California Comic Book Conventions

Writer and comic book fan Kevin Sharp of Palo Alto regularly attends such comic book conventions as San Diego Comic Convention, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego. The show, which began life as the Golden State Comic Book Convention in 1970, takes place over four days each summer at the San Diego Convention Center. Attendance regularly exceeds 120,000; in 2017 the convention drew over 130,000. Comic Con originally started as a gathering of comic book fans, dealers, and creators, but its scope has grown along with is attendance; comic books are now only one aspect of the show, along with videogames, television, movies, toys, and animation. The convention’s annual cosplay Masquerade contest includes such awards as Best in Show, Most Humorous, Best Young Fan, and Best Re-Creation.

Comic-Con’s organizers are also responsible for two smaller conventions: WonderCon and APE (Alternative Press Expo). WonderCon was originally held in Oakland, CA, before moving to San Francisco. Construction at the city’s Moscone Center led to the convention moving to Southern California in 2012. APE is a convention for independent and self-published comics and cartoons; it has been held in both San Jose and San Francisco since its inception in 1994.

In 2016, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and his partners started the Silicon Valley Comic Con in San Jose. The convention is a blending of comic books, genre media, and technology. Fans at the show might meet a star from a Marvel movie, along with an esteemed AI programmer; an artist at the show might find themselves signing comic books across the aisle from NASA’s booth. The show’s theme for 2018 is “What Does It Mean to Be Human?”

Association of Writers and Writing Programs Sponsors Several Awards

A former book reviewer and feature writer with Bookmarks Magazine, Palo Alto, California, resident Kevin Sharp has published his work in other outlets, including on 100 Word Story and Fiction Attic Press, as well. A member of several professional organizations, Kevin Sharp belongs to the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) and attends its conference. 

AWP supports, advocates for, and provides resources to its almost 50,000 member writers. It also represents more than 550 university and college creative writing programs as well as 150 conferences and centers geared toward writers. Established in 1967, the nonprofit organization seeks to advance writing and encourage literary achievement.

In addition to conferences and other gatherings, AWP sponsors six annual awards for writers, including the:

* George Garrett Award. Named after a teacher, author, and editor, this award is given to an individual who has donated time, labor, and money to support other writers. Winners receive $2,000 as well as travel accommodations and registration to attend AWP’s annual conference. 

* Small Press Publisher Award. Given to nonprofit presses and literary journals, this award acknowledges the role of these organizations in publishing creative work and introducing new authors. Winners receive $2,000 and a complimentary exhibit booth at the AWP conference.

* Kurt Brown Prizes. Previously known as the WC&C Scholarship Competition, this award is presented to emerging writers in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Kurt Brown founded WC&C, which hosts writers’ conferences and festivals. Winners receive $500 each to attend a conference, retreat, or festival.

Tips for Traveling to a Conference

A freelance writer in Palo Alto, California, Kevin Sharp has published material for a variety of audiences. Kevin Sharp engages with the writing community by traveling from Palo Alto to attend conferences throughout the country.

Conference travel is different than traveling for pleasure, in that you will need to get to your conference site efficiently and maximize your time while there. Many experienced conference travelers meet both goals by having a complete change of clothes in their carry-on bags. This allows you to look put-together if a bag gets lost or if there is no time to go through a checked bag before arriving at the conference.

You may also save time by entering the venue address and your hotel address into your phone, if the two are different. This lets you settle in quickly and travel between the two efficiently. You will be able to spend more time at the conference if you can avoid going back and forth often, and packing a full-day bag each morning can let you do this. The bag, which can be helpful even if you are staying on site, should contain chargers and devices, business cards, and snacks, as well as a water bottle.

Consulting the daily agenda will help you to pack your day bag effectively, while also giving you the chance to prioritize what you want to see and do. However, you will also want to be open to spontaneous socializing and networking with people you meet at the conference, so know where in your schedule you can work in some flexibility. Finally, be sure to schedule some rest time, as it is hard to learn or to put your best self out there if you are exhausted from trying to do too much.

