Is It Time You Tried a Residency for Writers? by Jean Alicia Elster

I don’t think there is a writer alive who has not, at one time or another, looked up from their computer screen, gazed wistfully out of a nearby window and sighed, “Oh, if I could only get away and just focus on my writing!”  Well, I’m here to tell you that you can—you can get away and do just that. And the vehicle that makes it all possible is what is known as a residency for writers or artists.

I was introduced to the benefits of a residency by my then-mentor at another writers organization. She was glowing in her effusive praise about her recent residency at the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, Illinois. Armed with the conviction that if my mentor, who was actually at the same point in her fiction-writing career as I was, could make it into one of the coveted residency spots then so could I—as well as the fact that Lake Forest was only a five-hour drive from metro Detroit—I went to ragdale.org and downloaded the application materials. The rest is history: I was accepted into a residency for the following year, 2001, and then via subsequent applications for the years 2003 and 2005.

Because each residency program is different and offers its own perks and limitations, pick one that is right for you and your personality. Do you crave just a cabin in the woods where you prepare your own food and live off the grid? Do you want meals prepared by a chef and served on a dining room buffet?  Do you want to be close to home or is a plane ride away to one of the coasts no big deal for you? Do you want the company of writers only or are you interested in sharing time with creative types of other disciplines? Is cost a major factor? The cost at Ragdale is generously subsidized by the organization. Some residencies require writers to foot the entire bill. Go online and do your research. Also, Poets and Writers magazine periodically devotes a portion of an issue to various residencies and retreats.



As I reflect upon my three residencies at Ragdale, the following thoughts stand out and explain why those times were so helpful to my life as a writer and to my fiction-writing career:

·      The daily contact with other professionals pursuing creative endeavors was invigorating beyond words. To be able to have regular conversations and interactions, particularly during communal meals, with others who shared a similar commitment to an artistic or literary endeavor provided a validation of purpose that invigorated and confirmed my creative processes.

·      As a writer, to be freed from routine daily tasks (such as cooking, housekeeping, attendance at a day job and, yes, parenting) in order to concentrate exclusively on a creative task allowed me to focus my complete thought processes and the unencumbered will of my muse on my manuscript. Such single-minded devotion meant that I could complete more work in a two-week residency than I could have completed in six months at my desk at home. (I do not exaggerate—other writers-in-residence have concurred with that statement).

·      Preparing for the residency and actually leaving home (at the time of my first residency, my husband asked me, “Why are you abandoning us?”) helped the significant people in my life—namely my husband and children—understand how important my identity as a writer is to me and that I needed a span of time to give that part of my life the same level of devotion that I give to them.

Even though it has been over a decade since my last residency at Ragdale, I still cherish the benefits of those three sessions. And I heartily encourage you, at some point in your literary career, to seek your own time away to focus solely on your writing. If I can do it, so, indeed, can you!

Jean Alicia Elster is the author of several books of children’s, middle grade and young adult fiction. Her two most recent books—Who’s Jim Hines? and The Colored Car (both published by Wayne State University Press)—were selected as Michigan Notable Books by the Library of Michigan. She recently submitted the trilogy’s third volume, Blood Journey, to her WSU Press editor and is eager to begin the process of editing the manuscript. Keep up with her at her website, on Facebook and on Twitter.




Coming up on the Mitten Blog: Our blog banner changes every quarter thanks to our Featured Illustrators, and Nina Goebel is preparing to unveil our newest banner. Nina created our Happy Holidays banner and will introduce our new Featured Illustrator next Friday!

Happy New Year!
Kristin Lenz

Hugs and Hurrahs and Happy Holidays from The Mitten!

As the end of the year quickly approaches, our thoughts turn to celebrations. Whether you wish your friends and neighbors a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa or other holiday greeting, December is all about gathering together with those we love and being thankful for the year’s blessings. And in 2016, we SCBWI Mitten-folk had lots to celebrate! So, before I tell you all our recent happy publishing news, here are the 2016 good news tallies I’ve collected from all of you talented Michkids throughout the year:

• YA Contracts/Releases- 5

• Magazine Pieces, Short Stories, Poems, Cartoons, Testing Pieces, etc.- 39

• Speaking Engagements/Blog Tours-  11

• Agent Signings- 3

• Picture Book Contracts/Releases- 51

• Middle Grade Contracts- 2

• Awards/Degree Completion- 32

• Illustration Contracts/Releases- 3

Those are some pretty impressive numbers kidlit friends, and that doesn’t begin to count all the manuscripts submitted, classes taken and conferences attended. You all deserve a massive pat on the back and extra piece of cake for all of your hard work this year!

And now, let’s end this year with a bang. . . here’s all of your good news from October through December!

