NETWORKS offer easy, handy access to programs, writing groups, networking opportunities and other interested (and interesting!) writers and illustrators.
Interested in starting a NETWORKS group?
Contact NETWORKS Coordinator, Deb Aronson, Assistant Regional Advisor
WINTER 2020:
(Updated 12/2020)
All SCBWI-IL Networks will be hosted online until further notice. We realize that this situation is changing and ongoing and appreciate your working with us in partnership to preserve the health and community of our Region.
All programs listed will be on Zoom. Please contact the Network Representative if a group’s Zoom meeting or registration link is not listed in the post.
—Networks are free and open to all. You may attend any Network at any time, not just the one in your area.
—Special Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: If you have a disability and need any special assistance to enjoy the event’s online programming, please email the Network Representative or Co-Regional Advisor to ask for assistance for your particular needs.
—All Network participants, regardless of membership status, agree to abide by our SCBWI Anti-harrassment Policy.
ILLUSTRATORS’ NETWORKS
SCBWI-IL Members: You can also join in the fun at our SCBWI Illinois Illustrators Network Group on Facebook – request to join here.
SCBWI member illustrators please make sure you are on the illustrator Google Group for updates….to be added please email Cedric Gliane.
Chicago-Area Illustrators’ Network
Representatives:
Rich Green – 815-341-0925
Pav Kovacic 773-490-5902
The Chicago-Area’s Illustrators Network meets monthly from September through May. Meetings are free and open to the public and include a topic discussion, presentation or guest speaker. We also leave time at the end of each meeting for peer review of works in progress, book dummies and portfolios.
DATE: Saturday, December 12
TIME: 9:30 A.M. -11
TOPIC: Holiday Social – The Zoom Edition
Hello Illustrators!
Join us for our annual Holiday Social – The Zoom Edition
Since we cannot get together in person this year to enjoy our traditional holiday brunch – we will gather online for a fun holiday social.
Zoom Meeting Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82448941794?pwd=dW5oSTFnNHZrN0l3RlpYOTQwYkk5Zz09
Meeting ID: 824 4894 1794
Passcode: 708502
We hope to see you there!
DATE: Saturday February 13th
TIME: 9:30 AM-11
TOPIC: Illustrators Roundtable
Join us on Zoom for a virtual roundtable conversation where we will be discussing anything and everything related to children’s book illustration. 2020 has been a unique year for the industry and 2021 will present its own unique challenges and opportunities. Everyone is invited to ask and answer questions, share recent experiences and information, as well as presenting digital or digitized artwork for feedback.
Contact Rich Green for Zoom link
Downstate Illustrators’ Network
Representatives:
Louann Brown 217-839-3264
Jerry Barrett 217-621-1369
QUARTERLY MEETINGS: This Network maintains a Facebook page (Downstate Illinois SCBWI Illustrators) for critiques and information sharing between meetings. If you’d like to join us, send us a request via Facebook or email one of the network reps. At our meetings we typically discuss markets, critique work and share our journey. Everyone is welcome.
EQUITY & INCLUSION NETWORK
Diversity Network
Representative: Donna Beasley
About our Diversity Network…
Every month, FREE, non-members welcome. If anyone needs additional ADA support such as sign language interpreter or other resources, please email Donna Beasley in advance.
Diversity Network Meetings create a space where writers and illustrators who’ve traditionally been left at the margins in children’s publishing can get together. At these meetings we’ll build community, share stories of hurdles and successes, work to dismantle barriers, improve diversity and inclusion in children’s literature and SCBWI-IL, work on our craft and further our writing and/or illustrating careers.
Our focus on diversity springs from the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement: We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, Native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities. Because of the breadth of this focus, we will be particularly conscious of the intersectionality of oppressions and identities. Allies are welcome. (An ally is a person who supports, empowers, or stands up for another person or a group of people.)
“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” – Aboriginal activists group, Queensland, 1970s
DATE:Tuesday December 8
TIME: 6 pm
TOPIC: Diversity Group Holiday Gathering
Join us as the diversity group gets together to discuss the highlights and challenges of the year.
Each person brings something they are proud of to share with the group.
WRITERS’ NETWORKS
CHICAGO NETWORKS
Chicago Network
Representatives:
Jane Hertenstein (773) 303-4089
DATE: December 5, 2020
TIME: 10 a.m. – 12 noon
TOPIC: Season’s Greetings: Holiday Flash
The holidays are fertile ground for any writer. At that time of year there is always “family” material—major stress, breakdowns, burnt main courses, feuds, etc
Chicago network rep Jane Hertenstein leads us in a special Flash Fiction and Memoir workshop and contest. We’ll get a virtual flash course in writing flash, the haiku of prose, with examples of how holiday stories helped revive many authors’ careers.
