FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA

December 8, 2004 - This has sure been my year for traveling, and all writing-related, too! In August I was in Maui for the Maui Writer's Retreat and Conference. In September I was in Superior, Nebraska for the two-week Superior Writing Colony with Lew Hunter. In November, I flew to Presque Isle, Maine, for a book launch party hosted by my friend, Janet Allen. The photo here was taken on her deck overlooking the river in Presque Isle.

I've literally been from one corner of the country to the other this year!

I've also finished my screenplay for Ghosts Under 12 Stay Free, and I have two producers and a studio exec who have expressed interest. Woohoo!

	Aloooooha - My welcome to Maui This is the sunset from my lanai, my first night in Maui. The Maui Dream Team Somer Cooper, me, Kathleen Allen, Mollie Smith, Bill Dear, Caitanya Belisle, James West, Kim Shepard, and Sue Bell

September 13, 2004 - I'm heading for the Superior Screenwriting Colony in Superior, Nebraska. Hey, Lew Hunter invited me himself, and it's a great opportunity to work on my skills and meet other serious writers. I'll come away with my second screenplay outlined and the first act finished, if not more. Wahoo! 

Other big news this week: I signed with Stefanie von Borstel and Lilly Ghahremani at Full Circle Literary Agency! I feel like I just got my seat at the big kids' table. <g>

September 9, 2004 - I'm home! Well, let's just say that Maui has been velly, velly good to me. A friend asked me if I flew home or floated. It's hard to tell.

The very first day they told us that Maui is magic, that it may not give us what we came there after, but it will give us what we need, and boy, did it ever. The first week I felt like I was dropped into the Masters Class with director William Dear (Wild America, Harry and the Hendersons) to learn screenwriting. I went with a completed script - my first - but it was way too long and needed a lot of polish, which it got with the help of my workshop group and the man who directed some of my and my daughter's favorite movies. By the end of the two weeks, it was being read by Lew Hunter, head of the film department at UCLA, who told me he was really enjoying it and would give me some notes on it. I hope to get those by the end of the week.

I pitched the screenplay to the Director of Development at MGM Studios, too, who LOVES the story and wants to see the script, and to a Hollywood agent who wants to talk, and I contacted a production company that has had the screenplay for about a month to let them know that I've got a more polished version and interest from some people, so they're excited to see the revisions, too.

On the last day, I called a literary agent friend of mine here and told her I need to talk business, so today I went into her office. She signed me on and now I've got a literary agent, too, and Michelle Frey, editor of Eragon at Knopf, heard my book pitch and said, "Ooooo, creeepy. Yeah, I want to see that," and handed me her card.

I also had the great pleasure of working with and making friends with some wonderful people there in Maui. My group really bonded and got some great work done. Headed by Bill Dear, there was Sue, Somer, Cai, Kim, Mollie, Kathleen, James, and me.  We were calling ourselves the Dream Team by the end of the workshop. It was a great experience. I highly recommend the Maui Writer's Retreat and Conference. It's expensive, yes, but it's a life-changing event.  

I also met Moloka'i Kehlor Harper, a Ho'o Kahuna (kahuna in training)

I'm putting my notes together now and will be sharing them soon here and on SmartWriters.com. Peace, all.

SmartWriters.com Staff Parties at the SCBWI National Conference

Photos by...oh, who remembers?

Okay, yes, I attend the SCBWI National Conference in Los Angeles every year so that I can expand my professional network, catch up with old friends, and attend the wonderful workshops, but there's also the Saturday themed party every year, which is a highlight of the weekend, as you'll see here:

From the top, left, there's Kelly Milner Halls (l) with Sonya Sones (ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES, Simon & Schuster 2004)

Marlene Perez  (UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT, Roaring Brook, Sept 2004) laughs it up with me.

SmartWriters.com 2004 Write It Now! W.I.N.NER Jay Asher shines with two friends.

The lovely and talented Alina Klein with me.

SmartWriters.com contributor Candie Moonshower (THE LEGEND OF ZOEY, Delacorte 2006) with author Libba Bray (A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY, Delacorte 2004), Verla Kay (ORPHAN TRAIN, Putnam 2003), and Linda Joy Singleton (DON'T DIE, DRAGONFLY, Llewellyn Sept 2004).

SCBWI crew Mercedes Coats (second from left), Kim Stratton, and Kim Turrisi, and I think that's Mercedes' husband with them.

Fiona Bayrock and Kelly Milner Halls - does this pose have anything to do with Fiona's W.I.N.NING non-fiction manuscript, BUBBLE HOMES AND FISH FARTS?

Roxyanne and Kelly - note: in the same place at the same time.

Kelly with Hope Anita Smith, winner of the 2004 Coretta Scott King and John Steptoe New Voice Award for her book, THE WAY A DOOR CLOSES (Holt 2003), and Kathleen Duey, author of THE UNICORN'S SECRET series (Aladdin)

Stephanie Jacob Gordon (HIDE-AND-SEEK TURKEYS with Judy Enderle, Margaret McElderry, October 2004), Priscilla Burris, illustrator of DADDY ALL DAY LONG (HarperCollins, 2004), Francesca Rusackas, author of the same book, and Q.L. Pearce (NOTE TAKING & OUTLINING GRADES 6-8, McGraw-Hill 2003)

My friend and Chet Gecko creator Bruce Hale is a dancing machine, as is author Bruce Balan, who took the party theme to heart and busted out the glam for the soiree.