GEMS from #LA15SCBWI

From my notes, here are my craft & conference highlights:

"The reader will feel a certain emotion because the author felt it first" - author Mem Fox

On diversity: "Are your systems of magic Anglo?" -Author westdateseast

Rather than 'write what you know,' Author Meg Wolitzer says "Write what obsesses you."

Meg Wolitzer aims to write the books the younger version of her wanted to read. Me, too!

"Your time will come" -Author/Illustrator Dan Santat

"If you have a rich reading life, you'll have a rich writing life." -Agent Alexandra Penfold

"I think it's really exciting how teen nonfiction is growing" -Editor Daniel Harmon

"Creativity can only happen in a safe space." -Author/Illustrator Molly Idle

"Find your allies." -Author Varian Johnson

After walking us through what she asks students in school assemblies, Girls can you wear blue? Can you wear pink? Can you wear pants? Can you wear dresses? Can you have long hair? Can you have short hair? And how the answers to it all are yes, she says:
"Girls, can you do basically whatever you want? Yes. Boys, who told you that you can only do half the stuff?" -Author Shannon Hale

"Boys feel totally justified in mocking girls' stuff. What kind of culture have we set up?" -Shannon Hale

"There is no greater honor for a writer than to have readers." -Author Deborah Wiles

"You need to believe in your work, which actually means you need to believe in yourself." - Author/Illustrator Dan Yaccarino

"You want your plot to ask the right questions of your character." -Jordan Brown

"We gotta have teammates people... we are all on the same team." -Author Kwame Alexander

"Every book teaches us to write it, but not the next one." -Eudora Welty, as quoted by Paul Fleischman

"Your dream is something you should prioritize." -Author Martha Brockenbrough

and a handful of photo moments:

Standing in the faculty line, waiting to deliver our "word." Smiling for the camera are my friends Editor Emma Dryden, Art Director and Author/Illustrator Laurent Linn, and Author Terri Farley

And there's my word, "Empower!" in illustrator Melinda Beavers' conference journal

This moment in Shannon Hale's amazing Keynote on gender and reading where she showed images from the campaign launched by Jon Scieszka to show that Guys Read –  that Guys (can and do and should) Read – books with 'Princess' in the title!

The SCBWI Success Story panel I moderated on the main stage. I'm standing and the panelists are, left to right, Martha Brockenbrough, Mike Curato, Stacey Lee, Lori Nichols and Anna Shinoda

Caldecott-winning Author/Illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky's view of the Success Story panel

Illustrator Susan Eaddy's notes from the Success Story panel

Me with (left to right) my agent Danielle Smith, Author/Illustrator Russ Cox and Author Kelly Klose

Golden Kite Winner Kristy Dempsey takes a moment to shine with me at the Gala

Catching up with Linda Sue Park at the book signing

and of course, there was this moment.

What a conference!

I'm SCBWI's 2015 Member Of The Year!

I'll be honest. I wasn't listening.

Blogging the Golden Kite Luncheon is a lot of work, with one award being announced after another after another and keeping up with the live-blogging is very challenging. I was trying to prepare my next two posts, and since Jolie was in charge of blogging whoever won The Member of the Year Award (because she, herself, had been honored with it previously), as soon as Steve Mooser said, "The Member of the Year Award is given each year..." and started explaining what the award was for and what it meant, I tuned everything out.

But as I was typing away on my laptop, a thought occurred to me: What if I knew this person who was about to win? And I'd be there, totally not paying attention to their big moment. That would be really, really rude.

So I took my hands off the keyboard, looked up to the stage, and tuned back in on what Steve was saying.

The first words I heard were "was an R.A."

I thought that was unusual, since most often the award is given to active Regional Advisors.

Then Steve used the pronoun "he."

That narrowed the field down considerably, and I was sitting there doing the guessing game in my head, wondering who he could be talking about.

Then Steve said "L.G.B.T..."

Blood rushed in my ears.

It was me. He was talking about me.

me!

He was saying more stuff about blogging (for sure: me) and then my name:

"Lee Wind!"

Sound burst around me. I stood up and people were cheering. Applauding. Like a camera moving too fast everyone was blurred. I told myself don't faint. Don't you dare faint. And I focused on getting up on the stage.

I was hugging Lin, who patted me on the back and chuckled, "Ha, ha! We got you!" And then I was hugging Steve.

And then Lin gestured to the podium and told me I could say a few words.

