Monday Moment #115: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)

 

It's taken me a while to get here, but *here* I am. And happy to be so.

I'm fresh off an incredible conference. If you were there, you know. Unbelievable, huh? If you weren't, well then you have to travel to Seattle next April because, DANG, this region knows how to put on a show. And this year's faculty was A-mazing. I've been to too many conferences to count, and this was one conference where I didn't feel like I was hearing the same thing over again. Loved it.

That said, coming out of this conference, I have mentors on my mind.

So, as you know from the previous post, I hosted a little Orientation for the first-time attendees. Well, maybe not so little since there were over 100 first-timers.

Here's one of them.

Look at how terrified that little robot looks.

One of the pieces that I think makes the Orientation so successful is that many (like 55 attendees) volunteer to be mentors. They come into the conference early and meet several attendees, in a sense taking them under their writerly/illustratorly/conference-goerly wings. (Mouthful, anyone?) Love that.

Not only that, but during lunch on Sunday, there was a special announcement. SCBWI WWA gave it's first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award and it went to one of my mentors, Peggy King Anderson. Man, I love that lady!



Here she is in the pretty blue, not expecting a thing!



Peggy's daughter (in purple) looks on.

A handful of those who Peggy has touched shared a thought. And Peggy listens as the rooms send lots of love her way!

Now, she is a mentor to me in a couple of ways. First, she was my start; my introduction to this crazy industry and to SCBWI and she has remained part of my writerly life for the past ten years. She is also a mentor as a writer teacher, and I look up to her so very much. I too teach, and had just received excited news the day before the conference kicked-off: I was offered the instructor position for the Foundations portion of the UW Writing for Children Continuing Ed. program. So exciting. I'm thrilled to be joining such an amazing instructor team. And, Peggy...well, when she found out, she made me feel like it's what I'm meant to do, just like she always does.

Who does your character look up to, and why?