Category: Travel (Page 13 of 14)

SCBWI L.A. 2008 Conference Gems: Part 2

September 5, 2008 / Katie L. Carroll

My picture made someone else’s blog! Wow, I’m almost famous! Lisa Yee is a YA author who presented at the conference. Check out the second picture on this post to see me attending her session on revision.

What you can’t find me? I’m all the way over to the right…the blonde in the bluish/green sweater…okay, so really about a quarter of me is cut off, but I’m still mostly in the picture. Well it was fun for me to see it, so I don’t care if you don’t care!

Here are a few more conference tidbits for you to ponder:

Everyone starts as a beginner
You never know what might become a masterpiece
Say what you mean
No one else knows just what you know
Time slips away so fast; don’t wait
Just because a book is a classic doesn’t mean you have to like it

Leonard Marcus (from his speech “Advice from a Legendary Editor: Ten Invaluable Lessons About Making Great Children’s Books”)

Imagination is more important than knowledge

Dilys Evans (from a panel discussion called “All About Agents”)

Take the good part and circle it, then use that as your standard; try to make everything else that good and keep working until the rest gets there

Lisa Yee (from her session “~~ReVision~~, ~~reviSion~~, Revision”)

All the following are from the panel discussion called “Emerging Editorial Voices”:

Do something during work hours that is not related to work; you need to engage other parts of the mind

(Namrata Tripathi discussing advice from her mentor Brenda Bowen)

Keep working, you’re not there yet

(Gretchen Hirsch discussing advice from her mentor Allyn Johnston)

When you’re really upset about something ask “Is anyone going to loose an arm?” If the answer is no, then it’s okay.

(Krista Marino discussing advice from her mentor Beverly Horowitz)

Ponder away!

SCBWI L.A. 2008 Conference Gems: Part 1

August 20, 2008 / Katie L. Carroll

I went to L.A. for a writing conference, so I basically spent four days listening to speeches and attending sessions about writing. (Fear not nonwriters–this post won’t strictly be about writing.) I took a ton of notes and observed many little gems of wisdom.

I was frantically trying to record everything, but I wasn’t quick enough to always get direct quotations. Some of these may be actual quotations, but more likely I’ve paraphrased them. Still, I’ve cited the speaker and talk in which each was written.

Here are some gems that I think not only apply to writing, but can also be useful in everyday life:

Open your ears, mind, and heart
Be bolder in what you do
Celebrate everyday joys
Joy is free
Celebrate laughter as the highest human action

Bruce Coville (from his speech “The Art of the Heart: Writing True for the Child”)

There are no rules–just whatever you are doing has to work

Mark Teague (from his speech “My 20 Years in Children’s Books: A Survivor’s Tale”)

You will go in the direction you are looking

Margaret Peterson Haddix (from her speech “Dig In”–this was advice from her ski instructor, which just goes to show how universal these thoughts are)

Stories have such power in the world, even when they’re only about the death of a certain kind of story

Arthur Levine (from his speech “Picture Books Live! An Analysis of Success”)

Spending a lot of money doesn’t always mean making a lot of money

Elizabeth Law (from a panel discussion called “Today in Children’s Publishing”)

These don’t even take us halfway through the conference, so I’m sure I’ll have more once I finish transcribing my notes. Besides, I think that’s enough to contemplate for one day!

Book Nerd California Bound

August 14, 2008 / Katie L. Carroll

The major cities I’ve been to include New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Miami, and London, and it was finally time for me to see what Los Angeles had to offer. Seeing as I spent most of my time in the bottom floors of a large, climate-controlled hotel, my visit to L.A. wasn’t as immersive as some of my other trips. Even still, I formed plenty of opinions on the city (of course!).

My plane took off in the early evening (East Coast time) and followed the setting sun west. We chased it across the country in an everlasting sunset until it dipped below the horizon and the quiet night caught up with us. I almost believed the enduring sunlight was a metaphor for how my trip would turn out—forgive me for my weak moment of Romanticism. If I had been thinking clearly, I would’ve realized the darkness would eventually come, and then my metaphor wouldn’t have seemed so optimistic.

It didn’t matter anyway because as the plane approached LAX and descended into a smoky, black cloud, all my sappy thoughts were quickly dispelled. At first I thought it was a storm cloud, but underneath it there was no lightning or rain, and then I realized it must be a smog cloud. I wondered what sort of unseen storm the smog was unleashing, and what impact it would have on my lungs.

