Monthly Meetings

2009-2010 Professional Series Meetings

When you pay for SCBWI Western Washington 2009-2010 regional programming, your passport to all of the following monthly meetings is included so there is no additional cost at the door. Visitors are more than welcome to attend our meetings, as well. The cost at the door is just $8 for full or associate SCBWI International members (bring your membership card with you for entry) or $10 for non-members.
 
Meetings take place on the second Tuesday of every month from September through May at Seattle Pacific University, Demaray Hall, Room 150. Registration at 6:45 p.m., program at 7:00 p.m.

Get Map and Directions here.

Sign up soon for Regional Programming. 

February 9, 2010

Mini-Session: CULTURAL AUTHENTICITY IN FICTION with Margaret Nevinski. When we write outside our own ethnic culture, how can we provide an authentic experience for young readers? Or can we? Cultural authenticity in our fiction involves complex issues of cultural appropriation, relationship to a culture, authorial choices, and emotional truth. Margaret confronted this issue in books she wrote for the school market, including REMEMBERING MINIDOKA and RUBY BRIDGES. She has an M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she worked on middle-grade fiction. Come add your voice to the discussion of how we, as writers for children and teens, can strive for cultural authenticity in our work.

Main Program: 10 YEARS IN THE BIZ: A PRACTICALLY PERFECT PERSPECTIVE ON PUBLISHING with Erik Brooks. Ten years ago, in April of 2000, Erik’s first book was published. One heartbreaking publisher bankruptcy, six publishers, 15 books (even one written by a MINOR celebrity) later, Erik shares his trajectory of experience from a want-to-be illustrator to full-time published author/illustrator. And he is still learning every day. Erik wrote and illustrated THE PRACTICALLY PERFECT PAJAMAS, OCATAVIUS BLOOM AND THE HOUSE OF DOOM, and SLOW DAYS, FAST FRIENDS. He has also illustrated many books written by others.

March 9, 2010

Program 1: PLOTTING THE PICTURE BOOK, STEPPING INTO YOUR STORY with Clare H. Meeker. The best picture books combine strong, visual plots with simple, clear language that invites readers to participate in the story. Award-winning picture book author Clare H. Meeker will share her process in plotting fiction and narrative nonfiction picture books—moving from a strong visual idea to a three-problem approach to story structure, and tips on plot devices like the darkest moment—that will make your story fun to write and read.

Program 2: EMBELLISHING THE PICTURE-BOOK MANUSCRIPT: AN ILLUSTRATOR’S STORY with Karen Schmidt. Karen, who has been illustrating picture books for over 30 years, will describe how she created and interwove her own very personal story into the poetry of Jane Yolen’s HOPTOAD, while working closely with an editor, but independent of the author. She will detail her own creative process and share favorite “back stories” of other illustrators. Writers as well as illustrators will benefit from understanding the illustration side of the process of making picture books.

April 10 - 11, 2010

SCBWI Western Washington Regional Conference—No monthly meeting

May 11, 2010

Mini-Session: HELP! I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO CALL THIS! — HOW TO FIND THE PERFECT TITLE with Lenae Nofziger. A great book title is an invitation that readers can’t refuse. But how do you create such a title? This workshop will focus on ways to generate and evaluate titles by analyzing those of existing books for children and young adults. Lenae teaches creative writing and childhood literature at Northwest University. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Eastern Washington University, where she specialized in poetry, a genre that requires frequent title generation. A number of her poems have been published in literary journals, and not one of them was called “Untitled.” She is currently writing two young-adult novels.

Main Program: IN DREAMS BEGIN RESPONSIBILITIES with Karen Cushman. Karen, whose books have won both a Newbery Medal and a Newbery Honor, among other awards, reflects on what she has learned from living, from writing, and from making her own rules. Karen is the author of CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY; THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE; and several other middle-grade titles, including her most recent, THE LOUD SILENCE OF FRANCINE GREEN, and the forthcoming ALCHEMY AND MEGGIE
SWANN.

Recent Meetings

January 12, 2010

Mini-Session: None. Main program begins at 7:00 p.m.

Main Program: THE GREAT CRITIQUE. Have your manuscript or art critiqued by a published writer and/or illustrator who can help you pinpoint needed improvements. Meet in a small group with an experienced critique leader and receive feedback on your own work while learning from comments by the critique leader about the work of others.

Great Critique Full - sign-up for waiting list

Wow, the response for The Great Critique 2010 was phenomenal! Because it is part of our SCBWI Western Washington regional programming, we launched it first to those who have already paid for the 2009-2010 -season. Even with the additional Great Critique spots we added this year, the event was sold out within 36 hours. You can still add yourself to the waiting list just in case we have cancellations. If you're wondering what all the fuss was about:

Help your work evolve from good... to GREAT! SCBWI Western Washington will again present THE GREAT CRITIQUE during our first 2010 meeting on January 12, 2010. This popular event offers you valuable feedback from peers and published professionals, who this year will include: Peggy King Anderson, Donna Bergman, Molly Blaisdell, Vijaya Bodach, Jennifer Bradbury, Tom Brenner, Kevin Emerson, Kathryn Galbraith, Liz Gallagher, Meg Lippert, Ruth Maxwell, J. Elizabeth Mills, Craig Orback, David Patneaude, Karen Lee Schmidt, Trudi Trueit, Richard Jesse Watson, and Pam Withers.