My feet took the few steps over to the microphone. And I looked out at the 1,200 writers and illustrators and agents and art directors and editors and kid lit professionals in the room. There were people STANDING UP! Whoo-hooing. Clapping.

For me.

I starting talking, and I'm not 100% sure what I said.

I know I started out by telling everyone that Lin had just said "HA! We got you!" and I told the room that you sure did.

I said that SCBWI, that everyone there, is my tribe. I know I told the story of how in 2005 I attended just one afternoon of this very same summer conference. I came alone. I knew no one. I talked to no one. Except at one point toward the end of the day I mustered up my courage, and walked up to Lin who was just coming off the stage.

"You're really funny." I told her. And then I ran away.

I remember mentioning my first manuscript critique with Esther Hershenhorn for a picture book manuscript that was terrible, and how kind she was. I think I said once again that the community I've found here feels like home. Creative home.

I hope I said thank you.

And then, somehow, I got back to my seat.



Photographic evidence that it really happened:

photo by Justine @littlemisslocal

see, things really were blurry there for an instant

I feel recognized. And connected to my tribe. And honored. And so, so grateful.

Thank you!

#LA15SCBWI – My Top Ten Verbs For The Conference Ahead

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' 2015 Summer Conference is going to be an amazing event, bringing together over 1,000 of my fellow writers and illustrators and agents and editors and publishers and art directors of books for kids and teens. All of us passionate about telling great stories, and about the power of stories to make kids' lives, and our world, better.

I will be...

#1
MODERATING
On Friday, from 5:00 pm-6:00 pm, I'll be moderating the SCBWI Success Story panel, talking with Martha Brockenbrough, Mike Curato, Stacey Lee, Lori Nichols and Anna Shinoda about "Tips On How To Realize Your Dream." They're a brilliant and varied group, and I'm excited to learn from them! (This is a plenary panel in the main conference space, the California Ballroom.)

#2
HOSTING
Later that same evening, from 7:30 pm-9:00 pm, I'll be hosting the LGBTQ Q&A. I love this informal, sit-in-a-circle, share and talk about creating works with LGBTQ characters and themes with conference attendees and our wonderful faculty guests. This year we've confirmed the participation so far of bestselling author Ellen Hopkins, legendary editor Emma Dryden, art director (and debut YA author) Laurent Linn, and my own wonderful agent, Danielle Smith of Red Fox Literary. (This awesome event will be in the Westwood room.)

#3
CO-FACILITATING
On Monday morning, along with Jim Averbeck, I'll be co-facilitating the Intensive, "Your Plan For An Effective and Successful Blog: Audience. Content. Discoverability. Synergy." Jim and I have been having a lot of fun pulling this workshop together, and we're excited to get hands-on about blogging with the intensive participants!

#4
OOOOHING
Adam Rex! Dan Santat! Varian Johnson! Shannon Hale! Kwame Alexander! And those are just a few of the keynoters!!!

#5
AAAHING
The editors panel with Jordan Brown, Julie Strauss-Gabel, Allyn Johnston, Rotem Moscovich, Sara Sargent, Alison Weiss and Wendy Loggia! There's so much insight to be gained from getting to hear these editors in person!

#6
LISTENING
The "Diversity in Children's Books: Challenges and Solutions" panel with Joe Cepeda, Brandy Colbert, Varian Johnson, I.W. Gregorio, Nicola Yoon and Miranda Paul. This is such a "hot" topic right now, and I want to listen closely to see how I can be part of the solution to making books for kids and teens more diverse!

#7
LEARNING
From my fellow attendees to my fellow faculty members, I feel like everyone has something to offer. I'm going to stay open to the experience ahead, and know that it's often the unexpected moments of talking with someone that can be the most rewarding.

#8
SPARKLING
The theme of the Saturday night party is "Sparkle and Shine." I've got a plan (a secret plan...), which is happily both conceptually fun and not too hard to pull together. I hope.

#9
BELONGING
This is my tribe. My community. My colleagues. My friends. It's a great feeling, spending these days, being my authentic self in a community that values and honors me for being exactly me. It's is time that I truly relish.

#10
WRITING
Even when I'm super busy at a conference, I try to get up a half-hour earlier than I have to and squeeze in a few minutes a day of writing. Because writing reminds me that I am a writer. That I create worlds, and characters and stories. And there's power in that!


