SCBWI Orange County/San Bernardino/Riverside

10th Annual Spring Retreat

If you have registered but have not received an email confirmation, please CLICK HERE to e-mail Francesca.

You are invited to join us for our tenth annual Spring Writer's Retreat on March 26th thru March 28, 2010. Picture yourself strolling along a serene path through a tranquil vineyard surrounded by lush gardens and waterfalls. Our retreat location is tucked in the heart of Temecula's Wine Country: The South Coast Winery Resort & Spa (www.wineresort.com). It is the ultimate getaway and the perfect setting to create memorable characters and winning plots. Don’t miss your chance to connect with editors and published authors at this one of a kind private retreat. Give your career and your future the attention it deserves!

March 26 - March 28, 2010

Friday VIP Reception: 7:30 pm to 9 pm

Saturday Registration 8:30 am - 9:00 am

Saturday Program 9:00 am - 5:30 pm

Saturday Evening Program 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Sunday Program 8:30 am - 12:00 noon

at
The South Coast Winery Resort & Spa
34843 Rancho California Rd
Temecula, CA 92591
951.587.WINE (9463) • 1.866.9.WINERY (994-6379)

Join our award-winning faculty for exciting hands-on workshops, manuscript critiques, skill-building activities, giveaways, prizes and games. It's a great way to give your career a jumpstart while you pamper yourself in California's legendary wine country. Our speakers include:

Eve Adler – Associate Editor: Henry Holt

Michele Burke – Associate Editor, Alfred A. Knopf & Crown Books for Young Readers

Katherine Jacobs – Associate Editor: Roaring Brook Press

Abigail Samoun – Project Editor: Tricycle Press

Gayle Brandeis – Award winning Young Adult author - My Life with the Lincolns

Marilyn Scott-Waters – Middle Grade author - Haunted Histories

Roseanne Thong – Award winning Picture Book author - Wish, The Wishing Tree

If you have registered but have not received an email confirmation, please CLICK HERE to e-mail Francesca.

EDITOR BIOS

Eve Adler – Associate Editor, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers

Eve is an Associate Editor at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. She works on a variety of formats from baby to young adult, and is looking for manuscripts for all ages: picture books, middle grade novels, and YA. She has worked with award-winning authors and illustrators such as Kimberly Willis Holt, Elise Broach, and Janet Tashjian. She enjoys manuscripts with an undeniable emotional pull, a fresh voice, and exceptional writing. For middle grade and YA projects, she likes historical, contemporary, edgy, coming-of-age, magical realism, and humorous stories, as well as mysteries and thrillers. For picture books, she's most interested in texts that have a curriculum tie-in or educational hook. Prior to joining Holt, Eve worked in the adult imprint of G.P. Putnam's Sons, which is part of the Penguin Group. Before entering the publishing world, Eve lived in France, Thailand, and Germany.

Michele Burke – Associate Editor, Knopf and Crown Books for Young Readers

Michele is an Associate Editor of Knopf and Crown Books for Young Readers. Michele has worked at Knopf and Crown for the past seven years. She enjoys working on many different genres and is open to all kinds of stories with fully-realized characters and emotionally resonant voices. Among the many talented authors she has worked with at Knopf are Jeanne Birdsall, Wendelin Van Draanen, Juliet Marillier, and Jarrett J. Krosoczka. She is the editor of the YA novels Knights of the Hill Country and National Book Award finalist The Spectacular Now, both by Tim Tharp. She is also the editor of the picture book Matilda’s Humdinger by Lynn Downey with illustrations by Tim Bowers, and MG novels Fortune’s Fool by Kathleen Karr, Leo and the Lesser Lion by Sandra Forrester, and Rocky Road by Rose Kent (Summer 2010). She is the U.S. editor for the Pure Dead series by Debi Gliori, Space Dogs by Justin Ball and Evan Croker, Runner by Robert Newton, and Will by Maria Boyd (Summer 2010).

Michele's book list:
Knights of the Hill Country, Tim Tharp (2006)
The Spectacular Now, Tim Tharp (2008)
Badd, Tim Tharp (coming in 2011)
Will, Mari Boyd (coming in 2010)
Leo and the Lesser Lion, Sandra Forrester (2009)
Fortune's Fool, Kathleen Karr (2008)
Rocky Road, Rose Kent (coming in 2010)
Matilda's Humdinger, Lynn Downey/Tim Bowers, 2006
The Pure Dead series, Debi Gliori

Katherine Jacobs – Associate Editor, Roaring Brook Press

Katherine Jacobs is an associate editor at Roaring Brook Press. Roaring Brook, founded in 2002, is a creative, innovative publisher of books for children of all ages, from toddlers to teens. The RB list includes Caldecott author/illustrators Eric Rohmann, Mordicai Gerstein, and Laura Vaccarro Seeger, the popular Bad Kitty books by Nick Bruel, and the British bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson. Katherine’s books include the chapter book series Gym Shorts by Betty Hicks, the middle-grade Cat Royal Adventure series by Julia Golding, nonfiction books by Don Brown, Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara, and Creature of the Night by Kate Thompson. She is interested in smart, fresh, character driven stories for all ages and is probably not the best match for gritty, dark, realistic YA novels. She is also a graduate of the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College in Boston, MA.

