Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Ruh roh, it's Mike Jung, lowering the bar on the conference blog yet again


This is a picture of me, Mike Jung! C'est moi!
It's a picture of me, Mike Jung! C'est moi!
Aw, I'm just kidding with that title. Mostly. Ok ok, I'm all the way kidding, because truthfully, one of the great joys of joining Team Blog for the SCBWI Summer Spectacular 2020 is getting to report on some of kidlit's brightest luminaries, including more than one person I've had the good fortune to meet and/or work with. 

I've never been bashful about saying the 2010 SCBWI Summer Conference is where I met legendary editor (formerly of
Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, currently of the brand-new publishing house Levine Querido) and Summer Spectacular kickoff event host Arthur Levine, who subsequently plucked my manuscript from obscurity and introduced me to the industry. It's a memory that's hard to top, you know? And fast-forwarding back to the present day, Arthur and I have now collaborated on three novels, the latest of which is The Boys in the Back Row, comin' at ya like a freight train on October 6. 

Banner image for the SCBWI Online Summer Spectacular: illustration of a cat and rabbit sitting at a desk, writing booksThe SCBWI summer event experience is obviously different this year, and I know I'm not the only one who'd rather be hobnobbing with everyone in person. But the show goes on, and this will still be a special and meaningful event, if only because you'll get to read more blog posts by me, haha, MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

*sigh* 

Hey, it's cover of my book, THE BOYS IN THE BACK ROW!
Hey, that's my book, The Boys in the Back Row!
Ok, sorry, I know. The arrogance, it rankles. Team Blog is full of fabulous people, though, and I'm genuinely honored to be in their company. So yeah, here we go, it all begins Friday. Onward, ONWARD TO GLORY!

Mike Jung is the author of Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, Unidentified Suburban Object, and The Boys in the Back Row, and contributed to the anthologies Dear Teen Me, Break These Rules, 59 Reasons to Write, (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, and The Hero Next Door. He is a library professional by day, a writer by night, and a semi-competent ukulele player during all the times in between. Mike is also a founding member of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks team, and lives in Oakland, California, with his wife and two children, both of whom are in the process of rapidly surpassing their father. 

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