Five on Friday

1. This has been a good week. First of all, my revision is moving along. (Thank you Cheryl Klein!) While I might not be on schedule to complete the next draft by my self-imposed deadline of February 15th (next Wednesday), I’m confident that it will get done. This mood is quite different from the pity party I had for myself a few weeks ago. “Woe is me…” (I said to myself,) “all my writing and for nothing! I may be able to bang out a draft, but a real writer knows that 90% of writing is revision. I’m never going to finish. I’ve let down my family. All my VCFA friends are going to get published and I’m not. I should just give back that stupid MFA.” I know. It’s pretty annoying stuff. Please don’t tell me that I’m the only one that has these pity parties. Please. In fact, write me a comment telling me the silliest negative thing you ever told yourself.

2. I’m busy reading for upcoming Book Review Wednesdays. On deck are Cynthia Levinson’s new nonfiction We Got a Job, and the graphic novel Friends With Boys. I’d love to know… How far in advance do you want to know about a new book? On its launch date? A month before? Leave me a comment and any titles you’d like to know more about. If its on NetGalley, I can try to get it.

3. This is also a good week because Frosty’s Donuts is having a grand re-opening! Frosty’s Donuts are like a piece of heaven, glazed and with a hole. These donuts are so light, so melt-in-your mouth amazing, they are a symphony of sugar and lard. I do not frequent Frosty’s. If I went their frequently, I’d be as round as a donut. Frosty’s closed when June Frost passed away and this week, a new sign appeared. Grand Re-opening in three days. (That was Wednesday.) Now the big day is tomorrow. The place is getting all spiffed up with new paint (no more Jesus pamphlets), but they’ve retained the original baker. You can bet, I’ll be in line tomorrow to support them. Frosty’s donuts. A little less Holy but still amazing.

Frosty’s Donuts from Don Bernier on Vimeo.

4. I’m getting new neighbors!!! Nuff said.

5. We are going to Puerto Rico next week to visit with my parents. Sun. Warmth. Fewer items of clothing. Love. Childcare. Nuff said.

Have a good weekend!

Five on Friday and a Poem

1. The SCBWI Conference was a great break from the studio. I’m back, and working with the ideas from the Revision Workshop with Cheryl Klein. I’d like to report that I’m moving forward at great speeds but that would be a lie. I spent the week writing a letter to myself, processing the good, the bad, and the ugly about the manuscript. I also wrote the flap copy and tried the “summarize your novel in one sentence exercise.” Perhaps I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I urge my own students to spend time on prewriting to make the writing easier– this is all necessary pre-revision work that will save me time later on.

2. I’d be less hard on myself if I wasn’t aware of all the time I “wasted” this week. As you can see, I’ve moved my blog to WordPress.com in part because of the page building aspect of the site. My website was terribly outdated and I appreciate the ease with which I can change things in WordPress. However, like everything, there is a learning curve (with all of its fumbling, backtracking, exploring, searching) takes time away from writing. Also, most of it goes on when my children are asleep which means I am up too late and tired through the day. This too, slows production and puts me on shaky emotional ground. Yesterday, just before I had to pick up a kiddo I thought I had lost all my work. I rolled up to the school 15 minutes late, exhausted, and weepy. “What am I doing?” I asked my very wise yet young son. “This stupid website is supposed to advertise my writing. If I’m not a writer, what’s the point?!” He patted my shoulder, “Shhh. You are a great writer. You just need a nap.”

3. My efforts with two other members of the Brunswick community to make April 26th Poem in Your Pocket Day is moving along nicely. We have a variety of events that are being planned including a community poetry open mic night, and a presentation by Wesley McNair our Maine Poet Laureate. We are applying for grants to cover the cost of flyers, school visits/programs, and stickers. On April 26th people are encouraged to wear the sticker and carry a Poem in their Pocket to read to others. Please visit our newly minted Facebook page and “like” us.

