And Day 2.
I could tell you that I had a wonderful night’s sleep on Friday night, but I would be lying. Nope, I stayed up and read my books (did I mention I spent a lot of time and money in the bookstore?) and then failed at sleeping when my dear hostel bar friends came out and loudly smoked. Eventually I snoozed though and woke up early to head back for Day 2.
This is the day we turned in our portfolios for the Showcase. I wanted it to be a showcase showdown, but that’s only because I absolutely love anything related to game shows. EVER.
I got in early and found Lisa working on her stuff and we reserved seats for Jessixa and Jason. Soon the whole place filled up and the keynotes began!
First up was Donna Jo Napoli, who has done so much it is amazing.
Next up was David Smalls. I kicked myself for not picking up Stitches when I could have from the bookstore; it looks AMAZING. He showed us a book trailer for it and another AWESOME movie.
Next up? JUDY BLUME!
Yes, THE JUDY BLUME! She sat down with Lin on these adorable little chairs and had a little interview. It was so awesome. It was so precious. It was so 40th anniversary.
Next were the breakout sessions….every time I write that I just want to sing…
AHHHH….BREAKOUT!
I broke out with the illustrators and headed to “The Art of the Picture Book” with Martha Rago. Even though I’m not a real life illustrator (I’ve decided to call myself a “recreational” illustrator now) I thought it would be good. Boy was I right!
Next I had to drop off my portfolio and head to lunch. While waiting up there, I took a bunch of tweet joke sheets and ran in to Dan, Charles, and Andrea. We headed over to the mall to get some food, writing jokes all the way. These illustrators were a hoot! When we couldn’t get a table that was completely free, I introduced myself to a nice handsome guy who was sitting by himself and asked him if he wanted to meet new friends.
He said he did, but ended up leaving before we all had our food anyway. I’d like to think I didn’t scare him off. I guess we’ll never know.
Another writer shared the table with us; I didn’t catch her name but she will come up later in the story!
Upon returning, we all sat down to listen to Jon Scieszka. He was and is HILARIOUS! I’m sorry that I didn’t get down more of his stuff; I was laughing too hard! He did have a great comment about 4 year olds being like …well, ask me if you want to know!
Next up was Norton Juster. YUP, THE Norton Juster. Ahh.
After that there was another breakout session. This one Lisa, Jessixa and I went to, with agent Marcia Wernick, about crafting your career. Now, not really CRAFTING, because you all know I’m Krafty, but crafting as in just making your own career path. It was a lot of good information!
Finally, back together for the keynote with Mary Pope Osborne. Again, I don’t have much, but I was really tired. Did I mention I had coffee? A half-calf, but still. I had coffee. I NEEDED IT!
P.S. at some point when I get in the same room as a scanner, I will upload all the doodles I did. Sitting next to illustrators is good for that! They’re not the best, but they’re fun, and someday some funny stories may come from them.
As if all of that wasn’t exciting enough, there’s more!
It was time for the SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN.
We were all nervous to see who had won.
And one of the mentees ended up being Andrea, from lunch earlier!
5 mentees were chosen, a grand prize winner, two runner’s up, and an honor mention.
It was awesome to be able to look at other people’s work and collect promotional materials. I had my stuff out and tried not to stand by my work too much, but saw people flipping through. A bunch of my cards were taken, so, who knows?
After all that jazz the real party could begin….the 40 winks pajama party!
The lines were long but the food was good! Make your own burritos or some kind of mexican deliciousness and cookies and drinks and MUSIC! I was dressed in all sock monkey garb: slippers, pajamas, and even a sock monkey hair decoration that I crocheted! (not just for that purpose, but I had it in my bag, so, WHY NOT?)
So it only seemed fitting, dressed as a sweet little sock monkey, to rock out to some rap! I hung out with Jerry and Jason, impressing them with my sweet dance moves and knowledge of many usher songs/lyrics. I’m not gonna lie; I could have been to hear Jerry laugh; he’s got a great laugh! Or just to hang out with cool people. Either way, it was really fun.
Oh yeah and there was this great couple dressed in all black who were classy, CLASSY dancers! When we headed back inside we told them they were awesome, and it was the lady that went to lunch with us earlier in the day! So funny how there are so many people at this conference and there is still the whole small world thing.
Someone came by with an L.A. Emmy (we were confused and convinced it was fake) and Lisa and I did our tradition of paying for valet and waiting for our cars.
What a night!
next up Sunday!
Stay tuned (I know you’re dying to hear what happened….)
KE
