These are the lovely ladies in my critique group. Karen McDonald (author/illustrator), Sheila Jarkins (author/illustrator), and me. I'm lucky to have them.

SCBWI New Years Resolutions Conference

This past Saturday, I attended the SCBWI New Years Resolutions Conference in Syracuse, NY.

The morning began with a talk by author Carla McClafferty, a non-ficiton children's author from Arkansas. She offered advice on researching non-ficiton children's books. Her ideas were inspirational. I left feeling ready to tackle a non-fiction writing project.

Illustrators, Bob Dacey and Debra Bandelin spoke next. They were hillarious, talented, and down to earth. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them and I gained a great deal from their talk even though I'm not an illustrator.

Randi Rivers, an editor from Charlesbridge, spoke next. She was insightful and helpful about getting the most out of your submission. One thing I found very helpful was her list detailing of the elements of a fiction synopsis. Recently, I hunted for a good guide to writing a ficiton synopsis and I couldn't find one. I will use her list from now on.

Overall, this was one of the best conferences on writing for children I've attended. I plan to attend next year.