RSVP to Jane Hertenstein for ZOOM code and instructions for Holiday Flash Contest.
WAIT! There’s MORE!!
Holiday Flash Contest
No matter your religious or non-religious background, we all have a holiday memory or story to tell. In 500 words or less, fiction or memoir, submit an entry to janehertenstein@gmail.com. Deadline: Nov. 30, 2020. Only entries of those signed up for the event will be considered. First, second, and third place winners will be announced on the Listserve.
Representatives:
Kate Hannigan
Stay Tuned for upcoming programming!
SOUTH SUBURBAN NETWORKS
Chicago’s Southland Network
Representatives:
Jim Danielson 708-596-4479
Linda Dryfhout
Stay Tuned for upcoming programming! For more information and current shop talk topics, visit the Chicago Southland blog at http://scbwisouthchicago.blogspot.com.
Shop Talks:
Second Thursday of every month.
NORTH SUBURBAN NETWORKS
Cook County (North Suburban Network)
Representatives:
Meetings:
DATE: Wednesday, January 13
TIME: 7-8:30 PM
TOPIC: Game Night!
Join us for Game Night: Liebrary, Write and Socialize to Win a Prize.
In Liebrary, players are given a children’s book title and the plot summary and then asked to create the most believable first line of the book. Players earn points by writing the first line well enough to fool others into voting for it and/or by writing the correct line. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game, wins.
To RSVP and get the Zoom link email Ilana Ostrar: by January 12th
DATE: Wednesday, February 10
TIME: 7-8:30 PM
TOPIC:“Your Brain Loves to Grow: How to Change Your Thoughts to Strengthen Your Emotional Resilience with Carol Coven Grannick
We react to hard times with sadness, anger, fear and more. But our attitudes toward having those feelings cause unnecessary stress, anxiety, and depression, and can block our creative work. Learn a research-based skill that, when practiced, creates new thought pathways in your brain, resulting in a more accepting, positive attitude toward what you experience, opens your brain to creative problem solving, and strengthens emotional resilience.”
Carol Coven Grannick is a clinical social worker who has taught this technique for several years. A long-time Illinois member, Carol is the debut author of REENI’S TURN (Regal House Publishing/Fitzroy Books, September 13, 2020). Order now at Fitzroy Books, Indiebound, or Amazon.
FAR NORTH SUBURBAN NETWORKS
Far North Suburban Network
Representatives:
Nicole Hewitt
Kim Oclon
Meetings:
DATE: Wednesday, December 2
TIME: 7-9 PM
TOPIC: Holiday Celebration
Bring a snack, a beverage, and wear something festive
as we gather virtually to celebrate the holidays.
We’ll play some games that will definitely involve writing and books!
DATE: Wednesday, January 6
TIME: 7-9 PM
TOPIC: Critique
We will spend the meeting sharing and critiquing our work.
Please follow the directions in the email for the meeting reminder in order to submit pages.
DATE: Wednesday, February 3
TIME: 7-9 PM
TOPIC: What Makes Good Writing?
Find a favorite novel or picture book and share a favorite passage with the group.
What makes it good? How does it influence your own work?Let’s spend this meeting talking about GOOD writing.
Northwest Suburban Network
Representatives:
Stay Tuned for upcoming programming!
Dundee Area Network
Representatives:
Shop Talk/Critique Session
Second Wednesday of the month 7-9 p.m., unless otherwise noted.
If you are a first time attendee please RSVP Jennifer Wagh
WEST SUBURBAN NETWORKS
Oak Park and Near West Suburban Network
Representatives:
Sarah Hammond
Karen Walker Ward
Sallie Wolf
Meetings:
DATE: Thursday, December 10
TIME: 7-9 pm
EVENT: Zoom-Casual Holiday Jolly (Party)
A casual get-together/party over Zoom to celebrate the Holidays–all the holidays of this season. Show up with a beverage of your choice, a snack of your choice. If you can position your camera so your background includes holiday decor, so much the better. We will be celebrating our recently published members as well as each and every milestone or victory of all our network members. Email Sarah Hammond for zoom link.
DATE: Thursday, January 14
TIME: 7-9 pm
EVENT: January Reset: Creative Resolutions
Join us via Zoom to create, share, and recommit to your creative resolutions. January is a great time to hit that Reset Button and get back on track. What do you intend to work on in the coming months?
