I thought that once The
Flame in the Mist’s debut year was over, my life would slip comfortably
back into inner journeys, through words and other worlds, including more
regular blogging. Wrong! 2014 has been busier than ever, with school
visits, festivals, conferences, library events . . . thousands of miles driven
between PA, NJ, NY, DE . . . not to mention a family visit to England, and a songwriting
trip to Belgium.
All perfect blog fodder. Yet nary a bloggish word I wrote,
and Blog slipped ever farther into the realms of prehistory. Winter came and
went. Likewise Spring. But now, teetering on summer, I
have news to share and celebrate!
The Flame in the Mist won an award.
An award! A Crystal Kite award!
Doesn't the award sticker look like a magical orb? What better image for Jemma and her
world? And the script matches her eyes and amulet perfectly!
So how did this happen? It all starts with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. . .
I have huge tracts of time for the SCBWI, and I’ll explain
why, and how this award brings me full circle, making it especially gratifying
to receive. If you’re a children’s author of any ilk looking for inroads, perhaps
my story will also tell you why, if you’re not already a member, you should join.
The SCBWI is a fantastic resource worldwide. In the U.S., many
states have their own chapter that runs conferences and workshops that not only help kidlit authors navigate the business, but can also result in forging friendships that threaten to be lifelong.
Next tier of awesomeness: If you attend a conference, you
can, after the event, submit a query to any agent or editor there – yes, even
editors from the normally agent-submissions-only publishing houses.
But the icing on
the conference cake is the opportunity to meet and network with those pedastled
gatekeepers of kidlit, who actually turn out to be quite human. At some
conferences, you can even submit manuscript pages for a critique session with
an agent and/or editor. And if an editor from any publishing house – even those biggies – critiques
your pages and invites you to submit the whole manuscript . . . Icing on the
icing!
So it was with me and The Flame in the Mist. At the New Jersey chapter’s conference in
2010, I met an editor from Delacorte Press, et voila! You can read the whole story here,
on Kathy Temean’s blog.
As if all this wasn’t enough awesomeness, the SCBWI also runs
the Crystal Kite awards, the only peer-voted award in children's literature. Voting is divided between many regions worldwide, and members vote
for books released within the previous year, whose authors live in their region. I’m in the Atlantic Region,
consisting of PA, NJ, MD, DE, VA, West VA and DC. And to my gobsmacked elation. . .
. . . of 70 nominated books in my region, The Flame in the Mist won!
The award will probably be presented to me at my chapter’s next main
event in November. In the meantime, just last
Friday, I received the beautiful shiny award stickers. Tangible evidence! And of course, I love the way it looks on the book cover. A silver disc. It could almost be a symbol from my recording artiste days. . .
Discs, circles, mandalas. I’ve always loved them as a symbol. The
wheel of life. Completion. From the earliest, nervous critique
sessions I took part in at conferences, through query workshops, mentor sessions, the conference, and now, to winning this year’s Crystal Kite award. The SCBWI has brought me full circle.
Circles also imply continuation. As T.S. Eliot said, “We shall
not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive
where we started and know the place for the first time.” And yes, I’m about to set
off again. The next NJ SCBWI conference is coming up in 3 weeks, and I’ve signed up
for workshops on picture book writing. A new round of exploration. . .Who knows what will be next?
So there it is. If this can happen for me, it can happen for anyone. Aspiring kidlit authors: Join the SCBWI!
My heartfelt gratitude goes to Lin Oliver, executive director of the SCBWI, SCBWI president
Stephen Mooser, and to all the local chapter RAs who make things happen. The Flame in the Mist literally owes
its existence in the world to all of you. Thank you.
