More Reasons to Love SCBWI

SCBWI…the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

(Because seriously…I could talk about this event for days. Daaays I tell you!)

• Having my good friend there with me. I could bounce thoughts off of her while my brain worked to process things. She also knew when we’d had enough confinement in the hotel and when it was time to get out for some mall therapy.

• Meeting the dynamic woman who writes about talking pets. She passes it off as a weird crazy thing she does. What she didn’t tell me is that she’s a pretty legit journalist with a big heart. She had her own lab certified to be a therapy dog and they visit hospitals together.

• Meeting the unassuming middle school teacher who looked a little lost in the sea of women. We chatted off and on in our classes. Then someone mentioned that he’d won the Golden Kite Award for a book he’d written a few years ago. And there he was acting like a normal person.

• Listening to Dan Yaccarino’s hilarious keynote address about saying yes to opportunities when they come up. I’ve-never-done-this-thing-you’re-asking-me-to-do-so-of-course-I’ll-say-yes seems to be his motto in life.

• Meeting Dan Yaccarino at the end of a very long day. I recognized the exhaustion on his face because I was feeling it too. So I love that he took the time to specialize an autograph in one of his picture books for my kids. (Shh…don’t tell them…I’m saving it for Christmas!)

• Meeting the talented artist who collects selfies with all the people she meets at conferences. And adding my selfie to her collection.

• Casually chatting with Jenny Goebel after her class on plotting like she was a regular person.

• Regretting telling my kids about Jenny Goebel’s new book Fortune Falls because when it comes out I’ll have competition.

• The reminder to find joy in writing.

• The motivation and excitement to get to work.