Kathryn’s book list:
Gym Shorts series by Betty Hicks
Cat Royal Adventure series by Julia Golding
Blue Like Friday by Siobhan Parkinson
Isabelle's Boyfriend by Caroline Hickey
Seaborn by Craig Moodie
Kiss by Jacqueline Wilson
Emily Stew by Thomas Rockwell, illustrated by David McPhail
The White Witch by Janet Graber
The Midnight Charter by David Whitley
Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book by Anita Silvey

Abigail Samoun – Project Editor, Tricycle Press

Abigail has been an editor at Tricycle Press since 2000. She's edited board books, picture books, middle grade, and early young adult novels, including the SCBWI Golden Kite winner for picture book text, George Hogglesberry: Grade School Alien, by Sarah Wilson, illustrated by Chad Cameron; the 2008 Pura Belpre Honor winner, What Can You Do With a Rebozo?, and the New York Public Library Ezra Jack Keats award-winner, Yesterday I Had the Blues. Abigail also edited the middle grade series Edgar & Ellen which has sold over a quarter of a million copies worldwide and launched a cartoon series on Nickelodeon. Visit www.wordpavillion.com

Abigail’s book list:
Brand New Emily, by Ginger Rue
Shifty, by Lynn Hazen
The Day We Danced in Underpants, by Sarah Wilson
Ocean Wide, Ocean Deep, by Susan Lendroth
Signed, Abiah Rose, by Diane Browning
A Curious Collection of Cats, by Betsy Franco

AUTHOR BIOS

Gayle Brandeis – Young Adult Author

Gayle Brandeis is the author of the YA novel, My Life with the Lincolns (Henry Holt, March, 2010). She is also the author of Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write (HarperSanFrancisco) , Dictionary Poems (Pudding House), and the novels The Book of Dead Birds (HarperCollins), which won Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize for Fiction in Support of a Literature of Social Change, Self Storage (Ballantine), and The Delta Girls (Ballantine, forthcoming June, 2010). Her poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies and have received several awards, including the QPB/Story Magazine Short Story Award, a Barbara Mandigo Kelley Peace Poetry Award, and a grant from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. Gayle is currently on the faculty of the MFA program at Antioch. Gayle has taught at universities, libraries, community centers and writing conferences around the country.

Marilyn Scott-Waters – Middle Grade Author

Marilyn Scott-Waters, together with J. H. Everett, is co-creator of the middle grade nonfiction series Haunted Histories, forthcoming from Henry Holt. Her recent work includes the series The Search For Vile Things (Scholastic, Fall ’08), and the paper engineering for Pop & Sniff Fruit (Piggy Toes Press, Spring ’08). Her paper toy book series The Toymaker is forthcoming from Sterling in Fall ’10. Marilyn’s award winning website, www.thetoymaker.com, receives 3,000 to 7,000 visitors each day, who have downloaded more than four million of her easy-to-make paper toys.

Marilyn is the winner of the 2005 SCBWI Picturebook award as well as an Edunet Choice and ALA Great Website award.

Roseanne Thong – Picture Book Author

Roseanne Thong is the award-winning author of; Wish, The Wishing Tree and Red is a Dragon. Fly Free, Roseanne’s latest picture book is published by Boyds' Mills Press, November 2009. Additional picture books are Round is a Mooncake, One is a Drummer, Carnival and Ten Friendly Fireflies (Intervisual/Piggly Toes, 2006, 2007), Gai See: Chinese Market (Abrams, 2006), Tummy Girl (Holt, 2007).

Wish was awarded "Best of the Best" (Chicago Public Library, 2008), and The Wishing Tree received a Skipping Stones Honor Award (2007). Red is a Dragon won University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Best-of-the-Year award in 2002.

Roseanne was born in Southern California, but lived in Asia for more 15 years. She has worked as a journalist, freelance writer, editor, and taught English for over 20 years in Guatemala, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the USA. Her adult short fiction and poetry have appeared in literary magazines in North America and Asia, and she has authored textbooks and materials for various educational publishers. Her webpage is www.greenfield-thong.com.

DETAILS

Tell me about the South Coast Winery Resort & Spa:
Prepare to experience luxury uncorked. In the heart of Temecula's Wine Country, conveniently located about an hour's drive from San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles, you'll discover a unique resort and working winery. Join us to work on creating memorable characters and winning plots all against a scenic backdrop of rolling hills. Picture peaceful walks along a serene path through a tranquil vineyard during your conference breaks or lounging on the stone terrace surrounded by lush flowers and spring foliage. In the conference room you will be seated comfortably at a table with plenty of room to spread out and take notes. Each morning you will be greeted with a delightful continental breakfast and on Saturday night you are invited back to have some snacks and laughs with our editors for our Fact or Fiction Faceoff game. The South Coast Winery was recognized as "Best Winery in California" with presentation of the distinguished Golden Bear Award on July 11, 2008.

