Remembering Rollin

Rollin Thomas, illustrator and teacher extraordinaire, left us on Tuesday, July 30. His joy and enthusiasm will certainly be missed. Here he is enjoying time with a (slightly) younger pal:

If we hear of memorial or donation plans, we'll update here. In the meantime, hug your loved ones, friends, and favorite art.

New book from John Skewes

Here's some good news from John Skewes:

He was interviewed on the Book Bites for Kids podcast for his new book, Larry Gets Lost in Prehistoric Times. Click here for a link to the podcast via John's blog.

         Congratulations, John!

Come toast Kirsten AND MOLLY!

Come say hi to globe-trotter Kirsten Carlson at KLDN on Thursday night (scroll down a post for the deets).

NEWS FLASH -- and Molly Hall, who relocated to New York for about a year but is now back in Seattle -- hooray! -- will be coming tonight, too! Molly, known as one of the Queens of the Ball to some of you who attended our 20th anniversary conference and dance, is happy to be back to her SCBWI WWA peeps and this is a good chance to say "Welcome home!"

And Kirsten, formerly a Washington SCBWI illustrator member and our Chinook designer a few years back, has recently been the international illustration coordinator based in Germany. She's just passing through Seattle oh-too-briefly, so if you know her and want to say hi...

... you or don't know either of them from Mother Goose but need even the slightest excuse to hang with kidlitters -- come on down to Bastille Thursday evening. See ya then!

Angelina Hansen's debut novel

Angelina Hansen, who served on AdCom from 2010-2012, released her debut novel Julius Caesar Brown and the Green Gas Mystery on Friday, July 12 under the pen name of Ace Hansen. The book currently exists as an e-book, available online at Amazon, MuseItUp, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble; the hardcover version launches this fall.

Congratulations, Angelina!

REMINDER: Kid Lit Drink Night this Thursday

Remember where you're supposed to be this Thursday?

That's right.

Kid Lit Drink Night!

Remember where it is?

That's right.

Bastille, in Ballard, from 6:30 - 9 pm.

Do you know who will be there?

Besides YOU, illustrator and former Chinook designer Kirsten Carlson will be visiting from Germany on her way to Hawaii! Come by to say hi!

Kid Lit Drink Night!

You are all invited to...

 

KID LIT DRINK NIGHT

on

Thursday, July 25

6:30 - 9 pm

Bastille in Ballard

Stasia Kehoe wants YOU....

...to answer a questionnaire for an article she's writing about the effectiveness of the Internet for self-promotion, from authors' points of view.

She'd like to get as many authors (traditionally and self-published) to respond BY MONDAY, JULY 15. For the questionnaire, please click here.


Thanks in advance for your input!

Diversity in kid lit not increasing

Sounds impossible, with the number of books currently circulating in the marketplace, but it's true:

According to data from a study just publicized by Lee & Low Books, publisher of diverse children's books, the number of multicultural books published by and about people of color annually has not increased in the last 18 years. EIGHTEEN YEARS!! Have a look at Lee & Low's infographic yourself and see just how the industry is lagging.  Food for thought!

Announcement from your new Regional Advisors

Greetings to all you writers and illustrators in our wonderful Western Washington chapter! 


As some of you know, after serving all of us with great enthusiasm, intelligence and creativity, Jaime Temairik, Kim Baker, and Joni Sensel will all be taking a much deserved step away from responsibility to SCBWI WWA. Luckily for all of us, they will remain on the Advisory Committee in other roles. Jaime and Kim will join Emily Russin as the WWA Blog Team. Joni will continue as published member liaison and go-to gal for guidance for the new Co-RAs.


Speaking of whom, Brenda Winter Hansen has stepped forward from her role as Assistant Regional Advisor to join Dana Arnim as our new Co-Regional Advisors. Dana Sullivan was kind enough to allow himself to be drafted as the new ARA. (To minimize confusion, Dana Arnim will be known as D1, while Dana Sullivan will have to make do with D2.)


Both our leadership teams and the Advisory Committee have decided that along with the change in “management” there will be a shift away from our traditional programming. The Regional Teams of the last several years (RAs & ARAs) have created world class programming for our region. The Professional Series Meetings, Annual Conference, Retreats, Inside Story, and more, have enriched all of our professional lives and provided unmatched opportunities for networking and community building. However, as an all-volunteer organization, these activities took a heavy toll on the lives of those dedicated volunteers. Although none of the Advisory Committee members wanted to lose any of those events, some reorganization and downsizing was necessary for us to continue the region in a sustainable manner that’s in keeping with the guidelines from SCBWI.


