Jacqueline Woodson...

This author was a great opening speaker: engaging, funny, touching, and real. I know of her work but I haven't yet read her books. (Note to self: stop in bookstore.) Jacqueline Woodson writes realistic fiction, some of which she read passages from. She talked about her background and what led her to be a writer--it was not something she set out to do. Like most writers, she's often asked about how she works, but says the act of writing a novel is something that can't be explained. "A writer shouldn't think about the process," she said.

Some writers plot and outline before they begin working on a novel. She is not one of them. Her stories unfold and reveal themselves to her. "I never wanted to be a writer," she said. "I wanted to be someone who could change the world." Isn't that what all writers should set out to do--one book at a time?