Announcements

UTAH CHILDREN'S WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS

Announcement List--February 1, 2005

New newsletter! Rick Walton's monthly newsletter will provide not only the usual information on upcoming books and appearances, but also first drafts and discussion of his published books, and a groundbreaking feature, never before done in the writing universe (as far as we know)--Six Degrees of Literary Separation. This month's SDOLS will demonstrate just how close Rick came to winning this year's Caldecott. First issue comes tomorrow. Send a blank e-mail to rickwalton-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to subscribe.


This month's profile is of author Shannon Hale.


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CONGRATULATIONS

to Shannon Hale, whose book GOOSE GIRL, will be a Children's Book of the Month Club feature.

to Randall Wright, whose book HUNCHBACK was named to the VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers (appearing in the February 2005 issue).


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NEW SALES

from Shannon Hale, Italian rights to PRINCESS ACADEMY.

from Chris Crowe, a YA biography of Thurgood Marshall, to Viking, for their American Lives series.


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COMING SOON

March, 2005

from Kimberley Heuston and Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, LIFE IN ANCIENT INDIA, Oxford University Press.

from Rick Walton, PUZZLE CRAZY, American Girl.


April, 2005

from Randall Wright, THE SILVER PENNY, Holt.


Spring, 2005

from Dana Kessimakis Smith, A BRAVE SPACEBOY (2nd in a series, see A WILD COWBOY), Hyperion.

from Sherry Meidell, illustrator, DR. WELCH AND THE GREAT GRAPE STORY, by Mary Lou Carney, Boyds Mills Press.


May, 2005

from Shannon Hale, THE GOOSE GIRL, paperback edition.


June, 2005

from Gloria Skurzynski, THE VIRTUAL WAR CHRONOLOGS BOOK THREE: THE REVOLT, Atheneum.


July, 2005

from Rick Walton, BUNNY SCHOOL, HarperCollins.


August, 2005

from Shannon Hale, PRINCESS ACADEMY, Bloomsbury.


Fall, 2005

from Michael Spooner, a historical novel, LAST CHILD (a sequel to DANIEL'S WALK), from Henry Holt.

from Hala Wittwer, illustrator, MEOW, a picture book by Jane Yolen.

from Kim Justesen, MY BROTHER THE DOG, a YA, from Tanglewood Press.


March, 2006

from Sharlee Glenn, JUST WHAT MAMA NEEDS, a picture book, from Putnam.


Spring, 2006

from Kim Justesen, three books in the "Hey, Ranger" series.


Fall 2006
from Anne Bowen, WHAT DO TEACHERS DO? a picture book, from Carolrhoda Books

from Greg Swearingen, illustrator, FAIRY FAIRY QUITE CONTRARY, a picture book by Mem Fox.

from Dana Kessimakis Smith, MY DADDY'S A GRIZZLY BEAR, a picture book, from Hyperion Books for Children.


2008

from Carla Morris, THE BOY WHO WAS RAISED BY LIBRARIANS, a picture book, illustrated by Brad Sneed, from Peachtree.


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APPEARANCES AND EVENTS

1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month, from 3:30-5:00 pm, Carol Lynch Williams runs the Springville Young Writers Group, a free critique/writing group for children. Call Vivian Milius at the Springville Library for information.

February 2-12, 2005--LILLY'S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE--Theatre for Young Audiences--BYU Margetts Theatre Series, Nelke Theatre. Call Fine Arts Ticket Office 378-4322.

February 8-9, 2005--Rick Walton will be visiting Emerson Elementary in Salt Lake City.

February 16, 2005--Rick Walton will be speaking to the Jordan School District Title I teachers.

February 19, 2005--Shannon Hale will be speaking at Life, the Universe, and Everything at BYU.

February 21, 2005--Gloria Skurzynski will be speaking at the Celebration of Children's Literature, the Utah/Southern Idaho SCBWI conference.

February 23 through March 3--Gloria Skurzynski will be speaking in schools in and around Phoenix Arizona

February 26--Ken Baker and Carol Lynch Williams will be speaking at the Nebo School District Fund Raising Writing Conference. Proceeds go to buy books and handmade blankets for newborn babies at Mountain View Hospital.

