I’m just back from a Novel Revision Retreat in San Rafael, CA. What a great time. I always learn so much from other writers.

• My suite-mate wasn’t taking my class, but I watched her hunker down for a weekend of writing and learned that sometimes solitude is just as helpful as working in a group.



• I learned all over again, that critique groups can be more honest and more helpful than anyone expects.
• I learned that continuing a group after a retreat like this means commitment to common goals. We talked about how to extend those goals by creating rituals (For example, a Friday check-in to see how you did that week, as the Summer Revision Smackdown has done.)
• I learned that it is San Ra-FELL, not San RA-fey-ELL. And that is in ma-WREN County, not MARE-in County.
• I learned that young men liked to read Tom Sawyer because they fell in love with Becky Thatcher. (Thanks, Howie, for a great laugh!)
• I learned that we all need to do a better job of sharing information about advances. If you’ve sold a picture book in the last five years, I urge you to fill out Barbara’s Kanninen’s survey. If you do, she will send you a copy of the most recent results of that survey.

Revise with confidence.

Western Washington SCBWI Retreat: Voice

The retreat was great. There were about 40-45 people there and they were split into two groups. Group A came to me, while Group B went to Patti Gauch, then we swapped for the same presentation again. I sorta knew how Patti would approach voice (and I might have done many of the same things if she hadn’t been there), so I deliberately took a different tack and I think it enriched the experience for the participants. Then, I did a short intro to writing with scenes, more a reminder that this is an option than an indepth study.

The Alderbrook Resort was a great venue, right on the Hood Canal. From the restaurant, you could see a small stream feeding into the canal and we watched salmon swimming up the stream to spawn. Wow! Amazing to this land-locked Arkansan!

Thanks to Jolie Steckly and Sara Easterly for a fabulous job putting this together. (And to Sara’s new daughter, Violet Grace, for giving great cuddles.) And of course, thanks to Jamie Temairik, their assistant and fabulous illustrator.

And Thanks to all those who attended and inspired me with their energy, love of words and attention to detail!

Revise with confidence.

I’ll be speaking a couple times this month. Stop by and say hello!

Say Hello

• Weekend on the Water, Western Washington SCBWI Professional Retreat. This retreat, I’ll be teaching about Voice and Scenes.
• Arkansas Curriculum Conference, Little Rock, AR. Geared toward teachers, I”ll be presenting PAPER LIGHTNING: Prewriting Activities to Spark Creativity to English Language Arts teachers and talking about using The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman and Searching for Oliver K. Woodman in social studies classes.

Sign up for RSS feed

When the retreat and conference are over, we’ll be celebrating my mother-in-law’s 85th birthday. So, I’ll be offline for a couple days. Sign up for my RSS feed, so you don’t miss me when I get back.

New Page for Downloads

Meanwhile, to make it easy for you, I’ve put all the downloadable FREE files and Ebooks onto one page. Look here.

Revise with confidence.

The Novel Revision retreat was originally designed as a weekend getaway to focus on writing. But often it’s not possible for people to travel to a site.

Help Revising Your Novel

My passion is to help people revise their novels. Here are three opportunities:

• Online Workshop. Online Novel Revision Workshop I’m only doing a limited number this year because it’s my son’s senior year of high school. To find the full information click here.
• Retreat. Novel Revision Retreat. For my current teaching schedule, click here. If you want to host a retreat in your area, of if you want me to speak at another event, email me: darcy at darcypattison.com.
• Workbook.
  
  This workbook is the one used in the retreat and is the result of eight years of teaching the retreat across the United States. Read more.

Revise with confidence.

Here’s the current schedule for my teaching/speaking for the next year or so.

