21st Century Children’s Nonfiction Conference

The 21st Century Children’s Nonfiction Conference is the interchange for everyone connected with Children’s Nonfiction … publishers, authors, illustrators, educators, librarians, and digital developers. This weekend of workshops, publisher panels, open-table conversations, and social gatherings provides excellent opportunities to learn and connect with people at the leading edge of this field.

June 10-12 at Iona College, New Rochelle, New York.
Conference details are at www.21CNFC.com

I'll be presenting three workshops:

Children's Nonfiction 101

If you are new to children’s nonfiction publishing, or want a refresher about the current terminology, markets, and acquisition process, this intensive will be invaluable. Topics include: The categories of nonfiction for different ages; Does nonfiction have to be 100% true?; The difference between trade and educational publishing; Work for hire books, magazine articles, and test passages; Identifying markets and targeting your work to specific markets; What publishers look for in samples or submissions; and Writing nonfiction that reads like fiction.

Presented by: Caryn Wiseman (Andrea Brown Literary Agency), Chris Eboch (Author/Instructor), Michelle Bisson (Capstone)

Show Me the Money

What can an author earn? Learn how writers are making a living, through original book projects, work for hire books, magazines, test passages and more. Explore how to reach some of the less obvious markets, and discuss the attitude changes that need to happen to turn writing into a business.

Presented by: Chris Eboch (Author/Instructor)

How to Find NF Work

Where can you look? How do you follow up leads? Learn where and how best to connect with publishers, book packagers, and digital developers at conferences, book fairs, and exhibitions.

Presented by: Chris Eboch (Author/Instructor) and Jennifer Swanson (Author)

This is only a small sampling of the great programming at the conference. Please join us if you have the chance, and say "Hi" at some point during the weekend! See the complete faculty list and schedule here.

#Free Romantic Suspense in the Southwest

Whispers in the Dark is romantic suspense with archaeology and intrigue among ancient Southwest ruins. 

Reviewers give it a 4.3 star average: “This book was a delight from start to finish!”

Get your Kindle copy today, Free! March 22-25.

Whispers in the Dark: 

Kylie Hafford craves adventure during her southwestern summer. She doesn’t expect to fight for her life.

After an assault in Boston, the young archeologist heads to the remote Puebloan ruins of Lost Valley, Colorado, to excavate. Her first exploration of the crumbling ruins ends in a confrontation with a gorgeous, angry man who looks like a warrior from the Pueblo’s ancient past. Danesh proves that Kylie’s body is ready for love, even if her heart isn’t. If only he weren’t so aggravating. Then she literally stumbles into Sean. His attentions feel safer, but she suspects he's not the simple tourist he claims to be.

The summer heats up as Kylie finds mysteries – and surprising friendships – among the ancient ruins. Mysterious lights, murmuring voices, and equipment gone missing plague her dig. Kylie tries to play it safe, but when someone threatens her research, she must take action. She has more enemies than she can possibly guess, and she’s only begun to glimpse the terrors in the dark. She’ll need all her strength and wits to survive. Everything becomes clear – if she wants to save the man she’s starting to love and see the villains brought to justice, she can’t run away again – she must face her fears and fight.

"Wonderfully detailed scenery and diverse characters combine with a clever, well-defined plot in Whispers in the Dark to create an exciting, hard to put down story. Well written and quite enjoyable!" - Reviewed By Melinda Hills for Readers’ Favorite 

Whispers in the Dark Excerpt

A shout slashed the air. I twisted so fast I tumbled onto my backside.

I gaped up at the man towering over me. Bare chest, muscular and bronzed. Black hair pulled back from a face full of sharp planes and angles. Dark eyes fierce under scowling brows.

My heart jolted painfully. I’d come face to face with an ancient warrior. He was gorgeous.

And furious.

At me.

“Don’t you read signs?”

I blinked at the apparition. “Uh....”

He gestured back at the main path. “The signs at every turn saying ‘Stay on the path’? The notice at the entrance telling you to leave artifacts alone? I could have you arrested and fined.”

Oh. I felt color flooding my cheeks. My pounding heart refused to slow yet, and the rush of adrenaline turned my arms and legs to jelly, but I rose steadily enough. I tried to ignore the heat in my face and the queasy feeling of panic in my stomach, which hadn’t yet accepted the message that I wasn’t in danger. “I’m Kylie Hafford,” I said coolly. “The archaeologist. Are you Danesh?”

