A few things:

1. I love WIFYR. And my advice is to get your book as ready as possibly can before that conference. Revise it. Have others read it. Revise it again. And again. And again. Make every second of that week count. 
2. Two of my baby boys had birthdays last week. My youngest turned one. My next youngest turned three. Ack! They’re growing up! 
3. My anniversary is on Wednesday. TEN YEARS! Is that a lot? Probably most of you have been married thirty and think who cares. I care. I think it’s crazy and exciting. We might eat Indian food because that’s what we did on our first date which was a total disaster but the food was good. 
4. And my book’s birthday is THURSDAY! THE END OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT comes out this week! Yay! 
5. I’m doing a signing thing at the King’s English in SLC on May 15th at 7:00 if any of you would like to come.
6. I’m also doing a signing in Las Vegas on Friday night if any of you would like to come! Road trip! 

I think that’s all. xoxoxoxox

 

Getting Ready for Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers

That’s what we have been doing the last few months (since last August, actually). Getting ready for the conference.

How do you prepare YOURSELF for the conference? We’ll talk about getting your manuscript ready next week.

 

I’ve been running this conference since my youngest was a baby. I used to nurse her in my hotel room and in the bathrooms at BYU. It was terribly hard for me to leave my girls. For me, the huge homebody who would never see the light of day if she didn’t have to, well, I don’t love leaving home. This was true for both WIFYR AND when I went to school at Vermont College.

One thing I did before leaving for school was talk to my girls well in advance. They kept me strong. When i wanted to quit, they told me not to. I cried a lot at night, where they didn’t know. Sometimes, if my anxiety was high, I wrote goodbye letters to them. Letters that could be read after my demise and the double meaning of every line–every word–could be seen clearly.

I went  knowing I would learn every day. It didn’t matter that I was well-published. I could–and did–learn from every speaker. Including those graduating from school. Keep your mind open. We have some of the best coming to the conference.

I took a stuffed animal with me. That little pink pig (named Wilbird–after you know who), slept with me every night. I still have the piggy. When I make my bed, he sits on the covers.

I went to have fun. The reason I went back to school the second semester was because there was a dance and game night and I knew I would miss that evening. WIFYR is a lot of work, but dang it, it’s fun, too. So determine–no matter how afraid you are–to have fun.

These are just a few things I did as I got ready to leave for the two weeks I was away at school.

What do you do to get ready for the conference?