New York conference via your couch!

For those of you eager to follow along with SCBWI's 17th annual Winter Conference, SCBWI's indefatigable Team Blog (who counts among its cohort the intrepid Martha Brockenbrough, Jolie Stekly, and Jaime Temairik) will be blogging the sessions so that you don't have to brave the Arctic wind chill firsthand.

To vicariously experience the bounty, CLICK HERE!

Summer Conference Blues?

If you, like me, didn't make it down to Los Angeles this weekend for the blockbuster conference to end all blockbuster conferences, take heart: There's always next year! 

You may well ask, Why such a freakishly positive attitude as I sulk, scrolling through the Facebook reunions in the gorgeous Hyatt lobby and sigh through swimming eyes at friends rubbing elbows with Caldecott winners and keynote speakers?

Well, after my pity party died down, I remembered: The Official Conference Blog!

Yes, you heard me. There was a small and stellar army of fingers typing throughout this past weekend and they will let me attend, albeit late, vicariously. Whew! I am not going to completely miss out on everything. If you, like me, don't want to be the wallflower as your friends who attended yak about what a fantastic time was had by everyone BUT YOU, then do as I am about to do: click HERE. 

In closing: Stay-at-homes: May the rest of your summer be brighter than this weekend. 

Attendees: Glad you made it home safely. Try to keep those grins in check, okay? 

This has been a public-service announcement on behalf on Those Who Stayed Behind. Thank you for your attention, and your compassion.

Virtual conferencing!

What are YOU doing this weekend?

If you're not already bundled up and shivering in midtown Manhattan, along with fellow SCBWI-ers attending this year's annual Winter Conference, take heart.

You can go, too! And you're not too late. It started this morning, way out East.

Follow along with the inspiring, chock-a-block that is EVERY SCBWI conference, but from the comfort of your couch, bed, stationary bike, or dog walk.

For split-second reactions and nuggets of wisdom, the Twitter route can be found here. Join in the conversation, and re-tweet away!

For the splendid coverage delivered to you by SCBWI's Team Blog, click here.


Either way, it's like having the whole shebang in your backyard. Or your living room.


At least you won't be shivering.....


Happy conferencing!

SCBWI Summer Conference! Read all about it!

OMG. I so totally  can't believe I'm here!

I am about to experience my very first  SCBWI Summer Conference. And, quite frankly, I'm terrified. This hotel is huge. I got lost in a mall that made Northgate look like a roadside stand. I drank one too many mojitos, and realized after the fact that I tipped a restaurant a ridiculously large amount. I am surrounded by incredibly talented and interesting people, who are probably way more talented and interesting than I am.

But I am here. To learn, to network, to write, and to reconnect to that creative energy I've neglected between carpools and Facebook posts.

The whole kit and caboodle begins tomorrow, and I am here to enlist you to join me! If you are looking for a distraction from all the Seafair madness, or the unbearable heat (kidding). Or if you're just plain eager to hear what's going on down here for the next four days, then...you're in luck!

And you won't be a penny poorer.

SCBWI Team Blog, an intrepid quartet of individuals who will blog about dozens of panels, keynotes, and workshops, will be busily keeping you updated. Topics, pithy comments, and a general sense of who and what are the hot topics. Without even leaving the comforts of your chaise lounge, you, too, can come along.

Here's to Lee Wind, and SCBWI-WWA's Women of Witty (and Wise) Words: our very own Martha Brockenbrough, Jolie Stekly, and Jaime Temairik. They make it all possible, and their fingers will be raw by Monday.

How do you partake in all the goodness? Go to http://scbwiconference.blogspot.com. To follow along on Twitter, follow #la14scbwi and @scbwi.


Enjoy your weekend, wherever you may be––and wish me luck!


–Emily Russin

The SCBWI Winter Conference: Abridged

For those of you who couldn't make it to New York City this past weekend for the annual Winter Conference, our intrepid members Jolie Stekly, Martha Brockenbrough, and Jaime Temairik blogged, tweeted, and schmoozed so you wouldn't have to. For the whole blog-o-rama, click here. For the Twitter frenzy, click here.


Thanks to the SCBWI Blog Team (Lee Wind, Jolie, Martha, and Jaime) for keeping those of us way out here in the loop!

2011 Conference Series- Faculty Q & A with Tina Wexler

Yesterday the SCBWI WWA Advisory Committee had their final pre-conference meeting for the 20th Annual Writing and Illustrating for Children Conference, and I have to say that the conference is going to be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! The facilities, the wine and cheese reception, and the faculty are JUST a few highlights to look forward to at the conference! Speaking of faculty, we've got a Faculty Q & A with Tina Wexler to share! Tina is on our Agent Faculty, and if you missed it you can read Tina's conference bio here.

What is the best and worst advice you were given when you started in children's literature?
The best advice was “Never take on a client just because you think his work will sell; take on clients whose work you love, whose work you believe in, and the sales will follow.”

The worst advice was “Get out of kids books.”

What advice would you give now to others?
Play harder.

What was your favorite book as a child? And now?
Gulp. I know this will sound like a cop out, but I really didn’t have a favorite. I just raced through books—from BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA to BLUBBER, A WRINKLE IN TIME to GO ASK ALICE—without much thought as to favorites, only “what’s next?” And I suppose I’m somewhat still like that; my favorite these days is usually whatever book I’m in the middle of reading, since it’s such a treat when I get to turn off my “agent” brain and read something that’s already published.

As you know, those who are in children's literature tend to have lengthy discussions on the important topic of snacks (usually a baked good). What's your favorite snack?
This is a very important issue. In the category of baked goods, I side with lemon squares. (Donna Gephart has a great recipe for them at the back of AS IF BEING 12 ≤ ISN’T BAD ENOUGH, MY MOTHER IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.) But my all-time favorite snack is popcorn. Or as I call it on really gray days, “dinner.”

Attendees are often nervous to meet you at a conference. What, if anything, makes you nervous about being part of the faculty?
If I answer honestly and say “public speaking,” are you going to rescind my invitation?

What do you like most about your job? What do you like least?
I read for a living. How awesome is that? Least? I have to deliver bad news on occasion. Far less awesome.

What do you most want our attendees to know about you?
For one, they shouldn’t be nervous about meeting me—I’m a “cat person,” if that helps put things in perspective—and I really am interested in signing new clients.

Fabulous answers from Tina (especially the lemon squares answer). And, as a little bonus I found an article by Tina on Wild About Words titled "6 1/2 Ways to Impress an Agent". By the way, if you aren't able to make it to the conference we'll have Blogging Team (a whole team) that will be blogging live updates during the conference!!