Stories for Children Magazine

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11/9/09

THE IDENTITY OF “CINDERELLA” FINALLY REVEALED!

Amy Spitzley of Traverse City, Michigan and I have been email friends for years through the SCBWI Discussion Boards. She was able to attend the SCBWI Los Angeles Conference this past August. Read how Amy became “Cinderella” for several days in the warm California sunshine!

GG: Hi Amy. We were so pleased to learn of your scholarship through Fairy Godsisters so that you could attend this year’s SCBWI Conference in Los Angeles. Will you tell us all about the Fairy Godsisters and how you found out about them?

Amy: Through one of the post boards, I go on. I think it was the blue boards, actually— www.verlakay.com. Someone mentioned it and I figured “what the heck,” so I entered it. I didn’t think they were looking for someone like me, since they’d helped out someone from the Netherlands the year before, so I was pretty shocked when I won!

GG: Will you tell us what exactly their scholarship covered for expenses, and if you got a chance to meet them personally?

Amy: It was $1,500. I used it for airline costs, hotel expenses, and conference tuition, as well as a little wardrobe enhancement! I ended up being responsible for my food and spending money. I got to meet three of the fairy godsisters, who were great.  I sat with them for the Golden Kite Luncheon. They gave me an awesome gift bag, too! They really encouraged me and made me feel like Cinderella—they told me several times how they loved my essay and felt like I actually deserved this chance, which was cool.

GG: For all the moms and dads out there that write who can only DREAM of winning a scholarship like this…will you share your plans on how you made sure your hubby and children survived your absence?

Amy: Ha! I was a little concerned with that, I admit. My husband and mom took care of it, though. My kids are 6 and 9, and love the chance to see their grandparents (they live 3 hours away) so my children got to spend a week with my parents. My husband got me to and from the airport—we had to drive 3 hours to my parents’ house, then the next morning drive another 3 hours to Detroit because it was cheaper to fly from there. I was glad he was driving!

GG: What were the highlights of the conference for you? How many new people did you meet and connect with? Do you plan to keep in touch with these people?

Amy:  Highlights of the Conference:  I liked the people I met. Ingrid Law is awesome and very down-to-earth. I get intimidated easily and it was nice to find actual published people who were still human and all that! Mostly it was an adventure for me. You have to understand that I’m a shy little mommy from Northern Michigan who has been unemployed for more than a year. I hadn’t traveled by myself in 4 years and rarely get away from my husband and kids. It was all so new I just tried to take everything in!

But yeah, to answer the question more, I did meet cool people. I had two roommates, Linda Joy Singleton and Nathalie Mvondo, who were great fun. I got to go to the beach (salt water is still strange to me) in a red Mustang. (Thanks, Connie!) I knew people from the post boards I go to and it was awesome meeting them in person. They got me to dance at the Blue Moon Ball when I was fighting my natural wallflower instincts.

The fairy godsisters I met were wonderful—I had several conversations with Thalia Chaltas and felt like I’d known her for ages. The people were by far the highlight of the conference for me.

GG: Did you find any “downsides” to this conference? If so, what was it and how could SCBWI make it better in your opinion?

Amy: Well…I did hear quite a few complaints about the hotel sandwiches! Food was very overpriced. Also, the conference rooms were really cold. Everyone was wearing jeans in LA in August. Those are small things, though.

GG: Anything else you’d like to mention about the Conference? Can you tell me more about Sherman Alexie’s speech since we all missed it? L

Amy: His speech was awesome! (Although he’s a bit fond of the dramatic pause…) He spoke about books being places where we can hide and all the books from garage sales his grandmother used to bring him. He’s a very funny, very sensitive speaker. And you know, he’s not a bad writer, either.

GG: What writing projects did you take with you to the conference? Did you find any help available to you at the conference?

Amy: I did bring my laptop, but I never opened any writing files. Oops. I did have a few good discussions with my roommates about what sorts of things we wrote, and I got some useful information out of those talks. I didn’t attend any of the group critiques, mostly because my brain felt stuffed by the end of each day!

GG: What writing projects are you working on now? Do you have any NEW writing projects that going to the Conference spurred you on to try something new or different?

Amy: I’ve completed five novels and started another one this year. At least two of them will never see the light of day! I have a YA urban fantasy I’ve been revising lately, and I’ve been a bit stuck on it. I’m hoping some of the sessions I attended, especially those on plot, might help.

GG: Anything else you’d like us to know about Amy Spitzley the Author?

Amy: Hmm…Amy the author. I like the sound of that!  I tend to be very character-oriented, and like taking ideas and tweaking them. For example, the story I’m currently revising is in the format of a scrapbook, kept by a gold-skinned, emotion-reading mutant girl of her junior year in high school. Anyone interested?!

GG: Thank you, Amy, for your time in answering our Author Connection interview. We wish you the very best with your writing career!