Rather surprised to pick up a flyer at the library and find an artist for my proposed Civil War graphic novel. How unlikely is that! 

We'll see where is goes, because pitching comes first when artists need to be paid! Glad to have had not just a graphic novel seminar experience but a whole lunch with expert Callista Brill at Buckeystown MD SCBWI a few years ago.

It's even nicer to have a podcast from Callista giving the real facts. of what she dreads reading, which is even more important than what she wants.

Just think of my efforts to entice agent Marie Lamba with my horse book. Getting to know her better, I found out that she hated horses!

Editors' comments resemble instructions from a boss. The suggestions are  meaningful to them, but maybe not to you. I took a chapter book for critique several years ago and was told to "heighten the stakes, put in more tension and anxiety." I could hardly believe it -- for eight year olds?  I enquired just how I should accomplish that in a kids book. Parental discord was suggested, dumbfounding this amateur. Eventually I figured out how to spread fear and loathing among three children and two adults.
When my editor for 1777, Val Muller, asked for more emotion, my scene involved one child and one unconscious adult. I could only express the child's anxiety to leave the scene, because that would have been my own 12 year old reaction!
When I went to Writers' Project Runway two weeks ago, I wasn't sure what take-aways I would find.
​What I learned counted as the full answer to the question above. The lessons on layering emotion let me feel that I'd hit the jackpot!
Bravo Pennwriters for bringing Annette Dashofy and Hillary Hauck to us for a day and
thanks to Bobbi Carducci, for everything!