The Official Recap and Award Ceremony

Recap (presented by Tina)

Wednesday's game, what a beautiful thing?! Well maybe not, but here is how it all went...


Wednesday game morning dawned with Heather busting a move writing the clues. Jon and I scrabbling about the New England terroir seeking a fine metaphor for the phrase before J heads out to sprinkle the clues and the game begins. And la de da all is good. Thinking it's a relaxed game today. Dena not playing until the late game, Kris is the only one there on time and yes, different than last week, but oh well here we are with a book to give away and nothing better to do. Soon enough, Crystal Cook, Jeff, and sarahmullengilbert join the game. 


But Blogger's acting up. We think she may have ate something she shouldn't have, you know with all the different folks around the tent, there is no accounting for what this gal might get into. But she seems hungry swallowing comments, burping up extra spaces. It's getting ugly around here. But then we get to the end, the last clue, here the pressure's on folks, and the lovely blanks at the top of the page and the clues are not adding up. How do you make a phrase from that gobblygook? Kris, who was sorting through the evidence, ready to submit (we had already sent her through the hoops and the gallant player that she is, returned to go through the hoops again) alerted us to the discrepancy:


Kris said...
Just checking - are the phrases for #2 and #6 supposed to be the same?


Can you imagine what it was like in our green room (read: google chat room)???!!!
Ahhh ha! Have we said, it takes a whole blogosphere to raise a game??


Here is what Kris and Crystal did to cheer us up:
Kris said...Don't worry, from the stands here, it all looks like part of the show.
Crystal Cook said...You guys are doing great, I don't even know how you would organize all this, it's pretty amazing :)


Aren't they lovely?!


Well, luckily Jon was wearing his Tarzan suit for the performance. And you know exactly how that is! He went swinging off the fiber optics on his way outa here--we've got this tent wired!--and spread around the correct glitter.


Here is what he said on his return:


Jonathon Arntson said...
Ahem. Is this thing on?


Okay, I messed up and posted the wrong clue at one of the blogs. Like Kris said, were there supposed to be two WRITERS MAKE? No, there were not.


And the players keep coming: Kate, Elana Johnson, Creations By Lyndsay, Serenissima, Dena Daw


The stops are blogs of folks that recently met up at NESCBWI this past weekend, a little WIBIJ trickery: bringing together a real community, virtually. Or (strike that, reverse it) bringing a virtual community together, in real life (IRL)? :

Stop #1 Laura Pauling Exercising the Write to Ramble:

this new hampshire gal explores funny middLe grAde

Underwriting her fiRst drAft, then expanding her trade

she connects WRITEing with life; brings us tips on craft

at her blog, where you've found that you've already laughed.

she helps all to practice the EXERCISING piece

TO RAMBLE, to write, to draft, to increase

the knowledge as a writer, to learn, to grow

she's a wonderful writerly friend in THE know.

Stop #2 Nandini Notes From New England

this NEW ENGLAND gal writes of india and the mystery

of an unlucky girl, born under the wrong sign in history.

but math and horoscopes collide to provide

a sliver of opportunity when she can wed--the wrong guy.

she also collaborates with enchanted inkpot,

and writes middle grade adventures with an interesting plot

of kids taking NOTES FROM a reincarnated cat

to restore world balance and the book of life-stat.

Stop #3 Martha Calderaro Writer, poet, roving pen

this new england gal MAy be a wonderful friend

who keeps tuRning up again and again

THank goodness for whAt coinCidence cAn do

alLowing, DEteRmining, ARranging Our view.

you'll find her penning poetry and writing books,

walking and biking to explore n.e.'s nooks

visiting LIBRARYs on her ONE-CARD TOUR

allowing each spot to show her something more.

Stop #4 Kate Messner Kate's Book Blog

GIANNA postpones projects from beginning to Z

she'd rather run, than identify leaves fromTHE tree

a SPITFIRE, her grandmother has hold of her heart

will she FALL, will she race, will she complete her part?

an enemy, a friend, and complications abound

in the last moment, can all OF those leaves be found?

a BRILLIANT idea is necessary now.

can gianna fulfill her duties somehow?

Stop #5 Kris My Writing Journey

this new england gal writes sports books for girls;

with a golf backdrop in which her ya unfurls.

realistically written, ready for agent eyes

she knows ALL ABOUT THE 'how' to revise

down to EARTH, easy to relate

her for-hire book is fresh, informative, great

all SIGNS point to yes, before CAPSTONE's done

you'll learn about the earth, stars, moon, and sun.

Stop #6 Anna Staniszewski Author of Books for Children and Young Adults

she dips her pen in enchAnted ink

wants to make you imagiNe, to make you thiNk.

ya fantAsy, dystopia, fairy tale fun

she'll do it all before she's done.

stop by her blog, you'll soon underSTANd

the importance of world building for your land

and how characters can be written to jump and pop

with her kind support, your pen won't stop!

The phrase had a high level of difficulty, clearly as we, here under the tent, had a hard time making it come out correctly, and presumably we wrote the thing.

