Current Scratch: Workshop, Next, Pinterest, Craft

Howdy, folks!  I know the sunshine and perfect weather is calling. How do you keep moving forward with your work? Come to our Schmooze where we will discuss Balancing Writing Life--Goals & Deadlines.

The SCBWI Brazos Valley Schmooze topic this Wednesday, March 28, is "Balancing Your Writing Life" with Jacqueline Gramann, speaker. Join us at 10 a.m. in the Science corner at Barnes & Noble, 711 Texas Ave. in College Station, TX.

Open critique before the meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. Bring 5 copies of 5, double-spaced pages of a work in progress for peer review.

Local authors Kathi Appelt, Kathy Whitehead and Sherry Garland are all signing at the Texas Library Association conference on April 17-20 in Houston, TX. at the George R. Brown Convention center.  Here is the link.

Don't forget the upcoming yearly events:

SCBWI Saturday Workshop  Finding the Story
August 18, 2012 10 am/ Arts Center
Mary Wade, SCBWI Houston—Non-fiction
Jessica Lee Anderson, SCBWI Austin—Fiction

and

Writing Retreat  Speakers TBA
November 3, 2012
Glory Inn in Bryan Texas
Program:TBA

Good news for Molly Blasidell (intrepid Scratchpadder): 1. Her eBook THE BIG FUZZY COAT was published by Meegenius!  2. Her YA comedy novel PLUMB CRAZY is in the Quarterfinals of the Amazon Breakout Novel Contest. An excerpt is available HERE for the Kindles.

WORKSHOP

Creating an Authentic Cultural Voice

Putting imagination, experience, empathy, and research to work for you

April 26 – April 29, 2012

Workshop Leaders: Mitali Perkins, Donna Jo Napoli

Special Guests: Kathryn Erskine, Alvina Ling, Stacy Whitman

If you have any further questions about the event, please feel free to contact Jo Lloyd at jo.lloyd@highlightsfoundation.org; or call, toll-free, 877-512-8365.

NEXT

Here is an article in PW about what is coming next in children's books. This is a Bologna Bookfair 2012 perspective.

PINTEREST

Into social media?  A new popular form is Pinterest. It is online bulletin board space for you to pin and share the things you love, I'm trying this out. Here is a link to my boards.

Here is some stuff about the growing Pinterest fad and discussion about copyright.  Discusison on Downtown YA. Check it out.

Here is another post about Pinterest at Rachelle Gardner's blog -- 13 things you may want to know about it.

CRAFT

Check out the PLOT WHISPERER blog for some plot rx. 

Searching for  your original voice?  Here is some good advice CHERYL REIF WRITES blog. Check it out.

Need some tricks to help you slip in description of your characters? Check out LET THE WORDS FLOW blog. 

The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.

 

Current Scratch: Extras, Locally, Better

Our Schmooze this month will fall on  3-28-12 at the College Station Barnes and Noble.  Bring copies up to 5 copies for gentle critique at 9:30 a.m.  Our program begins at 10 a.m. and the discussion topic will be Balancing a Writing Life. 

Also locally, sign up now! Free workshop on "Boy Books" March 24 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Andy Sherrod will be our workshop leader on March 24 for our SCBWI Saturday on "What Makes a Good 'Boy Book' and Why Should We Care?" Join us from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the  Gander Mountain, 2301 Earl Rudder Freeway South, College Station, TX. Bring your own lunch. The event is free, but seating is limited, so we do need to know how many people plan to come. Please contact me at lizBmertz@gmail.com to sign up.

 

Mark your calendars for other special events: 

 

Also mark your calendars: Young Poets on the Brazos awards ceremony will be at the College Station Conference Center on Tuesday, April 24 at 7pm.

 

Want to dig deep into award winning children's books.  CLBC (ChildLitbookclub) is a local group of authors who delve into children's books.   If you want to come to the CLBC meetings and get our reading list updates: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChildLitbookclub/

 

The required reading is:

April: Charlotte's Web by E. B. White

The March reading list includes books by Brian Selznick and Robert Lawson. The required reading is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. The Great Wheel by Robert Lawson is suggested reading. Optional reading follows: Rabbit Hill; The Story of Ferdinand; They Were Strong and Good.  Shirley Hoskins will be the discussion leader in March.

For everyone participating in CLBC:

May: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

September: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead and A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle

October: Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

EXTRAS

CBLC participants, here are some fun goodies to go with the books.

Charlotte's Web trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OLkY9DTx9I&sns=fb&fb_source=message

Ender's Game author Orson Scott Card will be the keynote speaker for Teen Book Con, April 14, 2012 at Alief Taylor High School, 7555 Howell Sugarland Road, Houston TX, 77083

http://www.teenbookcon.org/Home.php

A Wrinkle In Time trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJnZTVjLh1c&fb_source=message

 LOCALLY

The Houston SCBWI Conference is on March 31st.  Here is the link.

TLA Texas Library association state wide conference is coming up. Here is a link to the scoop: April 17-20 at the George R. Brown Convention center, Houston, TX.

BETTER

 

Perhaps you need more conflict for your character. This Kidlit.com post might help.

 

Wavy Lines: One Writer's Zigzagging Journey offers three things you really ought to know if you write children's books. 

 

Reading Rainbow is coming back as an app!  Check it out.

 

A thoughtful article from PW about how teens are choosing to read.

 

The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.

Current Scratch: Critique Groups, To Market, Luck, Revolution, Workshops

Howdy, folks!  Spring is in the air.  I hope that you the season is inspiring you to start new projects.

Our Schmooze this month will fall on  3-28-12 at the College Station Barnes and Noble.  Bring copies up to 5 copies for gentle critique at 9:30 a.m.  Our program begins at 10 a.m. and the discussion topic will be Balancing a Writing Life. 

Also locally, sign up now! Free workshop on "Boy Books" March 24 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Andy Sherrod will be our workshop leader on March 24 for our SCBWI Saturday on "What Makes a Good 'Boy Book' and Why Should We Care?" Join us from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the CORRECTION:  Gander Mountain, 2301 Earl Rudder Freeway South, College Station, TX. Bring your own lunch. The event is free, but seating is limited, so we do need to know how many people plan to come. Please contact me at lizBmertz@gmail.com to sign up.

We have an Annual Poetry Contest for local 6th, 7th, and 8th Graders.  If you are interested, on the online blog, fill out the form in the left sidebar.

Also note the upcoming Houston SCBWI Conference is in March.

If you want to join a critique group use our handy form found in the online sidebar on the left.

Critique Groups

A solid nuts and bolts article about critique groups. 

Over at the Purple Crayon with Harold Underdown, a good article about how to find a critique group. 

To Market

Here is a contest that may be of some interest to fantasy writers: Fantasy-Faction Writing Competition.

Luck (Cause Saint Patrick's Day around the corner...)

How to make your own luck using social media over at Rachelle Gardner's blog.

 The Revolution


Penguin is no longer distributing their books through Overdrive.
Discussion about this change at PWxyz blog. 

Workshops


Check out the Highlights Foundation page for information about the upcoming Founder's Workshops.  Scholarships are available.

The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.