SCBWI LA 2012

 If I could just take a minute and plug my writing organization. The Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) has had a profound impact on my writing career. In fact, I credit SCBWI (specifically the International Conference in L.A.) for my book deal.  I know the day I signed up for SCBWI I took another huge leap toward becoming a professional in my field

One of the best parts about attending the international conference is:
Community.

These are some folks from my region at the Golden Kite luncheon. We go as individuals. But also as a region. And also as part of a greater international community. To be in the room with 1234 people who are trying to do what you're doing is powerful. We understand the dream in each other heart and soul. And in a competitive world, we do the opposite: We push each other forward. Hoping for bookstores to stay alive and for all of us to have our names on the spines inside.

 Another Great Part of the conference:

Being in the Keynote speeches.

The inspiration that is shared from the main stage is unbelievable. Writing advice. Life advice. Laughter. Tears. I know I've been changed by the things I have heard in this ballroom with these amazing people.




Don't think all we do is work. Every year we take time off and ...

Dance.

The annual poolside gala is a costume party. This year it was the Hippie Hop. This is the deep breath of the conference. Just at the moment when you're exhausted and full, they throw a party. And life comes tumbling back into our lungs and we're ready for another day.

 

 If you attend the conference you might have the chance to ...

Meet your agent.

So many professionals in the field take the opportunity to fly to LA to lead sessions and panels and do critiques. In a relationship usually maintained over the web, the conference gives you face-to-face time with the people who are shaping your manuscript and career.

And if you don't have an agent, it is a prime time to mingle, see who you like, hear what they like, find out their submission guidelines.


I can't promise you this, but it's always been true for me. The conference is a great place to...

Make new friends. The lifetime kind.

 Every year I meet people and I think ... How did I ever get along without you? You'll meet people that are infused with joy and laughter and folks who seem to know the inside of your soul without speaking. And you'll be thankful that you paid for the conference because the return isn't just a professional one ... it's friendship.

It's also a place where...

Your old friendship grow strong. Stronger. Impenetrable. Super-hero(ish)

I've made friends in such random ways. Like through a random blog pitch contest. And we found ourselves talking online and then finally meeting face-to-face at this conference for the first time. The conference is the sort of place that makes Alaska and Kentucky not seem to far apart. And then there are the people who "Do Life" with you. They're in the trenches. Not just the writing trenches, but the places where the rubber meets the road. Spending four or five days with them, sharing a hotel, hanging in the lobby, and sharing meals only helps to build on the foundation of love and admiration and thankfulness that is already present. And they are there for your ah-ha moments. The moments when you realize at the conference the book you have to write or the profession you have to choose. There's no one else I'd rather have at my side.

You can barely see it in this picture to the left, but that's the ocean. Yes, we're acting silly. (We're good at that.) But I'd never seen the ocean on this side of the world before. I got to see it for the first time with my agent-mates. Of course we took our Kelly's Angels picture because who wouldn't when you're in good company with an ocean and a Farris wheel and a pier?

And last, but certainly not least, you can start and keep your own traditions. Everywhere I go, I get a picture of me in a tree. Here's my one from this year. It's the only tree I've ever been in that was completely parallel to the ground. So cool.

I'm challenging you to go. To be changed. To see for yourself that it's worth it.

My Name on a Spine

Words that I will never forget: "Courtney, I have an early birthday gift for you." 

My agent called on Wednesday, June 13th to tell me that HarperCollins (Harper Teen) offered a contract on Faking Normal, my debut novel. My agent and new editor spent the next two days doing what Agents and Editors do and we accepted on Friday, June 15th, my 33rd birthday. 

Here are my thoughts:

1) My book gets to be a book.

2) Can I keep my mom quiet until they release this officially? (Not completely.) But I can't blame her. She's been such a great partner to me. If you only knew how bad my grammar was (and sometimes still is) when we started five years ago, you would give the woman three gold stars.

3) I have the best agent and editor in the world. I am so blessed by the professionals in my life. I pray every writer with dreams in their heart has a day when they are paired with the perfect person. 

4) My critique partners have their fingerprints all over this manuscript. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

5) Did I really start this entire process (on Faking Normal) August 8th of 2011? (Yes- even though it doesn't seem possible. Oh, what a year!)

6) My accountability group believed in me much more than I believed in myself. Thank you to them for BELIEVING BIG and doing the dance (They know which one).

7) In the season when my husband and I needed encouragement the most- God delivers. Perfect timing.

