Comic-Con 2009

July 30th, 2009 by Sara

Mid-July always feels like christmas to me. That is, if Santa was a Trekkie who loved kids’ books.  July means Comic-Con and right on its heels comes the SCBWI Summer Conference.

I can’t imagine any two events more saturated with great minds, creative talent, and genuine inspiration.  So it was with a huge grin on my face that I walked out onto the expo floor on Wednesday night.  And Comic-Con did not disappoint.

There’s an infinite number of ways to amuse yourself at Comic-Con, a point that my friend and fantastic artist Andy Mitchell literally illustrates here.

One of my favorite ‘distractions’ of the long weekend was Quick Draw!  It’s a battle of speed and humor pitting 3 artists against each other.  This year, it was Sergio Aragones from Mad Magazine, Scott Shaw from Hanna-Barbera, and Floyd Norman from Disney.

Displayed on giant projectors, their hands raced to draw a cross between a armadillo and a dung beetle, or to get a member of the audience to guess a secret word, or to illustrate scenarios.  Here’s Sergio Aragones’s answer to “Tragedy strikes Donald Duck.”

I also got a chance to hear Holly Black, author of Tithe and The Spiderwick Chronicles talk about outlining a novel and “the process of ingreatening it.”  She confessed that her original outlines often consist of “insert genius idea here” or “evil is defeated.”  It’s lovely to know that fascinating stories can still materialize out of humble beginnings.

She also spoke about how lazy her characters are.  Holly Black lamented that, while other writers talk about their characters dictating the story to them, her characters spend the whole book trying to get out of being the protagonist.   She quipped that they don’t want to go on a quest, they just wanna go home.  Again, I found these confessions from such a great writer very reassuring.

I had other shining moments this weekend.  Hearing Ray Bradbury talk about the moon landing, Eoin Colfer and Mary Pearson sharing their author experiences, and literally running into Seth Green.  But what struck me most is that Comic-Con is a giant party of people that all love the same things.  All kinds of artists gather together to show each other how they make their art and how much that art is appreciated. It’s a place where you can shake your hero’s hand and snap a picture.

Where you can meet the stars that make your favorite characters leap off the screen.  Or imagine what it would be like to be them.

Where the guy who made the homage t-shirt is thanked by the guy on the t-shirt.  Here it doesn’t matter if you’re an artist, a collector, a writer, a reader, an actor, or a fan. Because at Comic-Con, everyone is part of the same great story.

Posted in Authors, Books, Illustration, Nifty happenings, SCBWI, Writing

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Summer (conference) Reading

July 22nd, 2009 by Sara

When I was a kid, my library, like many others, had a summer reading program.  Every book I read racked up points towards stickers or McDonalds french fries or, my most coveted prize of all, the knotted pencil.  How did they even do that??

It was the highlight of my summer and I always read a ton of Newberys cause they were worth more points.  It’s also how I discovered one of my favorite all-time books, Journey Outside  by Mary Q. Steele, which, tragically, pretty much no one else has ever heard of.  Luckily, I read it enough times for all of you.

Sigh.  Those were the days.

Well, there’s no prizes for this list, but if you’re going to the SCBWI Summer Conference or you just want a good summer read, these books might come in handy.  These are some of my favorite books written by authors coming to this year’s conference.  It’s YA biased and I’m only including books I’ve read, so some great ones are probably left out.  I apologize in advance!

Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey -Awesomely dark fantasy, compellingly told in both first and third person.

King Dork by Frank Portman -Best made-up band names in the history of the world.

Catherine Called Birdy by  Karen Cushman -Cause medieval humor is the wackiest!

Tithe by Holly Black- Creepy fairies and teen angst…what better combination is there?

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie – You will literally laugh and cry at the same time.

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park -Exquisitely written, need I say more?

Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee – It’s funny cause it’s true.  Millicent’s humor is totally authentic.

And lets not forget picture books!  A couple of my favorite illustrator/authors are going to be speaking at the conference this year.

Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino – I can’t say enough good things about this simple, perfect father/son story.

Tuesday by David Wiesner – Flying frogs.  Let me just be clear about this.  Flying. Frogs.

Whether you’re a writer or a reader, summer is a time for sitting on the porch, munching on an Otter Pop, and falling into a book.  And each one of these is a perfect place to spend your summer vacation.

Posted in Authors, Books, Conference, I heart this book, Illustration, Nifty happenings, Picture books, SCBWI

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Field Trip!

July 15th, 2009 by Sara

There’s nothing like a field trip to break out of the routine and make some trouble.  Today, a group of illustrator/writer friends of mine packed our lunches, got on the bus, and descended upon the best kids’ book store in LA.  And by “the bus,” I mean our gumless, bully-free cars.  And by “packed our lunches” I mean pancakes at John O’Groats.  Sometimes I love being a grown-up!

Children’s Book World is a wonderful, well-stocked bookstore full of staff who love books and want to help you fall in love with them too.  They’ll work hard to find a perfect book-match for you.  Or if you want to have a good book debate, they’re the right people: smart, funny, and with definite opinions.  It’s a joy to go there and see what’s new, what the staff likes, and what people are reading.

Last year when I read 1000 picture books in 100 days, the folks at Children’s Book World were lifesavers, creating delicious piles of books for me to read while I sat on their comfy couch.  By the time I got halfway through the pile, they had already replenished it with a never ending stack of perfect books.  As you can see, the tradition has continued.

It was also wonderful to have illustrator friends Ken Min and Karyn Raz there to share their favorite artists and new picture books.  There is nothing like savoring picture books in the company of picture book creators.

And I had a kids book first.  With my friend, Wilson Swain, there in the bookstore, I bought The Castaway Pirates, a great pop-up picture book that he illustrated.  Then, there in the store, he autographed it for me.  Today was definitely a day for reveling in creative successes, wonderful stories, and talented friends.

Posted in Authors, Books, Illustration, Nifty happenings, Picture books, The Great Picture Book Read

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Appendicitis?

July 8th, 2009 by Sara

Recently, I’ve been doing some story soul searching.  And I’ve learned an important revision lesson… something simple that every doctor knows well: The symptom of the problem is often different from the problem itself.

For example, an upset stomach could just mean you ate too much Chunky Monkey.  Or it could mean you have appendicitis, vertigo, that you’re pregnant, have kidney failure, heart problems… or that you’re making yourself sick worrying that you have one of these things.  So pain in your stomach might not have anything to do with your stomach at all.

Same thing with a story.  Your critique group could tell you, “The dialogue’s not really flowing in this scene.”  And it’s probably true, but it might not be the actual problem.  The real problem could be that you, the writer, don’t know your character well enough to write them authentic dialogue.  Or maybe you’re trying to work information into the scene and it’s coming out forced.  Or that scene should come a lot earlier or later in the book.  Or maybe you have appendicitis.

The hardest part of revision is often tracking down the issue itself.  Because if you just take Tums, it might get rid of your stomach ache for a little while, but the real problem is gonna come back and kick you in the teeth.

Which brings me to the work I’ve been doing with my amazing agent, Michael Bourret.  It’s like he has a story CAT scan.  He’s got a knack for skipping past the symptoms and diagnosing the actual problem.  It’s heavenly.  It saves hours of needless hospital visits and doctors bills… (I’ll leave it up in the air as to whether that’s metaphorical or literal.)  Unfortunately, once I have diagnosis, I don’t always have the cure.  Sigh… I guess that’s what being a writer is all about.  Better go self-medicate.

Posted in Revision, Writing

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