INK Sisters Write

What does World Cup Soccer and Writing have to do with each other? On the surface, not much, but I wondered aloud what I should blog about and in my sports family, SOCCER rules. Hmm, that's interesting. Writing and Soccer? They ARE alike. We dodge passive voice like Renaldo dodges opponents. We shoot on goal. Agents block our queries like US Goalie Tim Howard blocks shots, but if we write and submit like Messi. We fire from our right foot. Recover the blocked shot with our left and fire again. And again. And again. Occasionally, with hard work and drive and a tenacious streak that won't quit, our relentless shots get through and score. We can write every day for hours at a time. We can read books from our genres and categories. We can network and tweet and Facebook. We can workshop our manuscripts. We can edit out every cliché and passive voice. We can remove the stiff dialogue. We can round our characters til the cows come home, b...

The end of July, I journey to the West Coast to attend my FIRST Los Angeles SCBWI Conference. I can't wait. I've hit New York, and it's great fun, but I heard LA rocks! I signed up for the World Building Intensive with Krista Marino. She assigned three books to read: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, the sequel to it, The Dead Tossed Seas, and Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross. (I already finished my assignment--yes, my nose shines bright!) I have never read a zombie book before. There, I said it. I never had an interest in zombies. I tossed zombies over the fence with aliens and always felt if they didn't bother me, I won't bother them. I didn't read the back cover of the book. I jumped right in. Well, the Forest of Hands and Teeth starts off at break neck speed and doesn't stop. I followed Mary on her journey through death, heartache and betrayal, and more death. Carrie Ryan actually never says the Z-word until the acknowledgements i...

In May, our SCBWI Eastern PA Chapter held our annual Pocono Retreat at the Highlights Foundation in Boyds Mill, PA. We started out as strangers but became FAST FRIENDS--the beauty of a writer's workshop or conference. Friday started out quiet and then Sunday morning bustled with conversation, as witnessed above. Workshops and conference create opportunities to network and talk to people who GET you from the moment your eyes meet. SCBWI and the Highlights Foundation offer loads of different writer and illustrator opportunities throughout the year. And if finances are an issue, scholarships are available. I received scholarships to the May 2013 SCBWI EPA Pocono Retreat and 2012 Highlights Workshop Kid's Book Retreat with Harold Underdown and Eileen Robinson. Both experiences left me with a wealth of information about the world of writing and lifelong friends who cheerlead for me to this day. Take a chance on you. Expand your ho...