Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Current Scratch: JOIN US, PUB NEWS, CONTESTS, FINALISTS, TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL, HELP

New Scratch. It is time to curl up with a book. It might FREEZE in College Station this weekend.  I am officially looking for my winter jacket. Enjoy the local news.

JOIN US

Since it's the season for all things spooky, the theme for our meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 25, is “Scary Stories.” What is your greatest fear as a writer/artist? What scares your characters? Bring a scary story or scene* to share, yours or a favorite by someone else. Readers will have 5 minutes each.

The meeting starts at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the Barnes & Noble on Texas Ave. in College Station. For brief, gentle critique at 9:30 a.m., bring up to 5 pages (typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. font) of a work in progress to share.

*Need ideas? Check out these prompts for ghost and horror/thriller/mystery stories. If we have time, we will brainstorm a spooky story as a group.

PUB NEWS

New Press enters Childrens and YA publishing: Page Street Publishing Co. Read about it HERE. 

K-State professor writes about racism in children's literature.

New MCPG Imprint Brings Workman Team to Macmillan. Read about it HERE.

CONTESTS

From the Serendipity Agency on Nov 1.
The 8th Annual YA Discovery Contest begins. No query? No pitch? No problem.  Click here for details. Fee-based contest.

Carissa Taylor offers a pitch contest calendar.  Here is the LINK.

FINALISTS
2017 National Book Award Finalists:

Elliot Ackerman, Dark at the Crossing
(Knopf / Penguin Random House)

Lisa Ko, The Leavers
(Algonquin Books / Workman Publishing)

Min Jin Lee, Pachinko
(Grand Central Publishing / Hachette Book Group)

Carmen Maria Machado, Her Body and Other Parties: Stories
(Graywolf Press)

Jesmyn Ward, Sing, Unburied, Sing
(Scribner / Simon & Schuster)

TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL

Need a road trip? Here is an idea. Go to Austin. November 4-5. https://www.texasbookfestival.org/. 

HELP

The Texas Library Association (TLA) and Texas State Library and Archives Commission are working together to coordinate a response for damaged libraries across the Gulf Coast region. TLA has a disaster relief fund that is actively seeking contributions. Hundreds of individuals and companies have donated to the fund, and offers of books, furniture, volunteer assistance, computers, and preservation services are coming in regularly to TLA.

This blog was brought to you by local author/sometime illustrator/all-the-time goofball 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.