11 Wednesday Oct 2023
Posted in Central Coast, Community Corner, Writers' Retreat
by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
Recharge your writing life beside the sea. Join us January 19–21, 2024. The CenCal get-away-to-write retreat will be held at the Cavalier Oceanfront Resort in San Simeon, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Enjoy writing time, beach walks, ten-minute TED-style talks, campfire chats, and optional critique group sessions.
Continue reading04 Wednesday Oct 2023
Posted in Community Corner, SoCal, Tri-Regional News
Tags
Amin Sharif, author-illustrator, authors, Bronwen Butter Newcott, Heather Buchta, illustrators, middle grade, Nazli Tahvili, OC Children's Book Festival, picture books, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, Shiho Pate, Susi Schaefer, Susie Yi, Tootie Nienow, YA
by Beverly Plass, RA SoCal SCBWI
Thousands of book-loving families flocked to the OC Children’s Book Festival at Orange Coast College on October 1. The event featured hundreds of booths as well as several on-stage presentations. SoCal SCBWI hosted a booth with its published authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators.
Continue reading27 Wednesday Sep 2023
Posted in Central Coast, PAL
by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
Save the date: November 4, 2023!
The SCBWI Central-Coastal California Region is hosting a School Visits Workshop. Alexis O’Neill, children’s book author, writing teacher, and school visits expert will present “The Art (and Business) of School Visits: Sharing Best Practices” on Saturday, November 4, from 9:45 am to 1:30 pm. The event will be held at the Camarillo Library, 4101 Las Posas Rd, Camarillo 93016. Lunch will be provided.
Continue reading20 Wednesday Sep 2023
Posted in Central Coast, Tri-Regional News, Writers Days
Tags
Alexis O'Neill Volunteer of the Year Award, Elizabeth Kuelbs, Leanne Pankuch, middle grade, Paulina Hill, picture books, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, young adult
by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
The SCBWI Central-Coastal Region held its in-person Writers’ Day on Saturday, September 9, at the Camarillo Public Library. After an inspiring day of speakers and camaraderie, a few honors were presented, with the winners receiving free entry to next year’s Writers’ Day.
Congratulations to all the participants in the writing contest, including the winners:
Continue reading30 Wednesday Aug 2023
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital high fives welcome in the comments!
23 Wednesday Aug 2023
Posted in Great News!
SCBWI loves celebrating our members’ successes and noteworthy news, and there are many! Read on to find out who’s got something to shout about. Digital high-fives welcome in the comments!
Continue reading02 Wednesday Aug 2023
Posted in Contests & Grants, SAG, Writers' Retreat
Tags
Cara J. Stevens, Julia Edwards, PB Rippey, R.S. Mellette, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Sue Alexander Grant, Working Writer's Retreat
by Brenda Scott Royce, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator
We’re thrilled to announce this year’s winner of the Sue Alexander Grant, Julia Edwards, for her middle grade novel “I Speak for the Trees”! Here’s what the judges had to say about her excerpt:
“The opening pages of this middle grade novel grabbed me immediately, and the witty narrator had me hooked. While funny and smart, the environmental angle put this over the top for me, in terms of a super layered and entertaining read.”
“Written in a fun, fast and lively style, ‘I Speak for the Trees’ begins at ‘drool o’clock,’ as protagonist Phoenix Moonbeam Reising, a.k.a. Fifi, is awakened by one of her sister’s frequent night terrors. The reader is quickly thrown into a fully drawn family in which the mom is a throwback to the hippie days, the dad has gone mysteriously missing, and the sister is suffering from climate change anxiety….Fifi herself is opinionated, sardonic, smart, and not afraid to get into a physical fight.”
Continue reading12 Wednesday Jul 2023
Posted in Community Corner, Illustrators Day, SoCal, Tri-Regional News, Writers Days
Tags
agents, authors, editors, illustrators, Laura Taylor Namey, Lauren Rille, Lisa Johnston Hancock, Lucy Hamilburg, Megan Ilnitzki, Reggie Brown, Savannah Brooks, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, SCBWI SoCal, Scott Sussman, Tina Athaide, Writers & Illustrators Day
by Beverly Plass, RA SoCal SCBWI
Join SCBWI SoCal at Cal State University Fullerton or on Zoom on October 7, to learn about craft and book publishing, connect with professionals in the industry, and mingle with other SCBWI attendees.
SoCal’s FALL HARVEST WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS DAY will take place Saturday, October 7, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. You can attend in-person at California State University, Fullerton OR participate via Zoom. Lunch is provided for in-person attendees.
Continue reading05 Wednesday Jul 2023
Tags
authors, CenCal Writer's Day, editors, illustrators, Jaime Zollars, Jen Rofe, Karen Jameson, Kitty Donohoe, Lin Oliver, Melissa Manlove, Mona Alvarado Frazier, Patrice Karst, SCBWI community, SCBWI members
by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
Join SCBWI CenCal for Writer’s Day 2023!
WRITER’S DAY: SPARK THE FIRE WITHIN is a two-day event this year. The first day is in-person at a new location, the Camarillo Library, on Saturday, September 9. Doors open at 8:45 am, coffee and pastries for early arrivers. Event begins at 9:30 am and ends at 3:30 pm. Lunch will be provided.
Day One includes writing contests, written critiques, first lines feedback, 4-corners critique meet-up, door prizes, book sales, and a tour of the Camarillo Library Children’s Room, aka the Pirate Ship.
Continue reading28 Wednesday Jun 2023
Tags
authors, craft, digital, illustrator tips, illustrators, improv, Laura Hunt, process, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, sketch comedy, watercolor, writers
In SCBWI-L.A.’s latest Twitter Banner Contest, illustrators were asked to submit their most creative response to our prompt: KITE NIGHT. The winning contestant’s artwork is featured on the Los Angeles Region SCBWI Twitter profile until the next contest, with a feature article published here on Kite Tales.
We’re excited to announce Laura Hunt as our winner! Laura is an author-illustrator who grew up in Connecticut and now resides in Los Angeles with her college sweetheart, young son, and old Yorkie. Her dummy received an honorable mention from PB Party 2023. Her comedy writing background includes writing sketches on a house team for the Upright Citizens Brigade, and her work has been featured on Funny or Die and HuffPost.
Read on to learn more about Laura, her tools and tips, and what inspires her work.
Continue reading
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