NESCBWI 2014

It is so strange not to be working on this year's New England SCBWI Spring Conference. I really miss it. But I love Co-director, Kristine Carlson Asselin's choice for the theme CREATE BRAVELY, MAKE YOUR MARK! So I was so excited when I found that Alex & Ani make bracelets with support making your mark. 20% of all Alex and Ani sales of the Make Your Mark Charm, benefits generationOn to inspire, equip, and mobilize youth to take action that changes the world and themselves through service.

Order your bracelet today and support generationOn and CREATE BRAVELY, MAKE YOUR MARK!

What do Writing and Motherhood have in Common?

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Writing is often about letting go and seeing where your characters will take you. Writing is a lot like motherhood. The time comes when you have to let go and see your children take flight. Maybe you have already experienced this or maybe you are fast approaching the moment when the world changes. 

Today was my day to let my firstborn drive solo for the very first time. I knew he could do it because I taught him how to drive. I know he is cautious and competent, what I can’t control are the other drivers on the road who might not be.

Letting go means he has to take chances and I have to believe he will always be safe and come home because that is what a mother must do. It is what a writer must do. Often you have to go to the scary places in your mind to be able to know your characters. I know my son, its time for him to soar. He will make the right choices and go to all the places he needs to go on his journey. 

It’s time for me to let him go.  

Children's Author Blog Hop

This week I am participating in the Children’s Author Blog Hop.  For this Blog Hop, participating authors were asked to answer four identical questions and then invite additional children’s authors to join in the “Hop.”  My invitees are Ansha Kotyk  and Laura Pauling.

I am so grateful that my dear friend, the picture book goddess, Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, was kind enough to reach out to me via social media and ask me join in the fun.

Joyce Shor Johnson & Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
The Meeting of two great minds
(2009 NESCBWI Conference)

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen writes across the spectrum. Her work includes picture books, fiction and non-fiction for both children and even adults. Her upcoming middle grade chapter book series, Spectacles of Destiny, and her latest picture book Duck, Duck, Moose! illustrated by Noah Z. Jones is coming out January 2014.  You can find Sudipta at these social media sites: Website, blog, which she shares with author Kami Kinard, Facebook, Twitter.

Blog Hop Interview of Joyce Shor Johnson

What are you working on right now? 
Over the last year, while Co-Directing the 2013 NESCBWI Conference, I had been toying with an idea for a contemporary young adult novel. Now that my two-year commitment to NESCBWI is complete, I have started writing again and I am two chapters into my WIP. This is the fun part, because I am still learning about my characters, which often leads to unexpected developments.
I’ve also been outlining and working on a number of non-fiction picture books, including one about the art of keeping secrets.

How does it differ from other works in the genre?
My first two books, THE CASTING and HOUSE OF GIRLS are historical fiction. My current work-in-progress is contemporary and focuses on how social media has become ruling factor in how we communicate. The two non-fiction picture books are experimental, and I’m waiting to see how they turn out.

Why do you write what you do?
I write for children because my characters always seem to be kids on the threshold of change. 

What is the hardest part about writing?
Finding the time to outline and then the time to write the first draft. Once I know where I’m going and have the time, the writing is easy.  

Here are the two talented writers that I’ve invited to the Blog Hop, (I wanted to invite everyone I knew, but there are limits).

Ansha Kotyk lives in Massachusetts where she writes upper middle grade stories full of adventure in the modern day with a twist of fantasy. What that fantastical twist is… well, it depends on what her cat whispers in her ear while she’s writing.

Her characters have strong family ties, and value their friendships. They also seem to get into a great deal of trouble and meet some seriously evil bad guys in their stories. You can find Natasha at these social media sites:

Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads

GANGSTERLAND, her first novel, spent 3 weeks in the top 10 of Hot New Releases in children’s books about bullies, is a story about a boy, a bully and a magical comic book that transports its readers to the gangster era of the 1920′s. Book #2 in the Ink Portal series follows the friends on a Geo-caching treasure hunt in a mysterious haunted mountain range, Apocalypse Junction will be out later this year.

Laura Pauling writes about spies, murder and mystery. She’s the author of the exciting Circle of Spies Series, and the time travel mystery, Heist. She’s a former elementary teacher and currently lives in New England. After spending time reading books to her kids and loving a good plot turn, she put her fingers to the keyboard. Don’t ask her about the unfinished quilts and scrapbooks. Stories are way more exciting. She writes to entertain and experience a great story…and to be able to work in her jammies and slippers. You can find Laura at these social media sites: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads

HEIST, One night Jack travels back in time to one of the world’s largest art thefts, known as the Gardner Heist. Why that one moment in time? And what does it mean for Jack?
When he returns, his world is different. His best friend is rougher, meaner. His dad hasn’t been around in years. And then there’s Jetta. The girl who took over his heart the moment she stepped into his life. No one is safe. Each time Jack goes back to the heist to fix his mistakes, he returns to face the fallout. Disaster strikes in the present until Jack must make a choice. His family and his own happiness. Or the girl he loves. Except, he learns that his sixth sense was right. Someone has been watching him and wants him dead.  

