I am home again after a wonderful weekend at our regional SCBWI conference at Asilomar. I started off by picking up Samantha McFerrin, Harcourt Children’s Books, and Lin Oliver, co-founder of SCBWI, at the SJ airport. It was a beautiful day for driving. We stopped in Moss Landing and had a yummy lunch at The Whole Enchilada. (Note to self – must go back and try the margaritas. They looked delicious!) The weekend was jam-packed with talks by editors and talented writers and visits with friends, old and new. I had some time to chat, albeit briefly with beachalatte and I can’t believe the weekend went by with only a chance hello to cassandra_w (why didn’t we get to know one another when you lived here in SJ?) , a hug or two shared with erindealey and a quick stop to check out the stack of books by lindajsingleton.

cherylklein, Arthur A. Levine Books, used Millicent Min by lisayee as a great example of voice. She won my heart when she said that plot could taught. Thank goodness! Rachel Orr, HarperCollins, struck a chord with us all with her stories of fighting for the right titles and covers for her books. Allyn Johnston, Editor-in-chief at Harcourt, had us (and herself) in hysterics when she talked about her tendency to get perhaps a bit too close to the writers she worked with. If you ever meet her, ask about her early performance reviews.

As always, the conference food left a lot to be desired but the location and the people made up for it all.

I come home to find that had beachalatte  blogged some lovely words about my upcoming book. Thanks, Meg!

Edited to add the HOW COULD I FORGET one of the funnest parts of the conference. At the beginning of the conference we get the chance to stand up and tell what books or stories have come out during the year, what we have sold, good reviews, etc. Samantha McFerrin stands up and shares first the starred reviews that Susan Elya’s book Bebe Goes Shopping and then she announced to us and to Susan that she wanted to buy Susan’s next Bebe book. What a thrill to be able to share in that good news from the start!