There's so much more to say, and I'm sure I'll find the words over time, but for now, here is the release from PW.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/deals/article/52702-deals-week-of-june-25-2012.html

Prayers of a Newborn Author

I have been on a print journey since September of 2007. One fall day, I woke up with an idea for a series of books (which will probably never see the light of day). And I was obedient to this idea, a slave to the concept that I would someday become an author.

And because I know I’m not the only one out there who has been on a quest for an agent and someday a publisher, here is a little bit more of the back story. A short timeline from idea to agent.

September of 2007-2009- I wrote and re-wrote the first book of said series

September 2009- Joined SCBWI (Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) and attended my first Mid-South Conference

October 2009- Joined a critique group in Bowling Green

July of 2010- I started my first realistic fiction manuscript SOME SECRETS BLEED

March 2010- I sent out my first ever query letters on the series book to the faculty of the conference

September 2010- Attended my second SCBWI Mid-South Conference and got an honorable mention in the fiction contest for SOME SECRETS BLEED

                              (Met Kelly Sonnack for the first time)

June 2011- I queried a handful of agents on SOME SECRETS BLEED

July 2011- I joined a second critique group in Nashville

August 2011- Attended my first SCBWI National Conference in Los Angeles. I had a critique on that series book with Beverly Horowitz, who told me to go write the book I HAD TO WRITE

August 2011- I started TWENTY-THREE- the book I had to write

September 2011- Attended my third SCBWI Mid-South Conference and pitched TWENTY-THREE to Erin Murphy

Between August 8^th-October 18^th- I wrote and re-wrote and re-wrote TWENTY-THREE, following the request of Kevan Lyon

November-December 2011- I started two next realistic fiction manuscripts to explore which would become my next project. I decided to pursue one called Unit 42

December 2011- I queried Kelly Sonnack

January 5^th-12^th 2012- The week all the amazing agents read TWENTY-THREE

January 12^th 2012-– Court signs (agrees by phone) with Andrea Brown agent, Kelly Sonnack

Upon getting my dream, dream, dream agent, what did I do???

-scream.

-shout.

-dance.

-cry tears of happiness.

-cry tears of fear.

ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Since I am a youth minister and I make no apologies for the fact that I use the lens of faith to understand my life, the first thing I did was sit down with God and process how I felt. And in a moment of transparency- I’ll share with you my journal entry from that evening.

January 12, 2012

There is a moment of fear, terror really, that follows the moment of peaceful success. Yes. For this very breath and second, I hold this accomplishment, this achieved goal in my hand, but my fingers are not yet conditioned to hold on. What if I can’t maintain? Why does this thief by the name- SELF-Doubt- sneak in and so quickly make my heart beat fast with fear instead of excitement?

All I can do is pray.

Oh God, Father, Abba, Creator, when you breathed into me to bring me to life, that breath contained words. Words of a future, a plan for me, a good plan for me … I story I would tell that you’ve been telling: LOVE IS REAL. LOVE IS REDEMPTIVE. (As I'm fond of saying, Everything has redemptive possibilities.) Help me to believe those words won’t run out. Help me to believe that you gave me a lifetime supply instead of 80,000. Help me to know I won’t let you down.

I am happy.

I am scared.

Of failing. Of succeeding. Of only succeeding once. Of letting people down. Especially Kelly. Of not enjoying the moment in front of me because of future fears.

I said yes today to a career in books. Today, I make the first step toward being an author. I might have my name on a spine someday. But I know, God, that it is your name that rightfully goes there. You did this. Not me. I prayed and words came. You came. I trust you to keeping coming and breathing words, poetry, dialogue, life into me.

I trust you to help me believe this prayer. Even now- when it’s hard. Help me rise to the occasion by falling on my knees in thanks and praise. Give me the patience and faith to believe without seeing- because right now, I don’t know how to write what is next. Or I’m scared that I’ll never write better than now. And God, that sucks, because the whole goal of my life is to always be on a journey toward better. What if I can’t?

Be the whisper. The whisper that says, You WILL. You can. You have to... Not because I’m pressuring you, but because you’ve got the creator in you. THE CREATOR. And I like to share.

Share with me.

Share the words of a 1000 books

Share the words of a 1000 books that matter

Share the words of a 1000 books that matter and are beautiful

Share the words of a 1000 book that matter and are beautiful and connect me to people in need

And now God, if it’s not asking too much, I pray for the people around me. Kelly. Give her the plan for me. Give her wisdom and favor. Build and multiply her career. Tell her how to challenge and encourage me. For Twenty-Three. For Book Two. For books two to a thousand. And for the way she leads her other clients, especially Jess and Sharon, give her a vision beyond our todays into our tomorrows. Please give them all ten times their hopes and dreams.