Oh, and I almost forgot... of course, I'll be BLOGGING!
#11
Once again I'll be leading the powerful SCBWI Team Blog (Martha Brockenbrough, Jaime Temairik, Jolie Stekly and Don Tate), live-blogging and tweeting from the conference floor. Follow along on social media with the hashtag #LA15SCBWI and at the Official SCBWI Conference blog here.

Let me know what your top verbs are for the conference ahead!
Lee

Picture Book Author and We Need Diverse Books Executive Vice President of Outreach Miranda Paul: The Pre-#LA15SCBWI Interview

Picture Book author Miranda Paul has blogged about the importance of Writing “Multicultural” literature and how “it’s extremely important for authors who are not of color to remain encouraging and supportive of the organizations who are consciously making an effort to address the call for diversity in children’s books” – both in terms of stories and the creators of those stories.

She’s walked the walk, involved in the 1 Million Books For Gambia project, in her role as Executive Vice President of Outreach for the newly formed nonprofit We Need Diverse Books, and in her own writing, whether it’s as co-author of digital app short stories like “Kumba Am and Kumba Amul: A Gambian Folk Tale” (co-adapted with Gambian folk-tale historian Cornelius Gomez) or her picture book “One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia” (Illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon.)

Miranda Paul, Picture Book Author and #LA15SCBWI Faculty Member

Miranda will be on faculty at the 2015 SCBWI Summer Conference, coming up on July 31-Aug 3, 2015 in Los Angeles. Here’s our interview:

Lee: You have two picture books out and four more that are forthcoming from publishers. What is it about picture books that you love?

Miranda: I love that picture books can be read on many levels. A picture book is an experience. Reading a picture book is seldom an individual endeavor—they are meant to be read visually, read out loud, and read in the company of friends or loved ones. I also consider picture books the gateway to a lifelong love of literature. It’s exciting to think that one of my books might inspire a child to love reading for the rest of her life.

Lee: You’ve got a ninja toddler bedtime book (the upcoming "10 Little Ninjas"), a science-inspired lifecycle of water book (The newly released "Water Is Water"),

a creative nonfiction biography (One Plastic Bag) – do you have an over-arching vision in your mind of how each story fits into the 30 years down the road bookshelf of Miranda Paul picture books, or does each story come in its own way?

Miranda: I strive to inspire, entertain, and broaden horizons. My overarching vision is that each story I write is more than a book. One Plastic Bag is a chronicle of an environmental movement and an action-sparker; Water is Water is a poem and celebration of water that serves as both a bedtime book and a solid classroom text; Whose Hands Are These? (forthcoming in January 2016) is a book and a game in one; and 10 Little Ninjas is both song and book. They’re all illustrated, mostly for the very young, and I strive to use language in fun and rich ways that will appeal to and engage kids—so there’s definitely common ground—but I don’t feel trapped into a single type of writing or topic.

Lee: What was it that initially drew you to Gambia, and kept you returning?

Miranda: I had a professor ask me if I wanted to start a program in the Gambia, and I accepted the challenge. I kept returning because after I got that program off the ground, there were other projects I wanted to be involved with. (But maybe those projects were just excuses so that I could go back and spend time with the wonderful friends I’d made year after year).

Lee: One Plastic Bag is the story of a women-led recycling initiative and the change for good it created, and it also reads as a sort of love letter to the country and people of the Gambia. Can you share with us the process of writing (and re-writing) you went through with the manuscript?

Miranda: At school visits, I share with students how the timeline of this book spans a 12-year period of my life. I received one of Isatou’s recycled purses in 2003 (while in the Gambia), but it took me nearly four years after that to get the chance to meet her. In 2007 and 2008 I did a lot of primary research, interviews, and took photographs in the village of Njau, Gambia. In 2010 I decided to write the story as a children’s picture book. Isatou came to the United States twice and I visited Gambia one additional time during the writing of the book, which took place from 2010-2012. I think I rewrote the manuscript about 30 times in all. I’ll never forget the night Isatou translated the final draft into Wolof and read it to the women of Njau. I’m so honored for their support in being the author to tell this story.

Lee: Your school visits sound like a major part of your career focus - what’s the best part of doing those?

Miranda: Ice cream, hugs, and the things they say. Kids are smart and inspiring and hopeful and creative. Seeing them excited about reading and writing is wonderful. I tend to get them all riled up with dancing and drumming and then send them back to their teachers—mwahahahaha! Other than working in pajamas, meeting kids is the best part of the job. (Fingers crossed for an author visit on pajama day!)

