CWIG-ing out!

Anne talked about the fledgling days of the Scattered Authors Society. Having only joined this year, I was fascinated to hear that the SAS began in 1996 or thereabouts when three Scholastic authors arranged to meet in Birmingham and compare notes on this sometimes most solitary of professions. Thirteen years later, the SAS has over 150 members, a website, a blog, a chatroom, regular meet-ups and an annual retreat. 

Anne says that before the SAS existed, she'd been writing for seven years and had never met another children's writer. She described the acute anxiety of walking into a publishing party full of unfamiliar faces. I know that anxiety well from my own experiences. Does it ever get easier? Well, yes, if you know friends are going to be present.

Beverley Birth was on the panel to share her experiences of setting up a collective of children's writers in South London to reach to readers. The Children's Writers and Illustrators of South London has its own website and what seems to be a very successful, inspiring network of writers who have become very involved with libraries, festivals and local communities. There was advice for other authors to set up their own local groups. Beverley is an editor at Hodder as well as a children's author, so was able to bring a publishing perspective as well as a writer's.

A new fact that I learnt: there are 10,000 new children's books published every year. Gulp.

At the end of the evening, I had the opportunity to meet Grant Clark. Grant lives in Singapore and has had his first children's book published over there, Monkey Magic - the Curse of Mukada. What a great title! Apparently, the children of Singapore recognise Grant as a local author and stop him to ask, 'Are you the monkey man?' This made me laugh a lot. Grant was charming and professional and it was a real pleasure to meet another writer who is working hard to establish his career writing for children. He seems to be doing all the right things, and I look forward to watching his career flourish. He even managed to sell a copy of one of his books on the night. Go, Grant!

I nearly forgot my most important news of all. I think I've arrived at the end of a second draft. Stop press: on Sunday I did no writing at all. I repeat. No writing. Bring on the third draft... (But only after a spot of R&R.)