Posted By Vonna on February 22, 2010

On Saturday morning, our conference had sold out and had a waiting list. The Merrell Center was an excellent facility. We had three big screens so everybody could easily see the speakers presentations. The microphones worked perfectly and we had wi-fi and plenty of electrical outlets so that our bookstore ran smoothly. The room for our lunch buffet was spacious, well organized and stocked with tasty food. We had a conveniently placed private room for our critiques and another separate room for the portfolio displays. And oh-so-easy parking! (But of course, I left my car lights on and came out to a dead battery.   My dear husband, who was only ten minutes away with jumper cables in his car, rescued me. )

Cynthia Lietich Smith’s outstanding keynote address set the tone for the day. When she tried to assure us that she is an introvert, all the other introverts in the room started gnawing our fingernails. Writing successful novels is challenging, but standing up in front of two hundred people and taking about the whole experience with grace and humor is awe-inspiring. By the end of her speech the room buzzed with optimism. Seriously, we giggled.

We were happy to discover that all of our other guest speakers were also friendly and easy to talk to. Everyone I spoke with who had a critique came away from their sessions feeling energized and enthusiastic. I had a fun critique with Harper Collins’ assistant editor, Ruta Rimas. When I picked her up from the airport the day before the conference, we talked about current MG books all the way from Intercontinental Airport in northwest Houston to her hotel in Katy, so when it came time to discuss my pages we had a large frame of reference for discussing her comments on my chapter.

Our bookstore had an amazing twenty-seven authors and illustrators represented, and they all stayed to sign books after the conference. The portfolio room was so packed during breaks that I could barely get a photograph. We had an outstanding selection of prizes for our raffle, but I didn’t win anything. Maybe next time.

Monday I stopped in at Blue Willow because I knew our editor from Scholastic, Lisa Ann Sandell, would be there signing her own books for a school visit that afternoon. I hadn’t gotten a photo of Valerie Koehler, the owner of Blue Willow Bookshop at the conference, so I snapped a shot of the two of them and got Lisa Ann to sign a copy of her new book for me. Thank you, Valerie for all the work you, Alice and the rest of your staff did for our conference!

I’ll leave you with a selection of photos from the conference so everyone can see how much fun we had. Looks like we’ll need a bigger room next year!

Categories: Conferences, SCBWI
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