COSCBWI Meeting May 2015

This month's Central and Southern Ohio SCBWI meeting featured a special visit from YA author Susan Bradley.  Susan was the former Regional Advisor for our chapter, and it's always such a treat when she comes to speak at a meeting!  She stepped down from the position in order to pursue her Master of Fine Arts in Writing.  Now that she's graduated from her program, we jumped at the chance to have her come in and discuss her MFA experience.

Making the decision to go back to school is no easy task.  It's a decision that affects your time, family, and wallet.  For Susan, a Part-Time Program worked best for her busy lifestyle, but there are Full-Time and Online-Only school options as well.  With a Part-Time Program, students can still work as much as they need to while getting their degree.  The low-residency component--usually five, seven, or ten days twice a year--allows students to get important face-to-face interactions with instructors and peers, but doesn't keep them away from their families and day-jobs for too long. 

Susan explained that a Master of Fine Arts is a terminal degree, so there is no higher degree than the one you obtain at the end of your program.  There are many jobs one can pursue with a Master of Fine Arts in Writing including teaching at the college level, editing, business/technical writing, creative writing, and agenting.  A new career isn't the only reason to go back to school, though.  MFA programs allow students to make contacts in the publishing world, create a writer's network, obtain mentoring, and improve their craft. 

Susan discussed that it's very important to know what you're getting into before jumping into a Master of Fine Arts program.  In addition to lots and lots (and lots) of reading, Susan was also required to critique her classmates' work, complete many writing assignments, teach a class, participate in online forums and panels, attend residencies, and write and defend her thesis.  MFA programs require a big time and energy commitment.  If you're thinking of going back to school, she recommended you involve your family in the decision making process--especially if you plan on keeping your day-job--and make sure they are 100% supportive.

With all the options that are available, how do you choose the program that's best for you?  Susan brought up a lot of great questions that every potential student should consider including:

-What is the format?  (Full-Time, Part-Time, or Online?)
-Is the program accredited?
-What type of writing does the program focus on, and does it match your own career goals?
-What are the credentials of the instructors?
-What is the reputation of the program?
-What is the cost?  Does it fit your budget, or is financial aid available?
-Are students going on to get published once they graduate?  (There should be an online publication list.)

She also gave us a list of institutions with renowned MFA programs including:

-Iowa Writer's Workshop at the University of Iowa
-Vermont College of Fine Arts
-Antioch University-Los Angeles
-Ohio State University
-Seton Hill University
-Hamline University
-Full Sail Online

Susan chose Seton Hill to pursue her Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction.  The Part-Time format fit her whirlwind, single-mom lifestyle, she was impressed by the school's reputation and faculty, and the program focused on her desired genre of writing.  She said she couldn't be happier with her experience, from the classes she took to the close friends she made.  (And with two published books now under her belt--Unraveled and Uncovered--her story is clearly one of success!)  Susan ended the meeting by encouraging us all to consider pursuing continuing education, and to never EVER give up on our publishing dreams!

If you want to learn more about Susan and her books, be sure to check out her website at www.sxbradley.com.  A big thank you to Susan for coming in and telling us all about her MFA experience!

You can find out more about Central and Southern Ohio SCBWI and upcoming events by visiting http://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org.  I hope to see you at the June meeting!  
  
Note: Photo is from Susan Bradley's website, www.sxbradley.com.

School Visit!

This past week, I got to make a special visit to my sister's third grade classroom.  She's a teacher in a nearby school district and always encourages her kids to be reading maniacs. 

Although I'm not published yet, I love taking this yearly opportunity to speak to a room full of kids.  I've always been the sort of person who runs away from the spotlight, so public speaking has never been my forte.  Fortunately, I'm starting to get used to twenty pairs of eyes staring straight at me as I ramble on aimlessly and try not to look like a dweeb while my sister snaps photos of me pointing at books.  (Oh darn, those pictures are all on her camera.  Guess I can't post them here!)

Third graders really are such a fun age group!  I brought a variety of books from the Ohioana Library to talk about Ohio authors and illustrators (all of whom they were familiar with--awesome work, teachers!) and we read First Dog.  The kids loved that it was written and illustrated by all Ohioans--J. Patrick Lewis, Beth Zappitello, and Tim Bowers--and that it featured a cute, fluffy dog.  (Maybe more kids would like math if it involved cuddly canines?)

