TEDx Event

I've been invited to speak at a TEDx Event. My first inclination was to say "no." Public speaking is not my forte. Then I thought about it, and after reading the book Mindset this summer and taking an oath to grow and challenge myself more consistently, I accepted the invitation. And now I'm excited about the whole thing. I can't wait to talk about My Dots and how they connected over several decades. More to come on this as I think and prepare my presentation.

Here is the event info:

TEDx Youth@ValVerde

Theme: Connect the dots to your future!

Moreno Valley, CA, United States

November 17th, 2012

And here is my bio for the event:

Tracy Wymer

Tracy Wymer wrote his first story at age six. It began, "I was born on a dark and stormy night." Growing up in the 80's, he credits the national reading incentive program Book It and the children's television series Reading Rainbow for helping inspire his love of reading. Tracy now teaches English and creative writing and keeps his office in an underground bomb shelter. He recently published his first book The Color of Bones, a novel for young readers that magically explores the power of love and hope against segregation. Tracy lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

SCBWI - Los Angeles 2012 - Day 1

I'm currently attending the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Summer Conference here in Los Angeles. This is my fourth consecutive year attending, and the lineup of speakers and workshops is as impressive as ever. 

This morning, Arthur A. Levine kicked off the conference with his keynote about Timelessness and the qualities that let a book survive generations of readers. Side note: Levine is the American publisher of the Harry Potter series, so he knows a bit about success and the aforementioned topic. He chose his words carefully while emphasizing the timeless aspects of several books from his imprint.  

Next up was TonyDiTerlizzi. (Try saying that name fives times without breathing). Honestly, I'd never heard of him, but I'm sure you've heard of his work, most notably The Spiderwick Chronicles and his more recent title Kenny & the Dragon. Let me tell you about Tony... if it's possible to rock a stage at a writers/illustrators conference (which it's not), he did it. He was funny, entertaining, honest, humble,  and full of memorable anecdotes. Highlight: He compared the wants and needs of three different girl protagonists from three classic tales. You had to be there. 

Other highlights from my day included:

• Tim Ditlow (head of Amazon Children's Publishing), on What Amazon Publishing is Looking to Acquire. 
• Gary Schmidt (my literary hero), on Layering Characters. 
• Dan Gutman (this dude has sold over 6 million books! What!) - The title of his keynote was "How a Dumbass Like Me Got 100 Books Published"

Tomorrow holds more inspiration, education, and deterioration (of my leg muscles from sitting in a slender, straight-backed banquet chair for 8 hours). 

P.S. It was great catching up with Chris Rylander, author of The Fourth Stall series and winner of the Sid Fleischman Humor Award. 

Write on!

tew