SCBWI Makes Booking Children’s Authors for Events Easier

Kevin Sharp of Palo Alto, California, is a writer noted for his 2013 coming-of-age novel, After Dakota. He has also worked as a book reviewer and feature-story writer, and his short fiction has been published in The First Line literary magazine and on the 100 Word Story website. Additionally, Kevin Sharp is a member of professional writers’ organizations such as the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). 

For more than 40 years, the SCBWI has provided professionals in the field of children’s literature with a venue for promoting their work, honing their craft, and expanding their networks of professional contacts. The group currently includes well over 20,000 members all over the world. Among its many benefits for both members and community organizations is a database of speakers called the Speakers Bureau.

By clicking on Find a Speaker on the SCBWI website, a school, bookstore, library, or cultural institution can locate a speaker for an upcoming event. This function is particularly beneficial for schools searching for a children’s writer or illustrator to speak, since these visits are among the most memorable for students and creators alike.

The search fields allow event planners to select authors, artists, and translators by state or country. It also allows them to search by age level of the audience. For schools or libraries located in rural areas, many speakers offer Skype visits, as well.

AWP’s Media Resources for Writers and Writing Enthusiasts

In 2013, Kevin Sharp, a writer from Palo Alto, California, published his first novel, After Dakota. An experienced writer of articles, short stories, and book reviews, he previously worked as a freelance contributor for Bookmarks Magazine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Alongside his day-to-day activities as a writer in Palo Alto, Kevin Sharp maintains affiliations with the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP). 

In addition to overseeing its annual Conference & Bookfair, AWP offers a variety of resources for writers, editors, and publishers as well as writing students and teachers. For more than 40 years, the organization has published The Writers Chronicle, a magazine full of articles, news, and information pieces on literature and the art of writing. 

Published bimonthly, The Writer’s Chronicle features essays on writing techniques alongside interviews of today’s top writers. The publication also covers publishing trends and contains information to help connect writers with publication opportunities, grants, awards, and upcoming conferences. 

Alongside The Writer’s Chronicle, AWP publishes the Writer’s News and the Writer’s Notebook, which together offer career advice, writing tips, and publication announcements. The organization also produces a podcast series featuring presentations from the AWP Conference & Bookfair. To learn more about AWP’s magazine and media resources, visit awpwriter.org.

The AWP Annual Conference

A Palo Alto, California, resident, Kevin Sharp has authored several published works, including a young adult novel called After Dakota. Alongside his work, Kevin Sharp attends professional gatherings such as the Association of Writer & Writing Programs (AWP) Conference.

The annual AWP Conference has emerged as one of the most popular annual destinations for writers, teachers, students, editors, and publishers. The event draws more than 12,000 attendees each year for sessions, professional development and networking opportunities, as well as presentations by noteworthy speakers from within the publishing world.

The 2018 conference is scheduled to take place on March 7-10 at the Tampa Convention Center and Marriott Tampa Waterside. Over the course of the four-day gathering, attendees will enjoy over 500 readings and 2,000 presenters at the book fair. George Saunders, author of Lincoln on the Bardo, will be the keynote speaker at the event. Other scheduled speakers include novelist and professor Maud Casey, short story writer Nathan Englander, author Min Jin Lee, fiction writer Jamie Quatro, and author Christopher Castellani.

H.L. Mencken's Infamous Great Gatsby Book Review

Kevin Sharp is a Palo Alto, California-based writer who has taught writing throughout the region. Kevin Sharp also has penned book reviews and articles for Bookmarks Magazine and Fiction Attic, among other literary outlets. 

H.L. Mencken is one of literature’s most well-known and influential critics and scholars. Over the course of his lifetime, he reviewed a number of major titles and authors. Despite his experience and literary renown, Mencken was hardly infallible. In 1925, he reviewed The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald for the Chicago Tribune. Mencken, in short, cared little for Fitzgerald’s third novel, now regarded as one of the finest American books ever written.

Mencken opens the review by stating that The Great Gatsby amounts to little more than an implausibly plotted anecdote. He found the characters “astonishingly lifelike,” but felt the book lacked depth, particularly compared to earlier Fitzgerald efforts like This Side of Paradise. Again, present sentiments run quite the contrary, with most maintaining that The Great Gatsby and its themes speak to the nebulous concept of the great American novel, while Fitzgerald’s prior works read somewhat juvenile in comparison.

