Current Scratch: Join Us, Upcoming Events, Aggie Book List, Twitterverse, Of Interest

Yes! The Scratch is back for the FALL!  I hope you have set a goal or two now that the temps have dropped to the low 90s.  Time to put the 20 inches of rain behind us and start anew.  Be bold. Be strong. Be happy. Create your heart out!  I hope all the bits and pieces here help light the fire.  

Join Us

Our next regular meeting will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017 at 10 a.m. in the College Station Barnes & Noble. This month Molly Blaisdell will discuss secondary characters. Please bring your favorite book and best tip for secondary characters. Be ready to share!

We'll also discuss news and provide encouragement. Gentle critique begins at 9:30 a.m. Bring copies of 5 double-spaced pages of your work in progress. Those who have time may go to lunch at a local restaurant afterwards.

Note: Our meetings are open to members and non-members. If you are interested in SCBWI or children's literature in general attending is a great way to meet our community and get your feet wet.

Upcoming Events

October 23 Writing Day and Sketch Crawl at Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, TX

Cost: $10.00 per person (zoo entrance fee) + lunch money

Date: October 21, 2017

Time: 8:30 a:m (leaving College Station) - 5:00 pm (returning to College Station)

          10:00 a.m(Cameron Park Zoo) - 3:30 p.m

          12:00 p.m. Plaza Cafe 

Locaton: Cameron Park Zoo. 1701 North 4th Street | Waco, Texas 76707 | (254) 750-8400

Please RSVP: molly@mollyblaisdell.com

            

Bring a notebook (paper or computer) and stretch your creative self. We will travel to Waco together and spend our time wandering the zoo grounds and finding inspiring spots to work. 

Zoo Website

October 7-8  The SCBWI Houston Annual Conference. 

Location: The Marriott Houston Westchase,  2900 Briarpark Drive - Houston, Texas 77070

Here is the distinguished faculty!

Bruce Coville, Author

Dierdre Jones, Editor at Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Anna Roberto, Editor at McMillan/Feiwel & Friends
Adriana Dominguez, Agent at Full Circle Literary
Christa Heschke, Agent at MacIntosh and Otis
Thao Le, Agent at Sandra Dijkstra Literary
Martha Rago, Executive Creative Director at Random House for Young Readers

There is still some space for you

Local News

Book Festival DELAYED UNTIL April 2018. The Brazos Valley Book Festival was set for Sept. 23, 2017 but our unwanted visitor Harvey strikes again. We will still have an SCBWI Brazos Valley table at the rescheduled festival in April. Please contact Liz Mertz at brazosvalley@scbwi.com  if you want to participate in the Spring. The hours will be from 9 am to 2 pm, so we could set up shifts if we have several members sign up. For more details, keep an eye on the website http://brazosvalley.bookfestival.network/.

DAWN HUSTED is running a promotion on the BargainBooksy site. For interested authors, she'll post results on her blog. 

ALICE V. BROCK, 2017 Peacemaker Award Finalist, Best First Novel, Western Fictioneers

KATHY WHITEHEAD's book, ART FROM HER HEART was featured at Sunday Story Time at the New York Historical Society Museum and Library. Read about here.

Authors with agents and reps. This year, recent movers and shakers (ha, ha!) from College Station and Bryan. 

Mirka Hokkanen . Represented by @StormLiterary,

Allyson Green  Represented by @SarahLaPolla,

Ellen McGinty Represented by Rep'd by @kaitylynne13 and @mcorvisiero,

and Jessica Blank @jessicablank will be illustrating:  Sailaja Joshi at Bharat Babies has acquired actor, writer, and producer Sheetal Sheth's debut picture book, Always Anjali.  From Publisher's Weekly

Finally, if you are not following Wonderhill Farm by Nisha Coker or Undertheopensky on Instagram, I am feeling sorry for you.

Aggie Book List

Is your book on the list? 

Click HERE to add your books to a list of Aggie authors and books at The Association of Former Students site.  

TWiTTERVERSE

Did a publisher scam the New York Times Best Sellers list? This news broke in the Twitterverse. Check out Phil Stampers Twitter feed for more info. Who is Phil? YA writer & publisher known for "detective work worthy of Nancy Drew." 

#MSWL. Manuscript Wish List. A favorite Twitter event for writers and illustrators. Did you know that new postings went up September 12, 2017?

Of Interest

Want to help restock libraries after Hurricane Harvey? Read about it here.

What is the staff of the Children's Book Council reading in September? Read about it here. 

The Young People’s Literature NBA Long List Has Been Announced. Read about it here. 

In June, RIP Michael Bond, author of Paddington Bear. Read about it here.

Inspiration from Nnedi Okorafor. Her YA novel Zahrah the Windseeker won the Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature and her children’s novel Long Juju Man won the Macmillan Writer’s Prize for Africa. Read here.    Read here. 

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This blog was brought to you by local author/sometime illustrator/all the time goof Molly Blaisdell!

Shameless plug for CHICKEN'S DO NOT TAKE OVER HALLOWEEN by Molly Blaisdell (written and illustrated) Follow the link if you want a copy!


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