You've probably noticed excessive whining from this blog lately. I'm been complaining about the weather being too gray, or cold, or snowy or windy...etc, etc, etc. I've reached the point where I've nearly bored myself to death with my continuous complaining. Of course today is a beautiful sunny day but, I'm sure my moodiness is totally unrelated to the weather (or chocolate).
In addition to the sunny weather and copious chocolate, I had a chance to take a quick trip, something that always cheers me up. I attended the annual winter conference of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, in NYC, last weekend. It was a great educational and networking opportunity. The weekend was intense with manuscript reviews, critique sessions, and workshops. The speakers were fantastic: Jane Yolen, Jules Feiffer, Lois Lowry and many other talented and knowledgeable writers and illustrators. I'm still laughing from some of the stories told by my favorite speaker, R. L. Stine, the best-selling children's author of all time. My son was a fan of his Goosebumps series when he was a kid.
Speaking of my son, I had a chance to get together with Dan and his fiancee, Caitlin while I was in New York. We went out to dinner two nights, checking out new restaurants and catching up on all the news.
Getting together with family, meeting new friends, gathering and sharing information, and exchanging encouragement and support with colleagues, all combined to create a fantastic weekend. I came back to Michigan fired-up, with a renewed sense of purpose and enough energy to get me out of the winter doldrums.
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