Last winter sometime, the lovely folks from
the Houston chapter of SCBWI asked if I'd come over
and give them a one-day workshop on The PIcture Book.

And I said, "Sure!"
Because that's my factory-default setting.

Fast forward a bunch of months, and suddenly it occurs to me I need to plan a one-day workshop on The Picture Book. One-day as in all day. I need a reading list and an outline of topics and a Powerpoint and a plan. I run to the library. I read a whole bunch. I brainstorm and talk out loud. I scurry around without getting much accomplished. I panic a little bit. Time is drawing nigh.

And then suddenly it is October 1st — last Saturday — and there we all are, in a most beautiful, sunlit, high-ceilinged room at St. Martin's Episcopal Church — two big screens and a microphone and the entire day available to talk about picture books. And never mind the scurrying and the panic because we are a roomful of people who want to spend an entire day talking about picture books. Isn't that a dreamy thing? I mean, I couldn't get my computer to talk to the projector at first, and I had way more material than I actually needed (it could've been a two-day workshop!), but all-in-all it was wonderful, thanks to my gracious hosts, a lovely space and a shared passion.

We talked a lot about how deceptively simple but deeply important picture books are — to kids and their grown-ups. I think it helps, when the work gets hard, to know that that's because the work matters. It sort of validates the headachey hair-pulling-out frustration, right?

We talked about a lot of other things, too — remember, it was a whole day — and I for one was all wrung-out at the end. But also so inspired by all the energy in that room that I came home and got to work. Hope everyone else did, too.

Thanks, Houston!