As a participant, you will not only receive constructive comments on your work-in-process, you'll also learn from the work and critiques of others. This is a terrific chance to become better acquainted with writer and/or illustrator peers.

December 8, 2009

Program 1: THE ABCS OF CRAFTING A CAREER IN YA, with Lisa Schroeder, Liz Gallagher, and Jen Bradbury. Lisa, Liz, and Jen share their journey on writing successful YA, focusing on the importance of craft, wisdom about agents and editors, and the differences between a commercial and literary approach. Lisa is the author of FAR FROM YOU and I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME; Liz is the author of THE OPPOSITE OF INVISIBLE; and Jen is the author of SHIFT.

Program 2: SINGING IN THE RAIN: ONE SEATTLE WRITER TALKS ABOUT HOW TO TUNE YOUR VOICE, with Jolie Stekly. We hear it over and over from editors and agents, “I’m looking for a strong voice.” And not only that, but “I know it when I see it.” But what does that mean? How do you know you have it? And how can you make yours stronger? In this interactive and rollicking session, Jolie will use music to define and discuss what voice is, and how to tap more clearly into yours so that you can make your writing sing and strike a chord with readers. Come prepared to warm and stretch your own vocal abilities, but Jolie promises she won’t make anyone stand up and belt out a tune.

November 10, 2009

Program 1: OUT OF THE CHUTE — BOOK PROMOTION TIPS FOR COWPOKES AND THE REST OF US with Suzanne Morgan Williams. The author of BULL RIDER (Margaret K. McElderry, 2009) and 10 nonfiction books for children, Suzanne talks about the best ways she’s found to promote your books. Suzanne traveled to seven states and Ontario, Canada, between March and June of 2009, completing 14 events—signings, school visits, writers’ presentations, library events—in her home town and 23 out of state. She is Co-Regional Advisor for SCBWI Nevada and a member of the Class of 2k9.

Program 2: MUSE ON THE RUN, FINDING THE 25TH HOUR TO WRITE with Terri Farley. The author of 35 books in nine years emerges in relative sanity to help you use left/right brain techniques to make writing part of your real life. Terri’s popular workshop has been given to national writers’ conferences from New York to Los Angeles. Warning: this one is hands-on and fast-paced. Terri is the author of the PHANTOM STALLION series as well as a YA novel, SEVEN TEARS INTO THE SEA, which was nominated for the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young
Adults list.

October 13, 2009

Mini-Session: YOU CAN HAS GRAMMAR? A WRITER’S GUIDE TO HOW AND WHEN
GRAMMAR MAKES A DIFFERENCE with Martha Brockenbrough.
Grammar matters in writing—but not necessarily the way you think. Martha Brockenbrough will give a crash course in common errors and how to avoid them, fake rules you have to obey anyway, and clever ways some of our best writers have adjusted their grammar to create memorable voices. Martha is author of the hilarious and sometimes bawdy guide THINGS THAT MAKE US [SIC] and founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar.

Main Program: SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR THE HAPPY ACCIDENT with Greg Pincus. You can’t do it all in social media and still have time to write (or live!), but you also don’t need to. The strategy that he’ll share in this presentation is how to reach your concrete goals while working to set yourself up for the happy accidents that abound, online and off… and then being prepared to recognize and act on them, too.

September 8, 2009

Mini-Session: None. Main program begins at 7:00 p.m.

Main Program: PLOT AND PACING: Elana Roth, agent with Caren Johnson Literary Agency. Without a story, there’s no book. And you need that story to play out wisely to keep readers turning pages. Using examples from HARRY POTTER to THE HUNGER GAMES, we’ll look at what works—and what doesn’t—in identifying your story, knowing what’s on the line for your characters, and upping the ante, all to keep your book well-paced and well-plotted.

Call for Presenters

SCBWI Western Washington is seeking workshop presenters for our 2010-2011 year. Our chapter holds monthly Professional Series Meetings from October through April, and hosts an annual conference each spring. We welcome fresh and compelling workshop ideas for any of these events! Download the updated Workshop Presenter Application soon.

Carpooling

From Whatcom or Skagit Counties:
Interested in carpooling from Bellingham (or other areas up north) to one or any of the SCBWI WWA Professional Series Meetings in Seattle? A carpool regularly leaves Bellingham around 4:30 on the evening of the meetings. We are happy to stop in Burlington or Mount Vernon for a general pick-up as well. For more information, contact our Bellingham Network coordinator,Kjersten Hayes, at 360-734-6555. Please be prepared to donate gas money.