Two Things I LOVE About What I Do

1. Guess who got her FIRST fan e-mail for How to Survive Middle School?

"I JUST FINISHED READING HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL IT WAS THE BEST BOOK EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Thanks, Ben! That was the best e-mail EVER!!!!!!!!!


2. The sold-out Michigan SCBWI Conference this past Saturday rocked!

As soon as I opened the door to my hotel room, I was greeted by this gift and a goody bag, filled with homemade baked treats. (Thanks, Janice!)


The fabulous volunteers made me and the other speakers feel welcomed. They thought of every detail during the conference. Really well-run.

I gave two workshops -- "12 3/4 Ways to Tickle Young Reader's Funny Bones" and "Creating Quirky Characters."

Here are the some of the gang from my first workshop.



I'm sure the fact that I was wearing a rubber chicken necklace had nothing to do with their smiling.

Here are the peeps from the quirky character workshop. I was so impressed with the creative ideas participants came up with during both workshops.



When I was done, a man came up and said, "I just wanted to tell you . . . you kicked butt!"

I loved that comment. And I loved the conference. I met lovely and interesting people, who are passionate about writing and illustrating.

And even though I was unable to hear Jay Asher's keynote and workshops or take a photo of him because the batteries in my camera died . . . twice, I had the pleasure of signing books next to him. And I stole this photo from his blog. Thanks, Jay!


Thanks to the fun and fabulous speakers: Jay Asher, illustrator/cartoonist Dave Coverly, author Jim Tobin, agent Beth Fleisher, editor Lisa Yoskowitz and editor Ruta Rimas. And a great big thanks to the wonderful folks in Michigan who worked their tailfeathers off to create a fabulous experience!