Attention Writers AND Illustrators!!!

You are invited to a very special evening with L.A.'s very own

Deborah Nourse Lattimore

Westside Illustrators Schmooze

Monday Eve, November 9, 2009

7:00pm - 9:00pm

11624 Pico Blvd.

Los Angeles, Ca 90064

Topic: "How I Try to Do It,

and How I'll Do It Again!"

Deborah is 

an award-

winning

author and

illustrator of
dozens of

 children's books.

You may not know...

Deborah is an art historian

specializing in Egyptian,

 pre-Columbian,and classical art.

She has traveled all over the

 world as a scholar, an artist,    
and a writer.

   
She loves using that expertise to create picture books that take young readers on amazing journeys back through time to ancient and mysterious cultures.

Deborah is a huge fan of SCBWI...
"I love the SCBWI for many things, being a friend and support to me,

helping me navigate publishing as well

 as helping me to handle up's and  down's in the market and in my

  personal life, too. And even if I weren't a writer and illustrator it would be a blast to be a member of SCBWI

just for the enrichment."

Check out Deborah's website...

                       http://www.author-illustr-source.com/deborahlattimore.htm

Come share a fun evening with your fellow writers AND illustrators! 

* $5.00 donation for speaker
* Books will be available for

     SALE and SIGNING!

* Light refreshments will be served.

 

 Be prepared to participate, ask questions and be inspired! Let's

 enjoy a fun creative evening together & move forward in our common pursuit of making a contribution to the world of children's illustration and literature!

                 

RSVP???...YES      SoozyEB@aol.com

WHERE???...11624 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064

This is a large gray building with ivy & bamboo on the facade. The sign near the RED door reads -

"Alliance Francaise."

DIRECTIONS???... Click Here

PARKING???... Street parking only. You don't have to feed meters after 6pm. Do NOT park in the electrical warehouse parking lot next door OR the parking lot behind the building on the corner of Federal Ave. You will be towed...FAST.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

xoxo...suzy

cell...818 389 1950

come visit me at...

http://www.SuzyEngelmanBlock.com

Come Schmooze with Sooz & the Westside Illustrators!

  Westside Illustrators Schmooze
Monday Evening, October 12, 7-9pm
11624 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Topic:
Online Sales Venues for our Creative Endeavors

IN between those amazing gigs as children's illustrators,

we can keep our creative energy flowing...

and make a few bucks on the side!

1. Share your experience with online sites that

can be a sales outlet for our work.

There's tons of them...Cafe Press, Etsy, Zazzle

are just a few. I'll have a long list.

2. If you wish, bring along items that you are or plan on selling.

Art Prints? Cards?Jewelry? Dolls? Clothes? etc...

We're anxious to see them!

3. Some of our Schmoozers are experts and will share their

priceless tips on the in's & out's of a successful online experience.
 

Come prepared to participate, ask questions and be inspired!
Let's enjoy a fun creative evening together & move forward in our common pursuit
of making a contribution to the world of children's  illustration and literature!

RSVP???...  YES     SoozyEB@aol.com

WHERE???...  11624 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
This is a large gray building with ivy & bamboo on the facade.
The sign near the RED door reads -  "Alliance Francaise."

DIRECTIONS???... http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLR,GGLR:2006-05,GGLR:en&q=11624+W.+Pico+BLvd,+Los+Angeles,+CA+90064&um=1&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=title

PARKING???... Street parking only.  You don't have to feed meters after 6pm.  Do NOT park in the electrical warehouse parking lot next door OR the parking lot behind the building on the corner of Federal Ave.  You will be towed...FAST.

Looking forward to seeing you all!
xoxo...suzy
cell...818 389 1950

                                                  come visit me at...

                                  http://www.SuzyEngelmanBlock.com
 

OC Schmooze: 9/29

Thanks to all that attended our first OC schmooze post summer. It was time to reconnect to our writing lives and we did! Topics covered:

*Current and past conferences: How to prepare (research, read, and put yourself out there. Be positive, and set one expectation: to walk away a better writer. If you make a connection, get a great critique, or win a contest, great. But improving your craft is a good, solid goal--one YOU can control!)

*How to Accept a Critique: Take it in and don't be defensive. Put the manuscript away for a day, week, month, and then go back. You might be surprised at how "right" your critiquer was! Take advantage of these critique opportunities at conferences if you can.

*Join a critique group, if you haven't! Contact Edith Cohn @ CritiqueConnect@yahoo.com

*Join the SCBWI/OC listserv: scroll down homepage of website to join. http://www.scbwisocal.org/index.html

*The state of industry: Still extremely tough out there. Just keep writing. It's a great time to work on your craft and write the story you truly want to write.

Assignment: We all wrote a one sentence logline for our story. It's tough, but absolutely necessary so you can pitch your story quickly and succinctly when someone asks, "So what's your story about." Rehearse your logline to avoid a rambling, incoherent 10-minute summary (that we've all experienced!)

We will be finding a new OC Schmooze location for next month.

Happy writing, and see you in October!

Lori

Let's Schmooze! October 17th

Illustrators' Schmooze in OC
Saturday, October 17
10:30 til noon
at the studio of Marilyn Scott-Waters

Halloween Costume and Sketch Day
Come wearing a costume. Or persuade a friend or relative into wearing one, and bring him along. Treats will be provided for the models. Don't forget your sketching materials.

And, as usual, you're always welcome to bring your latest children's book project to share with the group.

Contact me if you need directions to Marilyn's.

See you there!

Veronica Walsh
green2cats@yahoo.com

Let's Review the Westside Writers Schmooze Review of the SCBWI Summer Conference

We were Tanned.

We were Rested.

We were happy kids were back in school!

29 of us writers and creative types gathered at the Schmooze in September. We told stories of our summers spent writing and being creative, shared good news, and recapped our favorite moments from this year's SCBWI Summer Conference.

Schmooze attendees brought their Summer Conference notes, and as we discussed our three categories of

Craft, Business, and Inspiration

Everyone shared their favorite gems and takeaways--like this one from author Frank Portman:

"It's amazing how much you can cut and still have it."

Or this idea from the master class with Linda Sue Park:

The only way we can ever know get to know people in real life - what they're feeling, who they are - is through their words and actions.

We talked up the Conference Schmooze Blog, where you can find an amazing wealth of Conference information, and the Conference photos, where you can see what the experience was like and (if you were there) find photos of yourself.

We even did exercises, like this one about brainstorming new kinds of conflict, given by Ingrid Law at her breakout session at the conference.

And we shared tips, like this final take-home exercise (inspired by a Kathleen Duey suggestion), which was to look over your notes from the conference, from the conference blog, and even from the schmooze. Take the one piece of advice or quote that most resonates for you, and put it up by your work area.

We ended the evening with two of the most inspiring talks of the Summer Conference: the opening keynote by Sherman Alexie and the closing keynote by Kathleen Duey. Here are two of our favorite gems:

Sherman Alexie:

You write for that 1% for whom your book will be their new bible, and you're going to be their prophet. . . . No matter who you write for, you're going to save at least one person. What more could you ask for?

Kathleen Duey:

Stories don't just teach; they shield. If Captain Underpants can keep a child from hearing her parents fight, "it's literature to me."

So put up that quote, go forth, and conquer!


Rita Crayon Huang and Lee Wind

* * *

Please join us for our next Westside Schmooze on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 7 pm when we meet to discuss "The Horrors of Rejection" . . . and some happy endings! RSVPs to WestsideSchmooze@hotmail.com are requested but not required. Come one, come all!

(See details for how to find us, here.)