Possible dates are: May 22 or May 29, and if not those, then May 23 or May 30. Afternoon would be best. From Missy: “It does not matter if they are published or not. However, it might be a good thing if they bring a book that they helped work on or that they have some personal connection with it.  It might be nice to have someone who works directly with fables, but that is not necessary. The more important aspects are it be someone who values reading, stories and sharing in the experience. Ideally, it would be great if someone could volunteer their time to do this as we are limited in funds. If there is someone who can do it for a small fee we might be able to work something out. Thanks again for all your help in this matter and I look forward to hearing from you soon.”

The Crystal Kites are given by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators to recognize great books from the seventy SCBWI regions around the world.  Along with the SCBWI Golden Kite Awards, the Crystal Kite Awards are chosen by other children’s book writers and illustrators, making them the only peer-given awards in publishing for young readers. Last year we celebrated with Austin illustrator Patrice Barton, who won for the novel Mine, written by Shutta Crum.

We are lucky to have Lynne Kelly presenting at our next monthly meeting, on May 11th, 10AM at BookPeople, where she’ll be talking about “Plotting for Pantsers.” We send big congratulations to Lynne and look forward to seeing her in May!

This year, the booth will be pointing TLA members to the SCBWI Speaker’s Bureau (www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/Speaker-Bureau). The online directory is free, searchable,  current and always at librarians’ fingertips.

This is where you come in. There are more than 90 Texas-based speakers listed, but many are lacking photographs, bios and/or program titles and/or descriptions. Update your profile information.

1.      From the SCBWI home page at www.scbwi.org, go to your Member Home then Manage Profile before April 25.

2.      If you are a PAL member, you can opt in to be listed in the Speaker’s Bureau.

3.      If you are actively offering yourself as a speaker in schools, be sure to opt in and update your information.

Don’t be a blank page!

If you’d like to cheer her on, express your appreciation to St. Edward’s for all they’ve done for our SCBWI chapter, or just hear a fantastic presentation, come to the Ragsdale Center, the Mabee Ballroom. Click here to find out more about the symposium or Erin’s presentation.

children’s book author E. Kristin Anderson

For the thirty days of April, Kristin and the other poets will post a “found poem” a day to the project’s website, www.pulitzerremix.com. Each of the poets has been assigned one of 85 Pulitzer Prize-winning works of fiction, and they will mine these works for words, phrases, and passages to craft new and original poems.

“Found poems are the literary equivalents of collages, where words, phrases and lines from existing texts are refashioned into new poems,” says Jenni B. Baker, editor at Found Poetry Review.

Kristin has been assigned A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, and she will be posting her poems each day  here.

While writing found poetry is fairly new to Kristin, she’s finding it an exciting medium. She says, “You find these stories on the page that are YOURS, not the author’s.”

Our community of children’s writers and illustrators stretches tendrils into all sorts of genres, spreading our wings and sharing our talents with many. Join me in congratulating Kristin, enjoying her poems, and perhaps getting inspired to write your own. What poems could be crafted from The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson, or The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster? Happy writing to one and all, and may wonderful poems find their way to your desktop this month.

Our Austin Chapter would like to nominate two of our members. The nominees should be “on the verge” of pushing their craft to the next level, committed SCBWI members who need financial help to attend the conferences. We need your help to identify these deserving writers and illustrators. You may nominate yourself or someone else by filling out the RA contact form online. Include the nominee’s first and last name, email address, phone number, and a paragraph saying why they deserve it. Austin leadership will nominate two people for the LA conference at this time, and then national will choose two recipients from all chapter nominations.

Nominations due March 26^th.

Where: BookPeople

Details: BookPeople is launching an exciting new Debut Author Event Series, which will bring touring debut authors into Austin. The first in this series will be a fantastic dual debut launch, Splintered by A.G. Howard and The Ability by M.M. Vaugh. At 6:15pm, BookPeople is holding a special SCBWI reception, so that we can have some quality time with the authors before they speak, and our members will receive a 10% discount on the featured books.

In addition to the discount at the Debut Author events, our members will now be entitled to 10% off books that are featured at our monthly meetings! To receive your BookPeople discount you will need a membership card, which will be mailed to you before the event. If you’re unsure of your membership status, check with National. Our member list comes directly from them.

BookPeople has been so generous to host our meetings and launches—they are truly a community bookstore—and we can’t be more grateful for their efforts. We are also excited about supporting their Debut Author Event Series, which will give our members an opportunity to reach out to debut authors outside our small circle, supporting the bigger community and making sure the world knows Austin is, indeed, the center of the children’s writer/illustrator universe. Our chapter has always prided itself on our sense of community and support, and we look forward to reaching out to debut authors everywhere.

The Books:

Splintered by A.G. Howard: This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. She must decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

The Ability by M.M. Vaughn: No one has any confidence in twelve-year-old Christopher Lane. His teachers discount him as a liar and a thief, and his mom doesn’t have the energy to deal with him. But a mysterious visit from the Ministry of Education indicates that Chris might have some potential after all, and he is invited to attend the prestigious Myers Holt Academy. While there, he encounters Ernest and Mortimer Genver, who are testing the boundaries of the human mind. All this experimentation has consequences, and Chris soon finds himself forced to face them—or his new life will be over before it can begin.

The Hats Off to Dr. Seuss! Exhibition provides a rare opportunity to view Dr. Seuss’s hat collection—the first time these hats have left the Seuss Estate—and examine their impact on his art. The exhibition will run from April 5th through April 20th at ART on 5th Gallery, and The Art of Dr. Seuss curator, Bill Dreyer, will be on hand to unveil the hat collection at the opening reception from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Saturday, April 6 (rsvp and event details for the opening reception here).

You can read more about the unique and exciting exhibition in this N.Y. Times article.

WHAT:  Never-before-seen hats from Dr. Seuss’s private collection, along with prints & sculpture from the Art of Dr. Seuss Collection.

WHEN:  Friday, April 5 – Saturday, April 20, 2013

WHERE:  ART on 5th Gallery (NEW LOCATION), 3005 South Lamar Blvd., Austin, TX

When:

Where: BookPeople at 603 N. Lamar, Austin TX on the 2nd floor

Like writing a book by the seat of your pants, but feel like you need a little more of a plan? Sure, it’s fun to see your story unfold as you write it, but having no idea what will happen from one page to the next can lead to a lot of backtracking to fill in plot holes. Lynne Kelly will show us ways to place some landmarks along the road to discovering our stories, so we can enjoy the ride while avoiding dead ends and road blocks.

Lynne Kelly was a special education teacher for a few years, until she realized it was a job for someone with good planning and organizational skills. But it was during those years she fell in love with children’s literature all over again, so that all worked out. She will cross the street to avoid a clown and run into traffic to avoid a duck or a mime. She now works as a sign language interpreter and writes novels for children and young adults. CHAINED is her first novel.

To vote, log into the SCBWI site and go to our region. Under the Crystal Kite tab (which you can only see if you have logged in as a member), you’ll find a list of eligible books. Votes should be based on personal opinion and not influenced by campaigning of any kind.

All details are on the Crystal Kite Award page, and you can view the 2012 Crystal Kite winners here.