2015 Golden Kite Award Winners

For everyone who wasn't aware of the winning titles for this year's SCBWI Golden Kite Award Winners, here you go. Peruse the list and read all about them here. It's quite an array, and now I have too many books on my list. (SCBWI-member problems. Sheesh.)

You're welcome!

Sharon Mentyka's book launch

 

 Join local author Sharon Mentyka and illustrator Stephen Schlott on Friday, March 13, 7–9pm  at Secret Garden Books, in Ballard for the book party and launch for B IN THE WORLD, a chapter book for kids ages 5 and up and the people who love them, that takes an open-hearted, kids-eyed view of what it means to be “different” and celebrates children for who they are meant to be, not how others want to label them. 

 

 

B IN THE WORLD tells the story of B, who "wasn’t really sure why one day he felt like wearing overalls and a flannel shirt, and the next day woke up wishing he could dress like his sister Patti-Anne.” The book is intended for both children and families who may have personal experience with gender non-conforming children but is also appropriate for all families interested in teaching tolerance and broadening their understanding of gender diversity. Kids are welcome! There will be dress-up activities and cupcakes! More information is available at the book’s website:http:www.bintheworld.com 

West Sound Drink Night this Wednesday

Another West Sound Kid Lit Drink Night! Are you coming?

WHEN: Wednesday, March 11 at 6pm 
WHERE: The Loft in Poulsbo (we'll meet in the bar)

Hope to see you there!

Orback is back with new illo classes

Children's Book Illustration Classes with Craig Orback

Local illustrator Craig Orback has some new Children's Book Illustration classes, starting soon in Seattle, Bellevue and Edmonds:

Children's Book Illustration I:

Bellevue College, starting April 11

Edmonds College, starting April 14

AND:

 

Children's Book Illustration II

North Seattle College, starting April 16

Conference faculty profile: Christa Heschke

Christa Heschke will demystify the process of writing a mystery.

Christa Heschke started in publishing as an intern at both Writers House and Sterling Lord Literistic, where she fell in love with the agency side of publishing. As an agent at McIntosh & Otis, where she has been in the Children's Literature Department since 2009, she is actively looking for picture books, middle grade, and young adult projects. She graduated from Binghamton University with a major in English and a minor in Anthropology.

Twitter: @ChristaHeschke

Blog: http://christaheschke.blogspot.com/

Interviews:

Literary Rambles: Agent Spotlight

Stacey O'Neale interview 

Michelle4Laughs interview

Christa's conference schedule:

––Saturday, 8:30–9:15am

Agent/Editor/Art Director panel 

––Saturday, 10:20–11:20am

Breakout session 1-E, "Writing an Engaging Mystery: Atmosphere, Tension, Pacing, and Premise"

––Saturday, 1:05–2:05pm

Breakout session 2-D, "Picture Books 101: From Coming Up With an Idea to Querying"

Conference faculty profile: Rachel Orr

Rachel will turn your Flat opening pages into Fab ones!

Rachel Orr is celebrating her eighth year as an agent at the Prospect Agency, celebrating her eighth year there. She previously worked for eight rewarding years at HarperCollins Children's Books, and uses those editorial skills to help prepare her clients’ work for submission. Her clients include a wide-range of picture- book authors, illustrators, and middle-grade/YA novelists, including Kit Alloway (Dreamfire), Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen (Tyrannosaurus Wrecks!), Cori Doerrfeld (Matilda in the Middle), and Jennifer Latham (Scarlett Undercover). Rachel also teaches an online course on middle grade novel writing through Mediabistro.com. She lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with her husband and two young children. She has no spare time but, if she did, she would spend it dancing, running and reading, of course.

Twitter: @RachelOrr

Interviews:
As the Eraser Burns
Wading Through Words 
The Wardrobe Journal


Rachel's conference schedule:

––Saturday, 8:30–9:15am
Agent/Editor/Art Director panel

––Saturday, 1:05–2:05pm
Breakout session 2-E, "Beginnings: From Flat to Fab"

––Saturday, 2:20–3:20pm
Breakout session 3-A, "The Critical Art of Revision"

Conference faculty profile: Jennifer Rofé

 

Agent Jennifer Rofé is looking for "adorkable" heroes.

