Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 136

Highlights Writing Retreat Scholarship Opportunity

Courtesy of Kristy Dempsey
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

In 2008, several children's writers joined together for a retreat in Boyds Mills, Pennsylvania, the home of Highlights Magazine and the wonderful Highlights Foundation.

We were all working on different stories in different genres, and so we planned a working retreat, not one where we would meet often to learn from a speaker, but one that would allow us the time we needed to dive deep into our stories and come up for air when we ne...

In Memory: Cynthia Chapman Willis

Compiled by Alison Ashley Formento
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Middle grade author Cynthia Chapman Willis left this world on March 3.

According to her family, she didn't want anyone to be sad at her passing. That embodies the kind of woman and giving author friend Cindy was to so many, and those that knew her could not help but be dazzled by her lovely smile and giving nature. Her determination and strength to beat cancer and continue writing never wavered.

She was a founding member of...

Cynsational News & Giveaways

Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

On Neutral Characters and Relating to the Specific by Shannon Hale from squeetus blog. Peek: "Why can't someone like Maisie be worthy of a story too? I've encountered similar opinions over the years and began to come to an uncomfortable understanding, one that others before me have also discovered."

On Diversity Within Diversity by Ava Jae from Writability. Peek: "Sometimes we forget that the community of that one sect of people is just as beauti...

Video: Kwame Alexander Riffs on Librarians & The Crossover

Follow Kwame on Twitter.By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Check out this fantastic author video by Kwame Alexander, promoting The Crossover (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

Why is it so great?

Kwame's irresistible combination of humor and charm, along with a call to action and a preview of the book to come.

Peek from the promotional copy:

"'With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is sizzling. My sweat is drizzling. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I'm delivering, ' announces dr...

Guest Post: Ellen Oh on The Ongoing Problem with Sexism

By Ellen Oh
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Recently I have been talking with several other women authors about how hard it is to be a female writer. Many stressed how ironic it was given the fact that there are more women in publishing, more women writers, and more women readers.

But why, many asked, does it feel like women authors are never treated at the same level as male writers?

This unleashed a huge firestorm of discussion where authors brought up numerous examples of sexism that t...

New Voice: Whitney A. Miller on The Violet Hour

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Whitney A. Miller is the first-time author of The Violet Hour(Flux, 2014). From the promotional copy:

Some call VisionCrest the pinnacle of religious enlightenment.

Others call it a powerful cult.

For seventeen years, Harlow Wintergreen has called it her life.

As the adopted daughter of VisionCrest's patriarch, Harlow is expected to be perfect at all times. The other Ministry teens must see her as a paragon of integrity. The world must see her as a future le...

Guest Post: Linda Joy Singleton on Jumping Age Markets: How a Multi-Published Author Became a Debut Author

By Linda Joy Singleton
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Blame it on the SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators).

When I joined SCBWI over two decades ago, I’d already sold a middle-grade and was interested in writing young adult books, too. Yet most of my writer friends wrote picture books.

Whenever I went to SCBWI conferences, I attended many presentations by talented picture book authors and illustrators. I listened to so many picture book talks that I joked I co...

Guest Post: Linda Joy Singlton on Jumping Age Markets: How a Multi-Published Author Became a Debut Author

By Linda Joy Singleton
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Blame it on the SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators).

When I joined SCBWI over two decades ago, I’d already sold a middle-grade and was interested in writing young adult books, too. Yet most of my writer friends wrote picture books.

Whenever I went to SCBWI conferences, I attended many presentations by talented picture book authors and illustrators. I listened to so many picture book talks that I joked I co...

Cynsational News & Giveaways

Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Congratulations to Carol Lynch Williams on the release of The Haven (St. Martin's Griffin, 2014). From the promotional copy:

For the teens at The Haven, the outside world, just beyond the towering stone wall that surrounds the premises, is a dangerous unknown. It has always been this way, ever since the hospital was established in the year 2020.

But The Haven is more than just a hospital; it is their home. It is all they know. Everything is stri...

Guest Post & Giveaway: Annette Simon on How a Bookseller by the Sea Influences a Book Maker at Her Desk. And Vice Versa.

Visit Annette!From Cynthia Leitich Smith:

Do you wear more than one hat in the children's-YA book world? There are a lot of us. Writers who also are teachers or librarians. Illustrators who do promotional design. Retired librarians who work as consultants.

Today we welcome indie bookseller and author-illustrator Annette Simon, who has boldly decided to split herself into three people (the third of whom is a special guest reporter at Cynsations) and interview herself. Or herselves? Read on to di...