Falling Leaves Faculty 2024
Our Falling Leaves Masterclass Retreat is a car ride or train ride away in the Adirondack Mountains. And along with a lake and a forest full of trees, we have a limit of 35 attendees with four editors and one agent as faculty.
The weekend includes a one-on-one critique with one faculty member, masterclass-level workshops, peer critiques, free time for kicking back in an Adirondack chair with a warm drink, taking a lakeside hike, or reading by the fireplace in the lodge. It has been over 15 years since our first Eastern NY SCBWI Falling Leaves master class retreat and we're still going strong!
Falling Leaves is application only.
The theme this year is picture books.
2024 Faculty and Workshops
Christie Megill is an agent at The CAT Agency
Erika DiPasquale is an Associate Editor at Harper Children’s
Meredith Mundy is an Executive Editor at Abrams Appleseed
Trisha de Guzman is an Editor at Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers
Catherine Laudone is a senior editor at Paula Wiseman Books / Simon & Schuster
Christie Megill
Christie Megill joined The CAT Agency in 2022, coming from a background in elementary education. Before pursuing education, she previously worked as an editorial assistant at an academic press in New York City, as a volunteer at the Housing Works Bookstore in SoHo, and as a bookseller at the bygone Borders Books and Music in Columbus Circle. She holds a BA in English Literature from Fordham University.
Falling Leaves 2024 Workshop:
Art and Your Picture Book
Picture books are part text and part illustration, but it can be easy to forget how important the art is in telling the story. Whether you’re an author, an author-illustrator, or an illustrator, it’s crucial to consider how art is supporting and elevating the vision of the manuscript. We will discuss the power of art in picture book storytelling and also touch on practical points like art notes, page turns, and opportunities for the art to make a big impact.
Erika DiPasquale
Erika DiPasquale has worked at HarperCollins since 2017, first as a member of the adult foreign rights team and now as an Associate Editor at Harper Children’s. She works on projects for all age ranges, from board book through YA, fiction and non-fiction. She’s excited about stories that tackle difficult topics in digestible ways as well as anything described as humorous, silly, quirky, clever, or unconventional. Erika also works on the Pete the Cat and Harold & the Purple Crayon, as well as supports VP, Publisher Nancy Inteli on her list, including the Food Group and Maurice Sendak programs. She moonlights as a yoga teacher, forest bathing guide, and reiki practitioner.
Falling Leaves 2024 Workshop:
Creating Extraordinary Anthropomorphized Characters
Meredith Mundy
Meredith Mundy (she/her) is Editorial Director of Abrams Appleseed. She is originally from Colorado Springs, Colorado, holds a BA in Comparative Literature/Studio Art from Smith College, and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University. She has been editing books for young readers for thirty years and hopes to continue doing so for thirty more!
Some recent projects: Too Much by Jolene Gutiérrez and Angel Chang, Hair Like Obama’s, Hands Like LeBron’s by Carole Boston Weatherford and Savanna Durr, ABCs for a Peaceful Me by Shelly Becker and Dan Yaccarino, Onomatopanda by Janik Coat, Eidtale by Aaliya Jaleel, and We’re Having a Party (for Everyone!) by Katie Vernon.
Meredith lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband, Richard, a graphic designer and artist, and their tuxedo cat, Mina, a proficient napper.
Falling Leaves 2024 Workshop:
Hooking Your Reader: Crafting the All-Important First Line in Contemporary Picture Books
In this two-part workshop, we will explore the first lines of numerous published picture books to see why they hooked readers and never let them go. In the second part, you’ll re-work the first lines of your original manuscript based on what we’ve learned—and see, too, how to apply the technique to the rest of your manuscript. Magical transformations guaranteed!
Please bring with you to this workshop:
-Two copies of an original picture book manuscript you are working on, for workshopping purposes. (Feel free to bring more than one manuscript, as long as you bring TWO copies of each of them.)
-Optional: your favorite first line from a published picture book to share with the group.
Trisha de Guzman
Trisha de Guzman is an Editor at Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, acquiring and editing picture books, middle grade and young adult novels. Born in the Philippines, she immigrated to NYC from Manila as a child. She's passionate about amplifying BIPOC creators and making kidlit a more inclusive place. In her spare time, she likes to climb rocks, ride bikes, and revel in nature. Visit her at trishadeguzman.com or on Twitter at @trishadeg.
Falling Leaves 2024 Workshop:
Acquiring and Publishing Picture Books 101.
Catherine Laudone
Catherine Laudone is a senior editor at Paula Wiseman Books & Beach Lane Books / Simon & Schuster. She has edited a number of bestselling and award-winning authors and illustrators, including Apryl Stott, Geisel Honor winner Kaz Windness, Don Tate, Maggie Edkins Willis, Ariel Bernstein, Jessica Stremer, Tim McCanna, and many more. Catherine is also a published author. Her picture book debut She Kept Dancing: The True Story of a Professional Dancer with a Limb Difference, illustrated by Natelle Quek, tells the story of coauthor Sydney Mesher, the first Radio City Rockette with a limb difference. She Kept Dancing is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection and a 2025 Towner Award nominee. Catherine has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. When not editing or writing, she enjoys baking, traveling, and playing with her cat Biscotti. To learn more, follow her on Instagram (@catherinelaudone) and visit www.catherinelaudone.com.
Falling Leaves 2024 Workshop:
Let’s Go for a Ride: Discovering Tools for Building and Releasing Tension in Picture Books
Everyone has a favorite ride–some like roller coasters and others like slower ones. But what do all of these rides have in common? They have moments of building tension with climbs or unexpected turns, and moments of releasing that tension with dips or turns.
The same experience can be recreated in picture books, too.
Building and releasing tension in stories allows young readers to go on a fun ride within the pages of a book, all from the safety of their schools, libraries, and homes.
In this interactive breakout session, we’ll look at how writers can use refrains, page turns, humor, and emotional touchstones as tools for building and dispelling tension in picture books and ultimately creating a satisfying reading experience. Whether you
are new to writing picture books or a veteran, let’s go for a ride—and explore these craft tools together!
The theme of our 2025 Falling Leaves will be novels.
More information here: https://www.scbwi.org/regions/easternny/falling-leaves-masterclass-retreat