Field Trip: NESCBWI Spring Conference, Fitchburg MA

This past weekend, I attended my very first New England SCBWI conference, (you know, that thing I've been talking about for a bit...), and it. was. AWESOME.

Three days in Fitchburg, MA, chock full of stuff. Books and writing and art stuff! And I made a bunch of new friends while having fun hanging out with my RISD pals- what could be better than that? There was a Poster Showcase & Contest (where half of the winners were from our own RISD group!), awesome Keynote Speakers like Jane Yolen, Tomie dePaola (and more), a viewing of the documentary "Library of the Early Mind," , book signings, and even a fun Cabaret show!

And of course, some amazing workshops run by some amazing people. These are the ones I was lucky enough to attend (and funnily enough, this person attended all the same workshops, with the exception of one! I wonder if we met?):

• "Earn Your Poetic License!" by Leslie Bulion 
• "The Search for Singular Style,"  a panel of illustrators that talked about where one's style comes from, by Robert Squier, Susan Savory, Teri Weidner and Andy J. Smith.
• "Picture Book or Magazine Story?" by Harold Underdown, a great lecture on defining you story and where it belongs in the printed world.
• "12 3/4 Ways to Tickle Young Readers' Funny Bones," by Donna Gephart, a very fun workshop on humor.
• "Turning Millstones into Milestones," by Nora Baskin, Elise Broach and Tony Abbot, a panel about the business of the book world.

To top it all off, the most exciting thing for me all weekend was my fifteen minute critique session with Harold Underdown. He gave me plenty of helpful advice and ideas of ways to improve my manuscript (Project #1), and I'm really looking forward to making some significant (but much needed) changes to it. I know it will be much better once I do, and I'm happy to do it! One step closer to publication! I can almost taste it!

I was so busy that I didn't have a chance to take pictures...well, except for this one on the first day:

Other than having a lack of photographs, my only regret is that I didn't participate in the Poster Showcase... but since I this was my first time I really wanted to just absorb and learn, and see what it was all about first. So next year, I WILL do a poster.

And I can't wait!