Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted
~ Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963
You can say anything you want, yessir, but it's the words that sing, they soar and descend...I bow to them...I love them, I cling to them, I run them down, I bite into them, I melt them down...I love words so much...The unexpected ones...The ones I wait for greedily or stalk until, suddenly they drop...
~Pablo Neruda
I hope some animal never bores a hole in my head and lays its eggs in my brain, because later you might think you're having a good idea but it's just eggs hatching
My introduction to writing and illustrating children's books was Uri Shulevitz's guide, Writing With Pictures--I still have it on my bookshelf--and the thought of attending an SCBWI conference terrified me. I came away from my first conference overstimulated and overwhelmed, but also energized and inspired. Through the years, I've learned that there is no better way to meet other author and illustrators, develop your writing and illustrating, and learn from the best in the industry.
So if you happen to be in Hawaii this March, join us for our 2016 SCBWI Hawaii Conference:
Smooth Sailing in the Sea of Children’s Book Publishing
March 18 – 19, William S. Richardson Law School, University of Hawaii at Manoa
with
DAN SANTAT, Author-Illustrator, 2015 Caldecott Medal Recipient
SUZIE TOWNSEND, Agent
NAOMI LONG EAGLESON, Editor
KIRSTEN CARLSON, Local Author-Illustrator
Featuring workshops and breakout sessions for authors and illustrators, First Pages/First Look Critique Panel, industry tips and more.
If you would like to attend Dan Santat's Friday workshop, Art School in One Day, contact hawaii@scbwi.org.
FACULTY BIOS:
DAN SANTAT, Author-Illustrator, 2015 Caldecott Medal Recipient
Dan has been a proud member of the SCBWI since 2001. He has since published over fifty books for children, which include the Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot series by Dav Pilkey, Oh No! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World) by Mac Barnett which won the Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators, and the New York Times best-selling book, Because I'm Your Dad by Ahmet Zappa. Dan has also the author of the graphic novel, Sidekicks, which has won numerous state book awards, and is the current recipient of the 2015 Randolph Caldecott Medal for his book, The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. He is also the creator of the Disney animated series, The Replacements. Visit him at www.dantat.com.
SUZIE TOWNSEND, Director of Literary Services & Literary Agent, New Leaf Literary & Media
Suzie represents all brands of children's and adult fiction. She is
actively looking to build her list. In adult, she's specifically looking
for new adult, romance (all subgenres), fantasy (urban fantasy, science
fiction, steampunk, epic fantasy) and crime fiction (mysteries,
thrillers). In Childrens' she loves YA (all subgenres) and is dying to
find great Middle Grade projects. Suzie loves strong characters and
voice driven stories that break out of the typical tropes of their
genres. For more info on her clients and projects: http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/sztownsend81/. Follow her on twitter (https://twitter.com/sztownsend81).
NAOMI LONG EAGLESON, Editor
Naomi Long Eagleson is the founder of The Artful Editor, a book editing
company based in Los Angeles. She helps writers improve and polish
their manuscripts for publication. She has an MFA from the Iowa Writers'
Workshop and has worked as an assistant editor at Manoa Journal and
as a manuscript reviewer at Mutual Publishing. She has edited over a
hundred books, including children’s books and young adult fiction. www.artfuleditor.com
KIRSTEN CARLSON, Author-Illustrator
Kirsten’s background in biology, scientific illustration and graphic
design lend themselves well to interpreting stories about nature for
children. In addition to picture books, her work as an
author/illustrator has also appeared in periodicals, including National Geographic and Phycologia. She
won the First Place Award for Realistic Portfolio at the 2003 and 2004
SCBWI Conferences. Kirsten is the Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI
Hawaii, and a past Regional Advisor for SCBWI Germany+Austria.www.kirstencarlson.net
Interested in writing and illustrating children's books? SCBWI Hawaii is presenting several events that might be of interest to authors, illustrators, educators and librarians:
THE ART OF CREATING CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Free art exhibit and panel discussion at the Hawaii State Library Adult Reading Room
FREE PANEL DISCUSSION: SAT., FEBRUARY 27, 2-4 p.m. https://hawaii.scbwi.org/events/so-you-want-to-write-a-childrens-book-2/
Join us for a free discussion on getting started in writing and illustrating for children, and meet our panelists, authors and author-illustrators James Rumford, Scott Goto, Sue Cowing, Chris Caravalho and Vera Arita.