Final Call for 2013 NESCBWI Conference Proposals

August 27th brings with it the close of
2013 New England SCBWI Conference Proposals,
so take a moment and submit your most awesome idea today! 

Proposal Due Date: August 27, 201

Presenter Notification Expected: October 15, 2012

For Additional Information go to NESCBWI

Presenters from New England who send in more than one, well-crafted and detailed proposal will receive preferential consideration. Also, you may be asked to present your workshop twice during the conference. You might consider doing a 120 or 180 minute presentation and then tweaking it to fit a 55 minute format. With so much talent in our New England and surrounding regions, bringing you together to share knowledge and skill is what makes New England SCBWI the largest regional conference.

Types of Presentations:
55-minute workshops; 120-minute intensives; 180 studios w/15 minute break.

To Submit a Proposal: Please complete a conference proposal form. Separate submissions are required for multiple presentations or workshop/intensive versions of the same presentation. 

Selection Criteria and Topics

Every year SCBWI New England receives so many excellent proposals, more than can fit into a conference schedule. Therefore, we must choose on the basis of experience, quality, variety, novelty, attendant costs, and other factors. Please use the 2013 NESCBWI Workshop Rubric for more explicit selection criteria and standards.

We would love to see presentations on the following topics. If you are an expert on one of these topics, we would love to see your proposal.

• Hands-on writing workshops that spotlight elements of craft: outlining, story arc, tools, tips, character, dialogue, sketching, etc.
• Hands-on illustration workshops
• Publishing 201 session for intermediate authors or illustrators
• Developing an idea from conception to completion
• How to complete a Detailed Novel Outline
• Secrets of Story Arc
• How to lay out a picture book dummy
• How to start your own publishing company
• Gesture and emotion for illustrators
• School and library visits and promotion
• Grassroots Marketing strategies to libraries and other overlooked venues
• Writing nonfiction articles and short stories
• Mystery writing, organizing your mystery
• Planning Out Clues
• How to write chapter books
• How to design an eBook
• Writing Teen Romance
• What I publish/represent and why
• Historical Fiction for middle grade and YA - What makes it work!
• How to reinvent yourself as a writer and reignite your career
• What exactly happens at BEA, ALA, Frankfurt, Bologna and how can it help you with book sales? 
  
• How to write suspense for MG & or YA
• Illustration techniques - making the magic happen
• Defining the terms: High Concept, Realistic Fiction, Magical Realism, etc.

Got Questions? Ask in the comments section below!

New & Emerging Author Opportunities

Do you have a young adult historical fiction romance with fantasy elements or other cross genre elements? Pugalicious Press is looking for short stories to include in their first e-book YA anthology, titled Timeless!


 
If your short story is  between 3000 and 7500 words and fits into the genre of YA historical romance they want to read it. They would love if you story included any of the following elements: steampunk, fantasy, magic, or adventure. They ask that you follow the guidelines below:

1. Submit the whole manuscript to pugaliciouspress (at) gmail (dot) com, as a Word .doc file (no .docx) by March 30, 2012, with the subject heading: submission–YA anthology.
   
2. Please include a bio, publishing credits if any, and a synopsis.

Since so many of you were asking, They've posted the minimum offering on the payment and royalties for this anthology: $25.00 at time of publication, plus 10% royalty and they are asking for first e-book and printing rights for two years.

Inside info: They are only going to take seven authors and are splitting the royalty 70% authors (hence 10% per author)/30% publisher (to cover costs). This a great opportunity for new authors to get published.

Revision Checklist

Revising is often the most dreaded part of the writing process. But having a checklist can help you in the process. Here are 10 things I think about when revising.

1.     What is the real story that I am telling?

2.     How will my character change?

·      Does my character get to where s/he needs to be?

No – How do I make her change?

~  Introduce a crisis situation that makes my character  change.

Yes – Do the things that happen along the way help get my character where s/he needs to be?

3.     What does it mean to move forward?

·      Reveal something about the character.

·      Propel the plot.

·      Build a relationship that is important later in the book.

4.     Summarize the things that don’t move the story forward.

·      An example of this is Charlie Brown, Linus, and Lucy speaking, but the adults always sound like, “Blah, blah, blah.”

·      One sentence summary of the scene.

5.     Is my main plot a character development arc?

·      Subplots

~  Do they fit in?

~  When do they resolve?

~  How do they resolve?

6.     Characters

·      What are my character's quirks and personality traits?

·      Do my secondary/minor characters grow with each appearance they make in the book? 

7.     Dialogue

·      Do my characters have unique voices?

·      Do they reveal everything about their characters?

An example of this is sub vs grinder (sandwich) 

Their socio-economic placement

·      Does the dialogue let their relationships evolve?

·      How authentic do they sound?

8.     Setting and Description

·      Picture it then brushstroke the description. Let the reader envision it, unless it must be specific.

·      For it to be specific, it must be important later in the book. If not, take it out.

9.     Wordsmith

·      Search for commonly used, but unnecessary words.

~  Examples are just, so, next, that, but.

10.  Show, don’t tell.