The conference was AMAZING! I promised to give you all the details, especially for those of you out there who may be thinking of joining me next year...you know who you are.

In the dark I managed to sneak out of the house without waking anyone and make the 5:50 train. There was not enough coffee in the world for that. I arrived in Grand Central at about 7:30 and grabbed a cab over to the Hilton where I was pleasantly surprised to get my room at 7:45 in the morning...





Just as I called home to tell John that things went extremely smooth, the fire alarm went off...and off...and off...I evacuated down the stairwell from the 17th floor. No big deal but I felt horrible for the little girl tromping down the flights of stairs in her PJ's, clutching her teddy bear. You could tell was very nervous. Luckily New York's finest was there and took care of what ended up being a fire in the laundry chute.




The start of the conference was not delayed too long and I had the lovely opportunity to meet Leif, my first new friend.

The conference kicked off with a welcome from Stephen Mooser and Lin Olin. Lin was the one who got everyone going with the "Fire in the Chute" jokes. She is one lovely and hilarious lady.




Our first speaker was Nikki Grimes and she spoke about the Power of Poetry. Her poetry is amazing and she held the audience captive with the hypnotic rhythm of her rich voice. She was also very funny and entertaining. I loved her novel The Road to Paris.




The next speaker we had was David Wiesner. He is a three time Caldecott winner and his presentation was "Storytelling without Words". He showed us how he made the journey from being a kid interested in art to being on the pulse of the picture book market.







My first Break-Out Session with a publisher was with Senior Editor Jennifer Hunt from Little, Brown. A perk of the conference is that we get to submit to publishing houses that are currently closed to un-agented authors.

Next it was off to lunch...all 800 of us!




I managed to have lunch with Dean (who is in my local Shop Talk)and a great table of folks who could appreciate the need to scarf down rolls as quickly as possible! After chicken and cheesecake we were treated to Carolyn Mackler's keynote address...Laughing, Crying & Being a Major Snoop: My Life as a Teen Novelist. She started out by reading from her own High School Journal...she was hilarious and reminded everyone who we are really writing for.




If that wasn't enough she had us all in tears as she spoke about her grandmother Betty and how books were their connection, right up until she died. She also touched upon the difficulty of being a mom who writes or sometimes doesn't.

I then met with Alessandra Balzer from Hyperion for my second Break-out session. I know exactly what to send to her and I think it could be a really good fit. She has never signed an author from a conference before, so of course I see no reason why I can't break that trend. I'll be hitting the post office this week or next. Snail mail is still the preference.

The last event of the evening was a panel discussion...Five Agents View the Marketplace.
We heard from Tracey Adams, Miriam Altshuler, Barry Goldblatt, Elizabeth Harding and Jodi Reamer. This was a very valuable hour and I learned tons. Again we also have submission privleges, but we were highly cautioned to be very ready when taking this opportunity. No jumping the gun. I need my YA novel polished to get their attenion....so I have some more motivation here. I may have looked professional...




But that is only one component...the writing needs to be well crafted. What was encouraging was the unanimous push for not chasing current trends and writing "your story".

It was a long long long day so I was asleep by 9pm. I wanted o be ready for the next day...besides you never know when your going to have to evacuate due to fire ;o)...

The morning started with a lucky turn of events when I met Alicia from California. After a latte and some great conversation we realized that we are very compatible and might be able to critique each others books. We also had similar taste in bagels.

The official morning started with the presentation of the Tomie de Paolo award...by none other than Tomie. He is quite the colorful character, providing a crown for last years winner to pass on to this years illustrator.







Our next speaker was Susan Patron - the 2007 Newbery Award Winner for The Higher Power of Lucky. It's an amazing book and she took us on the journey from the morning she found out she had won to the day her husband announced that she was on her way to being the "Oldbery". Susan was delightful and very
funny.




Later while walking around the Publisher's Exhibit I got the chance to talk with Susan for about 10 minutes. One thing led to another and we were talking all about Jamison and how we have been reading Newbery books together...and just maybe hope to write some ourselves some day. She thought Jamie was adorable, especially after hearing the story about him thinking that his teacher Miss Urquhart would probably want to marry him...I thought Susan was adorable for being the kind of "star" who would be so accessible and real. She took a picture with me just so I could show him a real life Newbery...




The morning became more fun as Arthur Levine (Editor for the Harry Potter Books) sang Happy Birthday Marilyn Monroe style to the incredible Jane Yolen.




This was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Arthur Levine on the Path of the Picture Book. We followed the path of Jonah Winter's book Dizzy. Also on the panel were John Mason-Scholastic Marketing, Tracy van Straaten-Scholatic Publicity and Bob Brown-owner of Books, Byte and Beyond. "The Picture Book is NOT DEAD!!!!!!"




The final speaker of the day was the iconic Richard Peck who stunned me with his speech...Facebook or Real Book? I couldn't even take notes because to write one bit of wisdom was to miss the next. I feel honored to have heard this man speak. Later when he signed my book, we talked about how gratifying it was too me as a former teacher and a mom to hear how important he thought it was that I read to my children every night. In his mind IT IS THE DIFFERENCE! So I will say it without shame...I kissed him on the cheek and he gave me a big hug...







The rest of the book signing was wonderful. I had a teary moment with Carolyn Mackler, I have added a new mentor to my list of people who inspire me.



I also had a beautiful moment with my new friend Leif, who gave me a signed copy of her book, which she felt brave enough to give me because my business card says..."No Day But Today..." from the musical Rent.

Here is a little bit about her and her book Dancing With My Father....

"In these vignettes a daughter searches for her father, turning the pain of absence into compassion and love. The father is legendary painter Walter Anderson (1903-1965), and the daughter who confronts his emotional and creative legacy is Leif Anderson (b. 1944):dancer, poet, graphic artist..."

Christopher Maurer

Even more touching is my new friend's inscription...

"for my friend
in the fire
dear Kim -
with love
Leif
2/10/08"

Yes, it was a very good confernce...