2008

• October 6-8 Books to Bridge the Region, NW Indiana
• October 11 Educator’s Day, B&N, Little Rock
• November 7-9 Scene and Voice, Weekend on the Water: Fall Professional Retreat Western Washington SCBWI
• November 13-14 Arkansas Teacher’s Conference

2009

• February 6-8 OK SCBWI Picture Book Retreat
• February 20-22 IL SCBWI Novel Revision Retreat
• July 16-19 San Francisco SCBWI Novel Revision Retreat, Dominican College, San Rafael, CA
• September 11-13 Louisiana SCBWI Novel Revision Retreat, New Orleans
• October 2-4 Nebraska, Act 2 of Novel Series Retreats

2010
August 20-22 Pacific Coast Children’s Writer’s Workshop

I’m always glad to talk to people about speaking in your area on topics that meet your needs. Contact me for more information at darcy at darcypattison.com

Revise with confidence.

The deadline is fast approaching for registration for the Writer’s Toolbox Retreat.

Arkansas SCBWI Fall Retreat

The Writer’s Toolbox:Nonfiction, Fiction and Marketing Skills
September 19-21, 2008
The Lodge at Mount Magazine.
Space is limited. The Arkansas SCBWI Fall Retreat is an intensive weekend retreat that focuses on specific craft issues for experienced writers. This year’s retreat is open to all writers and features three great speakers! (Well, two great speakers and me.)

Michelle Andelman: Literary Agent

Michelle Andelman has been an Associate Agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency since 2005. She works out of New York City as its East Coast representative, handling projects across the children’s and adult markets. Michelle brings to her work experience in book publicity and book-to-film, which allows her to guide clients at every stage of a book’s life, from development prior to submission through publication, promotion, and the exercise of sub-rights. She specializes in all categories of children’s books, with interest in middle grade and YA fiction that ranges from the literary to the commercial, and especially features both a literary voice and commercial hook across the genres. Michelle’s recent deals include The Third Try (Simon Pulse/Simon and Schuster), Spark (Jabberwocky/Sourcebooks), The Yuckiest, Drooliest, Stinkiest, Best Valentine’s Day Ever (Harcourt), Girl in Waiting & Third Grade Baby (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), and Last Midnight (Hyperion).

Carla Killough McClafferty, Non-Fiction Specialist

Award-winning author, Carla Killough McClafferty, began her writing career with an adult Christian book titled Forgiving God (Discovery House Publishers, 1995). Since then she has been writing middle grade nonfiction books. The first in this genre, The Head Bone’s Connected to the Neck Bone: The Weird, Wacky and Wonderful X-ray (FSG, 2001) was a Junior Library Guild Selection; NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book; and on the NYPL List for the Teen Age. Her next book, Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium (FSG 2006), was named an IRA Children’s Book Award Winner; NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book; NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book, NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book; ALA Best Book for Young Adults; ALA Amelia Bloomer List; Junior Library Guild Selection; Booklist top Ten Sci-Tech Books; NYPL List for the Teen Age; Arkansas’s Charlie May Simon Reading List; and got a starred review in School Library Journal. This fall, her third book for young readers will be released, titled, In Defiance of Hitler: The Secret Mission of Varian Fry (FSG, 2008). She is currently working on her next book. Carla is the SCBWI regional advisor in Arkansas.

Darcy Pattison, Fiction Specialist

Darcy Pattison, an author of both picture books and novels, has been published in eight languages. Her books include Nineteen Girls and Me (Philomel,), Searching for Oliver K. Woodman (Harcourt), The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman (Harcourt). Her books have been recognized for excellence by starred reviews in Kirkus and BCCB, Child magazine Best Books of the Year 2003, Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Books of the Year 2003, and the 2005-6 Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award Reading List . The video version of The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman (Nutmeg Media Children’s Picture Books on Video, June 2005) was named an ALA Notable Video 2006. The story will be included in the forthcoming reading series from Houghton Mifflin and a paperback version in 2009. Darcy is also widely published on the topic of creative writing and has two books available for adults. For those interested in writing or revising a novel, she provides help in Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise (Mims House). Her teacher resource book, Paper Lightning: Prewriting Activities to Spark Creativity, (Cottonwood Press) helps teachers as they work with student writers.

