Upon Nine Years of Writing

The end of February marks my nine-year writing anniversary.

To put that in perspective, that roughly equates to: one degree in creative writing; twelve conferences under my belt; at least three dozen workshops; 244 blog posts; a library's worth of books read; 567 pages written (not counting revisions); more rejections than I care to compile; four full cheesecakes eaten solo; and 0 books published.  That's "0" as in none; zippo; zilch; and a big fat goose egg.

Part of me says, "%#&$!"  The other part says, "WOO-HOOO!" 

If you're a writer or illustrator, you'll understand that such a milestone comes with a tidal wave of conflicting feelings: amazement; disappointment; determination; embarrassment; humility; horror; and a strange sense of pride.

If you're not a writer or illustrator, you probably think I should be committed to a mental institution. 

All joking aside, I'm actually feeling pretty good at this point in my writing/illustrating career.  Sometimes I can't believe that I'm still following this path after nine years of hard work with no end in sight.  Then the other part of me remembers everything I've learned, all the awesome places I've been, the progress I've made, and the best friends I've met along the way.

And those thoughts keep me moving forward.

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea if I'll be published someday, but I'm not ready to give up yet.  I write this post not for pity or reassurance or kudos.  Rather, consider this my personal "State of the Union" address.  Here's where I am.  That's that. 

And if you're a fellow "pre-published" writer or illustrator, consider this my encouragement for you to keep moving forward, too.

So let me go back to that first equation: one degree in creative writing; twelve conferences under my belt; at least three dozen workshops; 244 blog posts; a library's worth of books read; 567 pages written (not counting revisions); more rejections than I care to compile; four full cheesecakes eaten solo; and 0 books published YET.

If I'm still doing this in nine more years, then you can commit me to a mental institution.

Now come on Ellis, Tentacles, and all the other characters living in my head: Let's keep moving forward!

      

COSCBWI Meeting (Sort of) February 2016

Excuse the wacky title of this blog post.  COSCBWI did not originally have a meeting scheduled for February due to our workshop with young adult author Emery Lord.  (Which was quite an awesome event!)  However, while the January meet-and-greet was loads of fun, we didn't have many illustrators in attendance.  And thus yours truly--the current COSCBWI Illustrator Coordinator--decided we ought to hold a second meet-and-greet in February geared towards our artists-in-hiding.  It was a bit impromptu but a GREAT time, and it was so wonderful to see our illustrators flock together!  :)

Similar to the January meeting, the first item on the agenda for the illustrator meet-and-greet was an overview of the organization.  Because it can't hurt to have the COSCBWI contact info in multiple places, I'll repeat it again:

Email: ohiocensouth@scbwi.org
Website: http://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org/
Twitter: @CSOhioSCBWI
Facebook: Central Southern Ohio SCBWI
Listserv: coscbwi@yahoogroups.com

In addition, we talked about some parts of the National SCBWI website that are of specific use to illustrators, including how to submit art to the SCBWI Bulletin publication (http://www.scbwi.org/art-spot/) and how to submit art to the monthly "Draw This" challenge (http://www.scbwi.org/calling-all-illustrators-2/).  If you're an illustrator, be sure to poke around the National SCBWI website a bit; SCBWI offers plenty of content and opportunities for their artist members.

After the nuts and bolts, we talked about some upcoming events including...

Saturday, March 5th:
Half-day workshop with associate agent Victoria Selvaggio called "Agent 101: An Inside View of Acquiring Clients."  (There's still time to sign up at https://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org/events/agent-101-an-inside-view-of-acquiring-clients/!)

May TBD:
"Photoshop 101" workshop with me, Kathryn Powers.  I'll be going over the basics of Photoshop, including tips on how to make your traditional art shine for a digital submission.  The final date will depend on the Upper Arlington Library's availability, but we will post the info online as soon as it's available.  

After discussing events, we talked about some projects we have planned for our illustrator members this year including...

Ohioana Book Festival Bookmark Project:
This is the second year COSCBWI is sponsoring a bookmark craft for the children's room at the festival.  Our illustrators had a lot of fun making the designs last year, and the kids LOVED coloring them, so we're excited to help with this event again!  Please visit https://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org/2016-ohioana-book-festival-bookmark-project/ to download the full instructions and bookmark template.  The due date is April 1, so don't delay!

Facebook Banner:
COSCBWI decided our Facebook page could use a bit of sprucing up.  As an ongoing project, our member artists are invited to create seasonal banner illustrations.  The first spots were snatched up by members at the meeting, but don't worry--each season will come around again!  If you're interested in creating a banner for a future season, just email me (Kathryn Powers) at ohiocensouth@scbwi.org.

Notecard Contest:
Our 2015 Notecard Contest was such a success that we've decided to host it again in 2016!  Be on the lookout for this year's theme and instructions sometime in late spring/early summer.

And then after ALL THAT, we talked shop and did some informal critiquing.  Boy, was it a busy night!

A big thank you to everyone who attended the illustrator meet-and-greet!  And if you couldn't come, I hope to see you at meeting or workshop soon!