Lee: How long have you been part of SCBWI, and how do you feel it’s helped you on your career journey?

Miranda: I’m kind of an SCBWI poster child. Since I joined six years ago (credit goes to Harold Underdown’s Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books), SCBWI has had a hand in almost every step along my career. I found my critique group at a local SCBWI meeting. I received a year-long picture book mentorship with Lisa Moser through SCBWI. One Plastic Bag received its first editor attention through an SCBWI event submission, and I met my agent and second editor at my first SCBWI annual conference in Los Angeles. People of the world: Take advantage of what the SCBWI has to offer, people!

Lee: Your Friday morning breakout workshop is on “Creative Nonfiction Picture Books” – can you give us a sense of what you have in store for attendees?

Miranda: I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the intersectionality (is that a word?) of educational and trade markets, and how nonfiction for young ones can be presented in fresh and engaging ways. I’m going to introduce attendees to some of what I consider the best creative nonfiction picture book titles out there, as well as encourage them to examine their own ideas and manuscripts in terms of originality and versatility.

Lee: On Saturday afternoon you’ll be moderating the main room’s panel on “Diversity in Children’s Books: Challenges and Solutions” in front of over 1,000 writers and illustrators of works for children and teens. The panelists are: illustrator and President of the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, Joe Cepeda; author Brandy Colbert; author Varian Johnson; practicing surgeon and novelist I.W. Gregorio; and debut novelist Nicola Yoon. What are you hoping comes out of that discussion?

Miranda: I’m planning to focus on the theme of “representing responsibly.” Jacqueline Woodson recently commented at one of our WNDB BookCon panels (and I’m paraphrasing here, sorry) that she’d rather see no representation rather than inaccurate or stereotyped representation in literature. I think that’s a discussion we need to have—not necessarily who is allowed to write about whom, but how we accomplish the tasks of writing, illustrating, and editing authentic, human characters. We must make it a priority to explore and acknowledge our own biases, ignorance, and lenses. I’m also hoping to facilitate a discussion that includes a broad range of diversity, renews a sense of unity, and inspires continued action within all levels of publishing—because that’s what We Need Diverse Books is all about.

Lee: On Sunday you’ll be co-facilitating an afternoon breakout session with I.W. Gregorio and Nicola Yoon, “Research Tools: Writing Outside Your Diversity.” Can you give us an example of a one great tool we might not have considered?

Miranda: Writing can be a deeply personal act, so sometimes we need the tweaking—not just our manuscripts. I recommend that we honestly examine our own circles (or bubbles), habits and routines, and comfort zones. Reading and researching are important parts of the writing process, but who you are (or aren’t) will come through your writing. Living more diversely can incorporate travel, new foods, languages, events, activities, and friendships. Through these experiences we can discover some of what we “didn’t know we didn’t know” and ultimately be reminded to listen.

Lee: What’s your favorite writing advice that you’d like to share?

Miranda: Read. Shut off the Internet.

Thanks so much, Miranda!

To find out more about Miranda, visit her website.

And to learn more about We Need Diverse Books, check them out here.

To attend one of Miranda's breakout sessions and/or be there for the 2015 SCBWI Summer Conference main room Diversity panel, you'll have to join us in Los Angeles! Details and registration information here.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Best-Selling Author and Editor Jane O'Connor: The Pre-#LA15SCBWI Conference Interview

Best-Selling Author, Editor, and #LA15SCBWI Faculty Member Jane O'Connor

Jane O'Connor has worked at Scholastic, Random House and Penguin where she was president and publisher of mass market children’s books. She still works part time at Penguin Random House as vice president and editor at large. Jane has written more than eighty books for children including the best-selling Fancy Nancy books (HarperCollins), seven of which have hit Number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Disney Junior TV is slated to produce a half-hour animated series beginning in 2017. Jane has also written two books for grownups, Dangerous Admissions (Harper, 2007) and Almost True Confessions (Morrow, 2013).

Jane will be on faculty at the upcoming 2015 SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles, July 31-Aug 3, and I caught up with her to find out more...


Lee: What I find so fascinating about your journey so far is that you’ve worked with great success on both sides of the publishing equation – as an editor/publisher and as a best-selling author. What do you feel authors should know about publishing today?

