kayaking on Loch Leven near Glencoe, Scotland, 2018

kayaking on Loch Leven near Glencoe, Scotland, 2018

Monday, April 11, 2011

Post-Conference Musings

This past Saturday, my friend Bev and I attended Houston's Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) conference. As you know, I was spoiled in many ways when I lived in Pittsburgh. I attended the annual SCBWI conference in Pittsburgh every year from the time I started seriously writing until we moved -- a good seven years. The conference venue there was fifteen minutes from my home. After we moved to Louisiana in 2007, I missed my children's writer friends. There was no SCBWI chapter in Lake Charles. I had the choice of driving three hours east to New Orleans or three hours west to Houston. So, I simply didn't go. Until this year. Attending this conference was long overdue. I enjoyed myself. I met some folks. I learned lots and made those all important editor/agent contacts. Going with a friend made the trip tolerable (thanks Bev!). It was a long day, a long drive, but I believe it will be worthwhile and profitable in the long run. The first speaker of the day, author/illustrator Ruth McNally Barshaw of Ellie McDoodle fame, was both fun and fascinating. (Check out her website.) She had some great quotes, applicable to most anyone's life, not only writers.

  • Stay in touch with the child in you.

  • Take your pain and turn it into something beautiful.

  • Fall seven times, get up eight. (Chinese proverb)

  • Winners are ordinary people who kept trying.
For my readers who might be interested in some of the nuts and bolts of the other lectures, I hope to write a few posts for the other two writing-related blogs I contribute to; http://bayouwritersgroup.blogspot.com/ and http://bestdamncreativewritingblog.com/.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, Angie, I couln't have said it better myself. I enjoyed having you as a traveling companion. I am so happy you let me know about the conference. Fun and educational. I look forward to more conferences with you.

bev

Jessica Ferguson said...

Well, hurry up and write that BWG blogpost! We need it. :) Was this in Baton Rouge, New Orleans or in Houston? Did you see Wendy, our other BWG member, there?

Angie Kay Dilmore said...

Jess, it was in Houston. And yes, I did see Wendy there, spoke with her briefly. I hope to write a post soon.