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SCBWI 40th Anniversary Summer Conference Day Three – Gary Paulsen

Wearing a ball cap, suspenders, jeans and a long-sleeved navy blue shirt three time Newbery-honor winning author Gary Paulsen told us about a A Writer’s Upside-Down Life. A life of poverty. A life growing up on the streets of Manila, Philippines. A life with two drunken parents who didn’t give a rat’s darn about a […]

SCBWI 40th Anniversary Summer Conference Day Two – Libba Bray and Jon Scieszka

Having to present a keynote or workshop after the award-winning author Judy Blume has spoken could be construed as a daunting task but it seemed effortless for the authors I heard. Perhaps that’s because Executive Director Lin Oliver and President Steven Mooser lined up an incredible team of talent for the SCBWI 40th Anniversary Summer […]

SCBWI 40th Anniversary Summer Conference Day Two – Judy Blume

I missed part of the morning blogging about Day One of the SCBWI 40th Summer Anniversary Conference so I made an executive decision and decided I’d put the recaps together after the conference not during it. My hat goes off to the SCBWI bloggers who’ve been sitting in sessions with their laptops banging out up-to-the-minute […]

Giveaway Winner!! And 1st Night in L.A.

I’m happy to announce that 10-year-old Analise Flatt won the giveaway What Happened on Fox Street (Balzer & Bray, 2010) donated by author Tricia Springstubb.  Congratulations, Analise!! Enjoy Mo Wren and the cast of characters on Fox Street. Thanks, Tricia for your autographed copy!  On another note, RA Debbie Gonzales and I made it to sunny L.A. where we’re here to […]

Book Talk: Reviews by Young Readers

Today in BookTalk: Reviews by Young Readers, I’m thrilled to have Nate Davis with us to talk about Susan Fletcher’s Middle Grade novel Ancient, Strange, and Lovely (The Dragon Chronicles). Welcome, Nate!  I’m Nate Davis and I like sports. In the summer, I especially like to wake board and wake surf. I also like playing […]

Applying and Analyzing Constructive Criticism with the Texas Sweethearts

This past Saturday, eighteen attendees met at the REI in Round Rock (outskirts of Austin) for an intensive workshop Beyond the Basics: Applying and Analyzing Constructive Criticism with the Texas Sweethearts hosted by our Austin SCBWI chapter.  After formal introductions by RA Debbie Gonzales, Jessica Anderson, PJ (Tricia) Hoover and Kari Anne Holt presented the […]

Author Interview Sarah Aronson & Giveaway

Sarah Aronson holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.  She is also the co-founder and organizer of the Novel Retreat at Vermont College and a regular contributor to the craft blog Through the Tollbooth. In 2002, she published a retelling The Princess and the Pea:  A […]