Betty Birney’s Blog

Greenwich Naval Academy as viewed from the Planetarium.

I’m massively behind with blogging which only means one thing: I’m having a fabulous time and enjoying every minute of it! So I’ll just be blogging behind the times for a while. It’s actually kind of fun to relive this week because so much happened the next week, I never had time to process it all!

The next day – Monday – I walked to The Ivy restaurant to meet Faber’s Managing Director, Stephen Page, for lunch. Nice stroll through Drury Lane and Covent Garden but at the last minute I got lost and hailed a cab for a very short ride – it was the only way to sort things out and get there on time. The Ivy’s a wonderful place and popular with the theater and publishing crowd. Conversation with Stephen was wide-ranging – though a hamster named Humphrey was brought up more than once. Frank spent the day visiting friends he knew in Zambia when he taught there too many years ago to mention!

After lunch, I returned to Faber and Laura Smythe and I headed out to sign books at the incomparable Harrod’s department store and the gigantic Waterstone’s in Piccadilly.

Signing books at Harrod's

That evening, Frank and I went to see Agatha Christie’s venerable play, The Mousetrap, which has been running continuously since 1952. It’s a bit creaky, as I expected, but we loved it anyway and also the St. Martin’s Theatre … which happens to be across the street from The Ivy!

After the theater, Frank and I decided to give it a try and actually got in. (Apparently this was unusual as my Faber friends later couldn’t believe I’d gone to lunch and dinner at The Ivy. Dumb luck or good looks?)

Buckingham Palace was our destination on Tuesday – the only day it really rained on our entire trip so far. We toured the art gallery first, then  the horses, carriages and cars, then the state rooms in the Palace itself. Everything is opulent, gilded and grand, of course, because it’s a palace!

The palace also has huge grounds and gardens which we had to walk through to exit – pouring rain and mud-puddly. Soaked to the skin, we managed to get a cab back to the hotel and dry out in time for the real highlight of London – champagne with the Faber children’s team – people I work with all the time but rarely talk to or see. A very attractive group, I’d say, and they turn out beautiful Humphrey books (and The Princess and the Peabodys).

Then some of us went on to a pub in Soho and dinner at a wonderful restaurant Arbutus, where we dined with booksellers including Sarah Walden, buyer for The Book People, John Newman of Newham Books and I also met Amanda Li, who devised all kinds of amazing activities for the UK Humphrey activity book Faber is putting out next year.

It was truly a whirlwind week in London and we were sad to leave so soon … but little did we know what pleasures awaited us in Caterham, Surrey! Wonderful people, parties, helicopter rides, an ancient church, a castle, a trip to Oxford, the Cotswolds, Stratford-upon-Avon, Brighton and FUN-FUN-FUN coming up soon!

It’s hard to believe we arrived in London last Wednesday (late night)… and are leaving again tomorrow – I feel as if I’ve been here five minutes! We’re staying at the Hotel Russell, overlooking Russell Square. Believe it or not, our room is ultra-modern – a 7th floor suite with a turret so we look down on the park and across to the Thames. We can see the London Eye from the window — and Sunday night, brilliant fireworks on the Thames! We also discovered that there’s a great cafe in Russell Square right across the street, where we’ve had fabulous, affordable breakfasts al fresco all week.

Parliament

On Thursday (husband Frank’s birthday) we had tickets to tour Parliament. Once a year, there are many public buildings which are normally closed that are open to the public at ticketed Open Days. We had pre-ordered our tickets. The tour was spectacular. I learned more about British government and history than in any course. I was suprised that the chambers for the House of Commons and House of Lords were quite small – next time I watch on TV I’ll have a different perspective.

We then went to Fleet Street and toured St. Bride’s Church, (after refreshment at the Old Bell pub – directly in front of the church). I have been following Samuel Pepys’ diary at www.pepysdiary.com for several years and this is the church where he was baptized. The spire is also the model for the modern wedding cake. We also saw Samuel Johnson’s charming house but it was closed. (Alert- this is an English major going to London so literary sites are top priority.) We peeked in London’s oldest pub, The Olde Cheshire Cheese, then took a cab back to Charlotte Street, not too far from our hotel, and celebrated Frank’s birthday at an Italian restaurant.