Jennifer Rofé, an agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency, represents projects ranging from picture books to young adult, with middle grade being her soft spot. Some of her representative titles include: the middle grade novels The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice and How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won A Bubba-Sized Trophy by Crystal Allen; the young adult novels Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina, which won the Pura Belpré Award in 2014, and Finding Paris by Joy Preble; and the picture books 123 Versus ABC by Mike Boldt and The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred by Samantha Vamos. Jennifer also represents illustrators Eliza Wheeler, Wes Hargis, and Mary Peterson. Jennifer is always looking for fresh and distinct voices; smart, layered, and complex worlds; stories that simultaneously tug at her heartstrings and make her laugh out loud; and "adorkable" heroes. For more on Jennifer’s interests and the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, please visit www.andreabrownlit.com.


Twitter: @jenrofe


Interviews:

Literary Rambles: Agent Spotlight
The Brown Bookshelf
Middle-Grade Ninja
AuthorMagazine


Jennifer's conference schedule:

––Saturday, 8:30–9:15am
Agent/Editor/Art Director panel

––Saturday, 10:20–11:30am
Breakout session 1-B, "Strong First Pages"

––Saturday, 2:20–3:20pm
Breakout session 3-B, "Don't Be Weary, It's Just a Query"

 

 

Jennifer's great news!

 How about THIS to start the month off right?

Way to go: Jen scores a two-book deal!

Chelsea Eberly at Random House has bought Six Feet Over It author Jennifer Longo's Up To This Pointe, in a two-book deal. In the novel, a girl who is the descendant of an explorer who died in a race to the South Pole knows that big dreams come with big risks. When her dream of becoming a star ballerina dies, she's willing to go to the ends of the earth (literally to the South Pole) to chart a new path. Publication is slated for spring 2016; Melissa Sarver White at Folio Literary Management did the deal for world rights.

New member, new book!

 New SCBWI member Charlotte Riggle is a bit of a late bloomer. Although she's been a (technical) writer for many years, her first children's book, Catherine's Pascha, was published just last month.

Charlotte will be reading Catherine's Pascha on Saturday, March 28 at A Good Book Cafe, 1014 W. Main St, Sumner. Come by yourself, or bring a child, or a group of children! Charlotte will be reading at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm, to make it easy for you to find a slot in your busy Saturday schedule!

Sumner might be a bit of a drive for you. If you want to make a day of it, plan to grab lunch at Berryland Cafe across the street (their homemade pies are legendary) or the Buttered Biscuit (across the street and through the alley), and shop at some of the cute stores that line Main Street.

You can learn more about the book, and about the Orthodox celebration of Easter, at the book's website. Come, to welcome a new member and celebrate a new book!

March author/illustrator events

KEY:
YA = young adult
MG = middle grade
PB = picture book
NF = nonfiction



LINKS:
University Book Store
Third Place Books
Elliott Bay Book Company
Secret Garden Books
Seattle Central Library



Tuesday March 3, 7PM 

––Carson Ellis, Home (PB)
Third Place Books, Ravenna; also: FRIDAY, MARCH 6 at 7pm, Secret Garden Books

––Randy Henderson, Finn Fancy Necromancy (YA)
Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park

Friday March 6, 7PM

Lesley Walton, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender (YA)
Elliot Bay Book Company

Monday March 9, 7PM

Alma Alexander, Random (YA)
University Book Store, U-District

Wednesday March 11, 11:30AM

––Ashley Rhodes, Courter Three Little Words (YA)
Washington State Convention Center, 800 Convention Place, Seattle 

––Jane O’ Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser, Fancy Nancy (PB)
Secret Garden Books