Congratulations to Barbara Rebbeck whose novel, NOLA GALS, won a bronze medal in the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards in the Young Adult historical/cultural category. The awards ceremony took place in Traverse City on Nov.12 during the annual Children's Book Festival. This award makes five competitions where NOLA GALS has won recognition.

So proud of you Barbara!

Hats off to Leslie Helakoski! Her picture book, WOOBUR, was recently featured on Princeton University’s creative literacy blog with a fun activity for kids. Here’s the direct link:

https://popgoesthepage. princeton.edu/do-your-own- thing/

You’re awesome Leslie!

Neal Levin’s poem "Owl-oween" was published in the October 2016 issue of Highlights For Children, and his poem "Won't You Be My Frankenstein?" was published in the October 2016 issue of Spider. Neal’s poem "Moon Mice" has been published in the poetry anthology One Minute Till Bedtime, edited by former US Children's Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt (Little Brown).

Way to go Neal!

Congratulations to Jennifer Burd for winning Michigan SCBWI’s year-long mentorship with Deborah Diesen. Jennifer's manuscript is called WHEN YOU SIT IN ONE PLACE.

The runners- up were: Sue Agauas with HOW TO WASH YOUR ELEPHANT

And Jayne Economos with NAN'S MAGIC CARPET. 

Congratulations to all of you!

Hats off to Nick Adkins and the MSUWriting Center/Red Cedar Writing Project. Nick's day job is working for the MSU Writing Center and the Red Cedar Writing Project and with the help of his colleagues they received a grant from the Arts Council of Greater Lansing! This grant will create scholarships for several low income children to attend Writing Camp next summer.

Way to go Nick!

Three cheers for Rhonda Gowler Green who celebrated the launch of her latest picture book, PUSH, DIG, SCOOP, A CONSTRUCTION COUNTING RHYME, at the Huntington Woods Library on November 5^th. The Book Beat in Oak Park was on hand to sponsor Rhonda’s launch. Rhonda is also happy to announce that Push! Dig! Scoop! is now in a Finnish edition. Weston Woods Studios has also made a video of her book, The Very First Thanksgiving Day.

Congratulations Rhonda!

Teresa Crumpton is happy to announce that, as of November 1, she has completed her editing mentorship with Inspirare LLC. And her new manuscript-editing company, Author Spark, Inc. has officially opened its cyber-doors.

So excited for you Teresa! 

Husband and wife author-illustrator team, Darrin and Karen Brege are happy to announce the release of two new books- their first picture book, MONSTERS FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL, and the third installment in their GHOST BOARD POSSE series, GHOST BOARD POSSE #3, ICE CAVERN CADAVERS. You can learn more about them at www.monstermyths.com.

So excited for you Darrin and Karen!

Monica Harris has been very busy since our last Hugs and Hurrahs! She sold one testing piece to DRC Nebraska and three testing pieces to DRC Wisconsin. 

s

Monica's 16 Korean leveled reader books are also out. HOP AND BOP and I LOVE MY FAMILY are just two of her 16 titles! You can see the rest of the lovely cover images on Monica's website.  

Happy dancing for you Monica!

Jacquie Sewell is happy to share that she recently signed a contract with Peninsulam Publishing for her picture book about the Mackinac Bridge, tentatively titled MIGHTY MAC, THE BRIDGE THAT MICHIGAN BUILT. This project has been over ten years in the works from idea to contract signing, and if all goes as planned the book should be out by the end of next year. So very happy for you Jacquie!

In October, Lori McElrath-Eslick was a speaker for the TEDxMuskegon.

Lori titled the talk, ART: Make It Your 'Favorite Inch' of the Day! Before and after two major surgeries, Lori talked about her focus on the joy of painting a day, and making it, in her words,"my favorite inch of my day, and wish to encourage all creatives to use your creative gifts, even if it is as small as one inch...each day. For joy. For your heart.”

The TEDxTalk is available at this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV9GtcbzPS8&t=7s&list=PLmpFYatfc3t7VsX2UvY9xZXba1oI_ZFi0&index=13

So proud of you Lori!

My fellow authors Ruth McNally Barshaw, Charlie Barshaw, Lisa Rose and I are happy to announce (now that we can) the launch of the new Amazon App, AMAZON RAPIDS. AMAZON RAPIDS features short stories for kids ages 7-12 written completely in text-message format. These illustrated “conversations” between characters hope to encourage young readers by presenting stories in a comfortable and familiar format. Our current stories are (with more to come):  

Ruth 

Throw Me A Bone

Unfair-y Tale

Zombie's Plot

Not-So-Bad Guys

Charlie 

If Wishes Were Unicorns

Clothes Call

Lisa

Venus Flytrap vs. Bee

The Best Christmas Tree Ever

Worm vs. Early Bird

Patti

Captain Pete and Tweet

It’s been a challenging and fun project that’s for sure, and the final product looks amazing!

