No matter your writing genre, you might be interested in the following shares from my first semesters as a graduate student in BSU’s MAWYP (Masters in Writing for Young People) program.

LEAF:

MAYWP’s annual Leaf Conference. Here, you, too, can absorb info on writing/publishing and you don’t have to be a student to attend. I was blown away (gobsmacked) by Leaf’s lineup of authors/panels. So much to read, attend online. Much coffee was consumed due to the 8 hour time difference and my wanting to attend ‘in person’, which meant 2am my time occasionally. Definitely one of the best, most comprehensively satisfying conferences I’ve attended, in-person or online, and I am no stranger to conferences–SCBWI to Big Sur/Monterey stuffs, AWP to Bread Loaf.
Just ‘go’.

GENRE-JUMPING: Being a student in BSU’s MAWYP means exploring kidlit genres outside of my preferred middle-grade (MG) genre. Some of my classmates who are Young Adult-centric (YA) have ventured into picture book (PB–no relation) writing territory, or MG or YA verse novels. Self-limitations, in this program, are not encouraged. Right on.

BOOKS: And here is a suggested reading list of 10 books if, like me, you’re not-saying-no to genre upon genre, but willing to trespass. Titles include required reading from BSU, suggestions from my classmates, and books I’ve suggested to my classmates. Long live school.

1. Rebecca Heard, ‘When you Reach me’
2. Sharon Creech, ‘Ruby Holler’
3. Annalie Grainger, ‘In Your Light’
4. Tim Probert, the ‘Lightfall’ series, graphic novels
5. Lucy Strange, ‘Our Castle by the Sea’
6. Julie Schumacher, ‘Black Box’
7. Abi Elphinstone, ‘Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons’
8. Andrea Stewart, ‘The Bone Shard Daughter’
9. Catherine Gilbert Murdoch, ‘The Book of Boy’
10. Lesley Parr, ‘The Valley of Lost Secrets’
11. Beth O’Brien, ‘Wolf Siren’

Yours in summer reading and writing,

PB