Breezers in Your Neighborhood: OCTOBER!

No time for small talk 'cause we've got BIG doings this month!


Saturday, October 5

Our Local Liaison for North Georgia (West) is Shanda McCloskey and she's brought together a group of seven writers and illustrators for a panel you won't want to miss:

What: Confessions of a Kidlit Critique Group

When:  Saturday, October 5th
              10:30 Am to 12:30 PM

Where:  Hampton Park Library
              Cumming, GA

The Trail Mix Critique Group will speak candidly about what makes success, what keeps them writing, how to critique a friend's writing, and how a successful critique group comes together. Find out this group found (and lost!) agents, dealt with rejection, juggled life, got published, and how each one's journey is so very unique.

Trail Mix is an eclectic assortment of children's book writers and illustrators who have been meeting for almost ten years, all aspiring to be traditionally published. Some have been published, some not yet. Come hear these Southern Breezers tell all--and as always, our Local Liaison events are free!


Sunday, October 6

Southern Breeze Illustrator Coordinator, TeMika Grooms, is always up to something artsy! If you're a creative, join her at this Sunday meet-up:

What: Sunday Write-In

When:  1:00 to 3:00 PM

Where:  Kavarna
              707 East Lake Dr.
              Decatur, GA

Creating does not have to be a solitary process! Join this meet-up group as they set the time aside to create with writers and illustrators of children's books. ALL ARE WELCOME! Bring your sketch books, pencils and paper, and enjoy the process. There will be time for critiques at the end.


Saturday, October 12

Our Local Liaison in the Coastal area, Melissa Miles, received feedback asking for an illustrator event. So Melissa checked around and found a Southern Breezer happy to help:

What: What It Takes to Get Published (from Author/Illustrator Phyllis Tildes)

When:  10 AM to Noon

Where:  Starland Studios
              114 W. 42nd Street
              Savannah, GA

Author/ Illustrator Phyllis Tildes is a PAL member with over 20 books published by Charlesbridge. She'll share her methods and discuss her publication journey, so bring your questions, and bring a friend. It's free!

Saturday, October 26th

Wednesday, October 30

Mark your calendars for a Lunch and Learn with Lin Oliver, co-founder and Executive Director of SCBWI. And P.S. She's also a New York Times best-selling author of children's books! She and Henry Winkler will be in the Atlanta area for a special appearance in the evening but she's always happy to meet local SCBWI members, so we're firming up the details of place and time for this special lunch. We'll post the particulars as soon as we do!

ART CALL!

Southern Breeze Illustrator Coordinator TeMika Grooms has announced an art call:

Southern Breeze Illustrators, it's that's time again! We are seeking a talented illustrator to share his or her work on our conference brochure.

Send your samples of art and spot illustrations to be featured on our marketing materials. The art will be seen by our faculty of art directors, editors, and agents for children's books--submit your best work! Details and directions on how to apply can be found on the Southern Breeze website at the Illustrators Lounge: https://southern-breeze.scbwi.org/illustrators-lounge-2/

You must be a member to apply.
Regular and student memberships are available: https://www.scbwi.org/join-scbwi/

DEADLINE FOR THIS ART CALL IS NOVEMBER 1, 2019!

Note: Selected artist receives complimentary attendance to Illustrator's Day!

(Featured Artist: Shannon Day at Shannon Day Illustration.)

The Southern Breeze Gallery Show!

Memorial Day weekend starts with a colorful splash as the Decatur Arts Festival opens Friday evening, May 24th. For many artists and illustrators in Southern Breeze, it's an opening for them, too, as the Southern Breeze Annual Gallery Show kicks off!

Featured artists include Laura Freeman, Bill Mayer, Tom Gonzalez, Shanda McCloskey, Ebony Glenn, Art Roche, Amy-Schimler-Safford, and Jill Dubin. Come out and join us for art talk and children's books at the reception, starting at 7 PM Friday, May 24th!

P.S. The Gallery show lasts all month long, so if you're in Decatur in June, come by the Decatur library and see what illustrators are up to in the Southern Breeze neighborhood!

Contact Southern Breeze Illustrator Coordinator TeMika Grooms for more information.

Breezers in Your Neighborhood: DECEMBER!

Just two events for December and both on the same day! But one's in Alabama and the other is in Georgia, so something for almost everyone! Take a look and join the Breezers in your neighborhood!


Saturday, December 8th


Join TeMika Grooms in Atlanta:

2019 IS ALMOST HERE! Get a head start on those goals!

Join us to learn the nuts and bolts of creating a children's book.

