Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 13
February 20, 2024
Guest Post: Author Suzanne Morgan Williams on Digging Deep & Getting It Right – Research Tips for Fiction & Nonfiction
Cynsations is celebrating its 20th anniversary by switching to a quarterly publishing schedule, featuring in-depth interviews and articles. Thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm!
Sometimes our books are kids’ first introduction to a subject. They will compare our work to what they learn later, so it’s doubly important to get the information right. In nonfiction, we promise facts, or as close to facts as we can find, from different sources and points of vie...
Guest Post: Author Suzanne Williams on Digging Deep & Getting It Right – Research Tips for Fiction & Nonfiction
Cynsations is celebrating its 20th anniversary by switching to a quarterly publishing schedule, featuring in-depth interviews and articles. Thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm!
Sometimes our books are kids’ first introduction to a subject. They will compare our work to what they learn later, so it’s doubly important to get the information right. In nonfiction, we promise facts, or as close to facts as we can find, from different sources and points of vie...
February 19, 2024
Co-Author Interview: Kekla Magoon & Cynthia Leitich Smith on Collaboration, Careers & the Joy of Creating Children’s Books
Cynsations is celebrating its 20th anniversary by switching to a quarterly publishing schedule, featuring in-depth interviews and articles. Thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm!
Today we welcome authors Kekla Magoon and Cynthia Leitich Smith to Cynsations to discuss their collaboration on a new middle grade graphic novel series, their other 2024 books, and how their writing careers have evolved over time.
Congratulations on Blue Stars: Mission One: The Vice Prin...
December 14, 2023
Cynsations Winter Hiatus
Happy Holidays, Cynsational readers!
Effective immediately, Cynsations is on winter hiatus. We’ll return after the ALA Midwinter Conference with more inspiration, insights, and info on children’s-YA writing, illustration, literature, and publishing. In the meantime, you’re welcome keep up on those topics with me at Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
But first, let’s raise a cup of cocoa to Cynsations Editor-in-Chief Gayleen Rabakukk, Industry News Re...
December 13, 2023
Cynsational Books of 2023
The Cynsational Books of 2023 were selected by Cynthia Leitich Smith from nominations by Cynsations Team members. Titles published by Heartdrum or authored/illustrated by Cynsations team members are ineligible.
For more book recommendations, see Cynthia’s 2023 YA picks featured on NPR: Books We Love.
The selections (in alphabetical order):
Calling the Moon: 16 Period Stories from BIPOC Authors, edited by Aida Salazar and Yamile Saied Mendez (Candlewick Press). From the prom...
December 8, 2023
Cynsational News
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Suma Subramaniam, A.J. Eversole, Mitu Malhotra and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations
Spotlight Image: The Last Stand by Antwan Eady, illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2024).
Author/Illustrator InsightsThe Loveboat, Taipei Trilogy’s Finale: Exploring Uncharted Places, a Guest Post by Abigail Hing Wen by Amanda MacGregor from Teen Librarian Toolbox. Peek: “Write what only you can write, drawing from your uni...
December 7, 2023
Author Interview: Will Taylor Reflects on the Washington State Book Award, Writing Influences & Staying Motivated
We’re thrilled to have Author Will Taylor on Cynsations today.
Congratulations on winning the Washington State Book Award! How has winning the award changed or affected your creative life? What hasn’t changed?
Thank you so much! I remember attending the Washington State Book Award ceremony the year before my first book came out and thinking “Maybe someday!” It’s truly wild that it’s actually happened.
Winning the award hasn’t changed my writing life, at least not as far as I...
December 6, 2023
Author Interview: Rajani LaRocca on Poetry, Verse Novels & Beating Writer’s Block
I first met Rajani LaRocca on a crisp fall day in November 2022 at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier. Her amazing energy stayed with me long after that weekend when she shared her writing journey and the art of juggling two full careers. Today we welcome Rajani, recipient of a Newbery Honor and Walter Award for her middle grade verse novel, Red, White, and Whole (Quill Tree Books, 2021), to share some thoughts on penning her second verse novel, Mirror to Mirror (Qu...
December 5, 2023
Author Interview: Shirin Shamsi Reminisces on Her Writing Journey & Winning the South Asia Book Award
I am thrilled to welcome Shirin Shamsi to Cynsations today!
Congratulations on winning the South Asia Book Award! How has winning the award changed or affected your creative life? What hasn’t changed?
Thank you Suma. It truly is an honor that means so much to me. I feel it may have temporarily quieted my constant nemesis – the ever-present imposter syndrome.
It is very gratifying to know that The Moon from Dehradun, illustrated by Tarun Lak (Atheneum, 2022) has resonated wit...
December 1, 2023
Cynsational News
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Suma Subramaniam, A.J. Eversole, Mitu Malhotra and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations
Spotlight Image: When the Stars Came Home by Brittany Luby , illustrated by Natasha Donovan (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2023).
Author/Illustrator InsightsLaurie Halse Anderson: Speaking for the Voiceless by Lisa Tolin from Pen America. Peek: “[T]eenagers are such outstanding human beings….[I]t is so critical that they have access to books…that allow them to wo...
