Betty Birney’s Blog

Mrs. Brisbane’s away from her desk for the summer!

It’s been nice to be home for the summer but it hasn’t been all that relaxing! I’m getting ready for the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Annual Conference in L.A. I’ve attended many times over the last 20 years but this is the first time I’ll be on the faculty. I’m really looking forward to hanging out with friends old and new but I do have to prepare two workshops and a Keynote Address – eek! No pressure there, especially since the likes of Richard Peck, Karen Cushman, Linda Sue Park, Sid Fleischmanhe Newbery Award winners) and Ingrid Law – a Newbery Honor Book winner this year, whom I signed books with in April. Lots of writers, editors, top illustrators – really an outstanding year.

For those of you attending: Here’s my schedule:

Friday, August 7 – 11:45 – 12:45 – Workshop: School Visit Survival Kit

Friday August 7 – 4:30-5:30 – Keynote: Committing Serial Fiction with a Smile

Sunday, August 9 – 10:45-11:45 – Workshop: The ABCS of Writing TV Animation

The Conference is Aug 7-10 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Century City. If you live in L.A. or have a place to stay, you can still sign up or turn up on any day and pay there. Details are at scbwi.org.

Joining SCBWI is always my number one recommendation for anyone interested in writing children’s books. I wouldn’t have survived without it!

(When I was preparing the School Visit Workshop, I came across the photos above from my very first legit school visit at Colleen Bevis Elementary in Hillsborough County, FL. The whole library was decorated like Room 26. What a welcome and what a great trip that was!)

Last night, Amy Goldman Koss (The Girls) hosted an awesome farewell party for Kerry Madden (Harper Lee) who is leaving L.A. to teach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It’s a wonderful opportunity for Kerry, who is a born teacher as well as writer, and a great boon for Birmingham,  but we’ll definitely miss her smiling face at our LAYA events. (She’ll come back to L.A. as her family is temporarily divided.)

Kerry and me at Mrs. Nelson's

Lisa Yee and Kerry Madden at Kerry's signing at Skylight Books earlier this year.

I took my camera and then proceeded to have such a good time, I didn’t take any pictures of the folks my husband Frank and I hung out with: Kerry’s husband, Kiffen,  Lisa Yee (Absolutely Maybe) and her husband Scott, Michael Reisman (Simon Bloom, Gravity Keeper), computer guy Scott Bly (YA book coming out soon), Sally Nemeth (The Heights, The Depths and Everything in Between), or fellow “starter LAYA”  and future bride, Eileen Rosenbloom (Stuck Down).

Above is a picture of Kerry and me at a signing about 4 or 5 years ago. Goodness, we both look so much better now! Funny how that happens. We’ve signed together a couple of times and in fact , we met at a disastrous event (in terms of turnout) where we got to spend the entire day talking (due to lack of turnout), and had a fun time kibitzing away the day with Alan Zweibel of Saturday Night Live fame and many, many other stellar accomplishments. (Maybe he’ll become a senator one day.)

LAYA stands for Los Angeles Young Adult writers and Kerry and I were at the first informal meeting, hosted by our guiding light, Cecil Castellucci, who also attended Amy’s party last night. (But of course, I didn’t take pictures.)

There was the obligatory tour of Amy’s amazing bomb shelter – a book in itself. Amy hates it, but liked the house so much she and Mitch bought it in spite of the shelter.

So, bye-bye Kerry and don’t forget to write (more books)!!!
Weather alert: it’s HOT in L.A. – even in the shade of our patio.

You’ve got to love summer! Even though I have more work to do than ever, summer just naturally feels more laid-back and fun than any time of the year – even here in Southern California where it’s kinda summer all year long. I guess I’ve never gotten over summer vacations. (And we’ll find out what Humphrey does on his summer vacation in SUMMER ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY -aka HOLIDAYS ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY in the UK) next February. Still, I have a lot on my plate.

Maybe I’ll chuck it all and create a work of art … like this clever installation I just saw at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Frank and I couldn’t resist walking through this colorful maze with all the other little kids. Look familiar? It’s plastic kitchen stuff. So if you have a closet full of Tupperware collecting dust, you, too, could create a colorful curtain. I have to say, everybody there was smiling.

We were actually at the museum to see their ticketed exhibition called “Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture Around the Bay of Naples.” The Romans in the 1st Century B.C. – that’s a long time ago yet they were very modern. I would gladly wear any of the jewelry and feel completely 21st century. A lovely exhibit but quite a far cry from plastic kitchen wear … and yet it’s all pleasing to the eye.

Now back to work … or not. After all, it’s summer!