You haven’t been told off properly until you’ve cut off a carload of picture book writers.
Three members of my critique group and I took off last weekend to attend the *SCBWI conference in Alabama. Hoover to be exact. Hooooooooooooooooo-ver! (Sorry, I can’t help myself.)
We finished our three hour drive and were just merging onto the main road outside our hotel when a man sped up behind us, blasted his horn, and cut around our car so fast we could practically smell the rubber burn off his tires.
Our immediate reaction was to pull up next to him and speak our minds, but being children’s writers our minds spoke a different language than his. If I were to create an imaginary cartoon bubble around our thoughts it would go something like this:
Hey there, Mr. Meany Pants
Yeah, we mean you
Splat! Pow! Wham! Bam!
Down the avenue
You rev, you squeal, you race, you roam
On the interstate
But hardy har, back to you
We got your license plate!
I know, I know, it’s pretty bad. Okay, very bad. But hey, we just finished a loooooong drive. Luckily the car drove ahead and our cartoon bubbles disappeared. Since I didn’t get to say my peace, I have something to say instead. (You know what’s coming. Say it with me.) Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-ver!
*SCBWI/ Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators
Colleen Bennett, Children's Author 