21 Comments
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Jessica Lawson's avatar

Oh, Amy, this post is so spot-on! I remember being in line to see Kate DiCamillo in Denver. I felt like I was going to pass out or cry from anticipation~ like one of those Beatles fans from the old black and white photographs that I always made fun of for freaking out. Yep, that was me right before I spoke briefly and super-nerdily to Kate DiCamillo and had her sign a book (she signed GREAT JOY, the Christmas picture book, btw). I love your drawings, sketches, and dialogue/truth bubbles! Happy Spring to you~the geese here in SE Pennsylvania are buddying up in the fields around our house, so I'm hoping to see goslings soon. They always show up, and for whatever reason, they always make me want to read Charlotte's Web again (maybe I can relate to the bossy goose) :)

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Jessica Lawson's avatar

PS, Barbara Cooney is my favorite illustrator.

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Amy Makechnie's avatar

Thank you, Jessica. It's SO GOOD to hear from you! Oh my, I'd faint dead away if I was in the presence of Kate D. haha (but also true?) Say hello to the goslings. Love the Charlotte's Web reference and I'm very likely bossy goose, too.

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Linda Williams Jackson's avatar

“ Ordinary people who put in hours and hours of time to perfect a craft produce extraordinary things - things we love, words we quote, pictures we dream of.”

I LOVE THIS!!!

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Amy Makechnie's avatar

Thank you, Linda!!! What are you writing right now?

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Linda Williams Jackson's avatar

You’re welcome! I’m revisiting and revising something old ☺️

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Amy Makechnie's avatar

Excellent...!

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Noah Sochaczevski's avatar

I love the third sketch, Amy! Took a screenshot to keep as a reminder :)

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Amy Makechnie's avatar

This makes me so happy :)

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Anne Belov's avatar

I thought I would just about pass out when I met David Wiesner and made him sign about 6 books. Ha ha Ha...I'm sure the restraining order has been lifted. Also the time I went to hear Chris Van Allsburg speak in Seattle, right after the release of The Chronicles of Harris Burdick.

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Amy Makechnie's avatar

Ha. Love it. Glad the restraining order is lifted...for now.

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Jenna Vandenberg's avatar

I love seeing irl authors! It’s always so inspiring:)

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Amy Makechnie's avatar

It really is!

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Melissa-Jane Fogarty (Nguyen)'s avatar

We love The Princess in Black series in our house so my 7-year-old and I would totally be fangirling along with you! How amazing to have such an experience and walk away so inspired. And thank you for being vulnerable. I really love the 'things my mom does that shocked me as an adult' part! It's that whole realisation that our parents are human – such a shock and so many complex feelings about it.

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Amy Makechnie's avatar

Sometimes I still can't believe Mom is human :))))

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Melissa-Jane Fogarty (Nguyen)'s avatar

Hahaha! I'm not sure my mum is ... :D

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Sarah Miller's avatar

"But I went and of course had no regrets (story of my life)." Same, girl, same 😂

I loved this post and really appreciate all the excellent reminders therein. Just last night I got an email reminding me of an upcoming virtual event with the poets Georgia Heard and Naomi Shihab Nye that I had previously *wanted* to sign up for and talked myself out of it because it's on a weeknight, at an inconvenient time for my family, blah blah... but I decided, a lá "go see the people you love and admire," that nope, I'm doing it.

Picture book authors and/or illustrators I stalk/obsess/fangirl over: Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. It's not even funny.

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Amy Makechnie's avatar

hahaha...my favorite thing ever is when something/anything is cancelled; there is a serious dopamine rush, what the heck?! Good job signing up to see the poets! And now I need to go look up Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong...

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Sarah Miller's avatar

Oh, absolutely -- I don't have to go to something? HALLELUJAH!

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Sarah Allen's avatar

I saw Shannons keynote at Story makers years ago and still think about

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Amy Makechnie's avatar

Awesome; creators are so inspiring. I always walk away with something...

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