Last Sunday I drove through rural Indiana on my way home from an inspirational weekend at the summer SCBWI Indiana writer’s conference when my eyes caught the light on my dashboard. This incident sent me on a journey to get gas fast. Thank goodness my GPS found a gas station nearby. I listened carefully to the directions, but drove and drove. The gas light began to blink. My first thought: what a great example of rising tension!

Believe me, there was panic, but my first reaction was about writing. I credit this SCBWI Indiana conference for that.  I just spent the weekend writing and thinking about writing. Thinking about character, and plot and story arcs. A weekend filled with instruction, inspiration and motivation.

Here’s a re-cap of the amazing faculty who presented.

Danielle Smith, founder of Lupine Grove Creative is an agent that represents picture books through young adult novels. She is such an inspirational force in this industry. I always enjoy listening to her honest appraisal of what it takes to be successful in this business.

The one and only author and indie publisher Darcy Pattison shared her wisdom with us. Pun intended! If you haven’t heard Darcy speak, put her on your bucket list and listen carefully to what she has to say.

What’s better than hearing author Tammi Sauer speak? Hearing her TWICE! Tammi gave a dynamic instructional presentation, er performance on story plot and structure. Her books are great to use as mentor texts because she is the plot whisperer!

Tammi is a role model for how teaching can be entertaining! She is as funny in person as the characters readers know so well in her books.

Troy Cummings is a mega talented author-illustrator. He shared tips for making a dummy to check and improve pacing and page turns. He is such a naturally funny guy. I would be very disappointed to learn he was shy as a child and not the kid that always kept others laughing.

Troy also shared the revision process for one of his soon to be released picture books that has that perfect combination of heart and humor. Pictured here is an example from one of his new releases.

A huge thank you to Shannon Anderson, SCBWI Indiana Regional Advisor (photo), Mandie Anderson, Assistant Regional Advisor, and Sharon Vargo, Regional Illustrator Coordinator, for hosting and coordinating a fabulous event.

It’s always fun spending time with writers and meeting new talent. It’s exciting to finally meet writers in person you interact with in the virtual world. Here’s Emmie, me, and Manju.

The King Cake Baby sold in the PAL Bookstore and some readers in and around Indiana will learn a bit about one of our Mardi Gras traditions.

This conference faculty was delightful and the venue at Potawatomi Inn in the state park was breathtaking. I am definitely looking forward to the next SCBWI conference hosted in Indiana.

Write on!