Capital City Young Writers

A quick post today, just a few reminders of things you might want to know about.

1. If you haven’t heard yet, Lisa Wolfson, known by her author name of L.K. Madigan, died last week from pancreatic cancer. Lisa was the author of Flash Burnout and The Mermaid’s Mirror, and was deeply loved in the kidlit world. There have been tributes all over the blogosphere. I didn’t know Lisa personally, but she was helpful and generous when I interviewed her for an article about online critique groups. Every tweet, every Facebook update, every blog post I’ve looked at this week, about Lisa, has reminded me how hard life can be, how bravely people face it, and how much love is out here on the Internet.

I want to just put up the address for a trust that has been set up to help Lisa’s son, Nate, go to college. If you are interested, you can donate to the trust by sending a check to:

Becker Capital Management, Inc.
Attn: Sharon Gueck/John Becker
1211 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2185
Portland, OR 97204

Lisa’s husband has posted about this on her blog.

2. On a lighter note, I am still running my contest for a copy of Megg Jensen’s Anathema. Leave a comment at the contest post, and I’ll draw a winner this coming Wednesday.

3. Martha Alderson, The Plot Whisperer, is on Step 22 (The Beginning of the End) of her YouTube Plot Series. There are a few more steps to come, but I thought I’d link you to Step 1 in case you haven’t heard of the series & want to get started. Plus, for those of you still stuck in the cold of winter, Martha’s background of Santa Cruz, California, will give you hopes for spring. To see Martha’s series from the beginning, go here.

4. Whether you’re a picture-book writer or not, you shouldn’t miss this Has Your Picture Book Already Been Published? flow chart that Tara Lazar posted at her blog. Warning: Many roads lead to “Yes.” 🙂

5. If you know (or are!) a teen writer, don’t forget about Capital City Young Writers’ literary journal. The journal is in its first year, and submissions are open for another two weeks–until March 15. The theme is “the undiscovered,” and teens can submit in many genres–all listed here.

Yesterday morning, I got up before 4:00 to drive up to Sacramento and talk to teens at this summer’s Capital City Young Writers workshop. Capital City Young Writers is the magical brain-child of Verna Dreisbach, and I feel incredibly lucky to be getting involved.

I stopped about halfway and rode the rest of the way with the other speaker for the morning, Linda Joy Myers (author of Don’t Call Me Mother and The Power of Memoir, as well as founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers. We had a great drive, got there in time to re-wake up with a bit of coffee, and then joined the kids.

Here’s Linda Joy and me at the workshop. Thanks to Elizabeth Donham for the pic!

What a great morning. I loved hearing Linda Joy’s talk about turning true stories into fiction and watching the kids listen to her and work on their own pieces. After the break, I talked to them about sharing their writing with another author, about how to build the trust that turns the experience into a good one, and I had them practice digging into a sample scene and coming up with some critique feedback. Which they did beautifully.

The biggest surprise–I had set up to do some role-playing, just a bit, and I’d checked with Linda Joy that she’d do back-up and join me up front if the kids didn’t feel comfortable. SO not necessary–there were hands in the air right away, and the kids totally got into it–even hamming it up a bit to get the right emotion into their lines. I couldn’t stop smiling.

The morning was, in so many ways, what I would have loved to be part of when I was a teenager. On the other hand, it’s very possible that, in my shyness, I might not have made it there, even if someone had set up the opportunity. But, see…yesterday, the opportunity was there, and the kids took it. And they seriously rocked.

As does Verna. She has put so much work into this organization; she is always thinking about what else she can do, how she can make something better. The day-long conference I went to in Marin a few weeks ago–that was hers, for the kids, with volunteer authors and speakers coming along to make an incredible event for them to be part of. She’s setting up a literary journal for teen authors this year, with teen editors, as well, who will be picking the material and preparing it for publication. The kids will have mentors who help them learn more about the genre they’re editing and give them pointers about doing their job. And, yes, there’s a new mentor on board: me.

I’ll be mentoring the editors for the Book Reviews category. Am I happy to do this? More than happy. I’ve been looking for a way to work with teens, for the kids and for me, and yesterday it was obvious that I’d stepped into another section of the venn diagram that is my tribe. (Don’t you love how I occasionally sneak in the math?)

Am I still a bit sleep-deprived? Oh, yeah. Was it worth it? Totally.

Tag: Capital City Young Writers

Monday Mentions

Capital City Young Writers Workshop