Second Saturday Series (1:30PM - 3:30PM)

Our first meeting on October 11th, will feature author and speaker, JOANNE STEWART WETZEL.

JoAnne will be speaking on writing and illustrating very young picture books. For seven years she ran the Traveling Storytime, a program at the Redwood City Public Library that sends volunteers to day care sites to give storytimes to preschool children. To make sure the volunteers had a collection of books guaranteed to succeed with their very young audiences, she field-tested hundreds of picture books by reading them to children, from infants to five-year-olds. In the process, she identified a number of recurring characteristics in the best books for this age group. Her talk will focus on these common elements, and how you as a writer or illustrator can incorporate them into your work.

JoAnne's writing for children includes THE CHRISTMAS BOX (Alfred A. Knopf), which was listed as one of the best books for children published in 1992 by Bank Street College of Education, and ONSTAGE/BACKSTAGE (Carolrhoda Books), which she wrote and illustrated with Caryn Huberman Yacowitz. Her writing for children also includes content for "Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego (Broderbund) and the California State Automobile Association's web page and CD ROM, "The Otto Club."
Her poetry; for children has been included in two anthologies published by Scholastic. She teaches a popular course on writing children's picture books at Bay Area Community colleges. She has spoken at the California Library Association Conference, the Jack London Writing Conference, and gave a workshop on writing very young picture books at the 2008 Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Gate Conference at Asilomar.

JoAnne was a Children's Librarian at the Redwood City Library and served for three years as the Regional Advisor for the San Francisco and South Chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

LOCATION:
The Redwood City Public Library, 1044 Middlefield Road, Redwood City.

The Community Room accommodates disabilities and there is an elevator that will take you up.

COST:
A $5.00 donation is requested at the door. Registration is not required.

TIME:
1:30 -3:30

DIRECTIONS:
280 From San Francisco North
Take Woodside 84 exit. Continue till Middlefield Rd. Turn left onto Middlefield.
The library is on the corner of Jefferson and Middlefield. Public Parking is on the left of the building.

280 From San Jose and South
Exit at Woodside Rd. Continue on Woodside till you come to Middlefield. Turn left onto Middlefield. Public parking is at the left side of the building.

101 From San Francisco and North:
Coming from the north on 101 take the exit toward Whipple Ave/Redwood City. Stay straight to go onto Veterans Blvd.
Turn right onto Jefferson Ave.
Turn left onto Middlefield. Library is on corner of Jefferson and Middlefield.
Public parking is available next to the library.

101 From San Jose and South
Take Woodside exit (84). Continue on 84 till you come to Middlefield. Turn right on Middlefield. Library is on the corner of Middlefield and Jefferson. Public parking is available on the side.

The Redwood City CalTrain stop is less than a 5 minute walk away.
From the Redwood City CalTrain stop, walk East (toward the Bay, away from the hills) through the parking lot to Middlefield Rd. Turn right on Middlefield.
Cross Jefferson at the light. The big building on the right hand side of the road is the library.

Questions? Contact Joli: josallen2@comcast.net

Contact Info : Joli Allen Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

There's A New Mouse In Town! (6:00PM - 8:00PM)
Susan Yost-Filgate, author and co-creator of the Rip Squeak® picture book series, will be the featured speaker at the annual meeting of the Arne Nixon Center Advocates (ANCA), to be held on Friday, October 24, at The Smittcamp Alumni House on the Fresno State campus. A reception will be held at 6 p.m., followed by the talk at 6:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. ANCA is the support group for the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature at California State University, Fresno.  The Rip Squeak® series was created by Susan Yost-Filgate and her husband, illustrator Leonard Filgate, in 1997. These picture books feature Rip Squeak, an adventurous mouse, his sister Jesse, and their friends, Abbey the kitten and Euripides the frog. The original three Rip Squeak books will be available for sale and autographing at this event. The Filgates, who moved to Fresno three years ago, first sold their books through a German publisher who exhibited them at the Frankfurt Book Fair, where they were discovered by an American publisher. Now the books, art prints, and numerous other products are sold in bookstores throughout the U.S. and at Rip Squeak® Galleries in Carmel, Monterey, San Diego, San Francisco, and Lahina, Hawaii. The books and galleries have proved so successful that the Filgates have recruited additional artists and writers to help with production. For more information, visit their web site at www.ripsqueak.com. Seating is limited: please call (559) 278-8116 or send email to mrianto@csufresno.edu to make a reservation.

Contact Info : Mila Rianto, 559 278-8116 Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Url: http://www.arnenixoncenter.org

Unmask Your Characters: Reveal Your Story (9:00AM - 4:00PM)

The keynote address by Elizabeth Partridge, author of biographies of John Lennon, Woody Guthrie, and Dorothea Lange, will be followed by presentations from Gretchen Hirsch, editor at HarperCollins and Julie Romeis, editor at Chronicle Books, plus agent Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

For more information and to register, go here .

Contact Info : Margaret Speaker Yuan, Regional Advisor, SCBWI North East Bay CA Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Rewrite, Rework, Revise! The Art Of Revision For Children's Book Writers (10:00AM - 11:59PM)

WORDPLAY - Sunday, Oct. 26, 10am-2pm
Books Inc. Opera Plaza - 601 Van Ness, San Francisco

Rewrite, Rework, Revise!  The art of revision for Children's Book Writers

with Editor SUMMER DAWN LAURIE

hosted by literary agent Jennifer Laughran

$60  no lunch --  $ 70 with lunch

Sign up: wordplay@booksinc.net  or (415) 776-1111

Children's book editor Summer Dawn Laurie will give you a behind-the-scenes look at how the editor's mind works while taking red pen to manuscript, showing you how to strengthen your own work like a pro. All attendees welcome to come prepared with a printout of their picturebook manuscript or a chapter from their kids novel for sharing.  It's everything you've always wanted to know about editing... but were afraid to ask!

ABOUT THE TEACHER:
Summer began her story in the San Francisco Bay Area, graduating with an English degree from UC Berkeley. After an eye-opening stint as an account executive with an investor relations company, she set her sights on the world of book publishing. She began to gather steam down this path at Chronicle Books where she worked in both the marketing and editorial departments during her three-year tenure in the children's division there. In 2000 she crossed the bay to join Tricycle Press, the children's imprint of Ten Speed Press in Berkeley, California. As Senior Editor Summer worked on over 50 books—picturebooks, board books, novels, activity books, fiction and non-fiction for young people up to age twelve. After seven years she has chosen yet another fork in the road and is now a freelance editor, working to strengthen each and every word her clients write.

ABOUT THE HOSTESS:
Jennifer Laughran is an associate agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, specializing in books for Children and Young Adults.  Books are really in her blood, though -- she also hosts a monthly author event series for teens called Not Your Mother's Book Club, as well as WordPlay classes and other special events Books Inc.