NESCBWI 2015: A Summary in Photos

NESCBWI is always my favorite conference of the year, and this year's conference didn't disappoint. The keynotes and panels were inspiring, the workshops were helpful, the people were friendly, 

and the food was great. 

There I am (the one with the mic) welcoming new conference attendees with our incredible conference co-chairs,
Natasha Sass and Heather Kelly, and our volunteer coordinator Hayley Barrette.

Me and my roommate, the talented YA author and We Need Diverse Books panelist Cindy Rodriguez

Friday night ended with Pitchapalooza. Advice from the panel, "Start your pitch with the inciting incident."

On Saturday, Dan Santat started the day off right with a thoughtful keynote about finding your voice by discovering your taste. "Don't ever sensor yourself. Don't ever be biased."

Jen Malone made workshop attendees laugh with her workshop on the tween voice, including YouTube footage of tweens. Finding tween YouTube channels is a great way to spy on tweens without being creepy.

Mike Jung treated workshop attendees to a song on his ukulele before talking about writing fantasy novels in a realistic, contemporary setting. "Start at the structural level - the infrastructure of your world."

Kwame Alexander reminded us all to, "Just say yes!"

The Outside the Box Publishing panel opened our eyes to the current state of the market when it comes to traditional vs self-publishing and the growth of the hybrid author (an author who does both). Chris Cheng said, "When it comes to everything, what you need is a really good story."

Jo Knowles danced into our hearts with her amazing and inspiring keynote. She says, "Be patient. Work hard. Dig deeper."

The We Need Diverse Books group had a wonderful panel on diversity that made us all think. It's not enough for us just to be writing diverse books, we have to buy them and encourage children to read them.

62 people met late at night in the ballroom to critique each other's work. It was really wonderful getting to witness writers helping other writers - and staying until 11pm to do it!

After peer critiques many conference members hung out in the bar. Here I am with my New England girls, Sera Rivers and Loretta Jo Kapinos.

On Sunday we laughed out loud with Marvin Terban, who can make anything funny. He says, "Humor in the classroom is better for kids than broccoli in the cafeteria."

It was an honor to stand the other members of the regional team as the crowd thanked us for all we do during the year with a standing ovation. I am so lucky to be apart of this amazing organization. I don't know what I would do without it.