Back from SCBWI-LA

Sorry to disappear on you last week. I flew over to LA to attend the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators big annual conference. I'll be speaking at Arizona's yearly gathering on October 1st. This year we celebrated SCBWI's 40th Anniversary. Wow, they pulled out all the stops. In three days, I got to listen to Bruce Colville, who spoke about how our work is like throwing a stone into a pond and the ripples move out and change people's lives in unexpected ways, Jerry Pinkney, Libba Bray, Donna Jo Napoli, David Small--who was amazing, I want to read STITCHES now--the legendary Judy Bloom, who was one of SCBWI's first members, Jon Scieszka, as hilarious as his books, Norton Juster, who is celebrating THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH's 50th anniversary, Mary Pope Osborne, creator of the Magic Treehouse series, 3X Newbury winner and industry legend, Gary Paulsen, Richard Peck--always the most elegant speaker, he said, "Unless you find yourself on the page very early in life, you will go looking for yourself in all the wrong places." Amen! And, finally, Laurie Halse Andersen, who quoted T.S. Elliott, "Do I dare disturb the universe?"  Yea. It was quite the weekend.

Here's a few pictures to prove I was really there.

Here I am with SING ME TO SLEEP at the reception they held for published authors attending the conference.

Dessert at the 40th Anniversary Golden Kite Award Luncheon. 

Here's my agent, Erzsi Deak, on the far right, with a couple of my coop-mates. Ann Jacobus, the lovely blonde on the left, writes original, gut-wrenching YA. I hope you get to read some of it soon. She and Erzsi put on the Sequester at the royal abbey north of Paris where I met my editor! 

Here I am--closing my eyes like I did in all the other pictures--with Barbara Younger, another  writer at with Hen & Ink. She's published over 20 books with Abbingdon Press. 

That's Richard Peck--take my word for it. It's really is him. 

I know I owe you final pictures from CAYMAN SUMMER. And I've got a TAKEN BY STORM out-take that I haven't shared before. Tune in tomorrow. Thanks for your patience. 

I've heard from most of the contest winners. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Prizes will be in the mail before the end of the week! I was hoping the trailer for CAYMAN SUMMER would be done by now, but alas. No such luck.