Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 65
March 25, 2018
Guest Interview: Dana Carey & SCBWI Bologna Illustration Gallery Judges
By Dana Careyfor SCBWI Bologna 2018 and Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
Note: This interview is the second in a series focusing on the Bologna Children's Book Fair.
SCBWI International Illustrator Coordinator Dana Carey talks with those who judged the Bologna Illustration Gallery.
What was the first thing you looked for while judging the illustrations for the shortlist?
Cecilia Yung: For the earlier editing process, it is a more left-brain objective analytical process. F...
March 24, 2018
Guest Interview: Dina von Lowenkraft & SCBWI Bologna Illustration Gallery Winners 2018
By Dina von Lowenkraftfor SCBWI Bologna 2018 and Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
Note: This is the first in a series of interviews focusing on the Bologna Children's Book Fair.
SCBWI Belgium + Luxembourg Regional Advisor Dina von Lowenkraft talks with the winners of the Bologna Showcase: Alexander Rowe, Felia Hanakata and Toshiki Nakamura.
Welcome, Alex, Felia and Toshi! Thank you for joining me for this discussion about your award-winning work in SC...
March 23, 2018
Cynsational News
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Robin Galbraith,Gayleen Rabukukk & Kate Pentecost for Cynsations
Author/Illustrator Insights
In Mystery, Austin Author Exposes Racism Felt By Generations of Family by Sharyn Vane from My Statesman. Peek:
“[The Parker] Inheritance infuses its Westing Game-inspired mystery with explorations of identity and perception, particularly race...
"‘While there are certainly many problems in America concerning race, I think there is also a da...
March 22, 2018
New Voice: Monica Clark-Robinson on Let the Children March
By Traci Sorellfor Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
I couldn't play on the same playground as the white kids.
I couldn't go to their schools.
I couldn't drink from their water fountains.
There were so many things I couldn't do.
Let the Children March (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018) follows a fictional African-American girl and her family through the very real events of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade in May 1963.
This beautiful picture book, illustrate...
March 21, 2018
Author Interview: Samantha Mabry on Being Unique & All the Wind in the World
By Gayleen Rabakukkfor Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
Samantha Mabry is the author of All the Wind in the World (Algonguin Young Readers, 2017). It was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. From the promotional copy:
Sarah Jac Crow and James Holt have fallen in love working in the endless fields that span a near-future, bone-dry Southwest, a land that’s a little bit magical, deeply dangerous, and bursting with secrets.
To protect themselves, they’ve lear...
March 20, 2018
Survivors: Arthur Slade on Thriving as a Long-Time, Actively Publishing Children's-YA Author
Learn more about Arthur Slade (here at a comic con).By Cynthia Leitich Smithfor Cynsations
In children's-YA writing, maintaining an active publishing career is arguably an even bigger challenge than breaking into the field.
Reflecting on your personal journey (creatively, career-wise, and your writer's heart), what bumps did you encounter and how have you managed to defy the odds to achieve continued success?
It's curious. I always envisioned the writer's life as reaching a series of plateaus:...
March 19, 2018
Guest Post: Kim Purcell on The Alternate Epistolary Novel
By Kim Purcell
from Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
There are so many types of epistolary novels, and I love the ones that play with the form. In my second novel, I tried to shift the traditional epistolary novel format.
In This Is Not A Love Letter (Hyperion, 2018), Jessie writes her missing boyfriend an account of what they’re doing to find him, entirely in her head. The reason I chose to do it this way is rooted in what happened to me when my friend went missing in high school.
My friend...
March 17, 2018
Cover Reveal & Author Snapshot: Journey of the Pale Bear by Susan Fletcher
By Cynthia Leitich Smith for CynsationsCheck out the cover of Journey of the Pale Bear by Susan Fletcher (McElderry, Oct. 2018). From the promotional copy:
A runaway boy befriends a polar bear that’s being transported from Norway to London in this lyrical and timeless adventure story about freedom, captivity, and finding a family.
The polar bear is a royal bear, a gift from the King of Norway to the King of England. The first time Arthur encounters the bear, he is shoved in her cage as pa...
March 16, 2018
Cynsational News
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Robin Galbraith,Gayleen Rabukukk & Kate Pentecost for Cynsations
Author/Illustrator Insights
An Na, Author of The Place Between Breaths, on It Being Okay to Be Slow and Tinker by Jocelyn Rish from Adventures in YA Publishing. Peek:
“I learned that I am slow and I like to tinker and that is okay. So many writers I know produce more quickly, but I learned to be good with the kind of writer that I need to be in order to produce the best st...
March 15, 2018
Guest Post: Ann Jacobus: Critique Group Makes Frances Lee Hall's Publishing Dream Come True
By Ann Jacobus
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
It’s an unusual moment when our writing group is in full agreement. But in this case, we knew we had to bring our friend Frances Lee Hall’s wonderful middle grade story to young readers.
The question was how?
Frances Lee HallWe had all just attended her memorial service. Frances died suddenly on Nov. 26, 2016.
She had also been through hell and high water, as only a writer can, with her middle-grade manuscript, Lily Lo And The Wonton Maker. We...
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
It’s an unusual moment when our writing group is in full agreement. But in this case, we knew we had to bring our friend Frances Lee Hall’s wonderful middle grade story to young readers.
The question was how?
Frances Lee HallWe had all just attended her memorial service. Frances died suddenly on Nov. 26, 2016.She had also been through hell and high water, as only a writer can, with her middle-grade manuscript, Lily Lo And The Wonton Maker. We...
