27 Wednesday Jul 2016
Posted in Volunteer in the Spotlight
Tags
community, Gina Capaldi, illustrator, illustrator tips, illustrators, picture book, SCBWI members, volunteers
We love our volunteers at SCBWI and couldn’t exist without them! “Volunteer Spotlight” is a great way to get to know them for yourself and learn more about what they do and how you can volunteer too. Now meet Gina Capaldi, Illustrator Coordinator for the SCBWI’s Inland Empire, also known as SoCal.
15 Friday Jul 2016
Posted in Community Corner
The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is a dynamic community of professionals and aspirings. Read on for a member’s story about how SCBWI has influenced their work and connected them to publishing professionals, life-long friends, and the tools they need to share their stories with children of all ages. Read on for former Hollywood LitMingle Coordinator Deborah Fletcher Blum’s story!
The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators launched my career as a filmmaker. It may sound odd to credit a children’s writers and illustrators group with this, but writing and filmmaking are integrally connected artistic disciplines. As an artist and English teacher, who wrote poetry and non-fiction, I embarked on a middle grade novel in the Summer of 2010 and joined SCBWI soon after.
15 Wednesday Jun 2016
Posted in Volunteer in the Spotlight
We love our volunteers at SCBWI and couldn’t exist without them! “Volunteer Spotlight” is a great way to get to know them for yourself and learn more about what they do – and how you can volunteer. Now meet Chester Perryess, Central/Coastal CA regional Schlepper and Minion:
I’m an introvert. I’m happiest at home making those characters come to life, or sequestered in my “shedio” narrating audiobooks, or researching etymologies for Wordmonger, my blog about words. Still, I volunteer out in the Big Scary World and encourage my fellow introverts to consider doing the same.
22 Friday Apr 2016
Posted in Industry News, Tips and Tools
Tags
authors, community, illustrator tips, illustrators, middle grade, news, nonfiction, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, volunteers, writer, YA
How do you get 150,000 dedicated book buyers to consider your book? How do you get 50 authors and/or illustrators together to sell their work to those 150,000 eager buyers? The answer is the Los Angeles SCBWI booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Continue reading
16 Wednesday Mar 2016
Posted in Volunteer in the Spotlight
We love our volunteers at SCBWI and couldn’t exist without them! “Volunteer Spotlight” is a great way to get to know them for yourself and learn more about what they do – and how you can volunteer. Now meet Catherine Lee, Kite Tales Illustrative Liaison:
16 Wednesday Dec 2015
Posted in Volunteer in the Spotlight
Tags
When I joined SCBWI I was still a bit hardened from working the grind as an actor in Hollywood. Though it did have its good moments, acting really wore down my love for storytelling. I was desperate to find it again. I knew it was there. While working at Vroman’s bookstore I finally realized that writing for kids and teens was my medium.
The first SCBWI event I attended was LA Writer’s Day, and the warmth and support I felt from the get go was exactly what I needed (even though I’m pretty sure I didn’t speak to one person and was happy the outfit I chose matched the walls). Not long after that, the opportunity arose to become a co-editor of Kite Tales, the newsletter for the Southern California tri-regions. Continue reading
16 Wednesday Sep 2015
Posted in Volunteer in the Spotlight
Tags
I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was in college, but the aspiration really started when I was little, making up stories in the backyard making mud pies.
After college, I wanted to be a part of a writing family. I didn’t find this family until SCBWI came along.
I work as an emergency room clerk. Sometimes my job is stressful but I always find the time to write.
I use to write suspense stories along the lines of Mary Higgins Clark. But I found my voice along with my inner child and began writing children’s picture books.
I am a co-editor of Kite Tales.
10 Wednesday Jun 2015
Posted in Volunteer in the Spotlight
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.
06 Wednesday May 2015
Posted in Contests & Grants, SASE Award
And the winner is…. Claudia Harrington!
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.
18 Wednesday Mar 2015
Posted in Volunteer in the Spotlight
My journey as a member of the SCBWI began in 1993. I savored the bimonthly Bulletin and dreamed from afar. Once I started attending events and joined a critique group, I was asked to be the Critique Group Coordinator for the Ventura/Santa Barbara Region (which includes Kern and San Luis Obispo Counties), now known as the Central-Coastal California Region, which was led at that time by our illustrious Regional Advisor Alexis O’Neill.
When I first joined the SCBWI, my interest was in illustration. As my visual exploits floundered, I began my voyage into poetry as an introduction to writing. Poetry soon became my mode of expression.
Kite Tales 