Buffy Silverman is happy to announce that a recent monarch butterfly obsession has become a photo essay for Ask Magazine. The photo-essay called, “Magical Monarchs,” chronicled the lives of monarchs that Buffy raised in 2015, and appeared in the magazine’s October issue. Buffy is also excited that her poems, "Life of a Leaf" and "Five Little Bandits" also appeared in the October, 2016 issues of Cricket and Ladybug. 

So happy for you Buffy!

Erin Brown Conroy is excited that her new book, Basic Code Sound SignS, comes out this month (December 2016). Basic Code Sound Signs is a photo book with hand signs to help young children learn the sounds and letters of the alphabet or the "Basic Code" using a special arrangement of the alphabet and hand positions that help children understand how reading English works. 

Three cheers Erin!

Kristin Lenz, Lisa Wheeler, Brynne Barnes, Debbie Diesen, Rhonda Gowler Greene, Patricia Polacco, and Janice Broyles all had books on the MI bestseller top 10 list for November 2016. Read the full story here: http://www.themorningsun.com/arts-and-entertainment/20161208/michigans-best-selling-book-list-for-november-2016

Huge congratulations to all of you!

And last but certainly not least, we’d like to offer a special “Thank You” to the Orion Township Library for organizing an Author Fair with 26 Michigan authors and illustrators! SCBWI-MI members gathered for a group photo. Pictured from left to right are, Kathryn Allen, Amy Nielander, Kristin Lenz, Kris Remenar, Matt Faulkner, Ruth and Charlie Barshaw, Heather Meloche, Alison DeCamp, and Jean Alicia Elster.

What an awesome group!

Well, that’s it for this year ladies and gentlemen. I know I’ve said it many times before, but I’m so proud to be part of this incredibly talented group. Thank you so much for sharing your fabulous and inspiring news!   

And now from all of us at The Mitten- may your holidays be happy, your celebrations cheery and may 2017 bring more wonderful, life-affirming and light-giving stories to life through each of us for the most important people of all- the children.

Blessings friends,

Patti, Kristin and Nina

SCBWI 2016 Magazine Merit Award Winner: an Interview with Neal Levin by Charlie Barshaw

Neal Levin is a freelance children's writer and illustrator in Michigan. As a writer he specializes in poetry and short stories (mostly for magazines and anthologies), and as an illustrator he specializes in cartooning. He has had over 250 stories, poems, articles, puzzles, and cartoons published in a variety of places, ranging from Highlights For Children to The Saturday Evening Post.

Question in rhyme (limerick-style):
There once was a poet named Neal
His limericks were the real deal
He’s published the most
In The Sat. Evening Post
Now tell me, Neal, how does it feel?

Thanks for asking, Charlie. It's a lot of fun! For those who don't know, The Saturday Evening Post has a limerick contest in every issue (six times a year) where you have to write a limerick to go along with a certain picture. I think I won about 15 times so far, although only four were official "winners" and the rest were runners-up. Although this is not actually a children's publication, it's still good writing practice. Anyone who wants to try it can find the contest online: www.saturdayeveningpost.com/limerick-contest

And, a follow up: do you have a special affinity for limericks?

Not necessarily. I love writing children's poems, but I don't write a lot of limericks, apart from that contest.

Okay, on to normal questions:
Who were your favorite poets when you were young?

Shel Silverstein, of course! But to be honest, I didn't read a lot of poetry as a kid. I did write poems starting at a young age, however.

Tell us more about the SCBWI awards. You won a Merit Plaque for poetry for your poem Cavemanners, which appeared in Spider. You also won (the only name to appear twice in the announcement, congrats!) an Honor Certificate for Messy Messages a poem appearing in Highlights.

SCBWI gives out an annual Merit Award and Honor Award in five different categories for magazine work published during the previous year. The categories are fiction, nonfiction, illustration, poetry, and YA. They also give out a few Letters of Merit. In 2015, I received a Letter of Merit for poetry (and coincidentally, the poem that won the Merit Award that year was one I had illustrated, but didn’t write). Then in 2016, I received the two awards you mentioned above. Any SCBWI member who publishes original magazine work is eligible, and again you can find information online: www.scbwi.org/awards/magazine-merit-award/

Aside from originating from the mind of Neal Levin, how are your cartoons and your poetry related?

That's a good question, because they often aren't. Most of the poems I've had published were illustrated by other people, as assigned by the editors. I always enjoy seeing how other illustrators interpret my writing -- sometimes in ways I didn't anticipate. I also enjoy seeing how different illustrators interpret the same poem when it's republished in more than one place. There have even been times that I've been assigned to illustrate poems other people wrote. I hope to get around to illustrating more of my own poetry one day.

In a Debbie Diesen interview, you mentioned doing cartooning workshops after school for kids. What do kids gain when they learn to cartoon?