Despite the smog, the city appears to be quite health-conscious. The Westfield mall that is across the street from the hotel (which shows what a small world it is because there is a Westfield mall about five minutes from my house in Connecticut) has an interesting food court. All eat-in food is served on real dishes, and the drinks come in real glasses. The mall near my house almost always serves the food and drinks (eat-in or take-out) in disposable containers.

The food selection is also on the healthier side. As I walked across the food court with my tray of pizza and orange soda, I got the feeling that people were staring at me in disdain (like I’m a bad person for eating something so greasy and delicious). Even the shelves of the grocery store are filled with all kinds of health foods that are usually only found in small, specially marked sections in the grocery stores I frequent.

My favorite indication of the differences in lifestyles between East and West Coast occurred during one of the conference sessions. (Did I forget to mention I was there for a writing conference?). An editor from New York mentioned how she often munches on fried-egg sandwiches while reading manuscripts. The moderator of the discussion said something like, “That’s a very East Coast thing to say.” Then she joked that an editor in California would be more likely to review manuscripts over a soy burger (ew!).

The soy-burger comment was made in good fun, but I couldn’t help but feel it legitimized my insecurities of walking through the food court. I was all alone, holding food that told everyone I wasn’t from around here, wearing clothes and sunglasses that weren’t designer brands, and feeling like it was my first day at a new school and I had no one to sit with in the cafeteria. At least I had remembered to take off my name badge…that would’ve really showed them what a nerd I am.

A New Perspective on the Classic Van Gogh Painting SUNFLOWERS

July 10, 2008 / Katie L. Carroll

Tomorrow I’m going to see a special Vincent Van Gogh exhibit at the Yale Art Gallery that features two of his most famous paintings, Cypresses and The Starry Night. Van Gogh happens to be my favorite artist.

The last time I saw a Van Gogh painting in person was in London’s National Gallery (yup, we’re back to London). I didn’t have high expectations when I first went there because I tend to prefer Van Gogh’s night and tree paintings to his sunflower ones, and the featured painting there is a still life of sunflowers in a vase, aptly called Sunflowers.

On my first visit to the gallery, Sunflowers had been moved from its usual spot to where the temporary exhibits usually are; that means it was stuck downstairs in the corner of the building. This area is different than the rest of the gallery because the rooms are much smaller and the walls are all painted with bright or dark colors–colours if you’re from London–instead of the typical beige.

The gallery was very busy that day. I squeezed my way into the tiny room with the painting. Temporary ropes had been set up all around the bottom edge of the wall so you couldn’t get close enough to touch the paintings. My first impression of Sunflowers was that it was…well…yellow. I got as close as I could in order to see the swirling brush strokes. Then I looked at it from one corner of the room, from the back center of the room, and finally the other corner of the room.

I left the Van Gogh room to check out some Monet paintings, and then came back for another look. My second impression was that it wasn’t as eye-catching as the painting A Wheatfield, with Cypresses. The blue-green swirls in the sky against the wheat-colored grass and the dark-green cypress trees really popped off the canvas. Sunflowers was still so…yellow.

Feeling very disappointed despite my low expectations, I went and found a bench so I could write about my experience. I was two rooms away from Sunflowers, but I caught a glimpse of it through the open doorways. This third, unexpected view was impressive. I actually think it really did take my breath away for a minute. The bright yellow background glowed as if the very sun shone in from behind. I’ve never seen paint take on such a life of its own. I didn’t even know paint could do that. Stunning. Absolutely stunning.

Then I noticed how all the people who went to look at Sunflowers got real close to it, like I had, only to walk away after a few minutes without a glance back. I wanted to stand on the bench and shout, “You’re looking at it all wrong! Come over here and look!” Naturally I didn’t do that. I wanted to be able to come back, and shouting in a gallery is a good way to get banned from it.

It took me more than three viewings and a two-room distance to see Sunflowers in the right light. All those people were looking but not really seeing it. I wondered what else I might have looked at only to see it from the wrong perspective. I sat and wrote and thought. Then a man came and sat next to me. He was there a few minutes before I glanced at him. Just as I did, he caught sight of the painting. His expression told me that he was having the same moment I had just had.

I couldn’t help myself; I had to say something to him. He thought I was a student (no surprise there), but it was great to share the experience. At least one other human in the whole gallery-of-oblivious-people got it. Oh well, their loss. I’m trying to keep my expectations low for the Yale exhibit–I hate being disappointed. I mean, how many unbelievable pieces of art can one guy paint? I’ll let you know!

London Part 4: False Alarms

June 9, 2008 / Katie L. Carroll

To end my posts on London, I’m actually going to let my guest blogger have the last word. He claims he isn’t that creative and he’s not a writer, but I may have to watch out that he doesn’t take my job! He certainly has the same sarcastic tone…I guess that’s one of the reasons why we’re married. Anyway, with out any further ado: My husband.

