Super September
Posted By Vonna on August 29, 2010
Thanks to Elaine Scott for speaking at the August SCBWI meeting. Elaine’s topic was billed as Get an Agent or Not, but her talk was far more fascinating than this title indicated. Elaine shared her experiences with her two very different agents, why she felt compelled to leave her first, well-known, high-profile agent for a new agent with a large agency and how the switch affected her career. It was a good thing for Elaine that the community center had a set closing time or we would have bombarded her with questions all night. Great meeting! Thanks, Elaine!
September is going to be chock-full of writing-related events for me. My bookshelves may collapse from all the extra weight they are about to gain. Take a look:
At our next Houston SCBWI meeting, we will be discussing the amazing line-up of speakers for our regional conference which will be held April 9, 2011. We will have Kate Fletcher, an editor at Candlewick, Laurent Linn, Creative Director with Simon and Schuster, Abby Ranger, an editor with Disney Hyperion, agent Sara Megibow from the Kristin Neslon Agency, Anna Webman, an agent with Curtis Brown LTD, and author of the Ellie McDoodle series Ruth McNally Barshaw.
I signed up in time to get my choice of afternoon intensives for the OKSCBWI conference —a session on fantasy with Joni Sensel, author of The Farwalker’s Quest and The Timekeeper’s Moon. Other speakers include Sonia Gensler whose upcoming YA novel The Revenant, a Victorian ghost story set in a Cherokee girl’s school in the old west, debuts in 2011.
Also speaking is a wonderful lady I met at the Houston conference in February, Anna Meyers. She is the author of numerous YA and MG novels, including her latest, Time of the Witches. There’s a great promotional video of this novel produced by Stages Theatre for Youth of Clarksville, Arkansas. Cool, huh?
Tammi Sauer whose newest release is the adorable Mostly Monsterly, will be leading a picture book intensive.
Smart Chicks Kick It comes to Houston September 15, courtesy of Blue Willow Bookshop. Authors appearing at this event are Kelly Armstrong, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Cassandra Clare, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel and Margie Stohl. I’ll have to get there way early just to find a place to stand!
ll be attending the Southwest Texas SCBWI conference with Sarah Shumway, HarperCollins Editor, Julie Ham, Charlesbridge Associate Editor, award-winning author Carmen Tafolla, award-winning illustrator Heather Powers, and Art Avila, art director from San Antonio’s Raining Popcorn Media.
And last, on Sunday, September 26, from 2-5 p.m., Houston area children’s authors and the Friends of Evelyn Meador Library are having an ice-cream benefit at The Seabrook Community House, located at 1210 Anders St., Seabrook, TX 77586. Proceeds from sales of autographed books and paving stones will be donated to support the construction of the new library to replace the one destroyed by Hurricane Ike. So come enjoy FREE ice cream and family-fun activities with local authors: Mary Dodson Wade, author of I’m Going to Texas/Yo Voy a Tejas; Pam Van Scoyoc, author of Angel Wings; Pat Miller, author of Substitute Groundhog; Deborah K. Frontiera, author of Living on Sisu: The 1913 Union Copper Strike Tragedy; Pam Calvert, author of Princess Peepers; Wendy Lanier, author of A Pebble First Guide to Texas Symbols; Ana Maria Rodriguez, author of the series, Animal Secrets Revealed; Gail Greenberg, author of No Pig’s Brain Soup, Please! Marianne J. Dyson, author of Home on the Moon. Other authors attending will include Carmen Bredeson; Jo Harper; Margaret McManis; Kimberly Morris; Jenny Moss; and Alicia Richardson.
Yep, all this in one month—plus trying to nail down all the plotting and planning on my new WIP. I’m lucky to have such a wonderful, tolerant and supportive family! Due to the SWTX SCBWI conference, I’ll miss the Houston YA/MG Writers meeting, so I hope somebody takes notes. I’ll try to do the same for all of you who can’t make it to these other great September events.





