South Bay Schmooze - July 18th!!!

The South Bay – Beach Cities Schmooze

Writer’s and Illustrator’s

2nd Annual / Midsummer’s Day Schmooze

Creative Writing and Quick Sketch Day

When: Saturday, July 18^th, 2009

What time: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Where: Palos Verdes – Pointe Vicente Interpretive Center (Click for Map)

31501 Palos Verdes Drive West
Rancho Palos Verdes

Join us for Writing and Sketching Exercises, to improve our craft and learn from each other.

What to Bring:

• Writers, Bring a writing sample, a new character, or something you are struggling with… bring notebook & pen/pencils to write with.
• Illustrator’s, bring a few sketches and character samples, and perhaps something you are struggling with… and of course: your sketch supplies.
• BRING YOUR LUNCH… there are very few places nearby to purchase lunch once we are there… this is the ideal place for a sack-lunch for a picnic discussion…
• Bring: Sunscreen, hat, chair, and whatever other essentials you think would make your day enjoyable… Water!!!

R.S.V.P… to Suzanne & Jessica by July 12^th.

We will need to know How Many Picnic Tables to reserve for our group.

Suzanne Gibson and Jessica Chrysler

South Bay Writer's and Illustrator's Schmooze Coordinators

blakndrose@gmail.com - Jessica

gibsonandgibson@socal.rr.com - Suzanne

OC Schmooze, 6/8

A small, intimate schmooze. A time to critique and talk about the business. We reviewed our experiences at Agent's Day/OC (on May 5th.) Consensus was that we loved ALL the agents. A few tidbits about each one:

• Tina Wexler, International Creative Management: A few books/clients: HERBERT'S WORMHOLE by Peter Nelson, AS IF BEING 12 3/4 ISN'T BAD ENOUGH, MY MOTHER IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, by Donna Gephart. Extremely humble, approachable, and knowledgeable. She's looking for unique, middle grade fiction--interested in: tall tales, mysteries, contemporary coming of age, and adventure stories with boy appeal. Tina is looking for a manuscri[t that makes her "miss her subway stop."
• Stephen Barbara, Foundry Literary: A few books/Clients: DEAD IS THE NEW BLACK series by Marlene Perez, EMMY AND THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING RAT by Lynne Jonell. Stephen is looking for books for precocious children and immature adults, ages 5-40. He encourages his clients to write what they want to write--to follow their hearts, and is most excited about "following through" with a manuscript.
• Chris Richman, Firebrand: Would love to have worked on: The Percy Jackson series, Hunger Games, The Giver. Does not represent picture books, paranormal romance, high fantasy, or chick lit. But Chris loves humorous, commercial MG & YA. He's looking for a quick, concise, and completely original pitch through the online query process at Firebrand.
• Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. A few books/clients: STORY OF A GIRL, by Sara Zarr, WAKE, FADE by Lisa McMann. Michael in interested in developing an a author's career. He likes realistic fiction, paranormal romance, humor, original fantasy that appeal to boys. He encourages his authors to brand themselves and write 3 books in a similar genre before branching into something different. His goal is for his authors to have the best quality books-- a mix of commercial and literary.

Before critiquing, we discussed the best ways to approach and accept a critique:

1. Put on your "armadillo suit." Thick layers of tough skin are a must!
2. Don't be defensive, and refrain from trying to defend your work. Sit quietly, take detailed notes, and accept comments.
3. Put aside the critique for a few days/weeks. Even if these comments outraged you at first, go back to it and try to absorb them. Try to see the comments objectively. Don't take it personally. Your manuscript is NOT you! Look for the positives.
4. Ultimately, go with your gut. You are the author and you decide what changes you'll make. If you hear the same comment at least 3x, then it might be something you want to look at.
5. Usually, your critiquer is trying to help you improve your manuscript. But as we know, art is subjective.
6. Remember, when having your manuscript critiqued (by an agent or editor,) your goal should be to make your manuscript BETTER. And amazingly, that's usually what happens...if you're open to the critique.

Thank you to our brave writers who read their work aloud and allowed us to comment. We all learned a great deal, and had fun at the same time~

Happy writing, and hope to see you all at the National conference in August!

Lori

Schmooze News from Soooz!

THANKS to all who participated
in the Westside Illustrators'
"PORTFOLIO NIGHT!!!"









It was a evening filled with some
serious critiquing!







We all went home with some very
valuable information about our
artwork and it's presentation.

This was our last 'formal' meeting of a wonderful year!
I thank everyone for making the Westside Illustrators
a joy. See you all on June 7th, for our end-of-year
brunch! Over the summer, we'll 'do coffee'
and we'll conference. It's hard to keep friends apart!

September 14th, we''ll begin again!!!

xo...suzy

SoozyEB@aol.com
come visit me at.... SuzyEngelmanBlock.com