2010 Santa Clara County Reading Conference at Asilomar

I just got back from the 2010 Santa Clara County Reading Conference at Asilomar.

I met some wonderful teachers, librarians, resource specialists and old and new author friends. Asilomar always has a great vibe. The natural setting and the buildings designed by Julia Morgan create an amazingly beautiful environment. When you add a few hundred people who are passionate about books for children and young adults, you cannot go wrong! I presented a workshop on "Writing Activities to Encourage and Inspire Young Authors." The participants were enthusiastic, did some writing of their own, and asked great questions, too.

Here's a bit of Asilomar sunset from Saturday evening.

Betsy Franco and her son, Tom Franco gave a Fireside Chat. They talked about their collaborative process on their new YA novel, Metamorphosis. Tom drew and the creative vibe was in the air. Tom showed his very unique tiger sculpture, Betsy shared stories about her other books, and they both talked about their creative work with children and youth. Inspiring and fun!

This is the first time I've been to the Santa Clara County Reading Conference, but I've been to Asilomar many times with San Francisco South's SCBWI conference for Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. I've always had a thing for the pine cone motif on the curtains in the rooms.

Each time I'm back to Asilomar I feel like I'm visiting a beloved relative. Here's a bit of curtain from my room in The Lodge. Returning to Asilomar makes me happy. Seeing the familiar pine cone motif makes me happy. Meeting people who love books makes me happy. And I was happy to see that the gift shop had cotton socks with not just Asilomar written on them, but the pine cone motif woven in. So naturally I had to buy a pair so I could take a bit of the Asilomar vibe back home with me.

It started to rain before I had a chance to walk on the beach but just as I was leaving, traffic slowed for these gentle creatures. The car behind me at the stop sign did not seem to mind that I stopped, rolled down the car window and took a few pics. I like the pace of life at Asilomar.

The rain cleared on the ride back and I pulled off at the vista point to take this pic for my mom. She loves the fog rolling over the hills. Hey Mum, this one's for you.

I'm sure all my Imaginary Readers are hoping to see one more close-up of the pine cone on the curtain, right? You're in luck!

Forecast: The writer with the pine cone socks tapping away at the keyboard imagining she is back at Asilomar!