Conference and Villa for Two Nights: Villas are SOLD OUT! Day Tripper information below.
Each spacious villa overlooks the gorgeous vineyard and is appointed with two luxurious queen beds, a beautiful welcoming fireplace and a soothing stone spa tub, as well as a complimentary bottle of wine for you to enjoy on your own private stone terrace.

For other Temecula accommodations check out:

Embassy Suites
29345 Rancho California Rd
Temecula, CA 92591
951-676-5656

Ramada Inn
8980 Old Town Front Street
Temecula, CA 92590
951-676-8770

Hampton Inn & Suites
28190 Jefferson Avenue
Temecula, CA 92590
951-506-2331

Best Western
27706 Jefferson Avenue
Temecula, CA, 92590
951-676-7378

How do I register? SOLD OUT!
If you have registered but have not received an email confirmation, please CLICK HERE to e-mail Francesca.

Special Note: To get the most out of the retreat, we will limit enrollment.

Tell me about attending as a Day Tripper (no accommodations provided, $145 for the two-day conference):
All conference opportunities will be available including; roundtable critiques, first pages, manuscript critiques, manuscript contest, lunch or dessert with the editors and the Friday Night Editor's VIP Reception and Saturday night Fact or Fiction game. Some of these extras may require an additional fee.

Creative Gift Giving:
The retreat will make a great gift idea for Christmas, Hanukah, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or even a birthday. Gift certificates are available. Email for the details. CLICK HERE to e-mail Francesca Rusackas

VIP Reception: (Round Robin Speed Chat)
Join us for the Friday Night VIP Reception (no host bar), $14.50 per person. You must pre-register for the reception. All conference attendees (including Day Trippers) that have registered for the VIP Reception will have the opportunity to meet each of our editors in this fast paced, exciting and tasty venue. If you are staying overnight with a guest, your guest may join you.

Schedule:

Friday	VIP Reception	7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Saturday	Registration	8:30 am – 9:00 am
Saturday	Program	9:00 am – 5:30 pm
Saturday	Fact or Fiction	7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Sunday	Program	8:30 am - 12:00 noon

Registration Confirmations will be sent by email. If you do not hear from us please email to verify that your registration was received. CLICK HERE to e-mail Francesca Rusackas or CLICK HERE to e-mail Q. L. Pearce

After registering please watch for additional emails with important retreat updates.

Editor Manuscript Critiques (Attendees Only):

Editor's Pick:
Each editor will pick the most promising manuscript from the group that they have critiqued. The author will then have the opportunity to meet one on one with the editor for coffee to further discuss their work. Author will be notified at the retreat.

Contest (Attendees Only):

Secure Your Spot:
The openings for the retreat fill quickly so secure your spot soon. Do you need some extra time to polish your manuscript for your editor critique or contest entry? We understand! Send your completed registration forms along with separate checks for event fee and critique fee and you can send your manuscripts separately.

Fact or Fiction:
After a great day of working on your craft, join us for some fun at our Saturday evening Fact or Fiction Faceoff. Each of our editors will tell us three one-liners about some crazy, funny or spooky things that have happened to them, but only one will be true. It's up to you to decide. Volunteers can join in by trying to stump everyone with their own trio of fact or fiction events. The person who ferrets out the true statement most often will win a signed copy of Scott Westerfield's latest novel! Snacks will be provided.

Workshops:

Extras:

Special Opportunity - Coffee with the Editors:
Sixteen attendees from a random drawing will share either a morning or afternoon coffee break with an editor.

First Pages:
Does your first page work? Will it get an editor's attention? Will your opening line make you stand out from the rest?

Meals:
Continental breakfast will be provided in the meeting room. To savor the atmosphere of the Temecula wine country, you are also invited to join the faculty for a delicious fixed menu lunch buffet at the beautiful Baily Vineyards, Carol’s Restaurant. The cost is $30 (tax and tip included). Only forty seats are available so sign up soon. The menu will be emailed to participants.

Any questions email Regional Advisor, Francesca Rusackas: CLICK HERE to e-mail Francesca or call 909-860-8536. You may also e-mail the Assistant Regional Advisor, Q. L. Pearce: CLICK HERE to e-mail Q. Accommodation fees are non-refundable unless you can find someone to take your place. No refunds for program changes. Send written conference cancellation by 2/28/10. A service charge of $28 will be applicable. Return check fees; $30.00. No conference refunds after March 1, 2010. No conference or critique refunds are given if you have signed up for a critique.