Dec. 8th, noon - 3pm 

@ Cinamaker Studios
3619 Piedmont Road NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30305

Sponsored by:
Art Is King #artisking
SCBWI Southern Breeze #SCBWI
Kids Lit ATL #kidslitatl
Lit Story Fest #litstoryfest

FIND OUT MORE HERE!

AND Monique Fields and her ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of HONEYSMOKE (due to release in January) will be here:

An Art Call for our Members!

If you’re one of our illustrator members in Southern Breeze, then you know our Illustrator Coordinator, TeMika Grooms, whether you’ve met her at a conference or you receive Art Calls in your inbox.

But sometimes a new member is not yet ready to put that name “illustrator” next to his or her name. How do you know what’s going on?

Check out the Illustrator’s Lounge on the Southern Breeze website!

You’ll find out about the Liz Conrad Award (Submissions always due January 1^st!) and Illustrator’s Day (March 15, 2019). You’ll get details about the Mentorship with Maria Middleton of Candlewick Press (Registration opens December 1, 2018!) and most importantly, you'll discover the contact email for our Illustrator Coordinator if you need more information.

Oh! And this latest Art Call deadline, coming up in just a few days:

It’s all there, waiting for you, if you’re a member of SCBWI Southern Breeze. So check your membership! (And then start drawing!)

Lit Story Fest Fun!

TeMika Grooms, far right, and Lit Story Fest fun!

SCBWI Southern Breeze jumped in with both feet at a recent event! We were pleased to be one of the sponsors and we hope Lit Story Fest will become a regular in our community. Here's TeMika Grooms to tell you more:

Lit Story Fest, a literature and storytelling festival, was held the week of September 24th – 29th, 2018 at DeKalb County Libraries. This community focused event was envisioned and created by TeMika Grooms with a mission to Light the Way to Literacy by providing access to books through enlivened spaces and entertainment.

The festival featured local authors' talks, live storytelling for all ages, and visual art exhibits showcasing quilts by the Brown Sugar Stitchers, a Flat Rock Archives historical talk, and children’s book illustrations by Laura Freeman, Kelsi Jackson and TeMika Grooms. Children’s Literary Day at Stonecrest Library also featured interactive miming by the Gateway Mask Theater, live storytelling, an authors' panel on diversity in children’s literature and a teen poetry slam.

R. Gregory Christie, Cheryl Clark, and Kelsi Jackson

A highlight of the event was the Illustrators Showdown featuring R. Gregory Christie and Kelsi Jackson as they battled over a picture book manuscript. SCBWI Critique Group Coordinator, T.K. Read, served as the judge to choose the manuscript with the highest conceptual and illustrative potential. The winning manuscript, Kaysha and Grandma Omi's Golden Crown of Jewels by Cheryl Clark, was announced and read live as the artists created on-the-spot sketches in less than an hour. TeMika Grooms narrated the work and talked about critique groups, art direction, and the inner workings of visual storytelling.

Storytelling, through literature, visual art and spoken words, was brought front and center with the Lit Story Fest programming. Community support for this festival goes toward reading initiatives through 1000 Books Before Kindergarten.


TeMika Grooms is Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI Southern Breeze. You can find out more about upcoming illustrator events and opportunities in our region at the Southern Breeze website.

Southern Breeze Goes to the SCBWI Summer Conference (And We're Dishing on LA!)

Every year, the SCBWI Summer Conference in LA beckons…and every year, I find myself following all the big doings from afar. But I know a couple of Southern Breezers who did make it to Los Angeles, so I asked RA Claudia Pearson, ARA Sharon Pegram, and IC Temika Grooms to give us the up close and personal rundown of their conference experience. Special thanks to Temika for putting it all in pictures!

(Bonus points if you can guess what character or book Claudia dressed up as for the big costume party!)

What was your don’t-miss-one-minute-of-it event/intensive/workshop session of the Summer Conference?

Claudia: Elana K. Arnold’s workshops on Increasing Tension and Writing through to the end, although Kevin Lewis’s Picture book Session was also outstanding. Both Elana and Kevin offered a ton of well organized info with solid examples.

Sharon: I learned a lot from Carolyn Mackler's workshop on what she's learned from writing novels for 20 years, and she made us laugh. Also, Lin Oliver at the Artists and Authors Ball with her face painted like a Picasso was definitely memorable!

And what benefits do you get from attending the conference, both for your personal professional growth, and for the membership here in Southern Breeze?

