Jack Gantos rocked New York #jackgantos #norvelt #SCBWI

I got me this little gem on Sunday.

Please see this post to find out why this is very important.

P.S. I got to meet him on Friday and thanked him very much for writing the Norvelt books. We shot the breeze about home. He gave me a kiss on the cheek when I had to leave him. He's just as ADHD/crazy/loveable/cute in person.

New portfolio to Issuu

I've uploaded to Issuu the portfolio I'll be bringing to the New York SCBWI conference next week, and here it is:

New York at Night

When we arrived in NY in April, it was late on a Sunday evening.
We took a cab straight from Penn Station to our hotel,
and these were my first impressions of the city.

New York

Well, we made it to New York and, although we were terribly rushed, we had a great time. We took the Amtrak in (about an eight-hour trip), went to our appointment at Scholastic the next morning and then off to our one-day conference and portfolio review in the afternoon. We had breakfast at Sarabeth's the next morning, then back on the train for home. We didn't have time to go to the Scholastic store, which was a bummer since we were already there, but we were trying to get where we needed to be in plenty of time. And another bummer on top of that, it rained the whole time we were there.

I ended up showing just the "twisted" style in my portfolio. I wasn't able to show the book I had finished for Lark because of that, but I think it was a good idea. Thirteen of the promotional packets I put together for the conference were taken, which also tells me it was a good idea.

Unfortunately for me, my sleeplessness took over for this trip: I had four hours the night before we left, one hour the first night we were there, and an intermittent four hours the second night we were there. Somehow I think I was still coherent through all of it. At least, I hope I was.

The editors at Scholastic were very helpful. We had a productive talk, and I had a lot to think about by the time we left. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to come up with ideas based on the things they were looking for, but thankfully after a full night's sleep it all came together. But I guess that's just my opinion; hopefully they'll agree.

Filed under things you don't see every day: On the train ride home, a guy who sat behind us was transporting a rooster he had rescued in New York to Altoona as a present for his daughter. The bird wasn't all that happy at first, but eventually he calmed down and had a peaceful ride.

Getting my act together

I'm trying to get my act together for the SCBWI Children's Book Illustrator's Conference in New York coming up in April. The set-up sounds interesting: Illustrators bring their portfolios and set them up and then leave them there to listen to speakers all day. The magic part happens after we leave the room; art buyers spend the day perusing the portfolios, taking the promotional leave-behind material and leaving comments and advice for the illustrators. What a great opportunity.

I'm kinda torn between what I think I should show there though. I've got two very distinct styles, and I definitely want to expose the style that is very much me, and which also has gotten a lot of positive feedback. With the other style, though, I have a book out that I can show along with my portfolio. We're allowed 15 pieces, so I have to edit down to what I think is my very, very best. I think what I'll do is edit to 15, no matter what the style, and then see how many of each I have left, and that can be Option 1. Options 2 and 3 could be all of one style or the other. Then, I can run all three past some people I trust to see if they see the same things I'm seeing.

Thankfully, there's still time...