March 1, 2005--Deseret Book and the Ogden School Foundation will be hosting Anne Bowen as she speaks to third graders in the Ogden City school district

March 3, 2005--Anne Bowen, Becky Hall, Ken Baker, Sharlee Glenn, Rick Walton, and other Utah authors will be signing books at UELMA, at the Davis Conference Center in Layton, at 4:00 pm.

March 6-8, 2005--Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson will be keynote speakers at the 37th Annual Children's Literature Festival at Central Missouri State University.

March 17-18, 2005--UVSC/SCBWI Forum on Children & Literature. Main guests include JULIE OF THE WOLVES author Jean Craighead George, illustrator Wendell Minor, and BloomsburyUSA editor Melanie Cecka.
Many local authors and illustrators will also be presenting. For more information call 801-863-8894 or go to www.uvsc.edu/conted/c&w/forumChildrenLiterature.

March 24, 2005--Rick Walton will be visiting Eaglecrest Elementary in Lehi.

March 29-31, 2005--Sherry Meidell will have art represented in the 2005 Celebration of Art & Soup at the Sheraton City Centre in Salt Lake.

April 6-8, 2005--Shannon Hale will be at the Texas Library Association annual conference in Austin.

April 9, 2005--Carol Lynch Williams will be the keynote speaker at the Colorado SCBWI Spring Conference.

April 20, 2005--Rick Walton will be at Westside Elementary School in Springville.

April 20, 2005--Anne Bowen will be at Bunderson Elementary in Brigham City.

April 30, 2005--LDStorymakers--2005 Writer's Conference Theme: "The Write Time"
Date: April 30th 2005 9:00 - 6:00
Cost: $48 and $8 for lunch
Little Brown Theater, Springville, Utah
Guest Speaker: Kenny Kemp, author
Guest Speaker: Richard Peterson, editor, Deseret Book
Interviews with publishers/editors
Panel discussion with publishers
"Publishing Secrets" will be available for $11
Hope to have new book, "Writing Secrets" ready also.
Classes will be held on a wide variety of topics, including "Finding Time to Write," "Self-promotion," "Writing for Younger Readers," "The LDS Market," "Hooked: How to Keep Your Reader's Interest," "Nuts and Bolts: The Basics of Writing," "Pinnochio: How to Keep Your Characters From Sounding Wooden," "Articles," "Sci-Fi," "Romance," and "Research for Fiction and Non-fiction." Register early for the best rates; preregistration begins March 1st 2005 at http://www.ldstorymakers.com Presenters include Rachel Ann Nunes, Michele Ashman Bell, Jeff
Savage, Tristi Pinkston, Tamra Norton, Annette Lyon, Shirley Bahlmann, James Dashner, Janet Jensen, Carol Thayne, Anne Bradshaw, and Julie Wright.

May 25-June 11, 2005--HOLES--Theatre for Young Audiences—BYU Margetts Theatre Series, Nelke Theatre. Call Fine Arts Ticket Office 378-4322.

May 27-28, 2005--Shannon Hale will be at the CONduit fantasy convention in Salt Lake City.

June 13-17, 2005--BYU Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Conference.


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AUTHOR PROFILE: SHANNON HALE


BORN: 
Salt Lake City, Utah

PARENTS: 
Wallace Bryner and Bonnie Bryner

SPOUSE: 
Dean Hale

CHILDREN: 
Max Stonebreaker Hale, age 6 months and growing at a frightening pace

EDUCATION: 
B.A., University of Utah, English
M.F.A., University of Montana, Creative Writing

PLACES LIVED: 
Salt Lake City, Missoula MT, Paraguay, studies in Mexico and England

OTHER JOBS HELD: 
instructional designer for web-based trainings, loan officer, film agent assistant(sounds glamorous, no? It's not.), talk radio show producer (the host skipped town, fled to Mexico, and still owes me $1200), college writing instructor

HOBBIES: 
improv comedy, fishing, yoga, baby snuggling, playing home-networked Quake with husband

