HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWAGGER!

by Kathy Cannon Wiechman

Three years ago, a group of 8 friends at a Highlights Foundation Writers’ Workshop started this blog. It was the brain child of Kim Van Sickler, and Kim has been the main member to keep it afloat.

Since its inception, one member has left to deal with enormous health issues (We love you, Grace!) and two members left to begin their own inspirational blog at City Muse/Country Muse. A few others only occasionally put in rare, but welcome, appearances when their busy schedules and inspiration allow. But Kim has gone out into the blogosphere and developed a following, and always manages to come up with a post when needed, no matter what.

When Swagger began, I couldn’t envision being able to write new posts on a regular basis. After all, I was busy with ideas for novels and short stories. So were all the other Swaggers. But over the past 3 years, I have written more than 100 blog posts, some of them on topics delegated by blog hops. Others were inspired by events in my own life, like getting a publishing contract for my debut novel LIKE A RIVER (due out April 7, 2015 from Calkins Creek). I have also told stories from my childhood, that had been tucked safely in a file drawer inside my mind.

Life has thrown many things at all of us, those kinds of things that Life throws, things that could end a blog’s existence. But Swagger survives—and thrives.

                

                                Happy birthday, Swagger!

Guess what I did last weekend?

 I followed Gina's advice and had me a BURN.

 I took three large Highlights canvas bags, from the Chautauqua Conferences and the Founders Workshops attended through the years, and filled them up with hundreds of pages. They were old, rough copies of manuscripts, scribbled notes, rejection letters, used up journals, etc., that were taking up space in my bursting file cabinets, and no longer served any purpose. I loaded them in the trunk of my car and brought them to our house in Northwest Connecticut. While my family went off skiing at Butternut Mountain, I leisurely fed the pages into the fire.

I cannot tell you how good it felt. I was completely at peace. While snacking and enjoying mugs of steaming coffee, I had time to muse over my luck at encountering The Highlights Foundation and its wonderful people: staff, teachers, editors, and most of all, Us, the writers/students/new friends. And I was filled with joy, appreciation, and deep gratitude.

Graziella Pacini Buonanno

HIGHLIGHTS FOUNDATION WORKSHOPS

          If you read this blog, you know the Swagger Writers met at a Highlights Foundation workshop. Actually, I first met Rich Wallace at the HF Workshop at Chautauqua in 1999, and I took one of his HF Founders workshops in 2003. I met Jon Egan three years later at another workshop, and we all met up at Rich’s workshop in 2009. Why so many workshops? Why did I keep going back?
          I’m frugal. I clip coupons and shop for bargains, but when it comes to my writing, I want the best. For me, the HF workshops are that. I get questions answered and work critiqued. I get encouragement. I get treated as someone whose work matters. I come home with knowledge gained and notes on what to do next.
          Some who have never been to a HF workshop say they cost too much, but a bargain hunter like me has to look at what one gets for the price. I’ve gone to many one-day conferences that are cheaper, but there I am, one in a sea of participants. If I attend the night-before dinner, it costs extra. If I get a 15-minute critique, another extra fee. And, of course, there’s the cost of my hotel. If I want the most from it, it’s no longer inexpensive.

          At the Foundation’s workshops, all meals (cooked by chef extraordinaire Marcia Dunsmore, who makes my dietary restrictions taste fabulous!) are included. 

Gourmet meals are served at the Farmhouse when you attend a Highlight's Foundation workshop.

          My room (actually a cozy cabin in a gorgeous bucolic setting) is included. And the ratio of faculty to participants keeps me from feeling at sea.

Private cabins for sleeping and late-night writing.

            Rich’s workshops are not the only HF workshops I’ve been to. I attended ones with faculty like Joy Cowley, Patricia Gauch, & Peter Jacobi. These are experts, who know how to write & sell children’s literature, and they are willing and eager to share their knowledge. And they work one-on-one with each participant—& not just for a 15-minute critique.

            Since my first HF workshop in 1999, I have recommended the workshops to writer friends who might benefit from that one-on-one attention. One of those friends was Dave Richardson.

Kathy (back, fourth from left, and Dave Richardson, standing next to her), with other Highlight's workshop attendees.

Dave had already been published in Highlights magazine, and was a natural fit for the Chautauqua workshop in 2004. He talked to everyone there and made lasting impressions on many of them. One of those contacts led to his landing a job writing a book review column for Reading Today. 
          Another was Patti Gauch. The faculty for Patti’s HF workshop coming up this summer (Master's Class in Fiction Writing for Children & Young Adults, June 24-July 1) includes my friend Dave Richardson. It also includes special guests Joy Cowley & Peter Jacobi. Plus authors, an illustrator, editors, & an agent, all at one workshop. Wow!

          What can you expect from a workshop with Dave? You can read all his impressive credentials by checking out the faculty for the workshop at www.highlightsfoundation.org & you can find his blog at www.riterdave.blogspot.com, but as someone who knows him, I can tell you he reads more books for young people than anyone I know, and he has a sharp eye for what a reader will love. We’ve been in the same critique groups for more than ten years and he offers tremendous insight into what works and what doesn’t. And he’s always thrilled to spot undiscovered talent.

          If you’ve never been to a Highlights Foundation workshop, why not give this one a try? And if you have been before, you can’t beat this wonderful faculty for a return visit. Check out the web site and see what you think. Who knows? You could meet a great group of friends to swagger with.

          If you sign up, come back to this blog and let us know. And be sure to give us a report when you get back from the workshop.

Kathy Cannon Wiechman