NESCBWI Conference this weekend!

This weekend is the annual NESCBWI conference held once again in Springfield, Massachusetts. I always look forward to conference weekend because of all the wonderful workshops and valuable things I learn each year. But most of all I look forward to the weekend because I am excited to be around so many talented, warm and supportive people, all passionate about the world of children's literature.

This weekend I am looking forward to taking workshops from the talented writer/illustrators Kelly Light and Brian Lies and art director Giuseppe Castellano. I'm also taking a couple of writing workshops from Jess Keating and Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen. I know I'll learn a lot for all of them.

For the Illustrator's Intensive workshop, Giuseppe Castellano gave us some homework. First we needed to submit sketches re-imagining a Beatrix Potter character. He reviewed the sketches and gave us feedback. Then we submitted finished illustrations and he will be giving us feedback during the day-long workshop on Sunday. Several things changed between the sketch and the illustration.

Badger sketch

Badger Sketch finished illustration

Goal Setting

Goals are something I set frequently. I set goals for what I want to get done today, what I want to get done this week, next week, this month and so on. I usually set impossible goals and berate myself when I fall short of my goals. Having said that, I have to admit that there are a couple goals that I have not achieved and have been carrying forward for a while. One of those goals is posting to this blog on a consistent basis.  I am going to change that.

Although I have not been blogging, that doesn't mean that I haven't been working hard. I have six new picture book manuscripts in various stages and have written several poems. Some are in first draft stage. Others have been revised multiple times. One manuscript will be critiqued during the NESCBWI conference in April. One of my goals is to have a book dummy completed for that manuscript in time for the conference and also to revise an existing book dummy.

I am working on the illustration intensive piece for the Sunday workshop taught by Giuseppe Castellano. I submitted my final sketch last week and after getting some feedback and will work on the finished illustration.

The prompt for the illustrator's challenge at the conference is "Can I keep it?" I am busy finalizing my sketch for the challenge and will soon start the finished illustration.

My website has just been revised. Prior to conference I will need to update it again to include new illustrations.

Now back to work completing those goals!