Oh, how wonderful it is to get positive feedback! How reassuring that you’re hitting the right notes, piquing reader interest, and traveling the right path. I’m sooo happy to have gotten positive feedback today at an agent roundtable, and I’m genuinely hopeful for the future of this piece.

You may have noticed that I have been quiet on this blog lately, and that’s because I’ve been hard at work on my current manuscript. I signed up for SCBWI‘s annual New York City conference and spent a good part of January completing homework for the revision workshop. The timing was perfect, which doesn’t always happen when you attend a conference. But here I was with a manuscript ready to revise, and I was eager to hear from great authors on how they do it. I took the homework seriously, and thus it proved very useful.

The workshop had me silently shouting Eureka! in my head and prompted me to write a whole new first chapter which garnered the positive feedback mentioned above. And the entire event was a joy. I got to see former publishing colleagues and friends old and new, from around the world. It was a fun return to NYC, and warmish for early February. I even got to see my first Broadway play. Here are a few pics for you to enjoy.

Expect me to remain, at least for a few weeks, on cloud nine from the agent’s feedback. And I’ll keep working on this piece. It’s almost ready. Nearly there. 🙂

Bryant Park in the Garment District, Manhattan, New York City

Door plaque for book publisher Macmillan

Door plaque for Writers House Literary Agency

My Writers House fellow Catherine Bai

My Writers House mentor, Michael Mejias, who’s kind of a big deal. 😉

Looking up from the archway of The Alwyn Court at 7th Ave & 58th Street in Midtown Manhattan, designed by Harde & Short in the French Renaissance style.

Holding the playbill for the Broadway play “Pictures from Home” staring Nathan Lane, Danny Burstein, and Zöe Wanamaker

So many creators!

The pro panel talks publishing at SCBWI’s annual New York City conference

Eliot Schrefer and Elana Arnold put on a great workshop. Note the bunny ears!

Narrative Art Award winner Druscilla Santiago, SCBWI-Hawaii leader Akiko White, and I enjoy a laugh at the Saturday Social.

TeMika Grooms, me, and Jolie Stekly, fellow authors in the upcoming Macmillan anthology “The Haunted States of America,” coming July 9, 2024. If you have a young person in your life who loves spooky short stories, please look for this title. It’s friiiiighteningly good! 😉