The cartooning workshops I teach are usually one-day classes, so they serve as an introduction to drawing and hopefully inspire kids to practice more on their own, which is how I learned to draw. Since many of the students have never drawn cartoons before, I think the biggest thing kids gain is the discovery that cartooning is actually not that difficult to learn, as well as the confidence that they can create finished drawings on their own by the time they leave the class.

You’ve been published in a number of poetry anthologies, especially ones edited by Bruce Lansky. Can you tell us about your working relationship with Bruce?

I have to give credit to Bruce Lansky (and his former poetry editor Angela) for starting my professional poetry career, as they were the first ones to publish my poems and encourage me to keep writing them. This was about 10-15 years ago, when Bruce's company Meadowbrook Press was putting out a number of anthologies and eventually included around 18 of my poems in eight different collections. Some of those poems were also resold through Meadowbrook Press, and through their agreement I retain copyright and also get royalties from resales. Since then I've had poems published in anthologies from other companies, including Disney/Hyperion, Little Brown, Scholastic, Pomelo Books, and Chicken Soup For the Soul.

Have you considered publishing an anthology of your poetry? Possibly interspersed with your cartoons?

I would love to do that! However, selling a poetry collection is a lot harder than selling individual poems.

Tell us about being published in Mad Magazine For Kids. Was it a lifetime dream, or just another magazine sale?

Mad Kids was a short-lived magazine that only put out a few issues around 2007-2008. It was a younger kids' version of Mad Magazine with the same style of humor. This was one of those instances where other people illustrated my work. I had three poems published in three different issues and then was assigned a special feature: a whole set of funny poems about food to satirize the movie Ratatouille. It's unfortunate that the magazine folded, although the regular Mad is alive and well.

You were published in the anthology, Poems to Learn by Heart, apparently edited by Caroline Kennedy. The Caroline Kennedy? Did you get to meet her or talk to her?

You're right, that book was edited by President Kennedy's daughter, although I did not get to meet her. Apparently she had discovered my poem Baby Ate a Microchip and eventually decided to include it in her book.

Last, your website mentions that you retreat Up North all summer to work on a daily newspaper at Camp Walden. Can you tell us more?

It's true! I won't say how many years I've been going there -- okay, it's been 32 -- and yes, I put out a daily "newspaper" for the campers and staff. It's no more than a two-sided sheet of paper run off on a copy machine, but it gives me the chance to write funny stuff, draw pictures, and be creative all summer long. And, of course, the campers and staff help contribute. If you put together all those newspapers over the years, it would amount to over 3,000 pages of material! The majority of it, however, would only make sense to you if you went to that camp.

Read some of Neal's poems here:
Creepy Pizza
Swimming Lessons
Help the World

I began this interview with a question in rhyme, so here's a silly doodle ending:
There once was a group, smart and spry
Who'd create poems and stuff on the fly.
They're writers and drawers
Not ooh-ers and aw-ers
And they're called ess see bee douba you eye.

Charlie Barshaw loves to write posts for The Mitten, and interview people who really do something, like Neal Levin. This gives him an excuse for still struggling to finish the stubborn first draft of his YA novel. Thanks to editor Teresa Crumpton, his SCBWI-LA critique group, and The World's Greatest Critique Group, he's still plinking away at it.







Thanks for all of your hard work, Charlie! Pssst, Charlie has some book news. He has several stories published by Amazon's new children's reading app. Learn more at https://rapids.amazon.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/amazonrapids/.

Have you seen Neal Levin's kidlit inspired cartoons for adults? He has his own special page, Kiddie Litter, right here on the Mitten blog.

We'd also like to extend congrats to SCBWI-MI member Lori McElrath Eslick. She won a 2016 SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for Illustration. Kudos, Lori!

***Important Deadline***
Dec. 15th is the last day to apply for the SCBWI Annual Winter Conference Shutta Crum Scholarship. 
(Michigan members only.)
This scholarship will fund one Michigan SCBWI member's tuition for attendance at the Annual SCBWI Winter Conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York, NY. Dates: February 10-12, 2017. (Info: http://scbwi.org .) Early bird registration starts Oct. 24th. (Full early-bird registration fee only: $430.) Note: MI-SCBWI will fund transportation for the recipient up to $400.

And we have another busy weekend full of SCBWI-MI Merry Mitten Holiday events!

