Bring Your Career into Sharper Focus with wik2020: On Beginnings, Resolutions, and VOLUNTEERING

It was a dark and stormy night...No. Strike that.

Once upon a time, there was a writer, a conference, and a volunteer coordinator. I'm the volunteer coordinator, desperately seeking, well, volunteers; WIK 20 is the totally awesome conference; and you, my sweet one, are the writer that I and the conference are after.

All of you who have attended a Southern Breeze conference know it takes a village of volunteers to pull the conference together. And we all know that writers are sometimes solitary people. It takes solitude to write, and it takes loving that solitude to make the magic happen. But then comes conference time -- and that is when we kiss our solitude goodbye for two precious days.

"BUT WAIT!" you say. "I may have to kiss my solitude goodbye for a day or two, but no one said I actually had to, um, talk to people." Here is where I must lovingly disagree. In fact, I not only want you to talk to people, I want you to put yourself into a position where you have to help them in some way! Think of this as one of your new year's resolutions: You volunteer for the conference, which makes you talk to people, and that means you meet new people, which then leads to new critique partners, and that, of course, makes you write more, and we all made a resolution to write more, right? Right! (See what I did there?)

So. Volunteering. You can do this! There are all types of things to do, from manning the registration desk, helping with book sales, helping with food, assisting with book signing, and more.

Email me, Valerie Nelan, at vmnelan@gmail.com with your interest. In addition to my undying love and affection, you'll also get a snazzy bio in the conference hand-outs (infamy!), and you're guaranteed to meet new people.

(Register for wik'20 today so you can get just the intensives, sessions, and volunteering jobs you want! See the Southern Breeze website here and sign up now!)

Big thanks to our Southern Breeze Conference Volunteer Coordinator, Valerie Nelan! You'll find her in Birmingham, where she writes very funny Middle Grade (when she's not running around, relentlessly pursuing volunteers).

New Co-RA For Southern Breeze!

We’re happy to announce that Sharon Pegram is joining Claudia Pearson as a Co-Regional Advisor for the Southern Breeze region!

Sharon has been a member of SCBWI since 2006 and she’s been helping out in various volunteer duties through the years, most recently as Assistant RA. She comes with a ton of all kinds of experience, and she’s eager to bring her talents to this new position. Chances are, you’ve seen Sharon Pegram at any number of Southern Breeze or SCBWI events, but unlike Claudia in her hats, she’s often in the background, getting her jobs done. So we’re pulling Sharon into the foreground so you can get to know our new Co-RA!

First, we want to know about Sharon, the SCBWI member. Are you a writer, illustrator, or both? What’s your genre, your specialty? What brought you to SCBWI in the first place? And what do you want to achieve, your hopes and dreams?

I write weird stuff for middle schoolers (science fiction and fantasy in the dreaded upper MG/ younger YA zone). I will only be called upon to illustrate if the market develops a sudden passion for stick figures. I started writing for children after I left my job as a school librarian to be a stay at home mom and learned about SCBWI in the Writer’s Digest Market Guide. I’m still pre-published, so my dream is to hold a book with my name on it. 

You’ve filled lots of different volunteer positions through the last 12 years! What drew you to volunteering, and ultimately led you all the way to the Regional Advisor position?

My parents are to blame for my volunteering tendencies. They taught, by word and example, that if you join a group and enjoy its benefits, you give back in some way. What led me to this position? I checked the “Yes, I’ll volunteer” box at my second Southern Breeze conference and did something like hand out Post-It notes at a book signing, and that led to becoming a Co-RA. Now no one’s ever going to check the box again! LOL But seriously, each larger job felt right by the time I came to it because it was building on the smaller ones that came before. 

What do you see as the strengths of our region and how do you hope to build on those strengths?

Southern Breeze’s greatest strength is its members: your talent, your hard work, and the community you build with your fellow writers and illustrators. And our volunteers are amazing! Every region has RAs, ARAs, and ICs, but we have so many dedicated regional volunteers in addition to those, the regional coordinators and local liaisons, etc. Having so much help greatly expands what we can do.

What do you see as the weaknesses in our region and how do you hope to make improvements in those areas?

We cover a lot of ground. First, geographically. Even with our local liaisons, it’s hard to get programming spread around the whole region. Second, we cover a lot of ground artistically. We all create for children, but we do it so differently! Writers and illustrators, fiction and nonfiction, PBs to YA and all ages in between, and all experience levels from beginner to multi-published. Balancing programming to support our many needs is an ongoing challenge. 

And finally, what about your hopes and dreams for Southern Breeze? What do you want to achieve as Co-RA?

I want Southern Breeze to grow, numerically of course, but also in diversity of our membership, welcoming all the storytellers and artists who live in our region. I want us to grow in community, supporting each other in this occupation that can feel so isolating and in this industry where it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. And I want us all to grow professionally, becoming ever-better writers and illustrators and better equipped to build successful careers in the writing business.

Thanks, Sharon, for letting us get to know you better! We wish you all the best as the new Co-RA of Southern Breeze! (And P.S. Sharon would love to get to know you better, so please drop her a line or say hello at our upcoming conference. She’ll be the RA not wearing a hat but possibly in the cool shades!)