Opening Keynote: Dhonielle Clayton #scbwiSummer22

 

In her opening keynote, Dhonielle talked to us about stories that will save us, and finding creative life in turbulent times. Dhonielle was assisted by ASL interpreter Keturah.

Dhonielle Clayton is a New York Times best-selling author.  She’s written a myriad of books such as The Belles series, The Mirror: Shattered Midnight, and The Marvellers. She’s the co-author of Blackout and Whiteout, and the Tiny Pretty Things duology, a Netflix original series. She hails from the Washington, D.C. suburbs on the Maryland side. She taught secondary school for several years, and is a former elementary and middle school librarian. She is COO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books, and President of Cake Creative, an IP story kitchen dedicated to diverse books for all ages. You can find her on social media @brownbookworm.

Dhonielle had always loved reading. She listened to books on tape on the way to school, spent every Saturday at bookstores and comic stores. "I grew up in a household full of STORY." Still, it never crossed her mind to be a writer.

She talked about struggling through college, when she wanted to be a doctor. Her dad encouraged her to return to what gave her comfort: reading. 

Dhonielle became a librarian in a community where many of the kids hated reading because they couldn't see themselves in the books they wanted to read. "I needed to find a way to fall in love with books and their own stories," says Dhonielle, and was inspired to pursue writing.

Dhonielle said it took 345 rejected queries and 8 full books before she found publishing success. In addition to working hard, she joined the SCBWI. "I would not be here without the SCBWI," says Dhonielle, who found her first critique partner through SCBWI and says that it was the first community she found that fully respected children's books.

In dark and turbulent times, we can provide light through our stories. We need to create safe places for young readers, where they can find refuge and to help them make sense of the mess, to let them know that sometimes it will get dark but that there is always hope.

Dhonielle admits that like many others, she is still working on turning her own creative light back on. "I'm trying to learn to be okay with that." 

Dhonielle collaborated with friends on BLACKOUT to remind kids that even if the lights go out, they will come back on. Writing with my friends reignited her spirit, says Dhonielle. The resulting book came out during the pandemic.

THE MARVELLERS took seven years, says Dhonielle. The pandemic happened in the middle of editing, so many people working on the book were furloughed. It was difficult and there were times when she got discouraged. 

She persevered, and the results were well worth it. Indie booksellers agreed!

 

From Dhonielle: Remember that through all of this, there is a child out there who is waiting for us to write our stories and help them find their own stories.