Saturday, December 10th

Book Beat

Lincoln Shopping Center  26010 Greenfield Rd, Oak Park, MI 48237 (248) 968-1190

Saturday, December 10th, 1PM-3PM

Jean Alicia Elster

Bookman

715 Washington Ave, Grand Haven, MI 49417 (616) 846-3520

Saturday, December 10 12PM-2PM

Lori Eslick

Amy Nielander

Kim Childress

Kazoo Books

2413 Parkview Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49008  (269) 385-2665

Saturday, December 10 11-2pm

Ruth McNally Barshaw

Leslie Helakoski

Deb Pilutti

Kristen Remenar

Matt Faulkner

Heather Smith Meloche

Buffy Silverman

Schuler Books & Music: Grand Rapids 
2660 28th Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512 616.942.2561

Saturday, Dec. 10 2PM-4PM

Erica Chapman

Janet Heller

PJ Lyons

Sunday, December 11th

Book Beat

Lincoln Shopping Center  26010 Greenfield Rd, Oak Park, MI 48237 (248) 968-1190

Sunday, December 11th 1PM-3PM

Patrick Flores-Scott

Schuler Books & Music: Okemos

Meridian Mall 1982 Grand River Ave Okemos, MI 48864 517.349.8840

Sunday, December 11 2PM-4PM

Erica Chapman

Peggy House

Kristin Lenz

Coming up next on the Mitten blog: The final Hugs and Hurrahs of 2016! We want to trumpet your success. Send your writing, illustrating, and book related good news to Patti Richards by Tuesday, December 13th to be included.

Cheers!

Kristin Lenz

On Being a PAL by Dawne Webber

I joined SCBWI in 2014, and it didn’t take long for my writer-self to realize I’d finally found a home and I couldn’t wait to get involved. I joined the MichKids listserv and began attending Shop Talks. When the conversation at one of the meetings revolved around querying, I offered to write a series of articles on SCBWI Michigan's blog, The Mitten. I’d spent a lot of time in the query trenches and hoped to make the process a little less intimidating.

I continued attending the Farmington Shop Talks and at the last meeting before summer break, we all bemoaned the fact we wouldn’t see each other until the fall. Being the social animal that I am, I offered to plan a night out so we could meet over the summer. I contacted Carrie Pearson, one of Michigan’s Co-Regional Advisors, wondering if it was possible to share the invitation to our night out with all the MichKid members. She thought it was a great idea, and the night out was quite a success.

I’d told Carrie that I wanted to get more involved in our chapter and a few months later, I got a call from her and Leslie Helakoski, SCBWI-MI’s other Co-Regional Advisor (they are lovely ladies).

They were looking for someone to communicate with Michigan’s 110 PAL members and share information regarding events, educational and marketing opportunities, as well as organizing PAL events and activities that would benefit them. They ended by asking if I would like to become the Michigan chapter’s first PAL Coordinator. That sounded right up my alley (excuse the cliché) and I enthusiastically accepted the position.

Before I continue, let me give a refresher on SCBWI’s levels of membership which are:

• Associate members - Open to unpublished writers and illustrators of children’s literature or media, and those with a general enthusiasm for the field. Writers or illustrators who have been published in markets other than children's literature (but not in children's literature), as well as journalists, bloggers, educators, teachers and librarians.

• Full members - Open to those whose books, articles, poems, stories, illustrations, photographs, films, television or electronic media for children have been published or produced.

• PAL members - This PAL doesn’t mean friend, although you may have a friend who is a PAL. PAL stands for Published and Listed. In a nutshell, the books of Published and Listed authors/illustrators must be published by traditional publishers that do not charge money to authors or illustrators. For detailed guidelines on PAL membership, click here. For a list of current PAL publishers, click here.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Updating your membership status to PAL:
Once you have been published by an accepted publisher, in order for your status to be PAL, you must go to the SCBWI website, upload the book, article, etc. that qualifies you as a PAL member and click on the publisher in the drop down menu. Your status will then automatically be changed to PAL.




SCBWI’s mission is to support the creation and availability of quality children’s books around the world. That’s a huge undertaking, and, although they offer many types of support to members in general, each type of membership also has specific needs. PAL members are interested in more intensive and advanced level of instruction. For this reason, on a regular basis Michigan SCBWI AdvisoryCommittee (AdCom) plans programming at conferences or a retreat that’s geared toward more experienced SCBWI members, such as the writer/illustrator retreat in Boyne this past October.

Because PALs have books to sell, they also have a vested interest in the marketing, networking, and outreach aspect of the publishing world. As the PAL coordinator, I share resources and advice with PAL members, and relay information about bookfairs, conferences, and events they might want to participate in.

On a national level, PAL members are supported by The Reading List Program which includes books of all genres from PAL authors and illustrators. It’s available on the national website as a resource for educators, librarians, and parents. Also at the national level is the Book Blast Program. It’s a fantastic way to boost a newly published book's outreach. Members design a one-of-a-kind, online page that gives visitors an inside look at them and their book.

This year, SCBWI-MI has been very busy planning the upcoming MERRY MITTEN HOLIDAY. Twenty-eight Michigan SCBWI authors and illustrators are teaming up with six Michigan bookstores for one-of-a-kind signing events that will take place throughout December. We’re all very excited about the program and hope it will become a yearly holiday staple around the state. For more information, dates, times and locations, visit the Merry Mitten website and Like/Share our Facebook page.