After the story, I shared some of my own work and talked a little bit about how I'm trying to become published.  I showed them some art, talked about the revision process, and tried not to make more doofy faces as my sister continued snapping photos.  I also made a noble effort not to burst out laughing at the hilarious things the kids said.  (Me: Does anyone have any unusual pets at home?  Kid: We have lots of gnats in our house!)  

Then we did a bookmark craft together from the Ohioana Book Festival, and I explained how the drawings were done by aspiring SCBWI illustrators just like me.  They had an absolute blast coloring the bookmarks and drawing some of their own!  To help keep the kids quiet as they waited in line for me to tie ribbons on top, I had them each think of their favorite book.  The winning series by far were Diary of a Wimpy Kid for the boys and Puppy Place for the girls.  (Score another win for the cute, fluffy dogs!)  The kids were so creative and enthusiastic, and many even asked if they could make extra bookmarks to give to family members.  (D'awwwww!) 

 
The highlight of the day was when two little girls told me they want to be writers and illustrators when they grow up.  I very much hope their parents and teachers encourage them to follow that dream.  :)

The day ended with smiling faces, "Do you have to go already?" whining, and a few sticky-fingered hugs.  I can't wait to visit again next year!     

COSCBWI Meeting April 2015

This month's Central and Southern Ohio SCBWI meeting featured a special visit from J. Patrick Lewis.  The 2011-2013 Children's Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis is a prolific, award-winning children's writer with over eighty books under his belt.  Our chapter was thrilled that he was able to take time out of his busy schedule to spend an evening with us.

J. Patrick began the meeting by talking a bit about his history in publishing.  Prior to becoming a children's writer, he was an economics professor at Otterbein University.  His work was rejected for seven years, and he was strongly encouraged to give up.  The naysayers just made him want to try all the harder, though, so he kept at it, ultimately publishing his first book, The Tsar and the Amazing Cow, in 1988.  He loves speaking at schools and told us several stories of hilarious things kids have said to him over the years.  He even brings back a t-shirt from each school he visits and currently has 530 in his collection.

After his introduction, J. Patrick opened the floor for questions, and boy did our members pick his brain!  He offered great advice for writers hoping to publish children's poetry.  For reading suggestions, he recommended Robin Skelton's The Shapes of Our Singing and Louis Turco's The Book of Forms, as well as picking up a copy of Writer's Market or Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market for submission research.  He also emphasized that if you want to be a writer, you have to be a re-writer, so don't be afraid to rework and revise your precious words. 
 
Fielding questions about his own writing process, J. Patrick explained that his poems usually go through ten or twenty revisions.  While he doesn't have a critique group, he often seeks feedback from his twin brother.  If his brother says the poem is good, he feels comfortable sending it off.  But if his brother says it stinks (in that brutally-honest sibling way), he works on it some more.  When J. Patrick has a book idea, he starts with a theme and lets the words lead him from there.  He likes to write more poems than will ultimately be in the final book so the publishing house has a variety to choose from.  He explained that not all of his work gets published, and he still deals with rejection.  But perseverance and dedication are the keys to his success, so he reminded us all to never give up and write, write, WRITE! 

J. Patrick wrapped up the meeting by reading his poetry, which was a lovely, mesmerizing treat.

If you want to learn more about J. Patrick Lewis and his books, be sure to visit his website at www.jpatricklewis.com.

You can find out more about Central and Southern Ohio SCBWI and upcoming events by visiting http://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org.  I hope to see you at the May meeting!  

 Note: Photo taken by Linda Miller, used with permission.

And Busy Season is DONE!

I hate to admit it, but I have been ignoring this blog recently.  (Please don't hate me!)

I promise it was unintentional.  While I no longer work at an accounting firm, spring and autumn are still the two busiest seasons for me.  At my current job with the Ohioana Library, spring keeps me very (very) busy planning the annual "Ohioana Book Festival."  It's an awesome one-day event celebrating Ohio literature, and this year's festival was the biggest yet with over 100 authors, a new venue, and a ginormous kids' space. 

2015 festival poster art, painted by the talented Jeffrey Ebbeler.

Throw in an SCBWI illustration workshop right in the middle of this season, and let's just say the past few months have been a whirlwind.  (But blissfully free of non-stop tax return processing.  Huzzah!)

