At this time last week, I was digging my toothpaste and face wash out of my suitcase – too tired to think about all the awesomeness I had just enjoyed in LA. Now, I’m all unpacked, my kids have returned from their trip to my dad’s farm in Iowa, and I have had a little time to think about what highlights from my trip I should share with you all.
The annual Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference in Los Angeles was once again amazing! I won’t take too much time to recap all the fabulous speakers, but I will say that every year Lin Oliver and Stephen Mooser, co-founders of SCBWI, and the SCBWI staff put together a truly inspirational conference, and this year was no exception! Check out the SCBWI blog for details about the conference!
One of my favorite parts of the week was all the talk about the crazy people who kept showing up around the conference dressed in head-to-toe checkered body suites. Those dudes were SO weird! They did an impromptu stage appearance (in front of 1200+ conference attendees) which included a wordless speech and a little dancing. They even sat in the center of the lunch crowd attempting to share a sandwich and a bag of chips – unfortunately, they had no mouths, so this proved to be impossible. Their final appearance was at the dance Saturday evening, where I heard that female checkered-chick danced on stage like some sort of incognito Fly Girl.
Why did I like these weirdos so much? Because one of them was me. The other was my friend Jay Asher. I can’t remember whose idea it was to run around the conference in morph suits, but I’m going to blame it on Jay (because it makes me look less like a freak and more like a good, supportive friend who was nice enough to take part in his odd-ball idea).
So here’s my quick recap of my week in LA with some of my favorite pictures!
