Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 113

Guest Post: T.A. Maclagan on Spy Novel Covers & They Call Me Alexandra Gastone

By T.A. Maclagan
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

From the promotional copy of They Call Me Alexandra Gastone by T.A. Maclagan (Full Fathom Five Digital, 2015):

When your life is a lie, how do you know what’s real?

Alexandra Gastone has a simple plan: graduate high school, get into Princeton, work for the CIA, and serve her great nation.

She was told the plan back when her name was Milena Rokva, back before the real Alexandra and her family were killed in a car crash.

Milena was trained to b...

Cynsational News & Giveaways

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Interview with Anne Ursu About The Real Boy by Corrine Duyvis from Disability in Kidlit. Peek: "Oscar isn’t labeled as autistic or having any kind of special needs in the book, and it’s been interesting to see who picks up on his autism. And many readers don’t. I’ve found that it tends to be people who are closely associated with autism in some way or another who see it." See also The Joke's On Me! Humor & Autism by Lyn Miller-Lauchmann.

Hand-holding i...

We Need Diverse Books & Children's Book Council To Partner on Publishing Internship Program

From Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

The Children’s Book Council (CBC), the non-profit trade association for children’s book publishers in North America, and grassroots nonprofit We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) today announced their partnership on educational programming and resources for interns selected for the WNDB Internship Program, launching this summer.

The program is designed to open up the children’s book publishing industry to talented job-seekers from diverse backgrounds, providing t...

New Voice: I.W. Gregorio on None of the Above

Browse-able Excerpt from Epic ReadsBy Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

I.W. Gregorio is the first-time author of None of the Above (Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins, 2015). From the promotional copy:

What if everything you knew about yourself changed in an instant?

When Kristin Lattimer is voted homecoming queen, it seems like another piece of her ideal life has fallen into place. She’s a champion hurdler with a full scholarship to college and she’s madly in love with her boyfriend. In fact, she’s...

Cynthia & Greg Leitich Smith at TLA 2015: Sync Up!

From Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith will appear this week at the 2015 Annual Conference of the Texas Library Association in Austin.

Cynthia will speak on the panel, "A Colorful Canon: Building Diversity in Children's Literature from 2 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. April 14  in Convention Center Room 10 C, Level 3. Peek: "Small presses offer a powerful response to the cal for diverse children's literature. Learn how small publishing houses and authors are contributin...

Agent Interview: Linda Camacho on Prospect Agency

Linda at Cliffs of MoherBy Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

You're a writer and an agent. Let's start with Writer You. How did you come to literature for young readers?

When I was in middle school, I was obsessed with YA, like R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series (St. Martin's Griffin), Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High books (Bantam), and L.J. Smith’s Night World series (Simon Pulse).

The YA section used to be a lot smaller, so I think I burned through most of them at Walden Books way back when...

Cynsational News & Giveaways

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Q&A with Rita Williams Garcia by Sue Corbett from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "I am a product of the Great Migration. My grandmother, my mother, and my father all came north from the south. We did not spend a lot of time home-going, but that didn’t stop me from imagining what it would be like." See also Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth 2015 from Booklist.

New Award for Historical Middle Grade Fiction or Nonfiction from SCBWI. Peek: "A new book award, T...

Interview: Freelance Editor Francoise Bui

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

How would you describe yourself? A writing coach? Freelance editor? Independent study instructor?

Definitely a freelance editor. I'm not a writing teacher. I love to work on manuscripts that I feel have the potential to be published--ones where my feedback can help a writer shape his/her characters and story.

You're a former Delacorte (Random House) editor, with a history of publishing children's-YA books across age markets and genres. 

Could you tell u...

Interview: Author Allison Estes & Illustrator Tracy Dockray on Izzy & Oscar

By Allison Estes & Tracy Dockray
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

From the promotion copy of Izzy & Oscar (Jabberwocky/Sourcebooks, 2015):

Have you ever taught an octopus to roll over? It's harder than it looks. 

Discover why octopuses make the best pets in this charming picture book about friendship and embracing individuality!

Izzy has always wanted a pet. So when an adventurous octopus squiggles into town, Izzy decides to keep him. After all, a real pirate captain has to have...

Guest Post: Janet Lee Carey on Tips for Writing Fantasy

Kathy Dawson Books/Penguin, 2015By Janet Lee Carey
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

So good to be back visiting the multi-talented Cynthia Leitich Smith here on Cynsations with my third book in the Wilde Island trilogy. Cynthia hosted an interview for the first Wilde Island book, Dragon’s Keep (Harcourt, 2007) so this visit brings it full circle.

I thought it would be a good time to look back and share a few things I’ve learned on the way up the twisty fantasy writing road.

Be Flexible

This...