The festival just wrapped up this past weekend, and I'm happy to say it was a big success!  Now that my plate is less full, I'm excited to jump back into blogging again.  Things may be a little jumbled around here for a week or two while I do some catch-up posting from the last few months.  This site is also overdue for a bit of spiffing up, like fixing broken links and updating my portfolio page.  I promise things will be back in shipshape soon!

Thanks for bearing with me while I gave you all the silent treatment.  I hope everyone is having a lovely spring and enjoying those beautiful buds and blooms!  

COSCBWI Meeting March 2015

The March meeting for Central and Southern Ohio SCBWI involved one of my favorite activities: first page critiques.  Every writer knows how important it is to craft a winning first page for his or her manuscript.  The first page is a story's first impression with readers, so it's crucial to make that impression a great one.

For first  page critique meetings, members are invited to bring the first page of their middle grade or young adult manuscript, or the first 500 words of a picture book manuscript.  The work is shared with the group, and members give feedback on things they like about the text  as well as what could still use a bit of polish.

Here are a few tips and pointers the group discussed during this critique meeting:

1)  Don't be afraid to revise and, if necessary, even cut some of your text.  It's easy to get attached to every word of your manuscript, but sometimes it's important to focus on the entire forest instead of the individual trees.  Good critique buddies can help you hone in on what's important, and what can be trimmed.  You may love the way you describe every step of your main character's morning routine, but readers might not need to know that she brushed her teeth, combed her hair, put on clothes, walked downstairs, sat at the kitchen table, poured cereal, checked the expiration date on the milk carton, and so on and so forth.  (Unless it's a cautionary tale about the dangers of drinking expired milk.)  Rewriting--and even deleting--those precious words can be so hard to do, but it's worth the heartache if it makes your story shine.  (Just remember to keep some chocolate bars at your desk to help you through the toughest revisions!)        

2)  It's never too early to practice proper formatting.  You may like to type your manuscript drafts with a fun font and specialized spacing, but you should make it a habit to present your manuscript in standard formatting with double spacing, one-inch margins, and 12 point font in a generally accepted typeset like Times New Roman.  (SCBWI members can find great resources regarding formatting guidelines on the national website at www.scbwi.org.)  You may be surprised how your text falls once you put it in standard formatting--like cutting off in the middle of your favorite paragraph!  Practicing proper formatting early on can help you avoid any unexpected hiccups when it's time to submit your work to professionals.     

3)  Don't info dump!  Most writers have heard this rule of thumb over and over again, but it can't be repeated enough.  You may be inclined to cram every bit of back-story and detail into your first page to ground your reader in your story, but that can end up being intimidating.  (And you don't want to scare your reader off--or bore them, or confuse them!)  Sprinkle in any necessary details to help pique your reader's interest (like if your narrator is a teenage boy or a talking squirrel from the planet Nutonia), and remember that you have a whole novel to explain everything else.  

COSCBWI usually does at least one first page critique meeting a year, so I have four other summaries of past meetings you can check out, too!  (You can find them here, here, here, and here.  Boy have I been doing these meeting summaries for a long time!)  Our discussions are different during each critique meeting, so you may find some other handy tips from these prior years.

 If you'd like to learn more about Central and Southern Ohio SCBWI and upcoming events, check out http://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org/.  I hope to see you at the April meeting!

COSCBWI Meeting February 2015

 

February's Central and Southern Ohio SCBWI meeting featured YA author Natalie Richards.  I was so disappointed that the meeting fell during my vacation, so I wasn't able to attend.  Fortunately, Assistant Regional Advisor, Andrea Hall, was kind enough to step in and do a guest post meeting summary!

Andrea Hall:
We had an amazing visit from Natalie Richards at the February meeting!  Natalie’s presentation was titled ‘Pieces of the Publishing Pie’ and it was entertaining as well as informative.

Natalie started off the presentation by reminding us to be serious about our writing.  Read a lot.  Write a lot.  Give yourself deadlines.  No one else is going to write the book for you.  Joining a critique group is a good idea.  Your critique partners can help you find your writing strengths/weaknesses.  Knowing these are critical.  Playing up your strengths in each manuscript can help make it better, and realizing your writing weaknesses can help you improve them or find a way to use them less in your writing (such as description: if it isn’t your strength, maybe don’t try writing a historical piece).
 