Sharon: The whole gigantic-ness of the experience recharges me professionally. I think it's impossible to marinate in that much creative energy and enthusiasm for three days and not bring some home with you. For our membership, I talk with regional leaders from around the country and the world about the programs they offer their members and how they do things, and that always yields some great ideas. And while I'm scribbling down my notes at workshops and key notes, part of my brain is always evaluating the speaker as possible Southern Breeze conference faculty.

Claudia: SCBWI offers an excellent community for professional writers and illustrators. I love touching base with so many wonderful authors, illustrators and acquiring professionals I have come to know over the years, and also meeting new people, like Ekua Holmes and Ibi Zoboi! Of course getting to meet Lois Lowery and Mildred Taylor are also huge highlights! These personal interactions make it much easier to evaluate and approach potential speakers for our own regional conferences.

Thanks for sharing, y'all! And P.S. Every year, I sulk a little bit, missing all the fun. But maybe it's a lot of work and no fun at all. What do you think?

Breezers in the Neighborhood: JUNE!

Listen up, Breezers! There are only TWO more Show-Mo events left in the Southern Breeze neighborhood, so if you want help with your manuscript, come join us:


When:     Saturday, June 2
               10 AM to 1 PM

Where:    Five Forks Public Library
                Lawrenceville, GA

Contact:  Cathy Hall
                cathyhall55@hotmail.com

(Please note: Cathy's event includes guest speaker Rebecca Petruck, author of BOY BITES BUG, who'll help get the bugs out of your manuscripts!)

Bring at least 4 copies of your PB manuscript; for novel manuscripts, bring 4 copies of the first 10 pages if possible. Contact Cathy if you have any questions. And as always, local liaison events are free and open to the public so bring a friend and share Southern Breeze!


When:   Saturday, June 2
              2 to 5 PM

Where:   Kirkwood Public Library
              11 Kirkwood Rd. NE
              Atlanta, GA  

For more information and to reserve your place RSVP to Temika Grooms: southern-breeze-ic@scbwi.org

Reminder: The Southern Breeze Writing Contest is open to members only. Find out more information at our website.


Oops! There are TWO more Show-Mos that were inadvertently left off the list!

Bobbie Weldon Canada has the following events scheduled:

June 16, 10:00 to 11:30 CMT at the Auburn Public Library, 749 Thach Ave., Auburn, AL

June 23, 10:00 to 11:30 ET, Harris Co. Public Library, 7511 GA Highway 116, Hamilton, GA





The Southern Breeze Gallery featuring original works of our children's book illustrators will continue through June 30th at the Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore Street, Decatur, GA. Please come out and see how talented our illustrators are!


If you have an event around the Southern Breeze neighborhood this summer, please email Cathy Hall with all of your information. We'd love to help get the word out AND the Breezers to your event!

The Southern Breeze Gallery Show!

Memorial Day weekend starts with a colorful splash as the Decatur Arts Festival opens Friday evening. For many artists and illustrators in Southern Breeze, it's an opening for them, too, as the Southern Breeze Annual Gallery Show kicks off!

Come out and join us for art talk and children's books at the reception or join in the festival fun all weekend  long. But the Gallery show lasts all month long, so if you're in Decatur in June, come by the library and see what illustrators are up to in the Southern Breeze neighborhood!

Contact Southern Breeze Illustrator Coordinator Temika Grooms for more information.

Shining Brightly with Southern Breeze's Illustrators!

Take a room full of illustrators and add a handful of amazing industry professionals and you've got a winning combination at Illustrators' Day! And a few illustrators won even more!

I'll let Temika Grooms, Illustrator Coordinator for Southern Breeze, tell you more:

Claire Easton of Painted Words, Inc. joined us to round out our faculty and serve as a judge for the Liz Conrad Award. In honor of Liz Conrad, Claire selected three artists who demonstrate exceptional potential within their craft and provided written and verbal feedback during the conference. This year we had 13 applicants. Each applicant submitted a letter with a bio and information about their work along with images for review. The following were awardees for 2018:

Honorable Mention – Shannon Day

Runner Up – Melissa Schultz-Jones

Winner – Laura Moss

They were each provided with a certificate to commemorate the award. The winner will be able to attend next year’s conference for free!

AND there was another winner at ID 2018! The Illustrator’s Portfolio Show was held on Saturday and twenty-one portfolios were on display all day during the conference for viewing.  Faculty judged the portfolios to choose a winner. The winner, Lori Nichols, was awarded with a Michael’s Gift Card at the end of the day.

The theme for this year's program was Ignite Your Illustration Career and we're pretty sure all of our Southern Breeze illustrators will continue to shine brightly!