And the people around me- the creative folks who share their lives with me- my mom, dad, Adam, CJ, my amazing, amazing critique groups, Ruta, Jess, Erica, and all the cheerleaders (Katie, Leah, Brooke)- the professionals who have encouraged me (Sarah, Kevan, Erin, Tina, Tricia, Emily) Bless them. Bless them more than you bless me. I need them all. Raise them up. Let them have their dreams come true the way mine started coming true today. I wouldn’t be here without them. I wouldn’t. This I know.

And it is You – the path-crosser of destiny, friendship and love - who puts me in their life’s way. You told them to chant move, keep going, you can, you will, just move on the path toward your dream.

And I move.

Today, I move toward the unknown to me and the certain for you. Oh, how I’m scared. Oh, how I’m grateful.

A Thanksgiving Walk

Dreams are such funny things, such funny destinations, such funny endeavors. I have come realize the paradox of how reachable and unreachable they are. Alone it is impossible but together ...possible. (My savior said that to me once, "With man things are impossible, but with God, all things are possible.") I hear the echoes of God in the friends and family from this season of life. And for them, ("the secret society"), I crafted a little poem of thankfulness. Perhaps there is someone this season you need to thank.

There is a chasm between me and my dreams.

It is not deep, but it is very wide and uncrossable.

In the chasm is a row of people, a row of women.

Their heads all face toward my destination: the other side.

They stand shoulder to shoulder,

They are a bridge of eyes who see me

For who I will be instead of who I am.

They see future-me, but love present-me all the same.

They are a bridge of ears that listen for discouragement in my voice.

"Yes, you will," they say, when my voice quivers,

"The other side is too far."

They are a bridge of mouths, and their echoes sound in my mind until ...

Like a living robot, I repeat the mantra they would have me believe.

I can.

I will.

I am walking across.

I am walking toward what I cannot live without.

They are a bridge of shoulders, strong and unyielding.

This is where I stand.

This is where I am stepping and walking but being carried all the same.

Carried from here to there,

From impossible to possible,

From dream to reality

on the shoulders of my friends.

Bearing the weight of me and this twelve-ton dream,

they smile and nod and push and prod until I take another step.

Because of them,

I cross over the chasm of can't

and into the land of must.

Grateful

Okay, there's some serious dust on my blog, like the old abandoned, spooky house sort of dust. But I'm coming out of blog hiding to participate in a contest sponsored by Beth Revis, author of the amazing Across the Universe novel. She's challenging us to be thankful for our favorite book.

It's easy to be thankful. It's not easy to pick a FAVORITE. But I'll just go with my all-time favorite. (But please note, I could very easily choose the Harry Potter books, Divergent, Anne of Green Gables, The Hunger Games, the Belgariad series by David Eddings, or one of my critique partner's manuscripts.)

My all-time favorite is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. I will never get over the scene when Eustuce is de-dragoned by Aslan. That scene often forces tears to my eyes, because no-where else in fiction do I find my own story more vividly told. I am that Dragon.

So burdened. Rotten. Spoiled. Lonely. Finally understanding my shortcomings and how they hold others back. Wishing I could be something different. Wanting so desperately to remove the scales myself but finding myself inadequate to do so.

It's humbling. And life-changing to me. And it's new every time I read it. Which I do at least once a year to my college students. I even have them write a letter about their own dragons. I do it because there is nothing more powerful than the idea of a real change taking place. Transformation from one thing to another. From rotten to reformed. From spoiled to blessed. From using others to being used for others. For being content in who I am and the story I've lived. For submitting myself and letting the scales be removed.

I am so very thankful that C.S. (Jack) Lewis had his own thumb on the pulse of transformation enough to leave this trail for me.

What about you? Have you had a book you go back to and back to and back to- because you must? A passage you've read out loud (because stories are best shared when your voice and the author's are combined)? A piece of fiction that feels like your non-fiction?

Let us know. Because we want to read it, too.


And here's how you can be grateful, too: http://networkedblogs.com/pdZmv

Flood

I traveled home to Bandana, KY, for Mother's day. Now, Bandana (I'm sure you've heard of it. Ha.) has only these limited claims to fame:

-Near Monkey's Eyebrow (which you might have heard of due to the ridiculous nature of the name) The photo on the right is on the curve of Monkey's Eyebrow.
-Was once called Skillet and renamed Bandana after the Gypsies came to town.

-In Ballard County (which is bordered on three sides by the Ohio River)

-I tried to think of a fourth, but ...