It was Natalie’s third manuscript that landed her a literary agent.  It was still rejected by publishers. Many times.  Natalie’s fourth manuscript was the one that finally sold.  Why did that story (Six Months Later) sell?  Natalie believes it was because she found a story that fit her skills and writing strengths.  She needed something quick paced with a twisty plot to keep readers turning the page.

Once her debut book came out, her job wasn’t over.  Numerous book promotions were set up to help market the novel as well as school-visits.  Natalie thought when all the copies of her book sold, that was it.  No one told her it had gone back to be reprinted!  Meeting other authors and making connections helped her navigate the world of a debut release.

So what challenges did she face with her 2^nd novel, Gone Too Far?  Natalie felt more pressure to deliver.  She felt a new set of responsibility to the readers who fell in love with her debut.  There were also tighter publishing deadlines, a whole new slew of rejections, and another level of fear for how the book would be received.

Natalie's parting words of advice are to be prepared to pitch your story anywhere, be willing to revise everything, be willing to work hard, and don’t quit!

To learn more Natalie and her books, be sure to visit her website at  http://www.nataliedrichards.com/.

A big thanks to Andrea for her guest post!  You can follow her on Twitter at @andreadawnhall.   

If you'd like to learn more about Central and Southern Ohio SCBWI and upcoming events, check out http://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org/.  I hope to see you at the March meeting!

Note: Cover image is from Natalie's website at http://www.nataliedrichards.com/.

Fun in the Sun

Oh where, oh where, has Kathryn been?

For one glorious week, I was lucky enough to get away from this wretchedness...

And relax in this awesomeness!

I also discovered how fun it is to take panoramic photos!

"This awesomeness" refers to Sint Maarten/Saint Martin/St. Maarten and every spelling variation thereof.  (Even after spending a week on the island, we still don't know how to "officially" spell its name!)  The trip was a special celebration for my father-in-law's 60th birthday. 

Don't worry--we still dealt with plenty of nasty winter on the way there and back.  In fact, we had a nice overnight detour in Charlotte, NC, after our flights got utterly screwed up. 

30+ hours of travel and still (sorta) smiling.

But at least we got to stay in a hotel, unlike those poor travelers who had to sleep on airport cots.

Ewwwwwww.

Once we finally got to our destination, the week was an absolute blast!  We swam, we sunbathed, we napped, and we drank about a dozen cans of Fanta Pineapple soda.

I didn't even know this deliciousness existed!

When we weren't guzzling down 49 grams of sugar in one sitting, we did some activities around the island including snorkeling and ATV riding.  I've never snorkeled before, and I was pretty lousy at it.  But we saw some really cool stuff, like wild sea turtles and ginormous urchins!  (Hubby wouldn't let me take my camera on the boat, so no pics.  He swore my sunscreen-slick fingers would send it straight to the bottom of the ocean.  Psh.)  The ATV'ing was a lot of fun, too, and the tour took us around both the French and Dutch sides of the island. 

This beautiful beach was a highlight of the ATV tour, where tourists watch airplanes land on the island while sitting alarmingly close to this sign:

Yikes!

We also did a sunset dinner cruise, which was both lovely and tasty!

 
Although I usually enjoy drawing in the sand during my beach trips (like my last trip to Hilton Head), the waves quickly washed away everything I doodled in St. Maarten.  But I still had lots of fun sketching in our pool alcove-gazebo-deck-thingy, as well as in the cute little nook in our bedroom.

My favorite sketch of the week was a pelican doodle that I threw a splash of color on when we got home.

Of course, the week was over all too soon.  Our trip ended with more fun winter travel and an encounter with a disco ball camel at the St. Maarten airport.

Oh yeah, and we may or may not have seen Johnny Depp's yacht.

Our taxi driver said that it was, and I'm going to choose to believe him.  :)

Now that I've spent a week soaking up the heat like a lizard in the sun, I feel ready to face the rest of this never-ending winter.  (It has to end sometime, right?)  Although, I'd happily head back to the Caribbean--even if it meant another 30+ hours of travel!

Note: Weather map picture is a screen shot from www.weather.com.  The Fanta Pineapple picture is from www.amazon.com.  All other images were taken by me.