Springmingle | Cathy C. Hall Writes

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With pal and agent, Sally Apokedak at SM’17

Remember when I said I’d tell you all about Springmingle’17? And then really, I just told you about Patricia MacLachlan and Jacquelyn Mitchard and Cathy-on-a-Stick?

Well, today I’m going to deliver on that promise and tell you about the doings at the conference. Except I’m afraid I’m still going to direct you to another spot to get all–well, some; okay, just a few–of the details.

See, writer friend Sherri Rivers who’s over at GROG, a group blog made up of a lot of kidlit writers, asked if I’d share about the conference and of course I said sure. And then she asked a lot of questions about the conference and at that point, I ran into a bit of a sticky wicket. Because a. I am the worst at taking notes at conferences; I always assume I’ll remember stuff–and lots of times I do. But b. this was not one of those times.

This was the time I attended a conference with a very bad, no good, horrible cold. And so I was there, but perhaps I was not all there, if you know what I mean. Even so, I remembered the keynotes and honestly, despite my very bad, no good, horrible cold, this was one of my most favorite Springmingles! Because even with a very bad, no good, horrible cold, I came away buzzing with eagerness to write, and maybe even a little joy blossoming in my soul again.

So I hope you’ll zip over to GROG–it’s an excellent blog with tons of great writing information so join in that fun!–and read “Flying High with SCBWI Southern Breeze.”

And now that the very bad, no good, horrible cold is gone, I have some writing to do. Hope this spring is busting out with all kinds of words for you, too!

I love Two Things Tuesday–they always remind me of the Doublemint commercials: A double pleasure’s waiting for you!

So Thing One, the SCBWI Southern Breeze conference, coming March 13th-15th in Decatur, Georgia. It’s our Springmingle event and we always have a great time, with a great slate of kidlit professionals. Take a look at the brochure to see the wonderful folks who’ll be presenting and speaking this year. (There’s still time to register!) And new this year is a portfolio reception, book launch and book signing on Friday evening.

We’ve always had all of these events, actually, but we’re doing things a little differently this time around. We’ve invited industry professionals, like librarians and book sellers, reading teachers and literacy advocates to attend the Friday evening activities. It’ll be a fun opportunity to get to know our Southern Breeze authors, both the new ones who’re launching books, and the…er, ones who’ve been around for a while. If you’re attending Springmingle, you’re invited, too. And if you’re one of those kidlit professionals in my neighborhood, and want an invite, please let me know!

But if you’re not in my neighborhood, then I hope you’ll take a look at Thing Two, our Southern Breeze blog. And not just because yours truly happens to be plastered up there, with a post about schmoozes and how you can orchestrate a great workshop event like that in your region. There’s other interesting stuff on the blog, too.

But yeah. Mostly because of the schmooze thing. (And now I’m sending the Beneficent Mr. Hall out for gum. Dang if I’m not craving Doublemint now!)