However, right now, the attention of the country has fallen on the south because of the flooding and tornado  damage. If you live on the river, whether in an urban or rural area, you understand the crazy weather patterns that follow the river as well as the way we river-dwellers live and die with the current water table. It is making or missing the mortgage for farmers. It's sandbagging one year or praying until your knees bleed for rain the next. It is having a home one day and a snake-infested river crest in your living room the next. It is knowing that those amazing lakes, refuges, and homes are all in jeopardy by the amazing, powerful river that runs through our land.

*Have you ever felt the ground quake beneath you because the Army Corp of Engineers had to blow a levee? I know people who have.
*Have you ever put everything you own in storage because the river is going to crest above your house? I know people who have.

*Have you ever moved your TV's to the attic to keep them above the crest? I know who people who have.

*Have you ever filled a sandbag and thrown it on top of several other thousand sandbags? I have.

(They're heavy by the way. On the news, if you see people tossing them, say a prayer, their arms will ache that evening.)

*Have you ever shot 80 snakes (some poisonous) in a single day to keep them from infesting your land and home? I know people who have.

*Have you ever wondered if it's worth it to go home again? I know people who have.

*Have you ever ripped the lid off a flood bucket and gone to work on mold with Bleach and mop? I have.

*Have you sat on the porch and watched the water rise up around you in the length of a heart beat and know that your porch is now a boat dock. I know people who have. (And a few who have done some pretty great fishing off that same porch.)

*Ever been evacuated or moved in with a neighbor, stayed in a shelter, rented a short term apartment because there's no place else to go? I know people who have.

If you are fortunate enough to have only seen these things on the news ... then maybe first, say a prayer of thanks and second, maybe start to ask what you can do to help the people who have been displaced by the water. There are tons of ways to help on a local and national level.

People are making shelters for pets (because most shelters for people don't allow pets.)

People are filling flood buckets (you can see the list and how on UMCOR here : http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/print/kits/floodbucket.stm )

People are taking food and clothes to local shelters.

People are hosting displaced neighbors and family members in their homes.

People are talking and helping displaced folks cope and make decisions about what to do next.

People are helping other people rebuild (After the crest and water recedes)

People are praying.

People are still sandbagging.

People are teaming up with the National Guard to help fill and deliver sandbags.

People will show up eventually to move all those sandbags away from homes.

People are driving flood buckets across the state.

People are writing checks to organizations that handle recovery relief.

People are being people- loving others the way they love themselves- by showing up to clean and help.

Are you one of these people? I'll bet you are. Because, as in that first photo on this page, there's a road beneath the water. And on that road could be where your home is, or mine. It might be us. And as long as we remember it might be our farm and crop, our home, our neighbor, or grandmother, or church family member, or parents, or US - We will be hands and feet of healing and change. These are just a few of the pictures from Ballard County, and there are a hundred more from other river counties.

As in these photos:
The road is closed.

The road ends in water.

But they won't forever.

And when they are open again...

Neighbors and family and friends and maybe strangers who have become friends will travel these concrete paths again and find that they have opened more roads with life and love than the river can ever close with a downpour of rain.

Pitch Contest with Natalie Fischer

Pitch Contest with Natalie Fischer!

Check out the YATOPIA Website - http://yatopia.blogspot.com/2011/04/pitch-contest-with-natalie-fischer.html to participate.

Here is what they have to say about the contest:

"Hello guys. I have another amazing opportunity for you. Fantastic agent, Natalie Fischer of Bradford Lit agency, is going to be hosting this round of pitch contest! And some of you lucky people will get the chance to submit to Natalie after... (she's currently closed to submissions).To see what a recent interview with Natalie and to find out her likes, visit here. The only difference from the other pitch contests is that us YAtopians will choose our top 20 to give to Natalie who will then pick her winners from that.

Don't miss out on this great opportunity!

Of course, there are guidelines and rules... Pretty much the same as before, but we'll go through them again.
1) Be a follower of the blog.
2) Blog about this contest and include a link with your entry. If you don't have a blog, you may tweet or make a facebook status. But we prefer blog.
3) Create a TWO SENTENCE pitch. And not a massively long run-on sentence either. Two concise sentences that will hook Natalie to your book and have her desperate to read more.
4) Include the opening line of your manuscript.
5) Manuscripts that you submit should be completed. I leave it up to you whether you decide to submit a half finished manuscript. You'll have to deal with it SHOULD Natalie request you send her the full.
6) This contest will be capped at either 150 entries OR will end midnight on the 21st April.7) Winners to be announced (along with prizes) on 28th April.
8) Any age any genre accepted!"