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