Lisa Schroeder and April Henry Event at Clackamas B&N 8.6 @7

Just wanted to let you know that April Henry and Lisa Schroeder are doing a panel and signing this coming Thursday with YA author Kris Dinnison, who is coming in from out of town to join us with her debut novel. The panel will be moderated by Sara who runs the well-known blog, Novel Novice. Here's a little bit about their books:

April Henry: BLOOD WILL TELL (Henry Holt) - the second book in the Point Last Seen series, about a group of teens who volunteer with Portland Search and Rescue. The first book in the series, BODY IN THE WOODS, was an Oregon Book Award winner!

Lisa Schroeder: ALL WE HAVE IS NOW (Scholastic) - about two runaway teens on the streets of Portland and their last 28 hours before an asteroid is due to hit the United States.

Kris Dinnison: YOU AND ME AND HIM (Harcourt) - Maggie and Nash, her out-of-closet best friend, discover they have something unexpected in common -- feelings for the same guy.

Once again, the event will be at the Clackamas B&N August 6th, 7:00. 

Thanks and please spread the word if you know of any teens who might like to come!

 

First Page Love with Lisa Schroeder

Writers all know how important that first page can be. It can hook an agent/editor but it can also make them stop reading. . . and none of us want them to move on to another manuscript in their never-ending pile.

So making that first impression right is critical. That's one reason the SCBWI sponsored a lesson on the craft of writing that ever-important first page with Lisa Schroeder. She gave up a morning (when the sun was out--which is rare in Portland, Oregon) to help us wannabe writers learn from her experiences.

She very graciously shared a few hints on what we writers can do to make sure our first page is strong enough to get our reader to go on to page 2...3, and hopefully even page 4.

I took notes and here are a few tidbits of wisdom that I captured from Lisa Schroeder (author of I Heart You - You Haunt Me, Far From You, Sprinkles and Secrets, Chasing Brooklyn, It's Raining Cupcakes, and The Day Before, which she shared with us at the SCBWI Smooze on Saturday, April 30th:

1) Have your first page start at a moment of significance;
2) Remember voice is important but have your characters doing something;
3) Have a conflict of some sort where the reader is playing catch up; and,
4) Leave your reader with questions.

If your reader has questions, they'll likely turn the page to find the answer.

She also gave us some morsels of what not to do:

1) Starting with dialogue is hard because the reader will likely have too many questions;
2) Editors and agents see too many stories starting with a dream;
3) Remember not to have too much back story; and,
4) Starting with action can be disorienting.

Another point she made was that we don't want to read about ordinary people, we want to be transported or entertained by the extraordinary.

Lisa went above-and-beyond the first page and also talked to us about picture books and cover art for books. She even recommended a few books on craft and much, much more.

It was a wonderful way to spend a morning, listening and learning from Lisa.

SPEED DATING - LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME

(FIRST-PAGE LOVE)

Lisa Schroeder will be a guest speaker at this First Page - critique
session - April 30, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. to noon

Bring your first page and have multiple readers give you immediate
feedback.

"Do you Love it?" or want to "Leave It?"

It will be quick and "hopefully" not to painful. Like speed dating ;)

Refreshments served - afterward (feel free to bring a guest)
This event is free!
APRIL 30, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. at: Village Gateway Condo - 859 NE 90th ,
Portland (in the clubhouse)


Any questions, email me at kasch5 at comcast (dot) net

Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

It was a dark and stormy night. The perfect time to go sit in a big comfy chair and listen to ghost stories.

That's what I did on Tuesday night. My daughter and I drove over to Barnes & Noble at Clackamas Town Center to listen to Lisa with a group of other like-minded people: readers.

We were all there to hear bits and pieces of Lisa Schroeder's newest release: Chasing Brooklyn, published by Simon Pulse. And we weren't disappointed.

Even the cover is haunting:

It was a cold, wet, night in the Pacific Northwest, as we drove across town to listen to Lisa. So consider yourself lucky as you cuddle up in your snuggie and listen to a few of the words Lisa shared with us:



I'm not sure if you'd actually call it a sequel to I Heart You You Haunt Me but some of the characters make appearances so maybe . . . I guess you'll just have to read it to find out.

Bridget Zinn's Silent Auction was Friday 5/29

It was a great night. Bridget looked beautiful standing here with Jone.

And I finally got a chance to sit down and chat with Suzanne Young, who I met at a conference a year ago but have never been lucky enough to spend any time with. She's a bubbly bundle of energy and she ran around selling raffle tickets for the cause.

I also got a chance to sit between the two wonderful writers who both go by the same name: Lisa, Schroeder and Madigan.

Plus, the great illustrater Matt Holme from Baby Mouse was there.
.

My husband and I were checking out the items up for bid, when I pointed out a pet message that I thought would be fun to bid on.

He said, "Are you crazy? If anyone's getting a message, it's going to be me."

So we ended up winning a Thai message for my hubby. It sounds heavenly.

I was lucky enough to win a critique from Margot Finke. There were other great prizes and other great people there. Check out the links to read more.

A special Thank-You! to Jone MacCulloch for all her hard work putting the event together and Lisa Nowak!!!

(Two of these photos were taken by Suzanne Young - I only had my cellphone with me - so I'm sure you can guess which ones those are. ;-)

Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference - Portland, OR - Part 3

Lisa Schroeder of I Heart You, You Haunt me and a member of the Class of 2K8 was talking about Group Blogging and reaching out rather than reflecting back in toward yourself.

Day 2- Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference in Portland, Oregon

I have so much information I want to share with all of you. I can't possibly get it into one or even two posts. I feel like I was bombarded with information - which is GREAT but there's so much. I want to start by sharing just a few photos and then I will begin uploading podcasts I took of the guest speakers, who were all amazing!

Here is Newberry Prize winning author Kirby Larson, check out Newbery Honor Book, Hattie Big Sky. Kirby Larson is pictured with Michele Kophs.




I've also included a few other photos. Author Eric Kimmel, is shown.









Here is Lisa Schroeder of I Heart You, You Haunt Me, with Lisa Madigan and another photo of
Roseanne Parry, Lisa Schroeder and Zu Vincent.










Mother Reader was there too.

And these are only a few of the photos I took. I'll post more later. But there was Mark Blevis of Just One More Book, Alice Pope of CWIM, Dia Calhoun, Lori Ann Grover and Betsy Bird. You'll have to check out Readergirlz. But that's just the beginning. Jackie Parker, Colleen Mondor, Anastasia Suen Laini Taylor, Jen Robinson, and Sara Zarr were all there.

Now, that I've bombarded you with photos and links to check out, I'm sure you'll be busy for a bit but pop back over later and check out more.

It was an amazing conference and I still have more to go.