Register NOW! August 1 is the deadline to register.
Download the Full Brochure and Registration information (PDF)

Revise with confidence.

I’m out the next two days speaking to teachers and writers. I’ve had a couple people ask, so I’ll post my schedule for the next year or so:

2008

• June 5 Pine Bluff, AR, Delta Institute, teacher’s in-service
• June 6 Arkansas Writing Conference, Little Rock, AR.
• June 16 Western Arkansas Education Cooperative
• September 19-21 AR-SCBWI Fall Retreat: A Writer’s Toolkit
• October 6-8 Books to Bridge the Region, NW-Indiana
• November 7-9 Western Washington SCBWI Weekend on the Water (deadline to apply is June 30)

2009

• Feb. 6-8 OK-SCBWI Picturebook retreat
• Feb. 20-22 IL-SCBWI Novel Revision retreat
• July (exact dates tba) Northern California SCBWI Novel Revision Retreat
• September 11-13 New Orleans SCBWI

For information on SCBWI events, please see www.scbwi.org, and email the regional adviser from that region. I’m always glad to talk about teaching in your region! Email me at darcy at darcypattison dot com.

Revise with confidence.

The 2008 Arkansas SCBWI Fall retreat focuses on a Writer’s Toolkit, with sessions on nonfiction, fiction and marketing.

When: September 19-21, 2008
Where: Mt. Magazine State Park, Arkansas

Meet Michelle Andelman, Literary Agent

Michelle Andelman, the east coast representative for the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, will be presenting sessions on the marketplace. Participants will have an opportunity to send in material before the conference for Andelman’s review. At the conference, she will meet privately with the authors to discuss where their work might fall in the marketplace.

Meet Carla McClafferty, Award-winning Nonfiction Writer

Something Out of Nothing, Marie Curie and Radium won the Intermediate Nonfiction Award from the International Reading Association and was an Honor Orbis Pictus Award winner. McClafferty will take participants from dry facts to juicy stories.

Meet Darcy Pattison

I will be providing sessions on Voice and Writing Scenes.

For more information, see the Arkansas SCBWI website or download the pdf brochure.

Space is limited — register early!

Revise with confidence.

Life has been interesting this week!

I was in Nebraska teaching a Novel Revision retreat when the tornadoes hit Little Rock last week. Fortunately, no one I knew had major housing problems. Just lots of trees down. And the switch near our office blew; which blew modems in nearly every computer; even today, four days later, we are still struggling to get everything back up to speed.

The retreat was fabulous! Thanks to Nancy, Elaine and every one who attended–great fun!

Other life issues going on at the same time, with family and projects and taxes due next week!

But–I’m back and should be almot back to normal by tomorrow.

Revise with confidence.

Schools, conferences, professional development for teachers–I have a little bit of everything planned for this year.

• March 17 Pine Ridge Elementary, Maumelle, AR
• April 1 Cathedral School, Little Rock, AR
• April 4-6 Act 2 of Novel Retreat in 3 Acts, Nebraska
• April 11-12 Arkansas Society of Children’s Bookwriters and Illustrators, Conway, AR
  http://members.aol.com/ddpattison/scbwi/spring.html
• April 21 Arkansas Association of Instructional Media, Little Rock, AR
• June 5 Delta Institute, Pine Bluff, AR
• June 6 Arkansas Writer’s Conference, Little Rock, AR
• June 16-17 Western Arkansas Education Service Cooperative, Branch, AR
• September 19-21 Arkansas SCBWI Fall Retreat, Mt. Magazine State Park, AR
• October 24-26 Act 3 of Novel Retreat in 3 Acts, Nebraska. Contact nlsharpwriter@yahoo.com to ask if any spaces remain in the retreat
• November 7-9 Western Washington SCBWI Retreat. Voice and Scenes. Contact joliestekly@msn.com

Revise with confidence.