There are times when I travel that my trip develops a theme. London 2008 was one of those trips. What was the theme you ask? Fire alarms. Strange, I know. Just give it time…

It all started my first Tuesday when I was at the client’s office. Shortly after settling in, the client came by to let me know that there “might” be a fire drill. Great, sounds like fun. So, with this in mind, I went back to work. A couple of hours later, sure enough, fire drill time. Of course, I had completely forgotten about it until the sirens went off so I had to restart my heart, pick myself up off the floor and find my way out without running or screaming. Harder than it sounds. A few hours later, apparently just for fun, they decided to set the sirens off again. Just for a few seconds. We didn’t have to leave but I did have to change my pants. Luckily, I carry a spare pair.

Now you would think that this would be the end of my excitement with fire alarms, right? How many run-ins can you possibly have with such a phenomenon in one trip? 5:47am Monday morning. I don’t care where you are, that’s early. I am awoken (with a start would be an understatement) to a very loud and painful sound. Now, it took a few seconds to figure things out and here’s why.

Every night for a week, my phone would ring half-way twice at midnight. Either it was broken or it just didn’t like me. So when I woke up on Monday morning, my first thought was that it was the phone with my 12:00am wake up call. No such luck.

I then went for the TV remote. Seem odd? Well, the room didn’t have an alarm clock and I didn’t want to use my cell phone because it would keep looking for a signal and just run the battery down and die, so, I had been using the alarm feature on the TV. Not only did it turn the TV on, it also made an ear piercing noise. Good morning!

So, at 5:47am (in case you forgot), I grabbed the remote and tried to turn the TV, and hopefully the noise, off. Turns out, TV remotes do not work on fire alarms. Go figure. Eventually, I realized what was happening and considering the chances of it being a drill at 5:47am in a hotel are quite slim, I decided to get out.

In preparing to flee for my life, I figured I should grab the essentials in the event my room would soon be engulfed in flames. Not what you want to think about at the butt crack of dawn but here is what I grabbed: My warm-ups (of course). There is no way I was letting those things go. A long sleeve shirt. No real reason. I just figured it would be cold outside, which it was. Flip flops. Cold air means cold ground which means an even grumpier me. My wallet and passport. Good grabs I feel. If I lost everything else, I would still be able to get home in my favorite warm ups.

Once I was “packed”, I headed out of my room and followed the emergency exit signs (well marked I must say) to the outside. As I was walking down the hallway, a few people were sticking their heads out of their rooms and asking what was going on in a multitude of accents. I really wanted to scream, “Fire! Fire! Run for your lives!” But I didn’t. I simply informed them it was the fire alarm and proceeded to save my own behind. What was the highlight of my first, and hopefully last, hotel fire alarm experience? It had to be the lady who came storming into the stairwell, with her pants half on (or half off depending on how you look at it), hopping on one leg while trying to get the other one in her pants. Sorry lady, but that’s just too funny. Thank you.

So we all went outside and waited for one, and only one, fire truck to arrive. Only two guys got out (they must have known it wasn’t too important) and they let us back in after about 10 minutes. It turns out that someone was smoking in his room. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t find out who it was or in what room he was staying or else this story would be about my experiences getting arrested in a foreign country instead. Probably not as funny. So, in an attempt to find a silver lining, I have compiled a list of things I have learned as a result of this enriching life experience.

1. Mercedes Benz makes fire engines. Who knew?

2. When I have to, I can find a pair of black warm-ups, in a black suitcase, in a dark room. A talent I am sure many people are envious of.

3. TV remotes do not turn off fire alarms. This one is important so make a mental note.

4. The Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury deserves kudos for their emergency signage. It was quite easy for me to find my way out while in potential cardiac arrest.

5. While the fire alarm is going off is the wrong time to try and read the escape route map on the hotel room door. Believe it or not, it is quite confusing under such circumstances. If, however, you choose not to follow this advice, at least turn the light on. I didn’t. That might have been why it was so tough to read. My recommendation: just follow the signs. Another, albeit less reliable option, would be to follow other people. If it turns out that they don’t know where they are going, at least you won’t be alone.

6. Fire doors are everywhere in hotels in London. You don’t usually notice them as they are open until the fire alarm goes off, and then they all close. The idea is that they will help to slow the progression of a fire. Guess what. They also slow the escape of a terrified foreigner fleeing for his life. We may need to rethink this. So, if you are ever in London and there is a fire, you better know how to open doors. Practice now. It may pay off in the future.

Cheerios!

*Billy Joel