Sad NE-SCBWI Stories

I went to the New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Conference this past Saturday. It was quite an adventure.

The morning of the conference, I woke up nice and early so I could get there in time. I live about an hour and a half away. Well, on my way there, traffic was held up because of an accident that was blocking the road. After waiting for quite some time, I ended up having to turn around completely and go another route that I was unfamiliar with. I didn't arrive at the conference until shortly before the first keynote.

As a result of my late arrival, I didn't get to put up my entry for the poster contest (which I've posted above). That was a slight disappointment, but I'm not too sad about it because I was just glad that I made it to the conference at all. The poster that ended up winning was one of my favorites - congrats, Frank!

Also, after I got home, I found out that fellow Tugeau 2 artist Kathy Weller also attended the conference, and I missed the chance to meet her. Not only that, but I sat right across from her in one of the workshops and didn't even know it. Bummer. Maybe next time, Kathy.

Anyway, despite all the mess, I still had a great time. I met several great artists - Robert Squier, Gina Perry, Cheryl Noll, and Ginger Nielson, to name a few - and had a good portfolio critique from a lovely lady at Charlesbridge Publishing. She gave me lots of great pointers to help me improve my work.

Other highlights included great workshops by Teri Weidner and Melissa Sweet and inspiring keynotes by Laurie Halse Anderson and Kevin Hawkes.

Wow, that was a lot more verbal than my other posts, but hey, it was a full weekend.