Jane: Although it’s a tough, highly competitive marketplace where publishers are often slimming down their lists in order to give greater attention to every title, editors are hungrier than ever to find something new and wonderful. At Penguin, there have been books from new authors – I’m thinking of DORY FANTASMAGORY from Dutton right now – that are fresh and funny and finding a wide audience. It’s not just recognized name authors and illustrators who are breaking out.

Lee: You’ve written more than 80 books for children, including the hugely successful Fancy Nancy series (seven of the Fancy Nancy books have hit Number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list!) What do feel was the ‘special sauce’ that made Fancy Nancy take off in the way it has?

Jane: Oh mon Dieu (which in French loosely translates to ‘Yipes!’). I really don’t know what the special sauce was that made Fancy Nancy become a hit. I’ve certainly thought about it a lot and the best I can come up with is this: just as practically all little boys like to dress up in towel capes and pretend to have superpowers, I think a lot of little girls are born with a glitter gene. They dress up and follow their own over-the-top fashion instinct in order to be noticed and feel significant. Little girls recognize in Fancy Nancy a kindred spirit. On a less psychological, more practical level, I think my editor Margaret Anastas at HarperCollins was brilliant in choosing Robin Preiss Glasser as the artist. I feel as if it was a match made in heaven. Robin’s pictures are pretty AND funny, a rare combination, although I must admit that when I wrote the first Fancy Nancy story, long before I saw Robin’s initial character sketch, I was imagining a much quirkier style of art. Margaret understood that the books needed to look broadly mainstream and appeal to the child who shops at Target and calls it Tar-zhay. Oh, and one other thing has really resonated with parents and teachers – the fancy vocabulary. I saw it as a fun part of Nancy’s personality, that being fancy would encompass more than just dressing up. But it didn’t hit me that her love of five dollar words would be seen as instructive.

Lee: Fancy Nancy started as a picture book, then had picture book sequels, and has expanded to Chapter Books (and soon to be an animated series!) How did approaching Chapter Books differ for you than writing the picture books?

Jane: Fancy Nancy was actually the first picture book I ever wrote. My natural inclination is to write for an older audience – beginning readers and chapter books. In fact, the first book I ever wrote, way back in 1979, was a middle grade novel called Yours Til Niagara Falls, Abby. With Nancy, I hadn’t imagined writing chapter books until I started getting letters from girls – oh, probably about four or five years ago -- asking if I ever thought about making Nancy older. The reason they asked was that they had enjoyed the FN picture books but were already onto chapter books and wanted to keep reading about Nancy. Margaret and I – and the rest of Harper – thought a series of chapter books was a really fun idea so we tried it and I am about to start writing the seventh one: Nancy Clancy Seeks a Fortune. My approach in writing the longer books differs in two important ways. Nancy is in third grade so she is not as outlandish in her style and in her moods. She is older and a little more tempered. I can dig into what she’s feeling and thinking in a deeper way – I’ve got 128 pages as opposed to the 32 pages in the picture books. Also, the chapter books have black and white illustrations – about forty per book – and so while there is still quite a bit of art, I can’t depend as much on Robin’s pictures to carry the humor of the story.

Lee: Counterpoint between words and images is such a powerful element in picture books, but can be challenging to pull off when you’re not an author who is also illustrating your own words. A moment I loved so much - and remember from reading with my daughter years ago! - was in Fancy Nancy Bonjour Butterfly, when Nancy can’t attend her friend Bree’s butterfly-themed birthday party and Nancy narrates that “When I tell Bree I can’t come, she is heartbroken.” and you see in the illustration that Bree’s fine, it’s Nancy who’s hand is over her heart, it’s Nancy who is so upset!

What’s your best advice for authors for including ‘art notes?"

Jane: It’s so amazing that you bring up that moment from Bonjour Butterfly. (Robin gave me the original artwork of that page and I have it hanging in my living room.) Fancy Nancy is often not a reliable narrator – that’s part of the humor in the books. Another example is in the first book, Fancy Nancy, when Nancy’s family make their stage entrance at the pizza place all gussied up. Nancy comments how everybody probably thinks they are movie stars but from the expressions on the other customers’ faces, readers see a very different reaction, more like “Who ARE these loony people?????”
In the beginning, I would write notes on the manuscripts to indicate to Robin when she should show the opposite of what the text implied. Now I don’t need to do that. She just knows. In general, I think authors should refrain from art notes and only offer them when there is a great discrepancy between what the words say and what the intended artwork is supposed to show.

Lee: As an author, can you share about your writing process – Do you carry around a notebook? Do you outline?