PHOBIAS: 
Any imagined impending tragedy. My imagination can be painful

RECENT BOOKS: 
THE GOOSE GIRL
ENNA BURNING
PRINCESS ACADEMY (2005)

PUBLISH WITH: 
Bloomsbury

SCHOOL VISIT ACTIVITIES: 
Assembly, storytelling, rewriting fairytales

WEBSITE FEATURES: 
Teacher/bookclub guide to THE GOOSE GIRL, online interactive stories, book first chapters and deleted chapters, web log, information for writers, games and quizzes

WEBSITE: www.shannonhale.com



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SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES

BRING AN AUTHOR OR ILLUSTRATOR TO YOUR SCHOOL
It's not too early to start thinking about bringing an author or illustrator to your school during the 2004-2005 school year. When kids get to meet and learn from real authors they get excited about reading and writing. It's a great way to bring books to life. For information on presentations, fees, and contacts, go to www.ucwi.org/visit.htm, or check out the author/illustrator websites below. If you've never held an author visit and don't know what to do, go to www.rickwalton.com/utahauth/bringing.htm for information, guidelines, and advice.

A DEAL FOR SPECIAL CAUSES
If you want to get books into the hands of kids who need them--e.g., kids in shelters, kids in hospitals, kids in foreign countries, kids in a summer reading programs--we can get you select picture books and joke books at rock bottom prices. You can get hardcover books at prices lower than a cheap paperback. Contact Rick at rick@rickwalton.com for more information.

GET BOOKS INTO THE HANDS OF YOUR STUDENTS
Rick Walton has a supply of deeply discounted books. If you buy one copy for each of the students in your school, Rick will do a day long visit at your school for free. For more information see www.rickwalton.com/aboutric/deal.htm.

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UTAH AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR WEBSITES

Check out our website, www.ucwi.org, where you'll find information on local authors, their books, and their appearance information, and past issues of this newsletter.--Utah Children's Writers and Illustrators -- www.ucwi.org

Ken Baker -- www.bravemonster.com
Ann Edwards Cannon -- www.aecannon.com
Chris Crowe -- www.chriscrowe.com
Alane Ferguson -- www.alaneferguson.com
Guy Francis -- www.guyfrancis.com
Sharlee Glenn -- www.sharleeglenn.com
Shannon Hale -- www.shannonhale.com
Mette Ivie Harrison -- www.metteivieharrison.com
Kim Williams Justesen -- http://hometown.aol.com/kimorchid/myhomepage/profile.html
Sherry Meidell -- www.sherrymeidell.com
Julie Olson -- www.jujubeeillustrations.com
Gloria Skurzynski -- http://gloriabooks.com
Dana Kessimakis Smith -- www.danasmithbooks.com
Will Terry -- www.willterry.com
Laura Torres--www.lauratorres.com
Rick Walton -- www.rickwalton.com
Kevin Wasden -- www.kevinwasden.com
Hala Wittwer--www.artbyhala.com
Carol Lynch Williams -- www.carollynchwilliams.com
Randall Wright -- www.booksbywright.com

UTAH WRITER AND LITERATURE ORGANIZATIONS WEBSITES
BYU Children's Book Review -- http://cbpr.lib.byu.edu
Children's Lit. Assoc. of Utah (Beehive Book Awards)-- www.clau.org
League of Utah Writers -- www.luwrite.com
UCTE/LA -- http://community.weber.edu/uctela
UT Council/International Reading Assoc. -- www.utahreading.org
Utah Children's Writers and Illustrators -- www.ucwi.org

If you have a Utah organization related to children's literature, please send it to us and we'll add it to the list.


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Are you, or do you know an author or illustrator of books for young readers? Are you sponsoring a children's literature related event? Is there something else related to this list that we should announce? Send announcements to rick@rickwalton.com.

Are you interested in writing for kids? If so, you should join the Utah Children's Writers listserv. Get involved with other writers in discussions about writing, reading, and marketing literature for kids. To join, send a blank e-mail to utahchildrenswriters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Please forward this announcement to anyone you would like.