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Cathy C. Hallhttps://cathychall.wordpress.com/I write, write, write. Then I rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. THEN I submit all those polished-up words out into the world and sell 'em. It's a plan that's worked pretty well.

Mingling and Moving Forward

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So I had a lovely time at Springmingle, the Southern Breeze’s SCBWI conference this past weekend in Atlanta. It’s all over, as they say, but the transcribing of the notes.

Er…I did take notes. When I’m listening to presentations on writing fine dialogue or how to punch up a plot or what makes a thriller, I scribble furiously. But when I’m listening to a speech that’s inspiring and thoughtful and just fills my soul with all those writerly words I need to hear, the notes sort of drift off into a word or two. Oopsies.

So I’m sorry that I can’t share Kirby Larson’s points from her wonderful keynote speech. But I can direct you to her blog where she lists all the books she mentioned (that was lucky, huh?) and you can follow her posts to get a little inspiration and/or information. (By the way, is it only in the South where mac ‘n cheese is a vegetable? I mean, if you go through the cafeteria line, where else are they going to put mac ‘n cheese???)

Anyway, I picked up her latest book, The Friendship Doll, and of course, Cathy-on-a-Stick had to get in the picture with ’em. (I think my pic was a little miffed that the pics on the book were all wearing delightful outfits while Cathy-on-a-stick was a tad under-dressed for the occasion.)

And I did remember the last poem that Kirby read called “God Says Yes to Me” by Kaylin Haught. I love the last lines…

what I’m telling you is
Yes Yes Yes

Yep, I’ll keep going to conferences (and probably forget to take notes). But that’s okay. I’m listening and learning,  writing and growing. And someday, I’ll get my Yes.

Friday’s Fun Find: CONFERENCE TIME!

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I LOVE writer’s conferences! And I especially love Springmingle, which happens to be my own region’s (Southern Breeze) SCBWI conference that’s held every February. I love to catch up with writer friends I hardly ever get to see, and I love hearing the First Page critiques, and I love meeting agents and editors and famous authors. I even love those nerve-wracking formal critiques.

And so I’m off to mingle this fine almost spring day. But first a little oldie-but-goodie tip from Arthur A. Levine, Vice-President of Scholastic Books. (And P.S. If you’re a conference lover, too, you’ll want to check out The Official SCBWI Conference Blog. I think that title pretty much says it all.)