Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 55
October 15, 2018
Guest Post: Carmen Oliver: Cover Reveal & How to Create An Author Program That Schools Will Want
Carmen signing her first book contractBy Carmen Oliverfor Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
You’ve inked your first book sale. Congratulations!
Now, you’re busy getting ready for your big launch date, and you’re beginning to think about doing school visits.
But before you can connect with your student audience, you first have to create a presentation.
If you’re like most authors, this is where you begin to listen to your IE (internal editor), who is nattering incessantly in your ear.
You have not...
October 12, 2018
Cynsational News
By Cynthia Leitich Smith,Robin Galbraith, Gayleen Rabukukk, and Stephani Eaton
for Cynsations
Author/Illustrator Insights
Q & A with Kekla Magoon by Sally Lodge from Publishers Weekly. Peek:
"...the cohesive narrative of my work... being an ordinary kid who can make a difference. If you recognize the power of your own voice and your good qualities, you will be able to discover and stand up for what you believe in."Author Chat with Susan Fletcher (Journey of the Pale Bear),...
October 11, 2018
Hearts Unbroken: Writing Teen Love, Romance, Passion!
Inspirational HS relationship.By Cynthia Leitich Smithfor Cynsations
The fourth in a series of four posts celebrating the Oct. 9 release of my realistic contemporary YA novel, Hearts Unbroken (Candlewick). Spoiler alert.
Let’s talk about teen love, romance, passion!
Which of course means talking about awkwardness, three-dimensionality, and emotional resonance.
My new YA novel, Hearts Unbroken (Candlewick, 2018), is partly a love story about two characters, Louise Wolfe and Joey Kairou...
October 10, 2018
Hearts Unbroken: Writing Well-Rounded Secondary Characters
Writing is rewriting.By Cynthia Leitich Smithfor Cynsations
The third in a series of four posts celebrating the Oct. 9 release of my realistic contemporary YA novel, Hearts Unbroken (Candlewick).
We’re all the heroes of our own stories.
The same is true of our fictional friends and foes.
In responding to my new YA novel, Hearts Unbroken, an early manuscript reader mentioned that all the significant characters—except Karishma—had their own story arc.
Not that they all had fully flushed-out storie...
October 9, 2018
Hearts Unbroken: Writing (Sort Of) Timeless Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Learn more about Cynthia Leitich Smith.By Cynthia Leitich Smithfor Cynsations
The second in a series of four posts celebrating the Oct. 9 release of my realistic contemporary YA novel, Hearts Unbroken (Candlewick).
We’re all living in the past, present and future.
Perhaps that’s never so true as on the page.
My 2018 YA novel, Hearts Unbroken, is set about a year after the ending of my 2001 debut tween novel, (HarperCollins). The protagonists, Louise and Rain, are cousi...
October 8, 2018
Hearts Unbroken: Writing Stories "Loosely Inspired By" Your Real Life
On our way out to a high school winter dance.By Cynthia Leitich Smithfor Cynsations
The first in a series of four posts celebrating the Oct. 9 release of my realistic contemporary YA novel, Hearts Unbroken (Candlewick).
My senior year of high school, “Back to the Future” was a hot new release, Duran Duran was ruling the radio waves, and I said the worst possible thing with the best possible intentions to my high school boyfriend. It did not go over well at the time.
Not to fret. We recovered. We...
October 6, 2018
Guest Post: Melanie J. Fishbane on What Maud Taught Me
Melanie at Mabel's Fables in Toronto.By Melanie J. Fishbanefor Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
This month, Maud (Penguin, 2017) is releasing in paperback. And I feel one thing…Gratitude.
In this unstable publishing climate, not all books go to paperback.
It isn’t the natural progression it once was.
My publisher—Penguin Random House of Canada and its imprint, Penguin Teen—continue to support the book with digital ads and worked hard on the paperback edition.
It looks beautiful.
I’m also gra...
October 5, 2018
Cynsational News
By Cynthia Leitich Smith,Robin Galbraith, Gayleen Rabukukk, & Stephani Eaton
for Cynsations
Congratulations to Chris Barton, author of What Do You Do With a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, illustrated by Ekua Holmes (Beach Lane, 2018). From the promotional copy:
Even as a child growing up in the Fifth Ward of Houston, Texas, Barbara Jordan stood out for her big, bold, booming, crisp, clear, confident voice. It was a voice that made peo...
October 4, 2018
Intern Insights: How to Set Up a Halloween Book Project
By Robin Galbraithfor Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
The Problem
Like many writers, I have a lot of books.
One of my favorite social activities is going to a friend's book signing and buying their fabulous book. I also love keeping up with the newly published children's and young adult offerings and buying those amazing books.
This leads to a problem—the danger of being swallowed up by books.
Even if I buy some books in eBook format, I find myself wanting to share my favorite books. If I love...
October 3, 2018
Guest Post: Lee Wind: From Kickstarter to Book - The Wild Roller Coaster of Publishing My Debut YA Novel
Learn more about Lee WindBy Lee Windfor Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
There’s a saying that a work of art isn’t complete until it has been witnessed.
So the book I wrote that would have completely changed my life if I’d read it as a fifteen-year-old wasn’t complete. Not until it had readers.
Over six years, the manuscript for Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill had been written and re-written, eight full revisions in all, with the final polish under the brilliant editorial direction of Nationa...