These Nor'Easter writers make the perfect storm of kidlit talent.

And there you have it. They sure do! Thanks to our lovely hosts!

Finishers with correct phrase and all that Jazz:

Kris

Crystal Cook

Elena Johnson

Lyndsay

Awards Ceremony (presented by Jon)

Thank you, Tina, for making me relive that experience.  :)

Wednesday's was fun, despite my follies, and the awesome comments you guys left prove it!

At Laura's blog

Jeanne(Serenissima) - social media
necessary marketing
or is life too short?

(That'll be my excuse, Jeanne!)

 At Nandini's:
 Crystal - Coolness in the eyes of your ten year old! That's the best :) It sounds like you had such an awesome time, it's so great to be with other writers who 'get' you.

Kris - I was at the conference, too! I'm super impressed you were able to revise during the conference -- I was completely wipe out, physically and emotionally from it! But it was incredible. It must have been cool to be a driver, even though it was too much time on the road. All those creative people in a small space.

Jeanne - i'll draft to my strengths
revise to my weaknesses
and whine to my friends

(You read my mind, Jeanne.)

At Martha's

Kris - I’m with you! I got totally mushy fangirl when I met Kate Messner and shook Cynthia Leitich Smith’s hand. Such cool talent and awesomely inspiring writers. I’m not sure if zoologists have the same level of awesome, but I might be wrong.  Allyn and Marlee’s talk had me all excited to put away my YA novel (well, not quite) and pull those old PB manuscripts off my computer. Maybe someday!  (I struggle with this everyday!)

Jeff - Getting Dentists to pay attention at conferences must be like pulling teeth since they only like to talk when they have someones undivided attention (i.e. when they have their hands in your mouth).Better that than feeling burned out like the home appliance manufacturers feel after their conferences.
Worst of all are the zoologists. I hear they spend their weekends getting monkeyed around!
(Jeff - You captured the true spirit of WIBIJ?!  Well done!)

Jeanne - dentists learn the drill
appliance guys get plugged in
writers just want booze ;->

(A fact that I consistently prove on a daily basis)

At Kate's

Lyndsay - I'm a teacher, too! I love how books place you right in the heart of history. Fiction that shows how life was at a certain time is so important to be correlated with history lessons. Have fun wrapping up your school year!

Jeanne - this sounds worth reading
if one line could sell a book
varnished faces would

At Kris's

Sarah - What a great quote! One thing I learned at our Iowa SCBWI conference is "if you slap a cute dog on any cover, it'll sell like hotcakes." And lots of good writerly things were learned too :)
How awesome that you're playing along with W.I.B.I.J.! This was my last clue to figure out and I saw your picture up top and was like, hey, she looks familiar :)

Kate - I've often heard of the first draft as the "down draft" cause you have to just get it down. Then the second draft is the "up draft" because you clean it up. I think your write to your strengths, revise to your weaknesses moto fits in with that. It's all a process and nobody can expect it to be perfect in the first go around.

(Srsly, Kate, words I need to start living by!)

Elana - Oh, that's great advice. The best thing I've heard recently is "You can do hard things." It's something I tell myself every day.
How lame am I, quoting myself? LAME.

Jeanne - hey, wait a minute
you had to find your own blog?
a conspiracy! ;->

Dena - Okay obviously all of my writer friends are in New England. Where the crap are all my REDNECK writers?!?!?! Seriously?! All of you guys are up north!!
GREAT advice about putting away a manuscript for a couple of weeks. It's crazy what a difference that makes. It's like I'm looking at it with fresh eyes!

(I'm not in New England and I am very redneck.  No, srsly, I forgot to wear sunscreen on my run yesterday.)

At Anna's
Crystal - Attack mode! Battle cry! Huzzah!! WIP, you may now fear me!

Excellent motivation, I’m with ya.

(This is the Crystal that sends me inspirational emails every week?)

Elana - Good luck with your goals. *insert battle cry* I’m with you! I will write a lot this week. How’s that for specific? Ha!

Jeanne - no more excuses!
i’ll start my next manuscript
and eat more salad

Dena - Yes Yes! I need the powers of the bunny!!!!! I have taken a break because I’ve been reading a buttload of YA books, but I have had a PB ready for submission for about a month now and I have yet to submit it! I must harness the powers of the bunny and get on it immediately!

(I have learned so many things about Dena via WIBIJ, nothing more prevalent than her affinity for the word 'butt'.)

Award Ceremony

Despite the mix-up, we have winners!

Best Comment has never been harder to award.  There were so many great options showing support, wit, and writing love. But the difficulty of the phrase made it easier to narrow. With her haiku-like comments, Jeanne wins the award for Best Comment!  She embodies so much fun in her comments and they make me smile when I am far from my computer.  Thanks, Jeanne.

First place was a nail biter since my mess-up left the players in a disoriented state. The first place winner finished after telling me what I had done wrong and cheering us along as we fixed the problems.  Yes, Kris is the winner of 1st Place AND a free book!  Kris, you get to pick out of these books.  Thanks and nice work!