Art reception on Monday

Join Blanca Santander Monday, November 3 for the closing of her exhibit with Rene Julio, Between Love and Death. Jacque Larrainzar will be making music. Festivities will be at the M. Rosetta Hunter Gallery at Seattle Central College on Capitol Hill from 5-8 pm. Come one, come all!

NaNoWriMo at SPL

Are you, or is anyone you know, participating in this year's  

National Novel Writing Month?????

Instead of doing your due dilligence in a vacuum, how about some writing sessions with like-minded and determined individuals at Seattle Public Library's Write-Ins, Mondays at the Central Branch location in downtown Seattle? These three-hour sessions are geared toward the writer, with built-in support and networking, as well as performance art by an author working on her own book.

For more information on NaNoWriMo, please see the national web site. For the Seattle Public Library events, please click here.


Ready, set....GO!



Good luck to all, and many happy thousands of words to you!

Authors love libraries

Recognize some familiar names? If so, and if you're in the north end or happen to be near Mukilteo in a couple of weekends, come show some love for your local SCBWI-ers on this panel.

Updating Weekenders-on-the-Water

Weekend on the Water is rapidly approaching! 

 

If you are going to the retreat, you should have received emails by Co-Directors Allyson Schrier and Lois Brandt about reading prep and what to bring. If you have not heard from them, please check your spam folder.  For questions, contact Lois (Lois@LoisBrandt.com).

 

Looking forward to this exciting event!

SCBWI Northern Network: Marketing Mania!

So you have a story finished, polished, and perfected! Now… how do you market it?

Join the Northern Network for a discussion on marketing with the fabulous Barbara Jean Hicks, the author of over 20 books ranging from adult to picture books. She will give us her secrets for successfully promoting your books and getting the most bang for your publicity buck.

Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Bellingham Barnes & Noble (4099 Meridian Street)

Questions? Call Rebecca Van Slyke at (360) 354-5797, or email at rebecca(underscore)vanslyke(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Grace Lin coming to the Shaw Series

Award-winning author and illustrator Grace Lin, who presented at our annual conference a few years back, will be delivering the University of Washington Information School’s annual Spencer G. Shaw Endowed Lecture on Thursday, Nov. 6, from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. in Kane Hall on the UW campus.   

The creator of more than 20 books, including The Year of the Dog, Ling & Ting, Starry River of the Sky, and 2010 Newbery Honor Book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Grace will be speaking about the path of a multicultural author. Go welcome her back to Western WA and give her a few recognized faces in the crowd!

Attendance is $10, or $5 for students, and registration is necessary; register now or call 206-543-4794 with questions.

Cheers to Nina Laden!

 

 NINA! NINA! NINA!

 

Image of the author/artist from www.ninaladen.com.

 

 

Ballard resident Nina Laden is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of many books for children, from The Night I Followed the Dog to Peek-a-Who?. Secret Garden Books in Ballard commemorates her 20^th year in print as well as the release of her first game, based on Peek-a-Who?.

 

The Night I Followed the Dog was released in August of 1994. It is exceedingly rare for a children’s book to stay in print for that long. New York Times bestselling Peek-a-Who? has been a perennial bestseller for Chronicle Books since it was released in 2000. It has spawned additions to the series, including last year's Peek-a-Zoo!, among others. Last month Chronicle Books also released a game based on it.

 

Come celebrate Nina's continued success and her books, which have charmed children and their parents for two decades. 

Congratulations, Nina!

WHEN: Thursday, November 6 at 7pm

WHERE: Secret Garden Books, 2214 NW Market St, Ballard

Quips and giggles

So a writer and a reader get into a car....

SCBWI co-founder and author Stephen Mooser is offering a webinar, FREE, which will explore ways to make the funnybone tingle when you craft a story. Via the Children's Book Academy, this special event will take place on Thursday, October 30 at 5pm Pacific Daylight Time. To learn more and for more details, please click here.

Bah-dum-bum!

Inside Story is coming

'Tis the season...for Inside Story!

The Fall 2014 Inside Story will take place at Parkplace Books (348 Parkplace Center, Kirkland, WA 98033) on November 4 at 7:00 PM.

