Author: Sarah

For our March SCBWI-IL network event, we’ll try out a mix of prompts designed to get your words flowing. You can experiment with voice, characters, settings and even new story starts. We will be meeting in person so bring something to write with. We’ll focus on writing during our meeting but leave some time at the end for those that want to share. When? Thursday March 14, at 7 p.m. Where? Meeting Room 1, Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library, 3541 Park Ave, Brookfield, IL 60513.

Looking forward to welcoming Rose Hopkins-LaRocco to our SCBWI network on Thursday for a free online event. Join us if you can! Click this link and scroll down to Near West Suburban Network to connect via ZOOM.

This month, I was proud to be part of the organizing committee for the SCBWI Illinois conference, Prairie Writer’s and Illustrator’s Day.

This was the first time we’d had an in-person conference since the pandemic and I am still feeling the happy after effects.

The key takeaways?

• Plenty of story craft advice.
• Inspiring keynotes by Michael Leali and Adriana Hernandez Bergstrom about mastering the ups and downs of the artist’s journey.
• The opportunity to chat to publishing industry professionals including art directors (Maryn Arreguin from Sourcebooks and Brian LaRossa from Scholastic), editors (Hannah Hill from Delacorte Press and Kelly Delaney from Crown Books for Young Readers), and agents (Sartiza Hernández from Andrea Brown Literary Agency and D. Ann Williams from Emerald City Literary Agency).
• Individual feedback and a selection of panels and workshops to choose from.
• Best of all, connecting with my supportive, creative, lively kidlit community. A huge thanks to the team on my organizing committee, especially Committee Chair, Jenny Wagh.  Roll on next year.

It’s been fun to be on the organizing committee for this event. Attendees are in for a treat and registration is open!

Join us on November 11, 2023 – 8:30 am – 5:30 pm at the Wojcik Conference Center at Harper College in Palatine, IL for a full day, in-person conference for writers, illustrators and translators of children’s literature. 2023 CLOSE UP image by member Matt Atkins

As network rep for the SCBWI Near West Suburban Network, I’m thrilled to be co-hosting  this online event, RESEARCH & IMAGINATION IN WRITING FOR YOUNG ADULTS, with the Chicago Southland’s Network on Thursday October 12 at 7pm. Our presenter, Rachel DeWoskin, is the award-winning author of five novels, including the Gold Medal recipient of the YA Sydney Taylor Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award for SOMEDAY WE WILL FLY (Penguin Random House). She is also a poet, essayist, and Associate Professor of Practice in the Arts and UChicago. See Rachel’s website to find out more. To join the event on 10/12, click here.

Until this summer, I had never been on a writing residency, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. In July, Write On, Door County welcomed me to its 59 acre rural sanctuary on the Wisconsin peninsula, opening the doors of its residency house with an invitation to devote my time exclusively to writing.

Who wouldn’t love to spark their creativity by walking the trails behind the Writing Center? Or, unbothered by chores and errands and everyday busyness, luxuriate in story-dreaming at the beach at the end of the road? Or visit the Coop (that’s the chicken-coop-converted-to-tiny-writing-studio of celebrated author Norb Blei, no less) for inspiration?

However lovely the surroundings, what meant more to me was something less tangible. Writers often struggle to keep going, to balance their creative endeavors with the other obligations of life. Here, my work was valued and prioritized. What’s most important, I was being told, is  your creativity, your storytelling, your writing. Don’t worry about anything else.  That external validation, for me, was priceless.

The second part of my stay was much more raucous. Take an enthusiastic bunch of third – fifth graders, give them story prompts and games, plenty of encouragement, plus time to write and wonderful things happen!

These youngsters told stories about baby avocados, family curses, hidden secrets, missing siblings, families torn apart by war, dogs on the hunt for bacon, and ghosts plus much more. They each gathered their week’s creativity into a Big Book of Stories and presented them, fearlessly and with humor, to their family and friends on the final day.

Now back in Illinois, I am home feeling refreshed with a stronger connection to my writerly self, a completed first draft of my manuscript, and many happy memories. Thank you Write On, Door County.

The entries for this Story Builder Workshop Series anthology from students in Grades 4 – 6 were wonderful.  It’s rewarding to end a writing class with a collection of student work to reflect on.