Past NY Metro Events

Write/Sketch Meetup at The American Folk Art Museum

April 2025

Visit New York City’s only museum dedicated to folk & self-taught artists. The collection spans four centuries and nearly every continent, displaying more than seven thousand works of art in various media.

A Behind the Scenes Look at Social Media with Killian Abuan, Social Media Strategist

March 2025

Ever wonder how social media platforms actually work? How the algorithms determine what to show you? How to reach new audiences while engaging existing ones? Join us for a special webinar, and get a behind the scenes look at the world of social media from an insider. Killian Abuan, a seasoned social media strategist, specializes in connecting brands with their audiences through thoughtful storytelling, community engagement and data-driven strategies. She’ll give us the ins and outs of the top social platforms and how we as writers and illustrators can harness their power to market and engage ourselves and our work.

Write/Sketch Meetup at The Met

March 2025

Channel your inner Claudia and Jamie Kincaid in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by joining us to find artistic inspiration at the Met! 

Write/Sketch Meetup at Essex Market

February 2025

Join us to explore the Lower East Side's Essex Market, a modern reimagining of the historic venue that housed food stalls for the vibrant melting pot of cultures that have called this neighborhood home. We will also practice some of the fun sketchbook exercises from Mike Lowery's event (fear not, writers! these are more about stretching our imagination than our skills).

How Keeping a Sketchbook Changed My Life with Mike Lowery

January 2025

Mike Lowery, a New York Times Best-Selling Illustrator has worked on more than EIGHTY books for kids and adults with major publishers, including Chronicle Books, Scholastic, and Penguin Random House. In addition to making books, Mike is an avid sketchbook-keeper and has taught classes worldwide. In this virtual live presentation he will talk about how keeping a sketchbook launched his career and will challenge attendees (regardless of their creative focus) to keep a sketchbook diary daily. This event isn’t just for illustrators! It’s for creatives of all types at any stage of their artistic journey. Visit Mike online at https://www.mikelowery.com or on Instagram at mikelowerystudio.

Write/Sketch Meetup at Bryant Bark

December 2024

Celebrate the holiday season with your fellow Metro NY members! We will explore the Bryant Park Winter Village, with time to write, sketch, and talk shop.

From Idea to Pitching a Graphic Novel Proposal with Maple Lam

December 2024

Do you have ideas for a graphic novel story? Do you wonder how to pitch your dream project to an agent or a publisher? In this online workshop, author-illustrator, Maple Lam will teach you how to put together a great pitch for your next graphic novel. Maple was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Greater Los Angeles at age 11. She studied Studio Arts at University of California, Irvine and took night classes at Art Center College of Design. After working as a designer and art director at an event design firm for seven years, she transitioned to become a full time author-illustrator. Maple has worked with many wonderful publishers, including Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins. Her latest children’s graphic novel series, MONKEY KING AND THE WORLD OF MYTHS, includes some of her favorite things in books, including action, humor, mythology, and culture. Maple currently live in sunny and beautiful Greater Los Angeles, USA. You can find out more about Maple at www.MapleLam.com, on Instagram @maplelam, or on Substack, www.maplelam.substack.com, where she shares everything she loves about comics and graphic

Write/Sketch Meetup at the American Indian Museum

November 2024

Join us for a Thanksgiving edition of our Write/Sketch Meet-Up at The National Museum of the American Indian in FiDi! We’ll write, sketch, and explore the museum. At the end, we’ll gather to share our work and mingle!

Agent Panel 

October 2024

Join us for a lively discussion with agents: Saritza Hernández from Andrea Brown Literary, Andrea Morrison from Writers House and Lee O’Brien from Looking Glass Literary. The panel will be moderated by Harold Underdown.

Write/Sketch Meetup at Green-Wood Cemetery

October 2024

Join us for a fun day of wandering the cemetery writing/sketching and taking in the season! We’ll meet up to write and sketch, then gather together to share and mingle.

Words with Friends: How to Navigate Co-Authoring a Book

March 2024

What goes into writing a co-authored book? Authors Kathryn Holmes and MarcyKate Connolly will share how they worked together to write their new middle-grade novel, The Thirteenth Circle. They will discuss their creative process, from initial inspiration and brainstorming to drafting and revision, and beyond. The workshop will provide attendees with insights into multiple approaches to the co-author relationship. Who writes what? How do you give each other feedback? What if you disagree? And then, what happens when you’re ready to sell the book?

The Magic of World Building in Middle Grade Novels with Kate Milford.

January 2024

For this workshop, we will be thinking and talking about what makes a place feel real enough to step into, and how a setting that influences the plot can make for really fun, rich storytelling.