Blogoversary Countdown!

Welcome to the countdown for our blogoversary special! On August 11 of last year, Talia wrote our very first post on this blog. But our association goes back further than that.

As many of you know, we met at the Big Sur children's writing workshop in December of 2009. Donna, Katy, Talia and Veronica were all in the same early-morning critique group session. We liked each other's work, we appreciated each other's talent, and we made plans to stay in touch.

During the same workshop, Bret and Katy were in a different critique group together. Because Bret is a conference junkie, we all came to know each other quite well, and everyone agreed he would be a good addition to the group.

When we started blogging, only two of us were agented. None of us had a book contract. And all of us were feeling our way by our toes in this huge wild sea that is the children’s publishing industry today.

We have come a long way. And we are so glad that so many of you have been here with us.

On Monday, you will see that exciting things are happening here on the blog.  But you'll have to wait until then to see what we mean.  In preparation, the blog will be down for part of the day tomorrow.

On Thursday, all of us are heading to the SCBWI conference in LA. So we are taking this week off. But that doesn't mean you'll have nothing to read. We will each be reposting our most popular posts. We see it as a kind of “best of" week.  The week after next, we'll be posting "Top Conference Moments" -- our view of the best parts of the 40th Anniversary of the SCBWI annual summer conference.

But the best is yet to come.

Be sure to check here on Thursday for the announcement of the incredible prize in a fabulous new contest. It not only celebrates our blogoversary, it also celebrates the payoff of all the hard work that goes into writing a novel for young adults.