Thanks in advance for supporting our PAL members at Merry Mitten Holiday bookstores and beyond!

Dawne Webber has been the PAL coordinator for the SCBWI-MI chapter since 2015. Feel free to email her with PAL related questions. 

Coming up on the Mitten blog: A Michigan author/illustrator wins the SCBWI Magazine Merit Award - twice! And it's time for our final Hugs and Hurrahs of the year. Send your writing/illustrating/book news to Patti Richards by December 12th to be included. You inspire us - let us trumpet your success!

Cheers!
Kristin Lenz

Finding Fresh Perspective from Writers in Different Genres by Melissa Shanker

I’m beginning my first blog post on The Mitten by stating an undeniable truth: SCBWI is the premier association in the world for writers of children’s literature.

(Can I get a heck, yeah?) If you write for children or young adults, and are not a member of SCBWI, you should stop reading this post immediately, go to www.scbwi.org and become one. Enough said.

However, if you have room in your life for more knowledge, more camaraderie, and more fun – and come on, who doesn’t? – I encourage you to check out what’s happening at the Capital City Writer’s Association.

CCWA was founded in 2013 by award winning journalist, Louis Knott Ahern. The organization is unique in that it is open to writers of all genres: romance, sci-fi, suspense, non-fiction, mystery, and literary fiction – just to name a few.

What’s happening at CCWA?

• Monthly workshops are held on the first Wednesday of every month at Schuler’s Books and Music. They cover an array of topics and are open to the public.

• Finish the Damn Book is a motivating and supportive program, laced with fun incentives to help you finish your [fill in your favorite expletive here] book. 

• Saturday morning write-ins occur the first Saturday of every month.  Tell your family you have an “important meeting”, and join other writers for a three-hour power session. 

• CCWA’s two-day conference, Write on the Red Cedar, takes place every January at MSU’s Kellogg Center. Their impressive line up of headliners has included Chuck Sambuchino of Writer’s Digest, legendary agent, Donald Maas, and bestselling author and marketing genius, Bob Mayer. This year, famous L.A. writing coach Michael Hauge will bring his Story Mastery to East Lansing and it’s sure to be inspiring. 

Check out all of these events and more at: http://www.capitalcitywriters.org/events-calendar/

Nothing compares to learning firsthand from Newbery award winners, or getting valuable feedback from the veteran children’s authors in my local Shop Talk group, but I have found a way to supplement all that awesomeness right here in Michigan with Capital City Writer’s Association.

In just the last few months, a romance writer helped me beef up my backstory, an author of women’s literary fiction enhanced my editing toolbox, and I developed a new understanding of deep third person POV from a bestselling writer of suspense. Good writers are good writers. The fresh perspective I’ve found from the diverse authors in CCWA has made me a better one.

Melissa Shanker writes middle grade and young adult fiction. She has been a member of SCBWI forever, and sits on the board of the Capital City Writers Association. Melissa lives in Okemos, Michigan with three teenagers who distress and delight her in equal measure, a husband who makes her laugh, and a dog that is often mistaken for a bear.  Her life s swell and she hopes yours is too. Learn more at www.melissashanker.com.












Coming up on the Mitten blog: Have you heard about the SCBWI-MI Merry Mitten events? Visit the Merry Mitten website and Like/Share the Merry Mitten Facebook page. Our hard-working PAL Coordinator, Dawne Webber, will be here on Dec. 2nd to tell us more about the PAL program and the Merry Mitten bookstore events happening in December.

Did you know one of our Michigan members won an SCBWI Magazine Merit Award? We'll share his story on Dec. 9th.

And Patti Richards is gathering your good news for another round of Hugs and Hurrahs. Send her an email by December 12th to be included.

We're taking next Friday off to celebrate Thanksgiving. Time to step away from our computers, enjoy our family and friends, and read a good book.

BUT, if you're venturing out to shop that weekend, don't forget about Small Business Saturday and Indies First on November 26th. Many independent bookstores will have authors on-site to assist with book-selling. I'll be with author Heather Smith Meloche at Pages Bookshop in Detroit from 10:00-12:00. If you'll be at another bookstore in Michigan, let us know in the comments, so we can direct shoppers/visitors your way!

AND, SCBWI is gearing up for the Winter Conference in New York in February. Here's an amazing scholarship opportunity for SCBWI-MI members: https://michigan.scbwi.org/2016/10/29/the-scbwi-annual-winter-conference-shutta-crum-scholarship/

Cheers!
Kristin Lenz

SCBWI-MI Shop Talks and Much, Much More!

Shop Talk – a gathering of writers and illustrators for the purpose of resourcing, sharing and encouraging each other.

