What a Kick-Off

LOOK! Here we all are...hard at work. Ah, snap! I'm not in that picture. I promise, I really do have my own place at that table, right between Lee Wind and Paula Yoo. But look at our official blogger table! Isn't it cool?

It's all off to a fab start. Beginning with good-shifty fun the night prior to the kick-off. I'm mean really, look at the shiftiness below. Those are a couple of charcters. Up to NO good.

That's Jaime of CocoaStomp and the marv Martha of SPOGG!

And this crew, too. Trouble with a capital T. Laurie, Sara, and Joni!

I also got to meet bloggy friend Solvang Sherrie. Too cool to meet bloggy peeps. But there are sooo many of you I still haven't seen. Where are you?

Here's me and Sherrie yesterday. And I can't believe she was in my little seaside town in February and I didn't even know it!

The day was full of all kinds of goodies! Sherman Alexie's keynote...amazing! Kathleen Duey...enthralling! Jennifer Hunt (editorial director, Little, Brown)...smart and genuine.

Then it was onto the wine and cheese reception to celebrate all the published attendees, including my SCBWI-made friend, Ann Leal.

Ann and I have a unique relationship that started several years ago at the SCBWI conference in NY. Little did we know how small the world was. She lives in Connecticut. I live in Washington. But we both student taught with the same mentor teacher, at the same school. Crazy, huh?

And now here's Ann with a smile as wide as your first novel should create. I'm so very thrilled for her and her fabulous book ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER. She'll be touring in Seattle this coming week, friends!

Then there's my friend Sydney Salter. I'll never forget meeting her for the first time, also in NYC. We were both brand new regional advisors for SCBWI and we were standing guard at the art show door. And now here is Sydney with her debut novel MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS which appears in the 2010 CWIM as a part of the First Books feature. Too cool.

And what's one of the best parts of being here at the conference? Hanging out at the lounge after the conference winds down. Here I am with Alice Pope and Kim Baker, and my water...yes, water! Because this was after I had a glass of wine, which got me buzzed (yes, it did) and then did yoga.

Day 2 Fun to come later...