SCBWI Summer Conference

I only returned from Los Angeles early Sunday morning, and my experiences from the above conference are still in the absorbing stage. So much food for thought, so much inspiration, which all adds up to a kind of time for reassessing my writing and where I want it to go.

Conferences! First of all I'd like to share one of the last pieces of information I gleaned from a workshop. This was given by Jennifer Bosworth who began by asking how many of us in the room were introverts and how many extroverts. Apparently the latter receive energy from other people while the former lose (or give out) energy. So now I know. I'm an introvert.

I'm telling you this because it impacts my conference experience, as did the fact I wasn't staying in the hotel. It means I didn't spend time at the bar, for e.g, even though I know that's a good way to network and get to know people.

However. I had a really great time. So much of this had to do with a realization of how important children's literature is. It brought back to me all that reading had meant to me as a child and teenager, how the humour in Richmal Compton's William books saw me through dark days of homesickness and depression when I was a ballet student in London; how other worlds opened up to me through Enid Blyton, L.M. Montgomery and so many, many more.

Yes, I met people. The wonderful thing is: connection is instantaneous because you know you have something in common. I attended as much as I could and realized again: you can learn something from every speaker, every workshop, every panel... yes, even the ones on illustration, even though that's not my bag.

Now I'm thinking: time to start saving so I can get to go next year. Here's hoping!