ART EXHIBIT: FEBRUARY 11 - MARCH 30 https://hawaii.scbwi.org/events/art-exhibit-the-art-of-creating-childrens-books/
What does it take to create a children's book? View the notes, rough sketches and final children's book artwork of SCBWI authors and illustrators. Featuring the work of Chris Caravalho, Kirsten Carlson, Sue Cowing, Scott Goto, Leslie Hayashi, Mariko Merritt, Elizabeth Oh, Esther Szegedy and Tammy Yee.
Join us for storytelling, crafts, book talks and book signing! Meet some of the authors and illustrators from the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) at Barnes & Noble, Ala Moana Center, on November 21, 2015, from 11:30 am-1:30pm. Booksigning from 1:30-2:30pm.
We work diligently at our craft, but what about the business side of
writing and illustrating? The Texas Chapter of SCBWI is hosting a
webinar this Tuesday, November 10 to help you structure your writing and
illustrating business, keep records, and understand sales tax and
deductions. The fee is only $10 for SCBWI members--one of the many reasons to renew your membership or join!
A revealing interview by author Ian McEwan (Atonement):
“I don't feel
confident at all. No I don't. Sometimes I pick up some work I finished
fifteen years ago and think, am I as good as that now? Could I do that
again? No, I think you'll find most writers are not confident they can
just turn out books...There's a great difference between that all that
public world of prizes and interviews and public readings and the
private world of the closed door, and the hiss of silence--and here we
are again, and what can you make come out of this of silence. And you
can't relax about it, you can't be certain that you can do it again."
So, fellow nerds, what's with this video circulating on Facebook and Youtube?
First of all, these are not spiders. They are harvestmen or daddy-longlegs. For those of you who remember the ol' mnemonic device for taxonomy, King Philip Can Order Fresh Green Salad (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species), these critters, like spiders, scorpions and ticks, are in the class Arachnida. However, harvestmen belong to their own order, Opiliones.
So what's the difference?
Harvestmen have a single cephalothorax and a single pair of eyes. True spiders have a narrow "waist" that creates two segments, the cephalothorax and abdomen.
Harvestmen have a single pair of eyes. True spiders most commonly have eight eyes, however they can have no eyes, or as many as 12 eyes.
Harvestmen are nonvenomous.
Harvestmen have no spinnerets, so they do not spin webs.
Harvestmen are older than spiders--the oldest fossil, from Scotland, is at least 400 million years old. True spiders are about 300 million years old.
Harvestmen are omnivores--they eat dead stuff, bird droppings, fungus and small arthropods and slugs.
Finally, the question every one is asking. WHY DO THEY DO THIS? They mass for defensive purposes, and to keep themselves warm. Harvestmen possess a pair of stinky glands called ozopores; when they mass, the combined smell can be quite disturbing. Swarming also makes them appear larger. When disturbed, the entire throng will sometimes bob and sway--a truly unsettling effect.
Video step-by-step directions for folding patterns from my new book, "Easy Butterfly Origami" featuring 30 bold full-color patterns designed to accurately portray the dorsal and ventral sides of some of the most beautiful butterflies from around the world!
Fun facts about behavior and distribution accompany each butterfly model!
From the vivid green Cairns Birdwing to the striped Tiger Swallowtail and the Blood Red Glider, these beautiful butterflies feature a kaleidoscopic array of colors and patterns. Includes simple instructions for folding, and perforated pages for easy removal.
Many butterflies have iridescent patterns on the top, and drab undersides for camouflage while they rest with their wings folded up. The origami patterns in this book are specially designed to highlight the diversity of species--when folded, the models accurately portray the variation in the insects' top and bottom views.
Each butterfly model is accompanied by fun facts about behavior and distribution. For example, did you know that the Mountain Alcon Blue butterfly tricks ants into feeding and protecting its caterpillars? Other caterpillars, like the Moth Butterfly, are carnivorous and feed on ant larvae and pupae.
The 68th Annual Friends of the Library Book Sale starts this weekend on Saturday, June 20, and Sunday, June 21 at McKinley High School! Authors and illustrators from SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) will be selling and signing their brand new children's books and art work in the blue tent in front of the the cafeteria. A portion of sales will be going to support Friends of the Library of Hawaii.