Jane: I should carry around a notebook but don’t and thus, I am forever scribbling down fancy words I overhear on the back of deposit slips and so on. I don’t outline; instead, I will get a broad idea and then jot down notes or thoughts. I email myself a lot.

Lee: As an editor/publisher, you work part time at Penguin Random House as vice president and editor at large. What kind of projects are you looking for?

Jane: At Penguin Random House I would say ninety percent of my time is spent working on a series of biographies that I started about twelve years ago. It’s called Who Was…? and has branched out into What Was…? about important events and Where Was…? about famous landmarks. I also work on Natasha Wing’s Night Before…. paperback picture book series.

Lee: On Friday morning, you’ll be leading a morning breakout workshop on “Pacing In Picture Books.” Is this a hands-on workshop where attendees should bring a draft of their current Work In Progress to play with?

Jane: The workshop on pacing a picture book manuscript is not one where attendees need to bring a manuscript. I want to explain how I approach the structure of a story and try to make it translate in an interesting way on the pages. I want to talk about the process of revising the latest Fancy Nancy picture book and how I’ve needed to rework it because of the way-too-long lead up to the real meat of the story.

Lee: You’ll be giving a Saturday afternoon keynote, “The Genesis of Fancy Fancy: That’s Fancy for ‘How I Thought Her Up.” Can you give us a sneak peek?

Jane: How did I think up Fancy Nancy….I’ll let the picture of four year old Jane speak for me!

Lee: Perfect! You’ll also be leading a Saturday afternoon breakout workshop on “Writing Biographies” – is that focused on writing for your “Who Was…?” chapter book series, or does it apply to picture book, middle grade and YA biographies as well?

Jane: I'll be focusing on chapter book biographies, mainly the Who Was/What Was/ Where Is series but also will speak a little about older biographies (for fifth and sixth graders).

Lee: Can you share your favorite piece of writing advice?

Jane: My favorite piece of writing advice is to eavesdrop. Listen to other people's conversations and you'll pick up the natural rhythm, the fits and start in dialogue. Dialogue is so key in fiction; how a character talks tells so much about who the character is and therefor listening to real people having real discussions or fights has been very helpful. (Plus I am naturally inquisitive -- that's fancy for nosy.)

Thanks, Jane!

To have the chance to learn from Jane directly, join us at the 2015 SCBWI Summer Conference. You can find details and registration information here.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

In Which I Interview The Amazing Adam Rex In The Run-Up To The 2015 SCBWI Summer Conference

Author/Illustrator and #LA15SCBWI Faculty Member Adam Rex

Note: Parenthetical Stage Directions are believed at your own risk.

Lee: Hey, Adam. I better start out with the question everyone wants to know… What will you be wearing to the Conference’s Saturday night “Sparkle & Shine Party?”

Adam: Oh. Huh. That’s definitely the theme, is it? (Lee nods.) Well, my kid’s preschool is doing a unit on glitter right now, so I’ll see if he can make a little lapel pin for me. Otherwise, maybe I’ll wear the suit I bought for the premiere of HOME? I have to find some other occasion for it or it’ll be the second most expensive single-use purchase I’ve ever made, after airline tickets.

The suit is Aubergine. That’s the name of the color if you pay enough. The same suit at Marshalls is called Eggplant.

Lee:  Just give me a moment to shake off the image of you dressed as a giant eggplant.

Okay, I can go on now. Your MG novel, The True Meaning Of Smekday, was made into a big Hollywood movie - a successful Hollywood movie. Anything you wish you’d known going into it that you can share with us?

Adam: Hmm. Well, nothing was kept from me. I was not mistreated by DreamWorks in any way. Quite the opposite, in fact—I was kept very much in the loop and consulted all along the way. (Lee looks on, pensively.)

I’m what you could call a reluctant optimist. I can’t help hoping for the best, even if I know it’s unrealistic. So I wouldn’t mind being able to get my 2011 self on the phone to say, “You know how you’re telling everyone that DreamWorks is probably going to change your story a lot, but even as you say it you don’t really believe it? Like, deep in your heart you think they’re going to just film your book like it’s a script, even though you signed a contract saying that they can essentially do whatever they want? They are going to substantially change the story. You’re still going to like their movie, but it IS going to feel like something almost totally different when they’re done with it.”

I’d make that call—because I’m a reluctant optimist—knowing full well that the 2011 me would hang up and think, “That guy seemed nice but he probably doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

(Lee laughs for three minutes.)