Thanks to the dedication of many members in SCBWI-Michigan, we have four very active Shop Talk groups throughout the state:

•             Lansing Area – LAST – led by Charlie Barshaw and Ann Finklestein
•             SE-Mitten - Farmington Hills – led by Patti Richards and Jennifer Rumberger
•             Grand Rapids West – led by David Stricklen
•             Ann Arbor Area – led by Betsy McKee Williams

Each group has their own schedule and meets regularly every four to six weeks. Everyone is welcome attend. A variety of topics are covered by the groups from speakers on craft, social media, critique sessions, sharing resources, hearing author behind-the-scenes stories, etc. Each group is tailored to fit the needs of their attendees.

If you are interested in attending a Shop Talk near you, please check our Calendar of Events on the SCBWI webpage or contact the coordinators. Contact information can be found here. Also be sure to follow our chapter Facebook page and join the MichKids listserv. Future dates are always posted on both locations.

If your area of the state doesn’t have a Shop Talk, please consider starting a group of your own. All you need is a space to meet (library, park center, coffee shop, book store) and the desire to meet with fellow authors/illustrators. It’s easy! The Shop Talk coordinators share ideas and are a great resource for meeting topics. We can also help you advertise and share you group with your area of Michigan. Please contact Jennifer Rumberger if you would like to discuss leading a new group.

We hope to see you at a Shop Talk this winter!

Jennifer Rumberger is a wife and mom of two very active boys. She is an administrative assistant during the day and a children's writer in her free time. She has been published in a handful of children's magazines and her picture book, DUCKLINGS ON THE MOVE, is available from MeeGenius/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Our SCBWI-MI authors will be busy this weekend with a number of events. Take your pick or hop around to several. If only they weren't all happening at the same time!

*  SCBWI-MI Shop Talk, Ann Arbor: Sat, Nov 12 – same place, but different time: 1-4pm
AADL Downtown library, 3rd floor freespace meeting room

This will be an informal meeting. We will start, as always, with introductions. Next we will have a sort of Wisdom Circle. Everyone will be invited to write down questions or problems which they are currently struggling with. We will pull questions from a hat and discuss one at a time, sharing our collective expertise. People can choose whether to claim their question, or to have it remain anonymous.

Questions? Contact Betsy McKee. For Shop Talks later this month in other cities, go here.

*  Picture book author trio at the Book Beat in Oak Park, Sat. Nov. 12, 1-3pm

Lisa Wheeler will be reading from The Christmas Boot, her classic holiday tale newly illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. She will also be giving a “story behind the story” talk. Lisa Rose will be reading from her book, Shmulik Paints the Town. Deborah Aronson will be reading from her book Where’s My Tushy? and her new book, Dragons from Mars.

*  4th Annual Children's Author Meet & Greet. Sat. Nov. 12, 1-3pm. Frenchtown Dixie Branch Library, Monroe. 

Enjoy an Autumn afternoon with 11 amazing authors of books for children of all ages.

Coming up on the Mitten blog: Learn more about Capital City Writers Association, an SCBWI Magazine Merit Award Winner, and the SCBWI PAL program.

*  Our amazing SCBWI-MI PAL leader, Dawne Webber, has been hard at work on the upcoming Merry Mitten Holiday event. More details to come, but for now, here's a peek at the website and Facebook page. They just went live and are ready to "like" and follow and share, but the official logo and artwork is still to come.

Have a wonderful book-ful weekend!
Kristin Lenz

Writer Spotlight!

By

Patti Richards

Michigan writer, Ron Estrada, is a self-proclaimed Navy Brat. Born in Pontiac on December 31,1966, Ron thinks it’s quite cool to have a birthday so close to the holidays. As he put it, “Everyone is still recovering from Christmas and/or prepping for New Years, so you’re never bothered with birthday greetings or cards or gifts or anything like that.” Ron moved back to Michigan after his own 4-year stint in the Navy because he. . .”got tired of sunshine and warm beaches.” Now, if you’re not laughing already, you will be by the time we finish shining the Writer Spotlight in his direction. Welcome to The Mitten Ron!   

Mitten: When did you start writing for children or otherwise, and how did you know it was something you wanted to do?

Ron: Since all of my adult novels, according to certain editors and agents, looked as if they’d been written at a 4th grade level, I figured “why not?” At first I tried simply changing my serial killer from a 40 year-old man to a 4th grade girl. Didn’t work out. So a few years ago I started reading some guy named John Green. He’s not bad. What I liked was that teens and pre-teens don’t have rules like adults. If your character has no job and eats Pop-tarts all day long, he can get away with anything. So I started with YA, because of Katniss, you know. I wrote the first book of my Cherry Hill series. Agents loved it but couldn’t figure out how I’d pull off the plot (I tried telling them that was what writers do…no sale). So I self published four books in that series. The second is my favorite. It’s called Angel ‘n Me and it’s a total rip-off of All Of Me with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin, but different. My 7 readers loved it.

