A Catching Up Post...

Hopefully you've missed me, dear readers. My blog has been quiet for a bit as I was home in bed for a week taking Vicodin and watching Law & Order reruns with frozen edamame in my pants. And one should not post in that state.

But I'm back at work now, almost all better and pretty much caught up on my work. Now to catch you up...

• My birthday was a week ago Wednesday, but I rescheduled it due to the situation described above. (So if you asked me, I'll tell you I'm still 41.) I've decided it will officially occur on March 20th, at which time I will be in New York to catch the end of the NYC Teen Author Festival. Click here for the event schedule posted on the readergirlz blog. There's all kinds of stuff going on all over the city, including the World's Biggest Book Signing in the World! at Books of Wonder (where they also sell cupcakes). Look for tweets from me during the events and a post or two when I get back.

• SCBWI announced their 2010 Golden Kite Award recipients. Their award for fiction went to SEA OF THE DEAD by Julia Durango; nonfiction to ASHLEY BRYAN: WORDS TO MY LIFE'S SONG by Ashley Bryan; picture book text to THE LONGEST NIGHT by Marion Dane Bauer (illustrated by Ted Lewin); picture book illustration to GRACIAS THANKS illustrated by John Parra (written by Pat Mora). Honor award recipients were also announced. The winners will be honored at the Golden Kite Luncheon at the SCBWI Annual Summer Conference in LA (July 30-August 2) which will be covered by SCBWI TEAM BLOG.

• This weekend is our first WD Editors' Intensive of 2010. If you can't make it to this one, mark your calendar for September 11-12 when we'll be offering another weekend of information and critiquing featuring yours truly as well as a raft of other awesome WD editors.
  

That's it for now. I'm off to do some interviewing, editing and WRITING (all my favorite fun work stuff).

Portfolio Showcase & Reception...

There was a portfolio showcase today. I, as usual, volunteered to help because it's fun to look at all the portfolios before anyone else does and watch the judging going on.

Here's a glimpse.


There were lots of portfolios on lots of tables. Some of them were awesome. There were some judges. And they looked at those portfolios. And stood around and had judge-y conversations. And they picked some of the awesomest ones to win prizes. And I know who won. But I'm not telling. I'm keeping the judges secret, too, because I promised I would and I'm that kind of volunteer. And I like secrets.

After the hours of judging were over, the room looked like this.


Tomorrow during the Golden Kite Luncheon all the secrets will be revealed, the prizes given away, and I'll be allowed to spill the beans in this space.

The Golden Kite Luncheon...























Over plates of rubber chicken (Lin Oliver said it, not me. I had the vegetarian meal) SCBWI conference-goers had the pleasure of hearing from the 2007 Golden Kite winners. Here is the list of award recipients:

• Tony Abbott won the Golden Kite Award for Fiction for his book Firegirl published by Little, Brown and edited by Alvina Ling.
• Russell Freedman won the Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction for The Adventures of Marco Polo published by Scholastic imprint Arthur A. Levine Books and edited by Arthur Levine.
• Walter Dean Myers won the Golden Kite for Picture Book Text for Jazz, illustrated by Christopher Myers, published by Holiday House and edited by Regina Griffin.
• Larry Day won the Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration for Not Afraid of Dogs written by Susanna Pitzer, published by Walker & Company and edited by Emily Easton.

Also during this luncheon, Sara Pennypacker accepted the Sid Flieschman Humor Award for her book Clementine. (This is when she made me tear up.)

Then there was the singing contest. Each table received lyrics to moon-themed songs (a conference theme--the by-the-pool party was the By the Light of the Silvery Moon Gala). They picked the numbers of five or six tables, and one volunteer from that table got up and belted out a song, a cappella. And guess what? They picked our table. No, I didn't volunteer (although I would have if no one else did--I think it's healthy to make a fool of oneself in from of a roomful of strangers every so often). Our enthusiastic volunteer was Tyler McBroom. Unfortunately I had gone up to my room for a few minutes and missed all the singing. I hear it was fabulous (a semi-off-key-but-very-enthusiastic kind of fabulous) But, even though I missed the performances, as a member of table #10, I got a $20 gift certificate for the SCBWI bookstore as prize. Thanks Tyler! I'm enjoying my new SCBWI t-shirt I got for free because you sang us a little Van Morrison.