It’s here! JambaLAya Kidlit Conference 2019, right here in New Orleans.

Our regional branch of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI LA/MS) hosts this annual three-day conference, full of Master Classes, keynote speakers, written and in-person critiques, breakout sessions, casual meet-ups, dinners, and even a breakfast session for published authors & illustrators. It’s going to be awesome!

Today I am super excited to attend a Writing Master Class with senior editor Grace Kendall of FSG Books for Young Readers/Macmillan. The subject will be Character Building through Community, a craft-centered workshop that will focus on interpersonal relationships and dialogue between characters. This is going to be so helpful as I prepare to dive into the third draft of my novel.

Tomorrow is going to be a full day, with an opening address from 2017 Louisiana Writer of the Year Johnette Downing; workshops with Editor Grace Kendall, Agent Jennifer Laughran, Art Director Laurent Linn, and award-winning author and scholar Freddi Williams Evans; a First Pages Session with Grace Kendall, Jennifer Laughran and Laurent Linn; and a Portfolio Showcase and Contest judged by Laurent Linn. Then drinks and dinner at Superior Seafood (which offers a good vegetarian paella!).

I haven’t signed up for critiques with the amazing array of editors, agents, and writers who offer them because I was in the middle of revisions on my main project (and my newer project isn’t ready yet). Instead, I’ll be engaged with learning as much as I can through osmosis. And copious note-taking. I am looking forward to coming away energized and inspired, and a little bit pleasantly exhausted, as I do every year!

If you’re interested, a few tickets are still available for the Saturday sessions!