Lee: For those who haven’t read it yet, there are comic-style panels and drawings throughout your latest Middle Grade novel, “Smek For President.” As someone who writes and illustrates, you have more tools in your toolbox. But how do you decide which tools to use when? Which parts of your story to describe in words and which to illustrate?

Adam: In the case of The True Meaning of Smekday, I actually backed myself into a corner with the illustrations. That book was ostensibly an overlong school essay written by my middle school-aged protagonist, so I decided that the illustrations therein could only be artwork that looked like it was feasibly done by an average twelve year-old, and photos she’d taken during the invasion. Those photos were really drawings made to look like they were old polaroids, of course. Does that make sense? (Lee nods, takes Adam’s hand.)

So those restrictions led me to establish that my alien J.Lo was a comics artist who helped out with some of the storytelling in places, and that opened up a whole new field in which I could talk about Boovish history and so forth. I was super excited about this, because back in the early 2000s this sort of prose/comics hybrid still seemed like a new idea. I thought the mixture in Smekday was really going to turn a lot of heads, because I didn’t realize that The Invention of Hugo Cabret was also going to come out that year. (Lee bites his lip in Clintonian sympathy.)

Anyway, the comics sections were some of my favorite parts to write, and they wouldn’t have worked as well in prose because half the time there was a real counterpoint between what the captions were saying and what the images were showing. It was an easy way to get through thirty thousand years of alien history in a handful of breezy pages.

By the time I was working on Smek for President, it was just de rigueur that I was going to do this again. I had a “Previously, in The True Meaning of Smekday” sort of recap to write, and that might have been really tedious in straight prose. I also realized, early on, that since this second book takes place on the new Boovish homeworld, I could use Boovish media to provide nice little bumpers that summed up the conflict and provided new information quickly. And why describe what’s happening on TV when I can show it?

I think there are a lot of things comics do better than prose and prose does better than comics. Prose is great for really slowing down and living inside a moment. And comics have always been fantastic when you want to present a ton of information instantly. I’m still figuring it all out.

Lee: Very cool. And I guess this is an expansion of that last question: as a storyteller you craft poems, picture books and novels… when you’re working out an idea, do you know right away what form it will take? Was there ever a Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich novel-in-verse draft? A True Meaning Of Smekday picture book dummy?

Adam: Yes! Actually, there was a version of Smekday that was a picture book manuscript. I was coming off of reading John Marsden and Shaun Tan’s picture book The Rabbits, and I wanted to do my own book about colonialism. Mine didn’t work at all as a picture book. So no, I don’t always know right away.

Lee: When you’re not the author, and you’re illustrating someone else’s words (like Mac Barnett's), I imagine it’s a fascinating process to add your voice, your vision to their story-so-far. How do you go about making it your story, too?

Adam: Well, I’m glad that you mentioned Mac, because he’s one of the greats for realizing that a picture book has to be borne equally on the shoulders of both the author and the illustrator. He does not over-write his manuscripts. I think he’s also in the enviable position to know that he’s going to get an illustrator he trusts, and indeed he even sometimes writes manuscripts with illustrators in mind. Most of us can’t do that, of course. But in a Barnett manuscript there’s plenty of room for the illustrator to stretch his or her legs.

Adam: How exactly do I go about making it my story too, then? I’m not sure how to answer that, except to say that illustrators have to remember that they're not illustrating the words of a story—they're illustrating the world in which the story takes place.

Lee: Wow. That sounded really wise. So wise, I'm gonna call it out in it's own special quote box:

"...illustrators have to remember that they're not illustrating the words of a story—they're illustrating the world in which the story takes place."
-Adam Rex

Lee: Okay, let's talk #LA15SCBWI. You’ll be giving a Friday July 31 Keynote, “How I Make Picture Books.” Can you give us a hint of what to expect?

Adam: Probably a lot of lies of omission. Like: it seems to be important to my process that I watch a lot of movie trailers on the internet, but I doubt I’ll get into that.

(Lee excuses himself, leaves the room, comes back forty-five minutes later wearing a different shirt like it’s no big deal.)

Lee: You’ll also be offering an illustrator workshop on Saturday August 1st, “Characters With Character.” Is that a hands-on session, where illustrators will try out techniques?

Adam: Yes, I’m going to bring along a lot of reference and talk about anatomy and some of my half-baked theories. We’ll draw and design a character together, the ownership of which will then probably have to be settled in arbitration.