Friday March 13, 7PM

Sharon Manteca, B in the World (MG)
Secret Garden Books

Wednesday March 18, 7PM

David Vann, Aquarium (YA)
Elliot Bay Book Company

Saturday March 21, 2PM

Julie Paschkis, P. Zonka Lays an Egg (PB)
Secret Garden Books

Wednesday March 25, 6PM

Northwest YA Authors Panel / University Book Store, Bellevue:

Martina Dalton, The Sixth Sense of Jenny Crumb (YA)
Ava O'Shay, Serenity (YA)
Rori Shay, The Elected Series (YA)
David A. Davies, The Potential (YA)
T.M. Franklin, The More Trilogy (YA)Angela Darling, The Last of the Delacroixs (YA) Thomas W. Everson, R.E.solve (YA)
Billie Grable, The Weeping Willow Sings (YA)
Maren Higbee, Lana Fray and the Grand Plan (YA)
David Alan Morrison, Guild of Immortal Women (YA)

Thursday March 26, 6PM

Brandon Mull, Crystal Keepers: Five Kingdoms Book 3 (YA)
University Book Store, Mill Creek

Friday March 27, 7PM

Paige McKenzie, The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (YA)
University Book Store, U-District

Saturday March 28, Noon

Owen Curtsinger, Myths of the Tusk (NF)
Third Place Books, Ravenna

Conference faculty profile: Kristen Nobles

Kristen Nobles, art director at Candlewick Press.

Kristen Nobles joined Candlewick Press as Art Director in 2004. As an art director, she has worked with award-winning illustrators Leslie Patricelli, Sophie Blackall, Yuyi Morales, John Rocco, Matt Myers, Ed Young, and Carson Ellis. Kristen loves a strong character, a unique style or retro look made new again, and looks for a new spin on traditional themes in children’s books. Before returning to the East Coast, Kristen was a senior designer at Chronicle Books in San Francisco. Her passion for children's books has been passed down from her mother, an elementary school teacher, and her grandmother, a librarian.


Twitter: @Kristen_Nobles

Interviews: Children's Illustrators (2012), My Daytime Drama (2011)



Kristen's conference schedule:

–Saturday,  8:30–9:15am
Editor/Agent/Art Director panel

–Saturday, 10:20–11:20am
Breakout session 1-C, "The Illustrator As Illuminator"

–Saturday, 2:20–3:20pm
Breakout session 3-C, "Nice to Visually Meet You"

–Sunday, 1:30–4:50pm
Art Director Intensive, "Illustrator Be Nimble"

Conference faculty profile: Michelle McCann

Michelle McCann CAN show you how to tell, and tell you how to show!

Editor at Beyond Words, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Michelle McCann is a graduate of Brown University and has an MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College. She has been working as a children’s book editor and art director for more than twenty years, shepherding hundreds of titles into print—from board books to young adult novels. She taught Children’s Book Publishing at Portland State University for thirteen years and currently acquires middle-grade and young adult nonfiction for Beyond Words Publishing/Simon & Schuster. She also edits and art directs children’s books for Graphic Arts Books and Trackers Earth Books. Michelle has written numerous children’s books of her own, including Girls Who Rocked the World, Finding Fairies, and Luba: the Angel of Bergen-Belsen. Her honors include the Oregon Book Award, the Jewish Book Council’s Best Illustrated Book, the IRA’s Notable Picture Book, and Simon Wiesenthal’s Once Upon A World Award.


 Blog:

VivaScriva, 2014 (women's writers collective blog, and MM wrote a whole slew of posts that you will find extremely useful)


Michelle's conference schedule:

–Saturday, 8:30–9:15am
Agent/Editor/Art Director panel 

–Saturday, 10:20–11:20am
Breakout session 1-D, "Extreme Makeover: Proposal Edition" (Nonfiction track)

–Saturday, 1:05–2:05pm
Breakout session 2-C, "Down and Dirty: An Author and Editor Talk About Teens, Sex, and the Edge in YA" (with author Amber Keyser)

–Sunday, 8:50am–12:10pm
Nonfiction Intensive, "Too Cool For School: Creating Nonfiction That Reads Like Fiction"