speak at the Westside Schmooze. Ms. Yoo is the author of highly acclaimed YA and picture books (please see below) and has taught children's writing at UCLA Extension to rave reviews from several of our Westside Schmooze attendees. She is also a much-in-demand writer of TV dramas and a wicked violinist who performs and records regularly with rock bands nationwide.

Paula will be demonstrating material from her school visits, as well as sharing insights on plot, writing exercises, and stories from her journey as a writer. She is a DYNAMO. You do not want to miss this.

We also reminded everyone that Paula orchestrated NaPiBoWriWee (National Picture Book Writing Week) this past year--itself a play on NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). In NaPiBoWriWee, writers rise to the challenge of writing seven picture books in seven days. Lee and I both independently thought of Paula as our first guest speaker, because she does it all--picture books, YA, fiction, nonfiction (not to mention teaching, blogging, tweeting, her other careers)--and she's got stage presence.

Paula's books:

Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story, illustrated by Dom Lee (Lee & Low Books, picture book biography, May 2005). Winner of the New Voices Award!
Good Enough (HarperCollins, young adult fiction, Feb. 2008)
Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story, illustrated by Lin Wang (Lee & Low Books, picture book biography, May 2008)

Anyway, I shouldn't go on, becaus

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HA HA HA HA!!

[Said with my finger pointing at an email I got, eyes squeezed shut and every HA separate, almost like a Haw. This is my something-has-just-come-loose-in-my-brain laugh, unlike hahahahahahaha, which is a low giggle of irrepressible mirth.]

I won the poetry contest at Literati Cafe!!! 

Read all the winning entries here:
http://literatiliterati.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/poetry-contest-winners/

Okay, I didn't "win" as in get First Place, which comes with a sizable gift certificate that could have funded my writing there for . . . a week. Two if I was careful. (One night if I threw a lavish party for the three-person writing group that was the reason I entered, or if we dined at Literati 2.) I won a Judges Award, which comes with a sizable-ish gift certificate, good for a writer's group meeting at least.

So Lee suggests everyone enter, since we've been gathering at this cafe twice a month for a few years, and I cannot come up with a poem to save my life. I used to love writing little poems on the side all the time, but I've been too wound up over my fiction manuscript lately. So I write something terrible* (and, what's worse, earnest, because I genuinely love this cafe that is the best writing environment in the whole city), and grimace and bear it while my group tells me they like the bits that rhymed, and Lee throws our entries in the box.

(*And no, that is not the one that won, so you can stop trying to outsmart me right there. It was bad.)

Lee and Sara, in the meantime, came up with poems that had me floored. I mean, they knocked me out. I wanted them to send me copies afterward, so I could keep them like a packrat, but they ignored me on that.

That night, Literati poems start coming to me. Really terrible ones, but I get out of bed and write them all down, anyway. And I am like this the whole time:

HA HA HA HA!!
[finger pointing at my computer screen, cracking myself up, wishing all my friends were awake at 3 AM]

The next morning, I get up early and go to Literati and stuff the new ones in the box. I mean, writing these made me cheerful like you wouldn't believe. Two are ridiculous but entertain me. One I actually like and am secretly, shyly rooting for. (Damon doesn't like any, and, when I recite them for him, asks me to please stop. He makes a point of telling me why the one I like most is bad, to which I can only reply, hahahahahahaahahahahahaha.) I don't know who I'm writing for, so I stuff them all in. (No entry limit.)

They picked the one I liked!!

So now I love this contest!!

I . . . am crazy about that poem that got their First Runner Up. It's fantastic. I feel like it was written in the same spirit mine was but flexing more literary muscle and delivering content. Story. A little message about imagination. Up-and-down twists. And funny rhymes??

Now I understand.

Next year, it's on.

r

Sara and Lee, next meeting's on me!

(Special thanks to Lee for the encouragement

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From my wedding vows, seven years ago:

Seven years we have been together. And they have gone so fast, and every year has been so different, and so fun, just thinking about how fast it's gone almost causes me to panic. I know another seven years will go just as fast, and then another seven; and one day we'll celebrate our 25th anniversary, and one day it will be our 50th. I want all my years to be with you, and I shall love you always.

I've now been married to Damon for as long as we were a couple before. In fact . . . Damon and I have now been a couple (married and not) for as long as we spent as arch enemies. (14 and 14 years.)

It goes really fast.

:)
r

P.S. I dusted off our wedding cartoon for the occasion. (Click here if you don't see a video embedded below.)

Created by the super talented Tony Wang. This originally framed the slideshow that played at our reception.

Cheers, Everyone, :)
(d &) r

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YES!! Photos from the 38th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference are up!!

Click here to view all photos from the 2009 SCBWI Summer Conference by me and Suzanne Young at the official SCBWI Flickr photostream, which is also linked from the SCBWI main Web site.

You can also view just my Summer Conference photos at my own Flickr feed, as well as my photos from

the 2008 SCBWI Summer Conference
the 2007 SCBWI Summer Conference, and
the 2006 SCBWI Summer Conference.

(And if that's not enough, check out SCBWI-LA Writer's Day 2009, SCBWI-LA Writer's Day 2008, and SCBWI-LA Writer's Day 2007, respectively.)


I have a lot to say about this year's Summer Conference, but I'm going to roll those posts out slowly. This goes hand in hand with Kathleen Duey's closing keynote on how to keep the magic of the Conference going as we shift back into our daily lives. I hope you'll keep coming back.

In the meantime, I have one photography-specific story to share.

On Day Three of the Conference, two women—a writer and an illustrator—came up and thanked me for having taken photos the year before. They said my pictures really showed them what this event was like, and that their whole critique group had decided to come.