Reach out to Sallie Wolf for the meeting link
Meeting ID: 974 1438 0909
DATE: Thursday, February 11
TIME: 7-9 pm
EVENT: Critique group
Manuscripts will be read aloud and commented on by the group, via Zoom. March is the time to submit to the SCBWI Work in Progress Grants. This critique night is the perfect time to get helpful feedback before you submit.
Representatives:
Cathy Velasco
Mary and Rich Chamberlin
Bolingbrook/Naperville Network meets three times a year from 10 a.m. – noon, Saturday mornings.
Meetings:
DATE: Saturday, January 23
TIME: 10 a.m. to Noon
EVENT: Craft Books & Goals
Got a favorite craft book that helped with dialogue or setting?
Writers and Illustrators are invited to bring a craft book to discuss how it helped. Bring an example or two that made your work shine!
Feel free to bring your goals for 2021. What do you plan to accomplish? Reach for the sky! Reserve by January 21st, emailing Cathy Velasco at catherineannvelasco5@gmail.com, and we will send you a link for our free Zoom meeting
All Illinois creatives welcome! Contact Cathy or Rich and Mary for meeting link.
Geneva Network
Representatives:
Janet Riehecky 847-695-9781
Cheryl App
Shop Talks:
First Wednesday & fourth Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS NETWORKS
Rockford Network
Representatives:
Karin Blaski
keblaski@aol.com
Jennifer Loescher
jennifer.loescher@comcast.net
Winter 2020 Zoom Writing Craft Book Series, continued
DATE: Dec 1
TIME: 6-8 pm
TOPIC: The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface, by Donald Maass: Emotions, Meaning, and ARC
As SCBWI moves onto Zoom for the near future, and writers struggle to focus during these unprecedented times, the Rockford Network has decided to work through a writing craft book together. All participants will need to obtain a copy of the book from their library or bookstore by the first meeting. Each month we will read a chapter and work through the writing exercises. The monthly Zoom meetings can be a place of accountability (if you want it). They will always be a place of community and support, with zero judgment if you weren’t able to complete the monthly goal.
Read Chapter 5. Try Writing Exercises 8, 9, 10 & 11.
Did you shift from tension to energy or from energy to tension?
Share how this helped deepen your character.
How To Participate:
The Rockford Network voted on this writing craft book and will be given first dibs on this series. We are a small network and have room for others interested in joining us.
If you’d like to participate, e-mail Karin (keblaski@aol.com). We will limit participation to 15 people, including Karin and Jen, to provide an intimate discussion on Zoom. Karin will e-mail a Zoom link each month to those participants.
If there is interest, we can continue this series in Spring 2021 with the second half of this book.
Contact: Karin Blaski, keblaski@aol.com
Freeport/Rockford Area Network
Representatives:
Leone Anderson 815-947-2780
Debbie Deutsch 815-235-8899
Critique Session/Shop Talks:
Fourth Saturday of each month
Please contact Lee or Debbie to verify dates.
DeKalb Area Network
Representative:
Shop Talk & Critique Session:
The third Wednesday of the month, January through November, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
No meetings in December
CENTRAL ILLINOIS NETWORKS
Central Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) Network
Representative:
Elaine Bearden
Stay Tuned for upcoming programming!
Bloomington/Normal Network
Near-Normal Writer’s Group
Representatives:
Looking for new leadership. Please contact Dawn if you’re interested in becoming Network Representative.
Springfield Area Network
The Springfield Scribes
Representative:
Debra Daugherty
DATE: Monday, December 7
TIME: 6-8 P.M.
EVENT: Virtual Holiday Party with Gift Exchange
The Scribes are having a virtual holiday party with a gift exchange and games.
Members will mail their gifts ahead of time to their designated person, and we will open them during our Zoom meeting.
Suzy Leopold is in charge of games.
DATE: Monday, January 4
TIME: 6-8 pm
EVENT: Smart Goals
Suzy Leopold is doing a presentation on Smart Goals.
The perfect way to start the New Year!
Also, manuscript pages can be emailed to the members for a critique.
DATE: Monday, February 3
TIME: 6-8 pm
TOPIC: Query Letters
This meeting will focus on query letters.
Prior to the meeting, each member will receive a link to watch about queries, and during our zoom meeting, we will discuss what we learned. Members will be encouraged to share one of their query letters for a critique. They can also send pages to be critiqued.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS NETWORKS
Edwardsville Network
Representatives:
Juli Caveny
Bonnie Swanson
Monthly Critique Meeting:
We meet at 6:30 on the 2nd Wednesday of the month. Contact reps if you have any questions!
Fairview Heights Network
Representative:
Katie Otey
Monthly Critique Meeting:
Usually 3rd Wednesday of the month. Contact reps for meeting place and time.