Wedding cake spire of St. Bride's

Friday was a pleasurable business day. My wonderful UK publisher is the venerable Faber & Faber (where T.S. Eliot was an editor as well as one of its famed poets) is located about two blocks away, directly next to the British Museum. I had lunch at the museum with my editor, Julia Heydon-Wells, saw her assistant editor, Emily Hardy, and met the new children’s publicist, Laura Smythe. After lunch, Laura whisked me off to Leicester Square to record about 15 minutes of me reading Humphrey (they will be broadcast in installments over 3 weeks) for the kids’ radio show Fun4Kids. We stopped for a glass of wine to plan the rest of the week. While I was doing publishing business, Frank was off to the National Portrait Gallery where he found a painting he’d always wanted to see in person – his great-great grandfather James G. Birney, who ran for president on the Abolitionist ticket is one in a large group painting of a famous international meeting of abolitionists.

Seriously jet-lagged, we met back at the hotel and ate here.

With Sue Foster at the Golden Treasury

Saturday was a business day for me. While Frank was off to the Tate Modern, Laura took me to a signing at an independent children’s bookstore, The Golden Treasury.  Sue Foster and the staff rolled out the red carpet and there was a wonderful group of kids and parents there to greet me.  After the signing, we headed to another charming children’s bookstore, called Tales on Moon Lane, where I signed stock. I had a date for tea in Covent Garden but it was canceled due to illness. My afternoon was up for grabs so I explored the neighborhood around the hotel, visiting the Dickens House Museum on Doughty Street, where Dickens did some of his early writing, and saw other local highlights, including a park called Coram’s Fields, which adults cannot enter without a child in tow.  Still jet-lagged and a little weary, we ate in our room and enjoyed British telly, which I love.

We woke up Sunday wondering what on earth we should do and ended up taking the boat down the Thames to Greenwich which was a brilliant decision. In fact, I’d recommend a trip to Greenwich to all London visitors. It’s not that far, you get to be on the river and it’s a beautiful place, rich with history and science, and very different than London.

It’s the home of the imposing Royal Naval Academy – well worth seeing, as is the British Maritime Museum. Then we climbed a high hill through a beautiful park to the Royal Observatory – this is the home of Greenwich Mean Time which is the time the world sets its clock to. (We set our watches there, of course.) Packed with people, wonderful museums on space, chronography, astronomy and longitude, and the best views of London you’ll see.  We rounded out the day at a pub and headed back to the Hotel Russell, highly satisfied.

Coming soon: Buckingham Palace, Harrods, Faber dinner and Agatha Christie!

Me at the Faculty Party

I may have only been staying 20 minutes from home, but for my five days at the SCBWI Conference in Century City, I might as well have been on another planet – all populated by people who are passionate about children’s books! It’s a lovely place to live, at least for a little while.

Thursday night’s faculty party got things rolling and it was fun to hang out with Marietta Zacker, from the Nancy Gallt Literary Agency (Nancy is my wonderful agent), Michael Reisman and April Halprin Wayland, also clients. And there were new people to meet and a chance to rub elbows with the likes of Linda Sue Park and Richard Peck.

There were too many highlights to mention them all. Sherman Alexie (The Absolutely True Confessions of a Part-Time Indian), started the conference with a hilarious and heart-rending speech. Now that’s hard to pull off. Knowing I was giving the closing keynote of the day, I was about ready to turn tail and go home. But first, I had to present a workshop on School Visits – a difficult subject and I had a lot of information to cram into an hour.

Humphrey and Me on the big stage

Late that afternoon, with great trepidation, I stepped onto the giant stage in a humonguous ballroom with an audience of hundreds and hundreds and one of those 20 foot screens behind me. SCBWI President and co-founder, Lin Oliver, gave me just the kind of introduction I needed to present a lighthearted look at creating a humorous series. Once I started talking, all fears melted because (as any speaker at this conference will tell you), the conference attendees make the most generous and responsive audience a person could dream of. With their support, we all had fun, I think – and I could relax a little for the first time in many days!

There was a wine and cheese reception where published authors and illustrated displayed their work (and I stood in two different lines for cheese but somehow never got any) and then Marietta, Michael, April and Scott Bly -whose first book comes out in 2010 – walked over to the nearby food court for sustenance and fun.

More highlights to come (including the amazing Blue Moon Ball)  ….. but let me just say if you want to write children’s books, are trying to write children’s books or already write children’s books, come to an SCBWI Conference. Your creative spirit will thank you!

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.