To his credit, Mencken identified Fitzgerald as a talented writer and important among his peers. He also praised the book’s careful structure and lush prose. Ultimately, however, he concluded that The Great Gatsby was an incomplete work and only a suggestion of his full capabilities. Since Mencken’s review, Gatsby has been revered as a near flawless construction and generally considered Fitzgerald's greatest accomplishment.

Membership in the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

Palo Alto, California, resident Kevin Sharp is the author of After Dakota, a young adult novel about high school life set in the early 1980s. An author of short stories, fiction, and screenplays, Kevin Sharp of Palo Alto belongs to the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

A nonprofit organization founded by Stephen Mooser and Lin Oliver in 1971, SCBWI aims to promote original creations and foster quality children’s books all over the world. The only professional body for children- and young adult-centric independent writers and illustrators, the society is also comprised of publishers, editors, translators, bloggers, librarians, and booksellers.

Membership in the organization is available to all children’s literature or media enthusiasts. SCBWI also has a special membership provision for students. Membership includes professional support and guidance for those in the publishing industry, up-to-date information about the industry, a quarterly publication about the field of children’s literature, access to podcasts and interviews of prominent people in the field, and chances to network with others in publishing. 

For more detailed information on how to join, please visit www.scbwi.org/join-scbwi.

Recent Winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards

Kevin Sharp is an author in Palo Alto, California, who has taught creative writing programs to after school students in Mountain View and Sunnyvale. After relocating to Palo Alto, Kevin Sharp gained experienced as a book reviewer and writer for Bookmarks Magazine.

In the literary world, a glowing or scathing review can be hugely influential in regards to the success or failure of a book. Sometimes, critics can have an even more direct impact on a book’s reputation, such as when it comes to prestigious accolades like the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC). A registered 501(c)(3) non-profit, NBCC is comprised of nearly 600 critics, authors, online writers, and other professionals in the publishing industry.

Every year, the NBCC recognizes exceptional writing in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and criticism, among other categories, through the NBCC awards program. In 2016, winners included LaRose by Louise Erdrich in fiction, Matt Desmond’s Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City for non-fiction, and Ishion Hutchinson’s collection of poems, House of Lords and Commons. 

The 2016 Critic’s Circle award for criticism, meanwhile, went to White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson. Expanding on a well received op-ed in The Washington Post, White Rage examines today’s cultural and racial landscape through the lens of transformative past events. The NBCC awards date back to 1975, when winners included E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime and The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell.

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators - Golden Kites

Kevin Sharp is a Palo Alto, California-based writer. He is the author of After Dakota, a young adult novel set in 1980s America. As part of Kevin Sharp's commitment to children's literature, the Palo Alto resident is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). 

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators supports the professionals who help create books for children and young adults. Established in 1971, this non-profit organization connects more than 22,000 writers, publishers, and educators from around the world. Members work together to support their industry, recognize exemplary writing, and promote children's literature.

The SCBWI also makes an array of grants and awards available to exemplary authors and illustrators. These include the Golden Kite Awards, the only children's literature award selected by a panel of industry peers. Golden Kite Awards honor winners in five categories, ranging from picture book illustration to nonfiction writing. Nominations for the 2018 awards will open July 1, 2017 and close on December 5, 2017.

Kevin Sharp’s Short Work “The Place I Belong”

A resident of Palo Alto, California, Kevin Sharp has established a reputation as a lyrical writer of fiction, based on works such as his novel, After Dakota. Kevin Sharp has also published a number of shorter works on sites such as Fiction Attic, including the 2016 piece “The Place I Belong.”

Beginning with the sentence “My life changed when I turned seven,” the Palo Alto author writes of a boy who lives with his single mom in a Flagstaff, Arizona, mobile home and wishes each birthday for a full-scale Batmobile and for his father to return home. His mother has a number of dates, but the boy never fully approves of them and lacks a male role model in his life. 

This all changes when the boy’s mom starts taking her dates to the trailer for dinner and the boy has regular awkward exchanges with the men, which are best summed up in the phrase, “It was nice meeting you. Sort of.” Everything changes again on a momentous day when the boy receives a call from his distantly remembered father from a phone booth.