SCBWI Cocktail Party / Kidlit Drink Night Nightcap Recap

The evening began with me in a bit of a slump.

I'd received a bright n' shiny invitation to the SCBWI Cocktail Party at the nearby Hilton (literally half a block from my library branch) and I was just giddy with excitement. So I RSVPed early, showed up right on the dot, and lo and behold they didn't have my name down on "the list". There is no worse feeling than seeing cool people entering a cool party, knowing perfectly well that you should be joining them and that only bad luck has kept you out. I got very sad very fast which is never good and, as I know from experience, tends to make me a weepy uncomfortable person to be around. Fortunately, I was rescued by people willing to vouch for me and get in anyway. Teary crises averted.

Inside, the Hilton's ballroom provided two essential ingredients: Food and drink. Food was of particular use as I knew I wouldn't be dining that night. I then met (and this is a rough approximation so I am definitely leaving people out) Katherine Paterson, Linda Sue Park, their agent Ginger Knowlton (some agent, eh?), Julie DeVillairs (twin sister of Jennifer Roy and author in her own right, no less), Rebecca Sherman, Greg R. Fishbone, and o holiest of holies, Arthur A. Levine. Not in that order, of course.

I also met up with a great Oregonian SCBWI contingent shown here:

From left to right that's Jaime Temairik, Sara Easterly, myself, and Jolie Stekly. Nicest gals on the planet, bar none. I had cupcakes with them the day before. What you're seeing here is a celebration of the one year birthday of A Fuse #8 Production. Useful Fact: Should you need to entertain anyone in NYC with cupcakes, go to the Cupcake Cafe at Books of Wonder. Gooood meeting place.

So I ate, I drank, and then I met up with Monica Edinger, Roxanne Feldman, and J.L. Bell. J.L. Bell was the real "get" of the evening. Roxanne also physically drew me to David Diaz who was hanging around chatting. I am not a shy person in general, but if I don't have a "hook" or an "in" or a "damn reason for talking to someone" I simply don't. So I did the whole boy-are-you-cool gawking (mighty similar, in many respects, to what I did with Katherine Paterson earlier in the evening) and he was very nice. Mr. Diaz even said he'd show up at my Bar 9 party, which was sweet of him. I missed saying hello to Jane Yolen (happy Sunday birthday, Jane), which was truly too bad. I did search for her but I met with conflicting reports as to her whereabouts. In the end I found myself running behind schedule and had to book it to my own party. So the three of us (Bell, Feldman & Bird) hailed a cab then and made it to Bar 9 roughly 15 minutes late.

The place was enormous by New York standards. Which is to say, it had more than 2 rooms and a bathroom. It was louder than my sweet Sweet & Vicious, but otherwise had ample spillage room. The room I'd reserved already had, I'd say, 20-some people in it when we arrived. Suh-weet. I spent much of my time disappearing out the side door only to re-emerge in the front over and over again. And let's see, there was Pam Coughland from MotherReader, and Ron Hogan from MediaBistro (which I'm keeping a very close eye on), and about 500 cool Class of 2K7 peeps. I will not name these peeps because knowing the slow mechanations of my own darling brain, I will leave someone out and be well and truly damned as a result. I will mention Meghan McCarthy, however, as well as editor Alvina Ling, and Heather Scott, and all but one of the Longstockings (I'm going to get a full showing someday, I swear it), and agents like Barry Goldblatt. Mr. Goldblatt, by the way, was fabulous because he totally remembered a review I wrote of his wife/client's book A Great and Terrible Beauty penned a good 3 some years ago (Title: 60% great, 20% terrible, 20% beautiful and still visible as the Spotlight review on Amazon). He was a very good sport about it. But man oh man, whatta memory. Also saw the lovely Laini Taylor and her handsome husband Jim, which was nice since I found her upcoming novel just about the finest piece of fantasy to cross my doorstep in a very great while. Review forthcoming.

Even Cheryl Klein and Jim Thomas appeared, which was a delightful shock to the senses. I didn't expect either of them, so kudos. Then I chooched out at 11:30 because I am lame and SOME of us have 9-5 jobs and need to work on Saturdays. Apparently after I left Mr. Diaz showed up. You'll need to ask Cheryl or Mr. Goldblatt (God, I love that name) for a full accounting. They probably all ended up playing strip poker or something. Just my luck.

Yeah, so if I didn't mention your name, right a very great wrong by commenting on that fact here. I need a full accounting. I mean, when I write my memoirs about my time holding hearty soirees in New York amongst the kidlit literati (in my memory we will all be drinking absinthe, wearing black, and smoking clove cigarettes) I'll need to remember which up-and-coming rising stars and already existing fixtures in the firmament were present at "my" (i.e. the bar's) party.

Honestly, thank you everyone who showed. It could not have been sweeter. Pictures were taken, so I'll try to foist a few off attendees when I've a chance.