So last weekend I was in Winchester for one of my favourite weekends of the year the annual SCBWI British Isles Conference. For anyone not sure what it is, the SCBWI is the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. With over 22,000 members world wide the British Isles is one of the largest chapters outside of the U.S.

Normally I slide about the conference in the background taking photos, videoing and tweeting so anyone not at the conference can keep up with the magic of the weekend. However this year I took the up the scary challenge of volunteering and being ‘responsible’ eeek! I even offered (sort of) to lead the legendary Friday Scrawl Crawl.

Extremely nervous of loosing people round winchester or possibly boring them to sleep, I headed down to Winchester on the Friday with my travelling companion the awesome Juliet Clare Bell, author of Don’t panic Annika and Benny’s Hat among her fantastic titles. Managing to get us safely there I headed to a secret undisclosed location known only as The Westgate to await my team of eager scrawlers.

Now I know the way to the heart of many is by looking organised and feeding people. So, armed with chocolate cakes and interactive leaflets I waited ….

And people actually showed up! Including several illustrators who obviously hadn’t seen my attempts at stickmen. (they left after they had eaten some cake, to head over to Paul Morton and the creatively talented Sketch Crawl gang)

Looking at character, plot and setting. We explored Winchesters sensory delights taking our characters on shopping trips, through portals and into new adventures.

And I didn’t loose anyone!

They were all very nice for putting up with me and even indulged my games along the way. What an awesome bunch!

And what Friday night is complete without the Friday night Critique organised by Juliet Clare Bell and the Friday night meals (at various locations) After a productive critique session with an incredibly lovely bunch I headed down the town to another top secret location to spend a hilarious evening with the Words & Pictures gang for some delicious food! The Words & Pictures team work tirelessly throughout the year bringing SCBWI members industry insights, breaking news, interviews and behind the scenes updates on everything that goes on in the heart and soul of SCBWI, a bunch i’m so incredibly proud to have been welcomed into as their Celebrations page reporter.

(photo by Sarah Broadley)

But the weekend doesn’t officially open until Saturday morning with our opening speeches and key notes speakers. This years theme was travelling through time and what better speakers to have than the likes of Catherine Johnson and Benji Davies legends of the children’s book world!

Over 200 delegates attended the conference, a record number that seems to grow every year and Saturday was jam packed with workshops, lectures, one to one editorials and so much more! My favourites of the day were Submissions 101 with the absolutely fantastic Felicity Trew and Loosing the Plot with Princess rescuer legend Paula Harrison who has sold over a million books! I could have happily listened to them both all day. Felicity was so energetic the way she spoke about her bond with her authors and her approach to her work and the market. And Paula never fails to get my ideas flowing with her advice and guidance on dealing with tricky plots!

But Saturday wasn’t done there! We were only half way through in fact still with The Hook and the Saturday night party still to come! From watching brave fellow SCBWI members pitching to agents live on stage through to partying and cake, as well as celebrating Lorraine Gregory winner of this years coveted Crystal Kite Award! Saturday took me well into the early hours of Sunday, involving a large bowl of pretzels and a wander through the streets of Winchester dressed as a wizard!

After a few hours snoozing I was back at it again for another full day of fun from Christopher Edge taking us through Middle Grade adventures to the unstoppable duo Candy Gourlay and Mo O’Hara sharing their Secret top tips for school visits.

The weekend literally never stopped and Kid Lit Tv were on hand to catch it all!

Check out their videos through the link below!

https://www.facebook.com/KidLitTV/videos/567135993762663/

I was so sad to see it end and say goodbye to all the wonderful people I had shared such a magical weekend with but I must say I could easily sleep for a week. My brain is buzzing with ideas though and I’m already hoping to travel through time to next years conference! Counting down the days.

Thank you so much to the conference team, the organisers and all the volunteers you are my heroes. Without you there would be no conference!