Lee: Fun! And your second workshop is on Sunday afternoon, for writers and illustrators, “The 32 Things I’ve Learned Since I Got My First Book Published.” 32? Is that a lucky number? Or were you playing darts when Lin needed the title?

Adam: Darts. It’s still an open question whether I know 32 things. I’ll keep a tally as I work on the presentation—I may have to break up some compound sentences if I’m running short.

Lee: Speed Round!

Is coming up with the titles for your books hard or easy?

Adam: Easy.

Lee: A time machine appears in your backyard and, for one day you get to travel through time to a specific past or future. When is your destination?

Adam: Well, okay—first of all: we’re definitely saying that past-travel is possible in this hypothetical? Because, of course, the current thinking is that it would not be (with only outliers claiming otherwise, and even THEY’LL tell you that you could probably never travel back farther than the point in time at which the machine was originally turned on). No less than Stephen Hawking himself has embraced the notion of travel to the future but dismissed travel to the past as impossible, with the most simple but powerful evidence resting in the fact that we’ve never met anyone from the future.

So then my corollary to this would be to ask if we’re talking about a round-trip or just one way? Even if, by some miracle, I could travel to the past, then the “present” to which I’d return could not possibly the same one I left. We’re into quantum “many worlds” territory here and that’s not really my area but regardless, it’s terrifying. And yet any jump to the future would (again, according to current thinking) be a one way trip, and so the only way in which I could even conceive of taking such a trip is if I no longer had any Earthly concerns anchoring me to this time and place—and that’s more terrifying. No wife, no son; nothing to prevent me from taking a joyless joyride into the careless amnesia of the future.

I’m sorry. Did you just want me to say dinosaurs? (Lee nods.) Okay. Dinosaurs.

Lee: Dinosaurs is a great answer. Favorite Ice Cream Flavor?

Adam: When people ask my three year-old this he says brown, so I’m going to say brown.

(Lee smiles, transforms into a magnificent crimson bird and soars, just soars away until he’s only a red dash; a copyedit; a blemish on the face of God—and then he’s gone.)

And there you have it... Adam Rex. Interviewed. I'm gonna go eat some baba ghanoush now. That's uh... what they call expensive eggplant salad.

Wanna see Adam do his keynote thing and get a chance to take one (or both) of his amazing workshops? Join us at the 2015 SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles, July 31-Aug 3. Details and registration here.

I'm On Faculty at #LA15SCBWI, The 2015 SCBWI Summer Conference!

I'm excited – it's one of my favorite events of the year, and this time round, not only will I be leading the awesome SCBWI Team Blog (looking at you, Martha Brockenbrough, Jolie Stekly, Don Tate and Jaime Temairik!) I'll also be on faculty!

I'm delighted to share that I'll be moderating the SCBWI Success Stories panel on the main stage (in front of an audience of over 1,000 of our fellow writers and illustrators!) Friday July 31, 2015 from 5pm-6pm. It's called "Tips On How To Realize Your Dream" and I'll be talking with Martha Brockenbrough (Hi there, again, Martha!), Mike Curato, Stacey Lee, Lori Nichols and Anna Shinoda.
It's going to be awesome!

Also, brilliant out-of-the-box strategist, illustrator and author of both Picture Books and MG Novels Jim Averbeck will join me in leading a Monday morning August 3 intensive:

I . Lee Wind/Jim Averbeck – Your Plan for an Effective and Successful Blog: Audience. Content. Discoverability. Synergy.

With exercises, examples, and workshopping feedback you will target your audiences, figure out what you’ll blog about (and how to keep it interesting), strategize reaching your readers, and find the synergy with your writing and/or illustrating. From Twitter hashtags and Facebook likes to book trailers and out-of-the-box content that can plug you into the kidlitosphere, you’ll leave this workshop with a customized plan of action to make your blog a turbo-charged career engine! Assignment: Select your two favorite kid lit blogs – and be prepared to share what you like about them. If you don’t know off the top of your head, spend some time checking out the blog roll www.kidlitosphere.org and www.scbwi.org.

This is for a much smaller group, and will be a very hands-on workshop.

And of course, once more I'm incredibly honored to be hosting the LGBTQ Q&A, also on Friday evening at 7:30pm.

It's going to be a remarkable conference. If you write and/or illustrate works for children or teens, I hope you can join us!

Learn more about the conference schedule (and the rest of the amazing faculty) here.

Woo-Hoo!
Lee