(as in previous years, I am including a few sketches I did of people and random doodles, please note that everyone depicted looks better in person and I did have a few “off” moments)

I read over my previous NY SCBWI posts and realized that I always start with transportation. This year I had no problems with transportation. Can you believe it? At least not with transportation on wheels or tracks- walking on my own two feet was the issue. The lesson learned is that you should never break in new shoes by walking to the metro at 6:30 am on a Friday morning. Especially if you have forgotten how slippery it is to wear tights with said new shoes.

I did make it to the hotel however. I hobbled in around 7:30, collected my folder and hid in a corner so I could take off my shoes while I collected my bearings. I was sighted by the supremely talented Ruth. She really is one of the sweetest, most talented (those sketches are amazing, as are her books) people I know. After a few minutes, Lezza burst (more like danced-I really want to feel such energy one day-it looked like fun) on to the scene. We met at a conference in 2006 and have been online and occasional irl friends ever since. She was a self-appointed live blogger for the conference and did an incredible job. Check it out here.

Before I get started on the actual events, I want to give a shout out to the following uber-talented, will all be published (a talented few are published) some day artists/writers that I met at various times on friday. Heather, Jannie, Kim, Jenn Morris, Alicia, Evera and Debbie (no blog yet, she’s working on it) I was lucky in that John Rocco and his lovely wife, Aileen came over and said hello. Both are immensely talented and have beautifully published books. Go check out each illustrator’s blogs, I’ll wait.

Holly

Next up was Holly, who founded Pippin Properties. I was intrigued when I found her agency a few years ago. After all, she did steal my very unique name that I am quite found of. When I learned she was inspired by a story by William Steig about a pig called Zeke Pippin, I forgave her and vowed to find that book. (I have yet to actually look however) Her tips were that everyone must begin with a blank page, be kind to yourself, the worst thing that can happen is that you stand still and believe, believe and believe.

Next up was Tracy and John from Marketing and Publicity at Scholastic. They did this intersting session where they recreated a few “typical” meetings over a year that explained how they decide to market and where.

Arthur Levine

There was an entralling panel discussion with Arthur Levine, Bob Brown, Kate McClellans & Cecila Yung. I was so entralled I didn’t take a single note. Go over to Leeza’s play by play to check it out. After lunch some schedule shifting and a brief stand in by Tommy dePoala, where he critiqued the portfolios very quickly (some were good, most not so good) Harry Bliss arrived. I have seen his work on the pages of the New Yorker but have never done any futher research. Ladies and Gents, this guy was funny and very honest. I liked it.

There were a few sessions on copyrights and saving your work for archives interspersed in there. While these sessions were interesting in their own way, I came away from the day wishing for a bit more interaction.

A workshop or portfolio critique would have been a nice way to fill the afternoon for me. One highlight of my evening was getting to meet Tomie de Poala in the flesh. Through Leeza, we were invited to the bar where I was able to just sit and listen. He is truly a funny, kind person and he even took a photo with me! (you’ll have to go to Leeza’s blog to see it)

After that, we wandered upstairs and waited for our portfolios. Once we were able to retrieve them, we wandered dowstairs. (and counted our cards to see how many were taken. I was okay with the amount, not thrilled, but not totally bummed either) We chose a random spot by a wall and looked through each othere portfolios. We were soon joined by other members and had a great time looking at each others work. Some of the great work that I saw that is not listed above is: Monica, Jesse, Joey, and Gina. Until we were asked to leave by the hotel staff.

Leeza and I shared a hotel room that night . I have always wanted to stay at the location so I don’t have to hurry or stess about getting back to the family location and even though the fire alarms went off for an hour and a half it was worth it.

Saturday to come…..

p.s. my spell check is broken and I am tired, sorry for all typos.

I’m sitting here feeling pretty miserable. I have a cold, it is that nasty mixture of rain and ice outside and I am feeling the post conference blues. I know that this is a pretty common phenomoen but it still blows. (my buddy Leeza-who is one of the peppiest people on earth- is also feeling it, go give her a virtual hug, will ya?) The mixture of seeing such incredible art, meeting other people who share your dream and hearing inspirational stories from people who are “living the dream” should not make you want to hibernate. But it does.

I wonder if it is like that across the board? Do writers feel this way too? Do people who have published a book still get the conference blues? Could it have anything to do with having to go back to normal life? Is it due to Feburary-which always gets me down anyway? Do tell me people, have you ever felt this way? Am I being overly dramatic on a cold evening becasue I know I will soon have to go face the ice and snow which caused me to bust my rear this morning?

I have my sketches scanned and am organizing my thoughts. I’ll post my notes soon. I promise they will be a bit more uplifting. Sunshine coming soon.