Why don't they make self-packing suitcases?

I hate packing. But I want to have clothes to wear when I get to L.A. So I'll be shoving things in a suitcase today instead of blogging.

I promise to post from the conference. I'm dying to hear Leonard Marcus speak. And to see the art at the Portfolio Display. And to buy a $10 latte every morning. (Actually, I do meet people in the coffee line, so it's not a complete waste of money.)

I have something RED picked out for the "Paint the Town Red" pool-side party. I've budgeted money to buy lots of books and have them signed. I've charged my camera. I'm debating reading material for the plane flight. I must begin the grand shoe elimination and only take the necessary pairs. (Will someone invent a way to fold running shoes into tiny squares so I will pack them and use the treadmill by the pool?)

I can't wait to see old friends and meet new ones. If you see me, PLEASE say hello. Now, off to negotiate a treaty with my suitcase...

SCBWI L.A. Conference: John Green

Me and John Green
Nerdfighters!

John gave a honest and funny speech to the entire conference, and then held a breakout session on Writing the Contemporary YA Novel, which I attended. My questions for him:

ME: Your vblog is a lot of fun. (HIM: Thank you ma'am. ME: Ma'am? Ma'am? God, I hope he meant that as humor...) ME, continuing on: But how has it affected you as a writer?

HIM: (mad paraphrasing) It's given me less time to write! But it's confirmed for me that the written word is important, that you can do things with text that video will never be able to do. (He, of course, said this all much more eloquently.)

ME: (after other people asked questions about the sexual tension and male POV in Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines) Do you find it's harder to write about spiritual questioning than sex?

HIM: God, what a great question! (or something lovely like that) YES. It's much harder. It's hard not to be cheesy. So I used an academic setting (the religion professor) to talk about it in a structured way. I wrote the scene (famous toothpaste tube scene) in ten minutes. The spiritual stuff took much longer. (Again, heavily paraphrased. I do him no justice at all.)

So, I walked away with even more admiration. Not only is he honest on the page, he's honest in person and great fun to listen to.

SCBWI L.A. Conference: Parade of Jokes

At the conference, we can win gift certificates to the book store by submitting jokes! Here's the setup if you want to play along:

Name a line of underwear for children's writers and illustrators

Some of the winners:

Holes

Judy Bloomers

Oh, the Places You Can't Go

Rough Drafties

Here's my suggestion: Looking for AA-laska. (hee, hee)

SCBWI L.A. Conference: Give me More!

If you're looking for detailed reports on the conference, try Alice's CWIM blog. She's been posting incredible writeups like this one on the session "Two Agents, Two Views."

Meanwhile, I'll keep posting random thoughts and pictures until I get to a calmer place and can digest all that I've heard and seen.

P.S. I did sit at the same lunch table as Arthur Levine, and got to meet Kirby Larson when she sat down in the lobby with me. (So nice, both of them.) Also, I chatted poolside with Nikki Grimes over coconut cake.

SCBWI L.A. Conference: By the Light of the Silvery Moon

By the light of the silvery moon
The Disco Mermaids kick off the dance party

SCBWI L.A. Conference: Adding to my Very Big Good Deed List

Current Mission: I'm asking everyone I meet here in L.A. what good causes they support (literacy/book or child/family related) for my Very Big Good Deed List. Watch the list grow over the next few days!

And please, if you have a cause you support, email me the link or post a comment here or at the VBGD List itself. Thanks!

SCBWI L.A. Conference: Cynthia Leitich Smith Tells All

Cynthia Leitich Smith

This was an amazingly information-packed session. Cynthia promised to eventually post a list of links at her site, so keep checking back there. (And I'll go back and link from here when it's up.)

SCBWI L.A. Conference: Parade of Words

As Lin Oliver said, if we (SCBWI) do something for ten minutes, we call it a tradition. But there are a few conference traditions that have been going on for several years that I love. One is the parade of authors, where the conference kicks off with all the presenters marching in, and coming to the microphone one by one, and speaking just a single word. A word that sums up what they are thinking, feeling, or hoping about the conference, or their writing lives at that moment.

Some word choices were practically mandatory. Susan Patron said "Scrotum." (We all cheered.) Lee Bennett Hopkins said "Poetry." John Green said "Nerd-fighters."

We also heard:

Doggedness
Sparkle
Leap (Laurent Linn)
Truth
Peri-menopausal (Lisa Yee)
Courage
Ready

So what's your word today?

Mine is: Flow

SCBWI: Blogging from the Road

Look who I met (and had dinner with, and talked to for a very long, good time): Kelly Herold (on the right) from Big A, Little A! A fellow conference goer took our picture with my cell phone. I don't think he believed me when I said I was sending it straight to my blog.