Rollercoaster Ride

  My weekend at the SCBWI conference is over and all I can compare it to is a rollercoaster ride. I considered writing a detailed report on the whole thing but in the end it seemed a better idea to make a couple of  lists instead.

 Enjoy!

10 things I learned at the conference;

1. I am not a wannabe writer. I am a pre published author! (Thank you to Lin Oliver for that one!)

2. Winchester is a wonderful place to visit and the Cathedral is magnificent.

3. Receiving many critiques in a short space of time can be hard and demoralizing.

4. Celia Rees was in a crit group called The Literary Ladies of Leamington Spa - I say!

5. Conference is exhausting - might pace myself slightly next time and hopefully avoid nodding off in my lasagne.

6. The future of publishing is changing and no one knows where we'll be in five years.

7. Dressing up to mix with the great and good of publishing is marvelous fun.

8. It's good to have lovely writer friends like Tania, Larisa and Miriam - thank you!

9. "Character is the engine of plot." - quote from Celia Rees.

10.  SCBWI volunteers are all fabulous, wonderful and completely barmy - Thank You!


3 amazing things that happened to me at conference.

1. I somehow ended up having lunch with Celia Rees and Steve Hartley. I may have made an idiot of myself by mentioning Philippa  Gregory but luckily I've blanked the whole thing from memory. Thank you to Steve for talking to me anyway.

2. I talked to five agents at the party. FIVE. And they were all lovely. Thank you Gemma Cooper, Molly Ker Hawn, Bryony Woods, Ella Kahn and Penny Holroyde!

3. I won a Raffle Prize! I never win anything and now I have a one to one crit with Piccadilly Press - hurrah!


1 final and gushing word


THANK YOU TO ; the volunteers who organised it,
                                   the speakers who attended,
                   the agents and publishers who gave up their time,
           the other attendees who were so enthusiastic and welcoming
                                not only but including
    Jan for saying hello to me, Faye for having a laugh, Tania for sharing a room, Mo for telling me about her amazing year, Larisa for putting up with my moaning, Lin for her humour, Celia for her candour, Miriam for listening...