Thursday, June 11, 2009

Teen Writers Conference

Instead of diligently going over my Alma the Elder proof, I thought I'd give you a 12-year old's view of the 2009 Teen Writers Conference (aka my daughter). Keep in mind these pictures might be a bit wacky.

Kara: Last weekend I went to the Teen Writers Conference with my mom. Well, I'm not quite a teen, but she said that I have the same attitude as one, so I could go. But she told me if I said, "I'm bored" once, then we couldn't go to the Real Salt Lake soccer game after and see David Archuleta. I only slipped up once and earned a stern warning.

I had fun taking pictures and most of them were pretty fuzzy. I totally blame it on the camera. The cool conference director was Josi Kilpack. My mom won't let me read her books yet because they have coke-drinking characters and my mom won't let me drink soda pop much. She says it makes me hyper. Whatever. This is me!



Josi couldn't quite decide which side of the room would be the A Workshop or the B Workshop.


No, B is this side. Wait . . . it's this side. Oh, just forget it. Look for the instructor.



James Dashner brought his ARC of The Maze Runner. Can't wait to read it. His 13th Reality series is waaay cool. The Maze Runner doesn't come out until October 6th, but my mom sneakily bought a copy on Ebay and we're going to read it anyway.



J. Scott Savage (on the left--below) was also there. His FarWorld series is DA BEST! I think he was laughing at a joke my mom made. Not sure. Bron Bahlmann is next to him--he's only 15 and has a book published!

Luckily for Josi, she had lots of helpers who eventually figured out the A side and B side.


A whole line of way cool authors. Nancy is in the pink--she's my mom's friend. Then J. Scott Savage (FarWorld), James Dashner (The Maze Runner), and Lisa Mangum (The Hourglass Door). I'm pretty sure they were all drinking soda pop. They didn't seem to care which side was the A or the B side.

My super-funny cool cousin, Larissa.


I went to one of the panel classes--where they had a bunch of authors like my mom, James Dashner, and J. Scott speaking. James' hair doesn't look this gray in real-life.


When James started to talk, J. Scott dozed off a little.


But then my mom said something, and . . .



J. Scott woke right up!



I Loved, LOVED, Julie Wright. Everyone was laughing and smiling. You can just tell how cool she is by looking at her. One of my best pictures too. I also got to hold Jessica Day George's baby girl. She was SOOO Cute! But the pictures of her were so fuzzy and my mom was worried about internet stealers.


Overall, it was really fun! Thanks mom! Now we're off to the Real game. David Archuleta is SOOOO hot even though my mom says he has a baby-face. Whatever!



9 comments:

Nancy Campbell Allen said...

How fun! She captured the day perfectly. :-)

Josi said...

That's a dang good report on the day--glad I could take the brunt of the aloofness so the rest of y'all could shine :-)

Don said...

This looks like a great conference. I'm looking forward to providing an attendee next year.

Heather Moore said...

Nancy, she had one picture of you, but it was very very very blurry :)

Josi, those pictures were just too funny not to share. Don, that would be great!

Unknown said...

Love your sense of humor, Kara :-) Those pics of J. Scott Savage are a hoot. Sounds like you all had a great time. Like your writing style, too.

Karlene said...

What a great overview of the conference, Kara. Sounds like it was a lot of fun.

Rebecca Irvine said...

She's a cutie! Looks like a fun day. I really am wanting to attend a conference, but am not in Utah this summer...bummer.

* said...

Great picts! Looks like it was a great conference.

My library district hosted a teen writers workshop a few years ago and it rocked. I got to attend on-the-clock as a Youth Services Librarian...it was sweet.

Julie Wright said...

Fun report! It was an awesome day! I cannot wait to see you tomorrow!