Current Scratch: Join Us, Announcement, Local Events, Big News, & Interest

The end of October is upon us, but fear not, folks! There's still time to break out your cauldrons and brew a spooktacular project for the upcoming winter months.

JOIN US!

The Schmooze topic for Wednesday, Oct. 30, is "Revisiting Revision." From picture books to 60,000-word young adult novels, all manuscripts need to undergo revision before they are ready to send to an editor or agent. Learn tips for revising your work and join the discussion! 10 a.m. Wednesday in the College Station Barnes and Noble. Join us for lunch afterwards.

***ANNOUNCEMENT***


The Piney Woods Retreat scheduled for Nov. 15-17 has been cancelled due to low registration. We haven't given up on the idea, but we will use a different format in the future.

LOCAL EVENTS

Children's Literature Book Club will meet on October 24th, Arts Center in College Station, 4:30 PM. The book is ELLA ENCHANTED by Gail Levine. We will also share picture book versions of Cinderella.

Nov. 9--Sherry Garland’s book signing for Voices of Pearl Harbor, Barnes & Noble, College Station, TX. Sherry is scheduled for a Story Time at 10:30am, Saturday November 9 and will continue with a book signing from 11am-12pm, potentially 1pm, if her schedule allows. *Signing time may change.

Nov. 9--Christie Craig will be at Larry J. Ringer Library (College Station) from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Christie Craig writes contemporary romance, and she writes YA paranormal under the name C.C. Hunter. Christie will present a "Polish me Pretty" editing workshop for teens and adults, and there will be a book signing. You may bring your own copy or purchase a book at the event if you would like to have one signed. Contact Hilary at (979) 764-3416 for more details.

Dec. 3--Holiday Celebration, 7 pm. Location TBA

Dec. 7--Sherry Garland and illustrator Layne Johnson will sign Voices of Pearl Harbor at the NationalMuseum of the Pacific War (Admiral NimitzMuseum), Fredericksburg, TX.

BIG NEWS, FOLKS!

Kathi Appelt's THE TRUE BLUE SCOUTS OF SUGAR MAN SWAMP made it into the top five for the National Book Award for Young Peoples Literature! You can read about it here. You can read the full review of Kathi's book here. Congrats, Kathi!!

Also, Sherry Garland on Oct. 23 -- will be interviewed by Sharon Colson for her TV Magazine Program on the topic of VOICES OF PEARL HARBOR. The program will be aired three times: Oct. 31, Nov. 2 & Nov. 3 on KAMU-TV, the local PBS station. Congrats, Sherry!!

INTEREST

The Texas Book Festival is this weekend, October 26 & 27. A fun, free, literary event in Austin.

Interested in attending the SCBWI Winter Con? Check out details on the SCBWI blog.

Slick Write is a free online tool to check your writing for potential stylistic mistakes and other features of interest.

Check out this cool announcement. The USPS will issue a Harry Potter stamp this November for the holidays.

November is the month for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, where writers can find support and motivation all while writing 50k in 30 days.

If novels aren't your genre and picture books are, check out PiBoIdMo, Picture Book Idea Month in November as well. By generating 30 picture book ideas in 30 days, a fabulous idea (or two) is sure to be in the mix!



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

Current Scratch: Local Events, Good News, Opportunities.

Howdy, folks! Yay, cooler weather is here. Yards are green. Every one's yard is blooming. I hope that your work is blooming too.

JOIN US

Join us on  Oct. 30--Schmooze: “Revisiting Revision”--10 a.m. at Barnes& Noble, College Station, TX. We'll meet at 10 a.m. in the Science corner of the College Station Barnes & Noble. Come early for a gentle critique session that begins at 9:30.

B.V. EVENT

Piney Woods Retreat, Nov. 15-17, 2013 for writers and illustrators in the pines of East Texas at LakeviewMethodist ConferenceCenter near Palestine, TX. This event is for working writers and illustrators who need time, space and encouragement to move forward with their works in progress. Additional information here. And you can register at Eventbrite.

LOCAL EVENTS

Oct. 26-27--Texas Book Festival, Austin, TX

Nov. 9--Sherry Garland’s book signing for Voices of Pearl Harbor, Barnes & Noble, College Station, TX (time to be set around the football game)

Nov. 15-17--Piney Woods Retreat, LakeviewMethodist ConferenceCenter, Palestine, TX (info above)

Dec. 3--Holiday Celebration, 7 pm. Location TBA

Dec. 7--Sherry Garland and illustrator Layne Johnson will sign Voices of Pearl Harbor at the NationalMuseum of the Pacific War (Admiral NimitzMuseum), Fredericksburg, TX.

GOOD NEWS

Kathi Appelt's The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp is on the National Book Awards Long List! From the site: "Newbery Honoree and National Book Award finalist Kathi Appelt presents a story of care and conservation, funny as all get out and ripe for reading aloud." 

Molly Blaisdell fangirl rom-com PLUMB CRAZY-- to Georgia McBride at Swoon Romance,a nice deal, a 2-book deal, for publication in May 2014, reported in Publisher's Marketplace.

OPPORTUNITIES

New Imprint -- all digital -- Bloomsbury Spark -- Read about it in PW.

Macmillian Children's Books has opened a new site called Swoon Reads. Read about it at Galley Cat.

Check out Merit Publishing yet another new publishing venture available to authors.  Read about it on PW.  

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