That made me so happy!! That's the exact reason I take the photos: this imaginary scenario in my head of there being people Out There who'd never been to the Conference who wanted to come, who might be made more comfortable by previewing it first. I'd hoped this was happening. I'd never expected to hear about it.

A few hours later, for the first time ever, my memory card filled up without my having brought a backup. I'd always taken these photos for fun and for myself in theory, and suddenly I had to decide: give it up for the rest of the day, or get another card from home (which really wasn't that far away)?

Because these women had talked to me, I got another card. (Actually, I called my husband, and he dropped off another card. But still. I wouldn't have bothered him otherwise.) I couldn't help it. Their comments were so nice.

I'll write about the conference proper in future posts, :)
Rita

(Photos above are from Dan Yaccarino's SCBWI Conference keynote, "Say Yes!" and Kathleen Duey's inspiring closing keynote, "Transmutation: Books That Matter." 
Photo credit: Rita Crayon Huang, Copyright ©2009, SCBWI.)

UPDATE from 9/7—
I've now posted these photos to Facebook as well. Feel free to tag yourselves and your friends—and to friend me there, too. (Just mention these photos or this blog, so I know where you're coming from!)

The Usual Disclaimer: If there are any photos you aren't completely comfortable with or that you want your name taken off, etc., send me a private message via Facebook or [at] yahoo.com, username rhcrayon. I will always respect that, gladly.

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SCBWI-LA Summer Conference photos are coming.

  Uploading . . .

   Uploading . . .

In the meantime, if you are viewing this in my blog at LiveJournal, scroll down to the bottom to see photos from the 2008 Summer Conference. When I post 2009 pictures, the new entry will bump last year's off the page. How perfect is that.

:)
r

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Two nights ago, my friend Sara posted this Facebook status update:

Sara Wilson Etienne is thinking about what to wear to the Summer Conference...
evidently picking out shoes is easier than picking out which sessions to go to.

I'd just come back from shoe shopping when I saw this, and for a moment I read it the other way around. At any rate, I don't think she meant choosing conference shoes was easy. Damon, who hates shopping, had actually come with me, with the sole purpose of preventing me from buying shoes that were too "mannish."

"I just want shoes I can wear to a meeting and then hike into the desert in, or go on an African safari," I said. "Like a British gentlewoman. Like—loafers, but with cleats. Maybe in suede."

"You are not a man!" D said. And then, "I'm coming with you."

We went in every store in the Beverly Center. I could not figure out what type of shoe would give me this look that was "at home in the jungle and the city." Finally I decided I was starting my own line of Rugged Business Shoes For Women. (That would be the tagline.) For models I kept looking longingly at the men's side of every store, plus the shoes on Damon's feet. "Any of those would work!" I said. "Why don't they make that for us??"

"Youarenotaman," said D.

"What would Amelia Earhart wear?"

Damon groaned.

Eventually we found a pair we both liked. I came home with . . . strappy sandals.

On clearance at Macy's--$37.50

"Crappo," I said. "Now I need a pedicure. I was hoping to avoid that this year."

"Yeahh!" Damon said. "Mission accomplished."

See you all on the other side, :)

r

P.S.
Apparently writing about what to wear to the Summer Conference has become a tradition in this blog. My favorite is actually the post I wrote before the 2007 Conference: "Pre-SCBWI-LA: A Melrose Moment." You can also see my high school prom dress here.

P.P.S.
Hey! It turns out Sara has blogged about her conference footwear, too! Check it out here!

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(Because the SCBWI Summer Conference is coming up, I feel some pressure to post something cheery and rah-rah about the writing life, in case SCBWI friends stop by. But, I'm like a 5th-year senior at these conferences by now. I'm just gonna tell it like it is.)

Today the table I sit at every day, to write, smelled like B.O. It's in the far corner of the cafe, in its own sunny little glass case, not unlike a phone booth.

I set up all my stuff anyway—because I need this table—wondering how long the smell would last and whether I'd be sitting in it all day.

After ordering, I bussed a small plate with an open muffin wrapper on it. Then I thought, This muffin was probably eaten by the person with the B.O. I wondered if sweat glands were on me.

I washed my hands.

Of course, I'm probably sitting in the same chair as that person. And because the table hadn't been bussed, it also hasn't been wiped. I feel very connected right now.

I hope he got a lot of work done.


On an unrelated note, here are my photos from SCBWI-LA Writer's Day 2009! (It was only five and a half months ago. :P ) I was so worked up about entering the Writer's Day contest for the first time that I felt like I didn't take as many photos as usual. But apparently the habit kicked in. There's reasonable coverage. :) (During the slideshow, click "Show Info" to turn on captions.)

Also for your viewing convenience:

SCBWI-LA Writer's Day 2008: Photos | Blog entry

SCBWI-LA Writer's Day 2007: Photos | Blog entry

And if you want to hear me say something not jaded—

On the one hand, I want to downplay the meaning that winning the Writer's Day middle grade fiction contest this year had for me.

On the other hand, irrationally . . . that was one of the greatest days of my life.  

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Thank you, Lee Wind, for making a point of getting a photo of me!

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OH MAN. I have to tell you. Lots of times I wonder what a lip reader would think if he or she saw me in my car. Others would see my lips moving, but maybe they would think I had a Bluetooth headset. But a lip reader would know: cheesy love songs.

Today I was sitting in a café, in my usual sunny window, and I’d had a great writing session all morning but now my brain was fried. And I looked right out the window—the same window I sit in every day--right into people’s cars.

Lots of people were singing! Driving by; stopped at the light; heads bobbing—no lip reading necessary. Singing and car dancing.

I am so happy.

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