The Power of Rosemary

This weekend I attended the 2012 New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Conference in Springfield, MA. I was totally surprised (and humbled) to be this year's recipient of the Rosemary Frye Award. What is that, you are wondering? A Google search will come up empty. Oh, you will find many Rosemary or Rose Mary Fry's but none were the inspiration for this award.

It all started one Friday night, several years ago, at the very same conference. A group of us had an impromptu dinner at the hotel restaurant and got to playing with our leftover fries. Soon, the rosemary and edible orchid garnishes were fashioned into a crown and the Rosemary Fry award was born. Due to the perishable nature of its components, the award has been replaced with a stuffed bunny and journal to record what Rosemary has meant to each of her guardians.

The initial recipient was a fellow writer in need of something special in her life. The following year she passed it on to another deserving writer, and so it has passed from year-to-year, from one deserving guardian to the next. Sometimes it's given to someone in need of inspiration, or someone who's paid their dues in hope that their dreams come to fruition, and for others it's a celebration of their success. There is no criteria for winning, no applications or nominations, no SCBWI official presentation, no editor or agent attending the ceremony. Only writers celebrating writers. And that' the power of Rosemary.

A Great Conference!!!

WOWZERS!!!

I attended a great conference this past weekend put on by the New England chapter of SCBWI. Friday was a Nuts & Bolts day for more advanced workshops. I presented a workshop on Copyright Registration for Illustrators. It seemed to go well. I definitely had more material than my 45 minutes allowed for. I'm also so proud that I figured out the whole PowerPoint thing (though I really need to get over my plug phobia!)

Saturday was also a fun-filled day of workshops. I especially enjoyed the talk by Jacqueline Davies, et al. entitled "The Whole Shebang". Jacqueline, editor Ann Rider from Houghton Mifflin, illustrator Melissa Sweet, art director Sheila Smallwood and the marketing manager all talked about Jackie's book The Boy Who Drew Birds. Jackie is a wonderful speaker and her book is a delight. In fact I may need to buy another copy.

Melissa Sweet is one of my new favorite illustrators. I also picked up her new book Carmine. Think Red Riding Hood with a twist. You'll love it.

Sunday was a wonderful picture book retreat with the fantastic Eric Rohmann as the keynote speaker. Later, he gave me his thoughts on my dummy for Sir Draws-A-Lot, which I really appreciated. I also met a Kim Jacobs, a superb illustrator. Keep an eye out for her as I'm sure some publisher will snap her up quickly!

But my favorite part of the weekend was meeting up with my critique group. There were 10 of us there in person and two in spirit! They are a bright, funny talented group of women and I'm proud to be a part of THE HAMPSTERS!!!!! You can see their writing BLOGS on the right hand side of this page!