Think Spring: SCBWI in Niagara Falls, Ontario!
I’m soooo tired of winter, of either being sun deprived or freezing, so I’m going to focus on spring for a moment.
You know I’m involved in SCBWI’s Canada East chapter, right? (Full disclosure: actually I’m the Regional Advisor.) I’m really looking forward to this spring’s conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario. This year a volunteer stepped forward and offered to be the conference coordinator for our spring event. I’d met her at our fall retreat and things went from there. Super huge thanks to writer Jackie Pynaert for stepping forward to spearhead this huge undertaking!
Writers: you know you want to join us! Here are the details:
SCBWI Canada East Niagara Falls Retreat and Conference
May 13-15, 2011
Niagara Falls, Ontario
www.carmelniagara.com
Featuring:
Josh Adams, Agent, Adams Literary
Hilary Van Dusen, Senior Editor, Candlewick Press
Alan Jones, Art Director, HarperCollins Canada
Authors: Terri Farley, Sydney Salter, Fran Cannon Slayton, Veronica Rossi
Find the complete registration package on the SCBWI Canada East website or our Chapter’s page at scbwi.org.
Hope to see some of you there, and please feel free to spread the word.
© Lizann Flatt, www.lizannflatt.com
No part of this blog may be used without written permission from the author.
No part of this blog may be used without written permission from the author.
Writer Frustrated
Why are the manuscripts that look simple when finished almost always the hardest to arrive at?
Why is the approach that elicits an “Aha, that’s so simple!” so damned difficult to get to?
Makes doing some mindless chore like washing the dishes seem so much easier: apply water and soap and voila–desired result.
Yep, off to tackle the mountain of dishes left from yesterday.
© Lizann Flatt, www.lizannflatt.com
No part of this blog may be used without written permission from the author.
No part of this blog may be used without written permission from the author.
Of Politics and Poop
So last week I was out driving and I came across a municipal election sign with a toilet seat draped over it. How eloquent!
I laughed so hard I nearly drove off the narrow road.
I couldn’t take a picture of that particular sight, much as I wanted to. I felt it wouldn’t be fair to the candidate because there was no way to hide the identity of the beseated individual. But now that the election is over and all the signs have disappeared from the landscape, I keep thinking about this incident. It brings to mind a story starting point.
What if a kid saw someone had done that to his or her parent’s election sign? Do you want your parent to be mayor? Would this make you angry or make you ready to die of embarrassment? Or what if this happened to a teen’s election sign if they were running for high school or class president? Would you get to the bottom (pun intended) of who did it? Would you ignore it? Laugh it off? Stew in silence? Hmmm.
Okay, so you’d have to add a lot more. But it’s a start. Go run with it.
© Lizann Flatt, www.lizannflatt.com
No part of this blog may be used without written permission from the author.
No part of this blog may be used without written permission from the author.
Patience and Published in Ladybug Magazine
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| Ladybug, October 2010 |
My short story is finally published in Ladybug magazine! October 2010!
Why the word finally up there? Cause I’ve waited a long time. You know how writers are told you have to have patience in this business? I signed the contract for this story in 2004.
I’m not particularly bothered by that, although it’s always nice to see your work in print quickly. But I’ve been a magazine editor and I know that sometimes editors have to wait for the right issue to slot a piece into in order to ensure that each issue you put together is a pleasing and cohesive whole.
This story, published under the title “Katie Kicks,” was inspired by my daughter and her first attempts at playing soccer. She was dressed in her lovely clean white team shirt and black shorts. She held her very own soccer ball proudly. She was looking forward to it. And then we arrived at the field and she wouldn’t even set foot on to the small patch of grass they’d set out for her team. She watched her teammates but she was too shy to join in herself. It really affected me. I struggled with feelings of understanding where she was coming from as well as a tinge of embarrassment as a parent that my child wasn’t out there like the others. So I went home and jotted down my thoughts about this and it eventually became a short story. From her point of view though, not mine.
Now that it’s in print I’m very pleased. I can’t wait to see it myself. I’ve combed the stores looking for the issue but it’s nowhere to be found. So I will just have to be patient awhile more while I wait for my authors copies to arrive.
© Lizann Flatt, www.lizannflatt.com
No part of this blog may be used without written permission from the author.
No part of this blog may be used without written permission from the author.