I am home again after a wonderful weekend at our regional SCBWI conference at Asilomar. I started off by picking up Samantha McFerrin, >Harcourt Children’s Books, and Lin Oliver, co-founder of SCBWI, at the SJ airport. It was a beautiful day for driving. We stopped in Moss Landing and had a yummy lunch at The Whole Enchilada. (Note to self – must go back and try the margaritas. They looked delicious!) The weekend was jam-packed with talks by editors and talented writers and visits with friends, old and new. I had some time to chat, albeit briefly with and I can’t believe the weekend went by with only a chance hello to (why didn’t we get to know one another when you lived here in SJ?)

Cheryl Klein, Arthur A. Levine Books, used Millicent Min as a great example of voice. She won my heart when she said that plot could taught. Thank goodness! Rachel Orr, HarperCollins, struck a chord with us all with her stories of fighting for the right titles and covers for her books. Allyn Johnston, Editor-in-chief at Harcourt, had us (and herself) in hysterics when she talked about her tendency to get perhaps a bit too close to the writers she worked with. If you ever meet her, ask about her early performance reviews.

As always, the conference food left a lot to be desired but the location and the people made up for it all.