4. The deployment is officially one month down. I’m humbly accepting Sunday dinner invitations for my family.

5. The triathlon season is just around the corner. First tri, April 15th. Writing down publicly makes it much more real and imminent. Happily, I signed up for a spinning class that fits my schedule perfectly. The teacher said she’d also be teaching a tri prep class on Mondays and Fridays. While I could train on my own, I know that I’ll be much more consistant if I join the class.

A Prayer
by Anna Boll

Oh, Dear Tech Gods,
let technology help me today.
Allow me to be more productive,
not less.
Watch over my computer
do not let it crash.
Keep my documents safe.
May my website, web
my downloads, load
my plugins, plug
my widgets, widge.
As I tweet
and blog
and update
and friend,
grow my platform.
Protect me from hackers
so I may keep my identity
to procrastinate another day.

NY12SCBWI Roundup. Yee-Haw!

If for some reason you missed the tumblg,tagging and tweeting from the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York City, pull on your riding boots for the conference round up.

In this corral over here we’ve got we’ve got the VIP cocktail party Friday night. Agents, editors, and art directors schmoozed and enjoyed “Artisian Cheese Displays,” after their hard day at work. I spoke to some of those but also rubbed elbow with the assistants who told me that things had been pretty quiet. That must mean that they’ve recovered after the December lull, and it is prime time to start subbing again.

Over here, we’ve lassoed some industry professionals. This group: Jean Feiwel, Barbara Marcus, Nancy Paulsen, and Rubin Pfeffer, is chock full of historical knowledge about the publishing industry having built Scholastic to what it is today. Now they are at MacMillan, Penguin, and East West Literary. They discussed their impressions on the present and future children’s book industry and brought us some new vocabulary. “E-tailers” are purveyors of e-books, “Discoverability” is the chance the consumer had to find your book in the millions that are out there. This used to happen through indie bookstores when the awesome retailer hand sold your book. This panel mentioned that with the demise of Borders, indies have actually had their best season in years and that the support of all of us is really helping. (Shop local.) “Transmedia” is the addition or transportability of your content into other media formats.

Throughout the weekend, speakers agreed that publishers are moving towards more commercial, hard-cover best sellers, and that these best sellers allow them to publish the midlist. High concept is definitely on their mind. This idea was repeated by the agent panel on Sunday with the caveat that you have to have a “hook.” This doesn’t mean that you need a paranormal YA to get published. Agents Regina Brooks, of Seredipity, and Ken Wright, of Writer’s House, explained that publishers are always thinking: “Where is this book going to go? How are we going to get it there? How is the author going to get it there?” Certainly this is marketing and Regina Brooks has even added a Social Media strategist to help her authors develop their online presence. Ginger Knowlton spoke about the many web related links that she checks in on each day so that she can be in the loop about publishing developments. Note: you do not have to read all of these and if you do- you will never write/draw again. Here they are:

PW Marketplace
PW Lunch
PW

When we weren’t in the Ballroom, we were moseying into the breakout sessions. My favorite was the revision workshop with Cheryl Klein. If you went to that session, she posted the links that she mentioned at her own roundup. Yee-Haw!

At the Saturday night hoedown aka the Gala Dinner, the tables were arranged by region and I was thrilled to meet some of the Northern New Englanders who showed up. We ambled away from our tables to join the larger group from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. It was great to see everyone and we hope you’ll come to our New England spring conference April 20-22nd in Springfield, Mass. If you think you want to come, do it quickly. Joyce Johnson (one of the co-directors) kept us up-to-date all weekend with the registration numbers. (300, 350, 400, 450) A speedy sell out seems inevitable.

The big news from the conference is a new grant for midlist authors, funded by New England’s own Jane Yolen. The rules for the grant are not on SCBWI.org quite yet, but if you are interested, keep checking the grant tab at SCBWI.org. I’ll announce when it is up as well and post a link on my twitter feed @annawritedraw. The money, as much as $2,000, is award to a nominee who had published at least two PAL books but has not been published in a year or more. You must be nominated and the money is intended to help you reinvent and reinvigorate your career.

Here’s a few personal pictures from the trip.