 | Wanted to give a shout out to the talented and generous peeps who made this year's Oregon SCBWI conference such a dream come true. Special thanks to the exquisite Kim Kasch, Laura Byrd, and Kara Frost, our fearless leaders, who put the conference together, and to Agent Rachel Letofsky of Cooke McDermid Lit Agency who gave me such a spot-on critique. To all of the amazing faculty: Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience! See ya next time! |
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 Hey Peeps! Registration for Oregon's SCBWI Spring Conference is open, and it looks like it's going to be a doozy! Native Oregonian that I am, I won't be surprised if we're blessed with an actual rainbow! Per usual, the faculty is excellent: Author and SCBWI Executive Director Lin Oliver will be there, plus Author/Illustrators Vanessa Brantley Newton and Lauren Castillo, and Authors Martha Brockenbrough, Gennifer Choldenko, Laurel Gale, Gretchen Brandenburg McLellan, Ruth A. Musgrave, and Sheryl Scarborough. Agents Molly O’Neill, Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel and Natascha Morris are sure to amaze us, as are Editors Nicholas Thomas, Kheryn Callender, and Tiffany Liao, along with Art Director Maria T. Middleton. Hope to see you there!https://oregon.scbwi.org/events/2018-biannual-spring-conference
 Hard to believe, but it's that time of year again—yep, the Oregon SCBWI Conference is coming up! A usual, there will be loads of talented authors, agents, and editors there to share their knowledge. And gobs of opportunities for conference veterans and newbies—I've got a one-on-one manuscript consultation and a roundtable critique scheduled. The conference is being held at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville again this year. From what I hear, from now on it's going to be a bi-annual event, so I'd take advantage if I were you. In fact, you only have four days left to register—last day is May 8! I'm going both Saturday, May 21, and Sunday, May 22. Hope to see you there!
 When we left off, I was obsessing about our custom-made, pinkish-brown sectional. I didn't spend all of my time obsessing—we may not have picked the perfect color, but that sectional was darn comfortable. My "problem" brought back a childhood memory. With our dad a railroad man, our vacations consisted of riding the rails from Portland, Oregon, to Rochester, Minnesota to stay with our grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins—quite an adventure, but that's another story. One day, I happened to be tagging along with my aunt when she stopped at her neighbor's home in (what I now realize) was their middle class neighborhood...
 A decade ago, I read that if your furniture resembles a Muppet, you need new furniture. First world middleclass problem if ever there was one. But, sure enough, when we move our old couch and loveseat in from the garage after our remodel, I don't have to watch Sesame Street to see the obvious—we have two Muppets living in our family room. In fact, those Muppets have been with us our entire married life ...
 Ahh ... there's nothing quite like spring in Portlandia. Along with showers, sun breaks, and sneezes, it's time for the Oregon SCBWI Conference! This year it's the last weekend in May — Saturday, May 30th, and Sunday, May 31st. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with fellow writers, finding new friends, and meeting this year's fantastic faculty. Hope to see you there! https://oregon.scbwi.org/events/2015-annual-spring-conference-2/
 Just a reminder that the annual Oregon SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Conference is coming up next month on Saturday, May 17th, and Sunday, May 18th, 2014. This year it's at the Holiday Inn South in Wilsonville, and it looks like our awesome Co-Regional Advisors, Sue Ford and Judi Gardiner, have cooked up another fantastic event! Along with some incredible agents and editors, many local authors will be there to educate and entertain us. I learned so much at the last two conferences, I can't wait to see what I'll pick up this year. If you'd like to read all about it yourself, here's the link: https://oregon.scbwi.org/events/2014-annual-spring-conference/
 Reading The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio—How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less took me back to my own childhood. There were differences, of course. There were only five of us, mom didn't win any contests and we were raised Lutheran, not Catholic. But there were also similarities: we didn't have much money, our family had challenges that weren't talked about at the time (though ours came in the form of emotional breakdowns rather than alcoholism) and we had remarkable moms whose goodness and indomitable spirits seemed to transcend just about anything. I was amazed at the author's recollection of events until I thought about those nine siblings—what a wealth of information. And at the end of the book, the author reveals that her mother kept good records of all her contest entries, along with family memorabilia and news clippings...
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