by Mary E. Cronin | Apr 16, 2016 | Conferences-workshops, LGBTQ+, SCBWI, Uncategorized, We Need Diverse Books
“Who’s your real mom?” “What do you mean you don’t have a dad/mom?” “Please bring these permission slips home to your moms and dads.” Life is just different for kids of LGBTQ parents. They navigate awkward questions, tricky social situations, and heteronormative...
by Mary E. Cronin | Mar 14, 2016 | Conferences-workshops, SCBWI
“Don’t be self-deprecating. Come at me with some confidence.” That was the bracing advice on queries from agent Heather Alexander yesterday at the Whispering Pines writing retreat in Rhode Island, hosted by the New England SCBWI. If “Whispering...
by Mary E. Cronin | Nov 21, 2015 | Conferences-workshops, Tomfoolery
A little over a month ago, I attended the Rutgers University One-on-One Plus conference, hosted by the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature (RUCCL). It was a game-changer for me! Here’s why. I used the October conference as a deadline. I was...
by Mary E. Cronin | Oct 20, 2015 | Conferences-workshops, Poetry, We Need Diverse Books
I’m still buzzing from a dynamic weekend in NYC. I saw family, covered a lot of ground (Bronx to the Battery!), and attended the Rutgers One-on-One Conference. The Rutgers One-on-One conference is a different kind of conference: it feels very focused, very...
by Mary E. Cronin | Jun 12, 2015 | Conferences-workshops, Uncategorized
Time to unplug and retreat from the hubbub of life for a few days. I am packing the laptop, notebooks and other fun stuff and heading north, for a six-day retreat with writer friends in a house in Vermont. These early days of summer seem like a good time to make...
by Mary E. Cronin | Jun 9, 2015 | Conferences-workshops, LGBTQ+, Middle-grade fiction, Tomfoolery, Uncategorized, We Need Diverse Books
If we stare long enough, there are times when we swear we can see a budding flower actually bloom. That’s the tender window of time portrayed in “Ring of Keys,” the signature song from the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “Fun Home.”...