Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing

Posts from the “A Bit of Everything” Category

IllustWriter – a 7-week Course Picture Book Writing in Amsterdam

Posted on June 20, 2015

IllustWriter – picture book writing for illustrators and writers Illustrator, would you like to write your own story? Writer, do you want to hone your picture book storytelling craft? Here’s your chance! Take the next step and learn from two experienced colleagues, both children’s book writers, editors and creative writing teachers. Become an IllustWriter! IllustWriter is a 7-week (6 sessions) course in writing picture books for illustrators by Sieneke de Rooij and Mina Witteman; oct-nov 2015, Amsterdam. This course will be taught in two groups. Mina wil lead the English speaking group; Sieneke coaches the Dutch illustrators/writers. Click here for more information! Click here for registration!

Boreas and the Seven Seas

Posted on April 9, 2015

What’s on my mind Facebook wants to know. That’s an easy one: books are what’s on my mind and one in particular. Next month my Dutch middle grade adventure novel will hit the shelves. And this is what it will look like: Action and adventure at sea! The story? 12-year-old Boreas is convinced his parents are getting divorced. They’ve been acting weird, lately. Secretive. When they, at last, tell him what’s going on it’s not a divorce but something else and it will uproot Boreas’ life just as much: the family is going on a three-year, round-the-world trip on their sailing boat. Everything’s arranged, up till the final details like enrolling Boreas into a distance learning school. At first, Boreas hates it. He misses his…

Writers and Illustrators Conference in Amsterdam

Posted on January 6, 2015

Happy New Year all! I haven’t been around much lately and I can tell you why. Together with my SCBWI colleagues from France, Belgium, Germany+Austria and Switzerland, I have been super busy with the preparations of the second SCBWI Europolitan Conference. This time, the conference will take place in my fair home town Amsterdam on Saturday April 4 and Sunday April 5. Two days jam-packed with presentations, panels, hands-on workshops and opportunities to share your work with publishing professionals from all over the world. It’s going to be awesome, this conference. For one, because we have a faculty line-up to die for. I mean, what would you do if you could meet and work with two of the coolest agents in the world: Brooks Sherman…

Daily Distraction – SCBWI School Visit Webinar

Posted on November 6, 2014

Originally posted on Writing and Illustrating:
Webinar – School Visits with Suzanne Morgan Williams Date/Time Date(s) – 11/12/2014 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm COST: $25.00 For All SCBWI Members – $30.00 Non-Members The best school visits are age appropriate, energetic, engage the students, and add value to the school’s curriculum. How do you design amazing presentations? Gain confidence in your performance, teaching, and negotiations? How do you get schools (or more schools) to hire you? Author, former teacher, and school presenter, Suzanne Morgan Williams, uses handouts, exercises, and the online presentation to help you plan programs based on your strengths, your books, and students’ needs. She’ll share her best tips for connecting with schools and negotiating fair deals. If you’re serious about giving presentations…

Daily Distraction: Book Presentation Mia’s Nest

Posted on October 18, 2014

Presentatie Kinderboekwinkel

Daily Distraction: Mia’s nest is out!

Posted on September 21, 2014

Mia’s nest is out! Mia’s nest is a Dutch Little Golden Book about a girl with tangles in her hair. When her mom decides it’s time to have Mia’s hair cut short, she needs to find a way to prevent that. Because short hair is silly, short hair is for boys and boys are silly. Will anyone help Mia to keep her hair long? Find out in Mia’s nest! The story idea and illustrations for this wonderful and sweet Little Golden Book are from the amazing, talented Angela Pelaez Vargas. I added the words and I am beyond proud that Angela let me share in this delightful project of hers. We will see more of her soon, as she is one of the most talented illustrators…