scbwi conference

Some photos from earlier this trip (thanks for the scanning, Beckett!) during a visit to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with Amanda and Beckett:

• In costume
  
• In a cramped photo booth
  

Having a great time at the SCBWI conference. Very hectic, tho, hence the lack of blatherings. Lots of great talks, including authors S.E. Hinton, Paula Danzinger, Bruce Balan, David Adler, David Wisniewki, Han Nolan, Bruce Coville, Robert D. San Souci, Julius Lester, others.

I got invited on a group trip to the Santa Monica Pier and was very excited because I had always wanted to visit it because of Christine Lavin's song...and the palm trees DID look like Tina Turner! On the way down, driver
April Halprin Wayland asked if any of us had heard of Stan Rogers, a Canadian musician. I got all excited, of course (I got all excited a lot during this conference, I have to confess :-)...it's been really, really great). She put on Mary Ellen Carter and Bruce Balan (I've interviewed Bruce for Inklings before and was glad to finally be able to meet him) knew ALL the words. I also found out that Bruce had a concertina at the hotel...if April had brought her fiddle, we would have had a fun session, I think. :-) (I had brought my flute to do some jamming while in San Jose, but didn't expect to need it at the conference).

I think I was the only one in tonight's group of fourteen that hadn't had books published yet, so felt a wee bit outclassed :-) but so far I've found everyone at the conference (published or not) incredibly friendly and welcoming. My favourite comment at the conference so far: "Wow! So you ARE a real person." :-)
Several have been intrigued by the Urban Tapestry site (they followed links from Inkspot to my personal home page to the UT site), and now I wish I had brought some CDs with me!

Wish me luck...tomorrow morning I get a manuscript critique session with Brenda Bowen, a VP and publisher at Simon & Shuster's Children's division. I'm told I'm very lucky to get assigned to Brenda, so that's a good sign. I'm hoping her critique will help me revise the piece to make it more saleable (it's been circulating via an agent for a couple of years without success).

home sweet home

Back at home. My flight got in at 6 a.m. this morning, so pardon the incoherency that will inevitably be part of today's blatherings. The conference was WONDERFUL and I would definitely go back again if I can afford it. The children's writer community is an extremely welcoming and nurturing one, or so it seems to me. I've been told that other genres may not be similar...I'm hoping to check out some other writers' conferences as well.

I was very nervous for my consultation with Brenda Bowen, but she was great. She said I should keep sending out my mss, gave me some valuable suggestions on improving it, and also gave me some names (at Simon & Shuster and other publishing houses) to which I should send the revised version.

I found several parallels between a writers' conference and a filk con, and at times I felt as if I was at a really filk con, except that there wasn't any filking (if that makes sense at all :-)).
Also, both are inspirational. After a filk con, I usually can't wait to get back to my music and start writing. After the SCBWI convention, I can't wait to get back to my own writing, and to Inkspot/Inklings. I strongly recommend writers' conventions for anyone who needs more motivation. :-)
Having a laptop with me was great, because I could keep an eye on business stuff so I wouldn't have any nasty surprises when I got home. I even emailed with people who were AT the conference while I was there, like Bruce Balan. :-) You parents, by the way, should check out Bruce's fun CYBERKIDZ series.

I did find the four days a bit overwhelming, though...that's a LOT of information to absorb, and I met many new people. My living room looks like a disaster zone right now, since I'm trying to unpack and pack (Jeff & I are going to Calgary tomorrow) at the same time.

I'm starting to use Netscape as my main browser, by the way, even though it crashes. Internet Explorer is too slow, and Netscape also has a few other niceties I like.

To those of you going to Worldcon: have fun! Post reports!!

bittersweet

My brother Jim and his wife Diane died in a car accident five years ago today.
They were on their way to a camping trip with some friends when their car went out of control on the 401 near Woodstock, crossed the median, collided with an oncoming truck. They both died instantly; no one else was hurt. No one really knows exactly why the accident happened. Jim and Diane were both 27 and married just over a year.

One's perspective really changes after something like that. I try not to get stressed out over stuff that ultimately isn't really all that important in the grand scheme of things. I try to embrace life fully and not simply "coast". It really has made a difference in my life.

I can't help but think that Jim would have approved. :-)

kananaskis

So I'm typing this from The Lodge At Kananaskis near Calgary, Alberta. It was sort of weird getting back on the plane and flying out west again...at least we didn't get the same movie (Deep Impact instead of Sliding Doors). Got a rented car at the airport, drove out to Kananaskis. Saw a doe and her fawn as we entered the area!

I can see the Rocky Mountains as I look out my window...really gorgeous scenery. I going to be disciplined, though, and force myself to work inside today (Jeff's in Calgary working all day), at least until I get this week's issue of Inklings sent out.

4 pm update: Finished and sent out Inklings. Bought a boxed lunch (came with a roast beef sandwich, flavoured mineral water, 2 chocolate chip cookies, 2 truffles (YUM), cheese, and a pear) and walked along the Village Rim trail until I found the perfect lunch spot. And it WAS perfect, overlooking a deep valley ringed by mountains, cut through by a winding river. UNBELIEVEABLY GORGEOUS.
Perfect weather, too...sunny, breezy. After I finished my lunch, I took out a book and read for a bit, but ended up putting down my book and just watching the view for about an hour. I can't remember the last time I've taken the time to just do -nothing-. Remarkably de-stressing.

To Annie: thanks for the blathercomment. :-)

kananaskis spa

This afternoon, Jeff and I rented bikes and rode some trails. It was rougher than either of us expected, but the scenery was stunning...it was VERY difficult for me to keep my eyes on the path in front of me (which was pretty rocky and strewn with tree roots in places). Midway through our ride, we stopped for lunch
by a glacial stream at the foot of a mountain. Hid our bikes in some brush and then waded across the stream (and WOW was it COLD!!!) with shoes and lunches in hand to our chosen picnic spot on a rocky point.

Last night I decided to splurge and get my first professional massage. I went for the whole package, an Herbal Body Wrap/Alphamassage. I showed up for my appointment a bit nervous, not sure what to expect. The woman behind the counter was very friendly, and the comfortable waiting room sprinkled with holistic magazines and books on aromatherapy. I was told to go into a small room, take off my clothes and put on a towel.

A soft-spoken blonde woman named Katie knocked and came in after a few minutes and opened up a long pod thingy which strongly resembled the torpedo pod that Spock was buried in, except that it was white and had a hole at the top for one's head. Then Katie took a soft bristle brush and brushed me all over with it ("helps with exfoliation"), asked me to lie down in the padded tube. Then I was wrapped in damp towels that had been steeped in a hot herb infusion, and a sheet of thin plastic wrapped around that. The wrapping was loose enough to allow me to move around a bit inside, but not much. Not recommended for claustrophobics! Katie moved my hair away from my face with a terrycloth headband, then painted my face with warm lavender-scented mud. VERY weird feeling, that, someone painting your face. She put a pad over my eyes, headphones over my ears, plugged in relaxing nature sounds, waves washing up on shore, birds calling in the distance, that sort of thing. Then she pushed some button and the mattress below me started vibrating. I baked for about 45 minutes (I had to scratch my nose once and got lavender mud on the sheets), with Katie checking on me every 10 minutes or so, until I finally emerged, wobbly and exfoliated, to be led to the massage room where Katie worked on me for one glorious hour. :-) By the time was all over, I had only enough energy to stagger to bed.