Los Angeles Regional News

Tags

, ,

Upcoming in the L.A. Region

The Working Writer’s Retreat

Sept 11-13, 2015 – Holy Spirit Retreat Center, Encino

A 3-day, 2-night intense revision retreat beginning and ending with a first page (~200 word) pitch session. The retreat opens Friday at noon and consists of critique sessions, revision time, and parties – including Saturday night karaoke. A practice first page session with an Author panel begins the fun which crescendos in a pitch session with four acquiring Editors and Agents. Members only.

Faculty Information and wait list registration: https://losangeles.scbwi.org/events/2015-la-wwr/

Continue Reading for more L.A. Regional News!

Illustrator’s Gallery: Bob McMahon

Tags

,

What have I done?! Two decades into my art career and I go and completely change my style! Have I gone crazy?! Well, yes and no. Being an artist means constantly learning and growing at your craft so you don’t stagnate or burn out. Change is a necessary part of being an artist.

Yes Way Kid art SM JPG

Continue reading

Poet’s Perspective by Paige Taylor

Tags

It’s Friday night, and I’m watching The King and I. “Et-cet-er-a, et-cet-er-a,cet-cet-er-a,” repeats the king slowly, with great satisfaction—you know the line. After a while, I begin to visualize etceteras stringing out into space:

     Somewhere in space, although you can’t sight ‘em,

Meet et al., etcetera, and ad infinitum.

Just hearing Yul Brynner say his words over and over sparked my quirky little poem.

Continue reading

Volunteer in the Spotlight: Robert Mellette, P.A.L. Board Representative

Tags

,

As a kid, I hated books. Reading for me was literally a chore. I used to live in fear of the question, “Have you done your reading today?”

In first grade I was diagnosed as dyslexic. Luckily, I lived in a town with a school that specialized in teaching dyslexic kids, and I had parents who made sure I got the training I needed to read at my grade level. By high school I read enough to get by and soon discovered science fiction, which was the first type of book I enjoyed reading on my own. Still today, I think of myself more as a sci-fi writer than a children’s book author. It’s been said that the golden age for science giction is 12 years old, so here I am, and proud of it.

Continue reading

News from the Internet: From Children’s Book to Children’s App: Three Helpful Web Articles To Get You Started On Creating An App by Narda Lacey Fargotstein

1) Whether you have an idea for an app or are looking for an idea, you can start at iKids with this article—http://kidscreen.com/2013/09/09/how-to-make-a-childrens-app/—which breaks down the process of creating an app into five steps:

  • Competitive analysis
  • Design and testing methodologies
  • Finding a developer if you can’t build it yourself
  • Business models
  • Marketing

Continue reading

Schmooze Spotlight: Antelope Valley by Nancy Whitesides

Tags

,

As the wind whips across the desert landscape known as Antelope Valley, writers tumble into the bookstore for their monthly schmooze. The schmoozers are a small, somewhat disheveled yet endearing band of writers who learn from each other and share a love of writing.

Continue reading

Illustrator’s Perspective: Drawing Animals in Picture Books by Jannie Ho

Tags

, ,

PrintInspiration

One of the things that really inspired me to become a children’s book illustrator was the work of Richard Scarry. My favorite books of his include What Do People Do All Day? and Busy, Busy Town. His characters were mostly anthropomorphic animals, which I’ve always enjoyed more than human characters. Anthropomorphic animal worlds provide an escape from reality; an illustrator can use them to create atmospheres that seem safer and more innocent than any human world. Moreover, there are lots of opportunities to add funny details to animal characters and the scenes involving them. I love adding little touches like carrot themed prints for a bunny character or fish bone prints for a cat.

Continue reading

Toot Your Horn and Great News!

Tags

, , , ,

Kite Tales loves to celebrate our SCBWI members. Congratulations to all listed below!

TOOT YOUR HORN

A Day and Night in the Rain Forest, written and illustrated by Caroline Arnold (Picture Window Books) ages 5-8, nonfiction, ISBN: 978-1-4795-6074-5 (hb), ISBN 978-1-4795-6086-8 (paperback), Released January 2015

A Day and Night in the Desert, written and illustrated by Caroline Arnold (Picture Window Books) ages 5-8, nonfiction, ISBN: 978-1-4795-6072-1 (hb), ISBN 978-1-4795-6084-4 (paperback), Released January 2015

Continue Reading for More TOOTS and GREAT NEWS!

Sue Alexander Service and Encouragement Award 2015

Tags

, , , , ,

And the winner is…. Claudia Harrington!

Claudia

The Sue Alexander Service and Encouragement Award is given to a deserving member of SCBWI that honor his/her service to SCBWI. This award is a great honor as it embodies to spirit of Sue Alexander who was dedicated to giving back to SCBWI.

Continue reading

Central Coast Regional News

Tags

, ,

 

Rev Your Poetry Power with Joan Bransfield Graham

 JoanBGraham-200x300

POEM-cover-233x300

Award-winning poet Joan Bransfield Graham is leading a poetry writing workshop on Saturday, May 16, in Westlake Village. Joan took a few moments to answer some questions about exploring poetic possibilities.

Continue reading