The wino country conference held by SCBWI OC goes down as my fave so far. And not because of the wine. The editors, Noa Wheeler from Henry Holt, Laura Whitaker from Bloomsbury Children's Books, Martha Mihalick from Green Willow Books- Harper Collins, and Angie Chen of Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers rocked the house. Their presentations were interactive before the Q & A. The round table critique session gave me a lot to work with, and I loved that everyone read their 500 words out loud. I have to work on that speed critique technique; ). The setting allowed for intimacy among the writers, editors and staff. To walk up to or sit with an editor and ask a question was golden.
I was on the fence whether to make my YA into a MG. After Lin Oliver's insights on my pitch in her YA/MG workshop, I leaned toward MG. I later pitched my novel to every editor and asked whether it sounded YA or MG. They all said MG. So, higher MG it is. I didn't end up needing a glass of wine during first pages-the critiques were constructive and nice. Lastly, the grounds were gorgeous and I got to enjoy some music and dancing with some of my fellow writers.
I'm still assimilating all the information and I have set course to sail down the Strait of Revision this week.
p.s the blog title just came to me and made me laugh. A tribute to Michael Palin's Pontius Pilate in "Life of Bryan", LoL!
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