We reviewed comments from our membership, analyzed the structure of our many offerings, and considered how to maximize the benefits to our members while streamlining the workload for our volunteers. In so doing, we’ve come up with a different kind of yearly programming. Instead of a set of structured meetings for which our local SCBWI members sign up in advance, this upcoming season will consist of a variety of the popular events you’ve come to expect – our Fall Agent meeting at SPU, the Weekend on the Water Writer’s Retreat, a number of Kid Lit Drink Nights, our two Inside Story events, The Great Critique, (taking place in the summer), and of course, our Annual Conference in April. We’ve also come up with some new events – an Art Show for our illustrators at the Washington State Convention Center, at least one Open Mic Night, a joint Illustrator retreat with the Oregon SCBWI chapter and an alternative style, additional, kind of writer’s retreat. So, although some of you may miss our regularly scheduled monthly meeting series, we think you’ll like our new, exciting and sustainable season just as much!


[A clarification: Some of you have considered the purchase of your Professional Meeting Series Passport as a kind of “local SCBWI membership”. Actually, it was never more than our local programming, not “membership” per se. Membership in SCBWI means joining the organization that is international and based in Los Angeles. So, any of you who partook of our regional programming without joining SCBWI International were not members. If you want to join SCBWI or renew your membership, please go to www.scbwi.org. ]


We’re looking forward to participating with all of you in the coming events!

Brenda Winter Hansen
Dana Arnim
Dana Sullivan

Sketch and Meet-Up tomorrow

Sketchers, doodlers, illustrators: 

Don't forget––TOMORROW (Thursday, July 11) is our second Summer Sketch Meet-Up! We'll gather at the Ballard Fisherman's Terminal at 10:30am (give or take a little––I'm coming off the ferry, so I will be later rather than earlier). 

Let's gather near Chinook's and fan out from there. Bring your fold- up chairs and your sunscreen, your sketching tools (and your kids if they like to sketch too). 

See you there!

––Jennifer K. Mann

Martha Brockenbrough's picture book launch party

Wait, didn't she just write a novel?

Why, yes. The prolific author of the YA novel Devine Intervention is celebrating the launch of her first picture book, The Dinosaur Tooth Fairy, with illustrations by Israel Sanchez.

WHO: Martha Brockenbrough
WHAT: The Dinosaur Tooth Fairy
WHEN: Tuesday, July 16 at 7pm
WHERE: Secret Garden Books, Ballard


Please join Martha for a T-riffic time with games, stickers, stories, and snacks!


For more information about the book, please click here.

Karen Robbins wins award

Karen Robbins' book, Shoe Print Art, just took a BIG step in NYC!  

 
Shoe Print Art: Step Into Drawing won the Gold Medal Independent Book Publishers Association's Bill Fisher Best First Book Award.  The book was written and published by Karen Robbins and illustrated by Sally Marts, both of Seattle. It includes 55 images created from a shoe print shape. Children 3-14 years of age have their drawings printed in the book.

Congratulations, Karen!

Questionnaire for authors

From Stasia Kehoe:

I am working on an article about the effectiveness of the Internet for self-promotion, from authors’ points-of-view. I want to spread the word to get the maximum number of authors (both traditionally and self-published) to respond to my questionnaire so that I have the best possible data.

Please click here for the link to the form.

The deadline for responses is July 15. Please pass along the word to authors you know. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

Find Waldo in Ballard this July!

WHO: Waldo

WHAT: Elusive picture book character

WHERE: In Ballard! (Good question!)

WHEN: July 1–30

 

 

Tell your kids, or just tell someone else's kids: Waldo, everyone's favorite hard-to-spot protagonist is visiting 22 Ballard businesses this month. Those who spot him can win prizes, including stickers, book coupons and more. 

 

Anyone who wishes to participate can pick up a “Find Waldo Local in Ballard!” passport with the names of all the participating sites, and get their passport stamped or signed for each Waldo they spot. The first 100 Waldo seekers to get their passports stamped or signed at ten or more sites can bring their passports back to Secret Garden to collect prizes. Collecting store stamps or signatures at twenty or more businesses will entitle diligent seekers to entry in a grand prize drawing on July 31, with the top prize being a 6-volume deluxe set of Waldo books. 

Dana Sullivan book launch

Ozzie's here, in––count 'em––THREE days!


Come help Dana Sullivan celebrate the release of his debut picture book, Ozzie and the Art Contest, this coming Friday, July 5 at 7pm at Secret Garden Books in Ballard. There will be a dramatic reading, an art contest, and BISCUITS! (Really!)

Congratulations, Dana!