We hold this celebration twice a year for booksellers, librarians, teachers, and other children's book lovers so you can hear the "stories behind the stories" of new and upcoming books by our local authors and illustrators.

The following authors and illustrators will present their new books:

Brianna Caplan Sayres, Carly Anne West, Dan Richards, Dana Sullivan, Dori Hillestad Butler , Justina Chen, Kevin Emerson, Laurie Ann Thompson, Lin Kaymer, Lois Brandt, Loralee Leavitt, Lorie Ann Grover, Nina Laden, Randall Platt, Royce Buckingham, Stacey Campbell, Suzanne Selfors, Tom Brenner, and Toni Yuly. 

Please RSVP with Parkplace Books:  parkplacebooks@integra.net

Making the (Middle) Grade: Essential Elements of the MG Novel with Brianne Johnson

Writers House agent Brianne Johnson shared a talk with us last Friday afternoon about writing middle-grade novels. She discussed plot, character, voice, beginnings, and theme in middle grade, using examples from some of her clients' books, The League of Beastly Dreadfuls and The Only Thing Worse than Witches, as well as from Harry Potter, A Single Shard, and Matilda.

She started out by sharing Aristotle's definition of plot, "the change of good fortune to bad, or bad fortune to good." Then she said there are three basic types of plots: conflict, mystery, and/or lack. A middle-grade novel may have one, two, or all three of those plot types, but each plot must have its own complete story arc (stasis, inciting incident, escalating complicating events, climax, resolution). 

Some of the most common problems she sees with character are in the dialog. Her advice? "Read it out loud!" She also recommends using the worksheets and checklists in Cheryl Klein's book, Second Sight, for both plot and character development.

Some common themes in middle grade that she discussed in the workshop include challenging the status quo and learning that not all adults are kindly caregivers looking out for their best interests. "You can be really dark in middle grade," Brianne said, "but at the end of the day… there does need to be hope." She ended her presentation with this quote from Richard Peck: "A children’s novel ends not with happily ever after, but at a new beginning, with the sense of a lot of life left to be lived." 
Finally, we had time to read some of the attendees' first pages aloud and discuss as a group what was and wasn't working in each of the pieces.

— Reported by Laurie Ann Thompson

Fabulous Fall Kickoff!

SCBWI Western Washington's first 2014-2015 season Professional Series Meeting with agent Brianne Johnson of Writers House took place last night, Oct. 16. It was a packed event with a lot of laughs and a lot of interesting pointers from Brianne for everyone in the audience.

Writers House, with more than a dozen agents, is one of the biggest agencies for children’s literature. Brianne, who's been at Writer’s House for about five years, says she started as an intern, “clawing her way up” to the position of senior agent. 

She receives about 120 queries a week and told us she starts her day weeding through her slush pile, which is where she said she’s found most of her clients. “Younger agents are hungrier," she noted. "They read the slush pile.” After telling the audience what she’s looking for in PB, MG, and YA submissions, Brianne walked us through her current book list, which included the first book she sold as an agent, Albie’s First Word.

Brianne generously spent more than half of the evening answering questions from the audience, from what she’s looking for in a nonfiction book to what sorts of manuscripts keep her up at night. Calling herself a very editorial agent, Brianne gave us a sneak peek into her daily life as an agent and gave the audience very practical tips for scouting new agents and getting noticed.

Even if you missed this great event, it's not too late to attend next month on Thursday, Nov. 20, when the presentations will include "Nonfiction is the New Black" and "Marketing for Introverts." Better yet, get yourself a series passport and attend them all!

— Reported by Alison Weatherby

Registration open for WWU Children’s Literature Conference

Registration is now open for the 12th annual Children’s Literature Conference at Western Washington University in Bellingham. Many SCBWI members have attended this event over the years, particularly Northern Region regulars, and they always have good things to say about it.

The conference will take place i, and feature Newbery medalist and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Kate DiCamillo, Pura Belpré medalist and acclaimed young adult novelist Matt de la Peña, Newbery Honor recipient and NCTE Excellence in Poetry Award winner Joyce Sidman, and three-time Pura Belpré Illustrator Award medalist Yuyi Morales. Rates for early registration are $95 or $85 if you can register as a group of three or more.