Mitten: How did you find out about SCBWI and how long have you been a member?

Ron: I think Denise Jaden told me about it. I was beta-reading for her (the token male reader) and told her I wanted to write like John Green, but not quite as good because I didn’t want Hollywood messing up my books. She suggested SCBWI and assured me that I’d never have to fight off Steven Spielberg. So, after two years of considering the $90 hit to my budget, I joined last year.

Mitten: What genres are you most interested in and why? Picture books, middle grade, YA, chapter books, poetry, nonfiction?

Ron: Amish Zombie Romance. But I do seem to find my place with middle grade. I want to write like Gary Schmidt (when I’m not writing like Green). Gary has no movie deals as far as I know, so it might be a better fit for me. Since I’m heavy into cloning successful writers, I wrote my first middle-grade a couple years ago and set it in 1968, like Gary’s Wednesday Wars. I was only 1 1/2 years old in 1968, but I’m sure I remember watching Lost In Space and wondering “why are those girls wearing skirts in deep space?” I’m also seriously considering chapter books. They make me laugh. Laughing is good. Better than having cold legs in deep space.

Mitten: Tell us about your publishing journey. Are you pre-published or published, and if so where?

Ron: I’m trans-published, which here means I’ve self-published and am re-thinking that whole plan. I have acquired an agent who played football for U of M and is from Ohio (I think he’s no longer invited to Thanksgiving dinner). He’s repping me for my Navy Brat middle grade quasi-historicals. The first is called Scorpion Summer, set in 1968 Norfolk, Virginia. I’m working on the second book, set in 1972 Pearl City, Hawaii. The books follow my own Navy brat path through time and space (not deep space…way too cold, definitely wear capris).

Mitten: Many of us have a job other than writing for children. Tell us something about what you do outside of writing.

Ron: I’m a professional napper, which pays crap. So I have to be an engineer, too. I suffer from career ADD, so this may change by the time you post this, but I’m currently a sales engineer for a quality software company. Really, it rocks. I’m responsible for nothing and get to do things like write my author profile requests for small, local SCBWI blogs that will be read by our three members in the U.P. who are snowed in by now and have nothing else to do.

Mitten: How does this occupation inform your writing?

Ron: I like science and math (I know, it drives the ladies wild). So I can sprinkle my books with some fun knowledge. You have to trick kids into learning math. Once they’re onto you, you’re dead meat and they’ll just go watch some horrible John Green movie instead.

Mitten: Where do you get most of your writing ideas? Do you write them down, keep them in a computer file or just store them in your memory?

Ron: I steal them. There’s a lot of movies out there, so why create something new? I think I could re-write All Of Me a few dozen times before anyone caught on. Okay, I do have one or two original ideas. The loss of the USS Scorpion in 1968 has never been turned into a children’s book as far as I know. Nor has anyone ever written about a red-headed Navy brat living in 1972 Hawaii where she builds a traditional surfboard from scratch. I would have stolen another book idea and had her climb rocks, but I kept getting dizzy and nauseous in the first scene, so surfboards it is. I could have her get her arm bitten off by a shark and…

Oh, and I use about 37 different free apps to store my novel ideas. I think I’ve deleted them all. Evernote’s good, too, if I can remember what I named the folder.

Mitten: We all have favorite writers that inspire us. Name two of yours and why you like them.

Ron: Ray Bradbury, because I can’t understand a thing he writes but he still made a fortune. And Stephen King, because he could have his YA characters (before it was called YA) go to battle with scary clowns and vampires and stuff without his readers’ mothers finding out about it (I still have shower curtain issues).

Mitten: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received as a writer for children? Why?

Ron: Don’t give up that killer sales engineer job.

Also, don’t write down to the kids. I have to remember that the kid who couldn’t find his mouth with a spoon five years ago can probably recite the Magna Carta now (I don’t even know what that is…I think I just made it up). Their brains are growing at an alarming rate. My own kids hacked my 401k and bought PS3s by the time they were 12 (now they’re 21 and 22 and losing IQ points quickly).  I also have to remind myself that I, not of above-average intelligence, drifted into the adult novels by the time I was 10 (Flowers in the Attic…really Mom, what were you thinking?).

So that’s me. After plugging away at this thing for nearly 20 years now, I’ve found a home in kidlit. I’m having fun. Oh, by the way, book 2 of my Navy Brat series, Breathe Me Home, is being roughed during NaNoWriMo and posted daily to Wattpad. This is life on edge, kids. Come join me! I have a Nespresso machine (and Baileys).

See, I told you he was funny! Thanks so much for stopping by today Ron. You can learn more about Ron by connecting with him at the following: 

Twitter: @RonEstrada

Facebook: ron.estrada1

Instagram: ron_estrada

And remember, the next Writer Spotlight may be shining on you!