Space City Scribes

By Margaret Lea        “Embrace your weirdness, take calculated risks, and interact with as many people as possible,” urges two-time NY Times bestselling illustrator Marissa Valdez.      Marissa has been drawing for as long as she can remember and loves illustrating everything, especially when she gets to convey expression and emotion. She grew up in Los Fresnos, a small town near Brownsville, TX, then got a degree in animation from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She had simply followed other’s advice, though, and didn’t enjoy animation.            After college graduation, she moved to the Houston area and got a job teaching preschool at a fine arts school in Fulshear. She loved this, especially reading picture books to the kids, but there was no opportunity for advancement, so she took a job as a graphic designer, where she worked for three years while pursuing h...

 By Margaret Lea The longest work meeting in the history of the world (at least it felt that way to Kacy Ritter) was when, as a behavioral health professional, she glanced at her phone and saw “Deal Memo” from her literary agent. When the meeting finally ended, she opened the email and confirmed— Yes, she got a book deal... from HarperCollins!  This debut Middle Grade, THE GREAT TEXAS DRAGON RACE, was not her first novel. Previously, she worked three years on a not-to-be-named-here, self-proclaimed “horrible” YA work. After crickets querying the first novel, she attended a conference put on by Andrea Brown Literary Agency. There she discovered flaws in her first novel— the biggest being that it was not unique but too similar to other published works. She decided to start over with a new project. When finished, she queried this new novel for only three months before receiving two offers of representation. One agent loved the book as is. The other gave many editorial comments, ...

 By Margaret Lea You probably know that Varsha Bajaj is the New York Times bestselling author of the middle grade book THIRST. But did you know that she found career inspiration watching American Idol in 2008?  She realized how easy it was to see which singers would advance through the audition rounds, but as the competition progressed it was extremely subjective, as all were so talented. This helped Varsha not get discouraged by the many rejections coming in for her writing. She did not, however, take this realization and wait. Instead, she studied, attended classes, went to critique groups, and constantly worked to improve, putting in the 10,000 hours of practice she’d read about in Malcolm Gladwell’s book OUTLIERS. Some of Varsha’s mentors were Gary Schmidt, Matt de la Peña, Jacqueline Woodson, Doreen Cronin, Kate DiCamillo, Mem Fox, and Laurie Halse Anderson. No, not one-on-one but through their books. She underlined sentences, analyzed structure and deconstructed scenes f...

By Margaret Lea If it hadn’t been for a high school football injury, Robert Paul Jr. might never have become an artist. Raised in St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, Robert loved to draw but had no formal art training. While recuperating from his injury, he caught the attention of Karen Bertrand, an artist and teacher at his high school. Impressed by his drawings, she encouraged him to enroll in her class. This encouragement marked the beginning of his journey toward becoming a professional illustrator and animator, and by the end of high school, he was teaching art lessons.  After high school, he moved to the US to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design. He graduated with a degree in animation, then continued learning by taking a class with award-winning animator Daniel Arriaga, who was then at Pixar. He found his first agent by simply posting on social media, “I’m currently seeking representation.” An agent who was following him reached out and eventually made an offer of...

The SCBWI Official Blog is available under the ‘publications’ drop-down menu on the SCBWI website.  New posts are added twice a week and you’ll find “industry news, interviews, and in-depth posts addressing everything from book promotion, to school visits, timely issues and more.” The blog archive goes back to 2010 and has something useful for all SCBWI members. It’s well worth a look! By Margaret Lea

By Margaret Lea Mel considers himself “a five-year-old at heart,” which drew him to picture books. But before picture books, he spent over 30 years as a scientist and professor of microbiology, and many years as a jazz singer and saxophonist. Over the past eight years, Mel has focused on honing his writing skills and establishing his presence in the literary world. He has attended conferences, self-published numerous books, and successfully pitched a children’s literature podcast. For the past two years, he has interviewed authors, agents, illustrators, publishers, and librarians on the New Books Network’s Children’s Literature Channel. You can access the podcast directly through his website authormel.com or through wherever you listen to podcasts.       Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, Mel moved to Israel at age 18 to escape antisemitism. Now he feels at home, despite the difficulties posed by the current war. He notes that people continue with their lives a...

Hi Everyone! We are going to start spotlighting something on the SCBWI website once a month. Thanks to the New Zealand chapter for the idea! This month we are highlighting the  SCBWI podcast . There are currently seven seasons you can access from the SCBWI website. Click on “Publications” then “Podcasts” to see descriptions for each episode as well as links to play them on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Podcasts. Or use this link to go straight to the page. The SCBWI Podcasts are hosted by archivist Theo Baker. He interviews publishing professionals as well as award-winning writers, illustrators and translators who discuss the ins and outs of the children’s book industry. Find out about the craft and creative process behind young adult novels, picture books, middle-grade fiction, graphic novels and non-fiction. New episodes are released every Thursday during each season.  While learning about others’ work, it may even spark an idea to use in your own work.  Happy crea...