Seven Inspiration Highs from #NY18SCBWI

Me (left) at the blogging table with Jolie Stekly, Martha Brockenbrough, and Jaime Temairik (photo by Paul O. Zelinsky - thanks, Paul!)

So I'm back from the SCBWI Winter Conference, and I want to share a few moments that are still resonating for me:

7.
Angie Thomas making the distinction about writing "not issue books, but great books with issues." ...And her awesome rant about how "diversity is not a trend." YES!

6.
Learning the Latin word Anima from Cheryl Klein's masterclass. It means animating principle, breath, vital force, soul, spirit—and thinking about how to best have that Anima come through in my creative work.

5.
Figuring out, with help from Tiffany Liao in her masterclass, what wasn't working in my current YA work-in-progress: the gap in time between the internal climax and the external climax.

4.
After having let it rest for seven months, finally solving the puzzle of a picture book manuscript during Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple's masterclass—it cracked open, and I could see how to reduce it down to its essential moments, and the rest just fell away. (For those of you who write picture books, you'll get the level of hugeness of this when I tell you it went from 903 words down to 543.)

3.
Connecting with so many dear friends...

2.
Hosting the LGBTQ + Allies Social (which feels as important as ever!)

1.
And then, walking out of the conference's Autograph Party, the last person I met stopped me to share something so cool... I don't know her, but Sanne Dufft is an author/illustrator who lives in Germany, and she's been reading the serialization of Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill on this blog—and she's really enjoying it! I asked Sanne if she would let me record her saying it again on video, so I could capture the moment of someone I don't know coming up to me as an author, and thanking me for writing this story...

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Attending #NY18SCBWI, The SCBWI Winter Conference? Join me for the LGBTQ Q&A social, Saturday Feb 3 from 7:30pm-9pm

Once again, I'm honored to be hosting the discussion, circle, Q&A, and community.

Please check your conference schedule for the exact location

Here's the report from last year's gathering:

The LGBTQ + Allies Q&A Social at #NY17SCBWI

With an expanding circle as more and more people arrived, and with special guests that included Ellen Hopkins, Heidi Stemple, Laurent Linn, Ellen Wittlinger, Matthew Winner, and Arthur Levine, the social opened with a conversation about the responsibilities and challenges of speaking up about diversity, equality, human rights, and politics as people who create content for children.

Then each person around the circle introduced themselves, sharing what they're working on.

And then, for another hour +, people mingled and chatted and exchanged cards with their new tribe-within-a-tribe friends.

Two moments that are still resonating for me:

On an Ally author's reluctance to make a fantasy character queer:
"I want to give you permission that you know as much about a two-headed dragon as anyone." - Arthur A. Levine.

"Don't let anyone shut you up. You have a story to tell. Tell it. ...Somewhere along the way, children will hear it and they will be saved." - Jane Yolen

The evening was brave and beautiful.


Hope to see you there!
Lee