I saw a satisfying flash of surprise and then guilt. Or maybe I had just imagined it, as his face settled immediately into a neutral mask. “Yes, I’m Danesh.” He hesitated before adding stiffly, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.”

He must have caught my irony, because he almost smiled—I think. He said, “I’m sorry I startled you. I wasn’t expecting you yet, and....” He shrugged. “I’ve been noticing scuff marks in the ground, off the trail where tourists aren’t supposed to go. I figured someone was poking around, maybe looking for treasure.”

“And you assumed I was your treasure hunter?”

Buy Links:

Amazon US

Amazon International Sites

Reader Praise for Whispers in the Dark:

“All in all, a great read, with a strong plot line, and likeable characters! I highly recommend this author!”

“The glimpses of life in the southwest and the ruins of the Ancient Ones were fascinating. The main character's emotional journey is well-drawn and satisfying. A quick read that should please plenty of readers!”

“Whispers in the Dark has a hefty dose of adventure and mystery, as well as a strong main character. I highly recommend this author!”

“The southwest setting and attention to authentic details will make the reader feel like he/she knows the place once the book is finished.”

“It has mystery, suspense, action, drama, romance, and some comic moments. The setting is unique and interesting.”

Kris Bock writes novels of suspense and romance involving outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page. Sign up for Kris Bock newsletter for announcements of new books, sales, and more.

The Mad Monk’s Treasure follows the hunt for a long-lost treasure in the New Mexico desert. In The Dead Man’s Treasure, estranged relatives compete to reach a buried treasure by following a series of complex clues. In Counterfeits, stolen Rembrandt paintings bring danger to a small New Mexico town. What We Found is a mystery with strong romantic elements about a young woman who finds a murder victim in the woods. 

Resources for Diversity in Children's Literature

I'm preparing for an SCBWI Shop Talk on diversity in children's literature. This is the list of "Resources for Diversity" I developed. It is certainly not all-inclusive, but it has places to start. I'm posting it here so that people who attend the talk have live links all in one place. And anyone else is certainly welcome to browse or share!

Resources for Diversity:

Chris Eboch’s blog post has links to all of the sites below:

http://chriseboch.blogspot.com/2016/03/resources-for-diversity.html 

SCBWI has a page of Diversity Resources including blogs and websites, awards, organizations and articles: https://www.scbwi.org/diversity-resources/

SCBWI also has grants to promote diversity and children’s books: http://www.scbwi.org/awards/grants/grants-to-promote-diversity-in-childrens-books/

The Children’s Book Council CBC Diversity shares news encouraging diversity of race, gender, geographical region, sexual orientation, and class: http://www.cbcdiversity.com/ 

Cynthia Leitich Smith’s blog often touches on diversity or links to articles about it. Her Exploring Diversity page links to book lists about many religions/races, with relevant interviews: http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/diversity/multicultural/communities.html 

Multiculturalism Rocks! is a blog celebrating multiculturalism in children’s literature, with many useful links: http://nathaliemvondo.wordpress.com/ 

We Need Diverse Books promotes changes in the publishing industry to produce literature that reflects all young people: http://weneeddiversebooks.org/ 

Disability in Kidlit examines the portrayal of disability: http://disabilityinkidlit.com/ 

Author Lee Wind’s blog lists books with gay teen characters or themes, interviews with agents seeking diverse stories, videos on gender identity, and more: http://www.leewind.org/ 

DiversifYA “is a collection of interviews that allows us to share our stories, all of us. All sorts of diversity and all marginalized experiences.” http://www.diversifya.com/ 

Reading While White, a blog by librarians, has interesting blog posts on children's lit subjects, and a page of "Resources for Further Research": http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/

This post on the SCBWI blog links to articles regarding A Birthday Cake For George Washington: http://scbwi.blogspot.com/2016/01/have-you-been-following-a-birthday-cake.html

Mitali Perkins often touches on diversity subjects on her blog: http://www.mitaliblog.com/ 

A particularly valuable post is “The Danger of a Single Story, Once Again”: http://www.mitaliblog.com/2015/11/the-danger-of-single-story-once-again.html

“You Will Be Tokenized”: Speaking Out About the State of Diversity in Publishing by Molly McArdle has voices from the front lines: http://tinyurl.com/z2p9sbo 

“We’ve Been Out Here Working”: Diversity in Publishing, a Partial Reading List has many links on the subject: http://tinyurl.com/josp8hk