The FLH Book Sale is an island tradition that attracts over 20,000 readers of all ages and backgrounds and features bargains and a selection of titles to rival any bookstore. Stock up on your summer reading, or just stop by to say hello!
Saturday, May 16, 2015, 2:00-4:00pm
So You Want To Write A Children's Book?
At the Hawaii State Library, 478 S King St, Honolulu, HI 96813
Are you working on a picture book, an early chapter book fiction,
middle grade fiction, young adult fiction, poetry or non-fiction? Join
us for a free discussion for beginners on what you should know about
writing and illustrating for children. Hear how voice, language and
content are affected by stages of childhood development and learn about
various categories of children's books, so you can develop a sense of who your target audience.
Presented by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
(SCBWI), featuring Leslie Hayashi, Sue Cowing, Kirsten Carlson, Nancy
Reynolds and Tammy Yee.
SCBWI-HAWAII (Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators)
2015 ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN HONOLULU, HAWAII
MARCH 6-7
This year's annual craft workshop
and conference will feature three special guests: authors Susan
Fletcher and Sarah Ellis, and Associate Editor Kat Brzozowski. The
optional craft workshop, led by Susan and Sarah, will help you hone your
skills in plotting. The full-day conference will feature breakout
sessions by Susan, Sarah and Kat, first-page critiques, optional
manuscript and portfolio critiques by professionals, and ample
networking opportunities. Space is limited, so sign up now!
Date/Time
Date(s) - 01/10/2015 9:00 am - 2:00 pm Location Aina Haina Public Library
5246 Kalanianaole Hwy - Honolulu, Hawaii 96821
Tuition Non-Members $50; SCBWI Members $25 CONTACT hawaii@scbwi.org FOR INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION Advance registration required.
Limited Seating.
Interested in writing nonfiction or historical fiction for children and young adults? Tracy Barrett, an award-winning author of numerous books and magazine articles for young readers, will be holding a writer's workshop on January 10, 2015 at the Aina Haina Public Library. The workshop will be a combination of lecture/presentation and participant involvement.
Tracy holds a Bachelor's Degree with honors in Classics-Archaeology
from Brown University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval Italian
Literature from the University of California, Berkeley. She taught at
Vanderbilt University for twenty-eight years. Her scholarly interests in
the ancient and medieval worlds overlap in her fiction and nonfiction
works.
A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to study
medieval women writers led to the writing of her award-winning young-adult
novel, Anna of Byzantium(Delacorte). Her most recent publications are
Dark of the Moon (Harcourt) a YA retelling of the myth of the minotaur,
King of Ithaka, a YA novel based on Homer's Odyssey; the popular
middle-grade series The Sherlock Files (both Henry Holt) and The
Stepsister’s Tale (Harlequin Teen, 2014) which received starred reviews
from both Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus and was a PW Book of the Week.
Mahalo to the keiki at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Pearl City! It was fun sharing my books and art with eager students. And special thanks to all the aspiring artists who drew pictures from my books!
Lee & Low's New Voices Award writing contest is now open for submissions! The deadline is September 30, 2014, so get those manuscripts in ASAP. The New Voices Award is one way to help new authors of color break into publishing.
Tammy Yee is the author/illustrator of more than 24 children's books set in the Hawaiian Islands. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to interview Tammy about her projects and what she enjoys most about being an author and illustrator. You can read more about Tammy and her many projects at tammyyee.com.
You've written and illustrated a number of books. Do you have a preference for either writing or illustrating?
I love both writing and illustrating. I tend to be very visual as I create--a book develops like a movie or a storyboard in my mind, with different parts of my brain toggling on and off. As a writer, I begin with a blank canvas that I must fill with interesting characters and a fresh, compelling story. As an illustrator, I'm given a story and I must create a visual world that doesn't merely interpret, but adds to that story. Because writing is more intellectually and creatively challenging, it can be tempestuous. Because illustrating (32 pages of art) is more physically challenging, it can be arduous. Both are just as gratifying.
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DAN SANTAT, Author-Illustrator, 2015 Caldecott Medal Recipient
SUZIE TOWNSEND, Director of Literary Services & Literary Agent, New Leaf Literary & Media
NAOMI LONG EAGLESON, Editor
KIRSTEN CARLSON, Author-Illustrator
