Lisa Yee's Blog: Awesome Author Autographs, Workshop Mayhem, and Another Party!

Lisa, you ask. How is it that the 40th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference is over, yet you are taking over 40 years to blog about it?

Well, I say, it's because THIS and THIS and THIS happened, and I didn't have room to tell you about this . . .

There was a fabulous party thrown by literary agent Steve Malk and Writers House, my literary agency where I'm represented by Jodi Reamer, who I hung out with HERE and HERE, recently.

The party was held at CAA, the glam Hollywood Talent agency . . .

Black boots? Black boots, you were wondering? Why yes, those belong to me and author/producer of Eureka, Paula Yoo . . .

The workshops were enlightening and incredible, like this one given by Caldecott medalist David Small . . .

Laurie Halse Anderson gave a killer (as in totally great) closing keynote address. However, Peepy was goofing off and didn't hear it, so Laurie had to give it all over again just for my Peep . . .

The conference was a chance for the attendees to get their books signed by the top names in the industry.

Here's Marla Frazee . . .

There's Caldecott medalist Jerry Pinkney and triple Newbery Honor winner Gary Paulsen . . .

Printz winner Libba Bray and former National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Jon Scieszka signed books at the same table. However, the longest like was for Peepy . . .

The next day it was time for the "Intensives." No, that's not the squeal to The Incredibles, though it very well could have been. It was for master classes given to attendees who wished to come for an extra day to learn more about the craft of writing and illustrating.

I taught a class called Creating Compelling Bad Guys and Bullies . . .

I made the writers work very hard, and sometimes it showed . . .

Martha Brockenbourgh wrote a great account of it HERE

After, I took a group photo of my students. It started our friendly, but soon degenerated. However, I am happy to report that most lived through the class . . .

I was so traumatized by the violence that there was only one thing to do. That's right. Have lunch with Newbery winner Linda Sue Park and Jim Averbeck, who both have new picture books that are currently in the production phase! They brought their F&Gs ("fold and gather" which is a picture book version of an galley) to lunch . . .

We'll finish up the conference report next blog with the faculty party and the annual Board of Advisors meeting. In the meantime, here's a weird horoscope I got a while ago . . .