Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith is Now Available in Poland

I'm pleased to announce that Eternal is now available in Poland.

Spooky News

On Learning How to Write by Lisa Schroeder from Crowe's Nest. Peek: "I've been writing seriously for almost ten years, and during that time, I've often wished I could pursue a formal education in creative writing. But it's not something I've been able to do for a lot of different reasons. So, I've had to learn the old fashioned way." Read a Cynsations interview with Lisa.

Five Rules for Writing YA by Regina Brooks of Serendipity Literary from Chuck Sambuchino from Guide to Literary Agent's Editor's Blog. Peek: "The YA field welcomes innovators. What will your contribution be? Think fresh."

Scholastic Editor Nick Eliopulos: An Exclusive SCBWI Team Blog Pre-Conference Interview by Lee Wind from I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? Peek: "You can tell a lot in 30 pages. If there’s a quality in the writing that makes me want to engage—even if the writing isn’t quite where it needs to be, but I can envision helping you get it there—then I keep reading."

Cynsational Blogger/Vlogger Tip: If you would like to tape or report on a speech in a way that goes beyond fair use, ask permission first, preferably in advance.

Serious about Series by Rose Cooper from From The Mixed-up Files of Middle Grade Authors. Peek: "So, what makes readers love a book so much they want to read the entire series?"

ReaderKidZ: One Child, One Book, One Page at a Time: a new resource site from Debbie Gonzales, Dianne White, Nancy Bo Flood, Stephanie Greene. Peek: "We’ve come together to establish a resource for teachers, parents and librarians who work with readers in grades K-5. On a regularly-updated basis, ReaderkidZ will provide new and exciting downloadable tools we hope you’ll use in promoting books to these up-and-coming readers." Don't miss Author-in-Residence, Beyond Borders, Book Room, and Tool Box.

The Season of Windblown Hair — Or, the Zeitgeist of Book Covers by Elizabeth Bluemle from PW: SHelf Talker. Peek: "It’s probably just something in the zeitgeist that brings a whole season of, say, close-ups of hands or stripey socks and tennis shoes or flowers illuminated as if shot on a lightbox. Or close-ups of girls’ faces, or face parts, or the backs of teenagers’ heads, or blue-jeaned hips. Or, for that matter, entire herds of dustcovers with photos of dramatically lit girls framed by dark foliage or fabric." Read a guest post Promotional Bookmarks and Postcards by Elizabeth.

Don't Toss Your Days to the Wind by Janice Shefelman from Inside Shefelman Books. Peek: "Once, in Venice, I lost my journal, the nightmare of any writer. I left it on a table in a restaurant where Tom and I had lunch. When we returned it was gone. Why would anyone steal a journal?" Read a Cynthia guest post on Researching Anna Maria's Gift (Random House, 2010) by Janice.

On Creating Character Through Memory by Cheryl Renee Herbsman. Peek: "It's almost impossible to think of the place or its objects without thinking also of how and when they were used or special memories you associate with them. So when you build a home for your characters, the same must be true." Read a Cynsations interview with Cheryl.

Support a Kidlitosphere Blogger's Race for the Cure: "On Oct. 6, 2009, Andrea Ross of JustOneMoreBook.com was diagnosed with breast cancer. On Oct. 3, 2010, she will run for the cure. If you'd like to support her efforts to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, please click here to sponsor Andrea, and spread the word about this event!"

Pie-of-the-Month Club: Kimberley Griffiths Little by Heather Vogel Frederick from Set Sail for Adventure. Peek: "It took a period of about six years from the time I wrote the first draft until it sold – even though I had many editors tasting and re-tasting and telling me how close it was! Just a little more plot, another pinch of character, a few more pecans—I mean scenes." Note: includes recipe for Melt-In-Your-Mouth Apple Pie. Read a Cynsations interview with Kimberley.

Beats by Jennifer Hubbard from writerjenn. Peek: "Here are three of the ways in which I deliberately manipulate prose rhythm (though not always consciously--I usually find myself fixing the rhythm of a sentence "by ear")."

A Writer's Guide to Leaving an Agent by Georgia McBride from Shelli at Market My Words. Peek: "...if your agent is unresponsive, shows a complete lack of regard for or interest in your work, you should consider looking for alternate representation. Another indication is an agent who is condescending or disrespectful to you or writers in general. But don’t lose your cool."

Pippin Properties has renovated and relaunched its website. See also the new agency blog, The Pippin Insider.

Book Giveaway and Guest Teaching Author Interview with Karen Romano Young by Carmela Martino from Teaching Authors. Peek: "We all think we’re alone as writers, and we’re all afraid of failure. One solution is to recognize that your work is going to come out differently; another is to accept that you’ll go through a process as a writer in which you continually evaluate your work, finding the strengths and weaknesses and, draft by draft, working to improve them." Don't miss the Doodlebug video tutorial (at the link) or the giveaway of Doodlebug: A Novel in Doodles (Feiwel & Friends, 2010). Deadline: 11 p.m.CST Aug. 4.

Cynsational Screening Room

Check out the book trailer for Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski (Delacorte, 2010). Read a Cynsations guest post by Sarah about her twitter promotion for the novel.



A Video Interview with Author Lisa McMann from Ed Spicer at Spicy Reads. Read an interview with Lisa.



More Personally

Top Ten Books Recommended for Elementary School, Top Ten Books Recommended for Middle School, and Top Ten Books Recommended for High School by Debbie Reese from American Indians in Children's Literature. Peek: "...stories Native writers create about Native people and places. The books I list here include fiction, historical fiction, traditional story, and poetry." Note: I'm honored to see three of my books, Jingle Dancer, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu (Morrow/HarperCollins, 2000), Indian Shoes, illustrated by Jim Madsen (HarperCollins, 2002), and Rain Is Not My Indian Name on the lists. See my teacher guides.

Eternal (Candlewick, 2009, 2010) made the Literature category of the Our Angels are Different page on Television Tropes & Idioms. Note: It's a pop-culture coup!

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith: a review by Karin from Edifying and Edgy. Peek: "The relationship between Quincie and Kieren is touching and so deep that..."

For those who missed them, here are my two recent guest posts on other blogs in the kidlitsophere:

Guest Dispatches: Cynthia Leitich Smith/Austin, Texas: my musings on my city and how it inspires my writing from Janni Lee Simner at Desert Dispatches. Peek: "Austin is the kind of place that’s almost impossible to leave—a capital city, a college town, high tech, overeducated, joyfully diverse. Crunchy, funky, corporate and entrepreneurial. Hippy, urban cowboy and urban cool."

Writers Against Racism: Cynthia Leitich Smith: my musings on the impact that racism had on me as a young person, how it's affected my professional writing, and the ways literature can combat the effects of racism and promote tolerance from Amy Bowllan at Bowllan's Blog via School Library Journal. Peek: "Speculative fiction has long illuminated real-world societal dynamics. For some kids, it’s in this fantastical context that the pain of injustice and importance of cross-cultural respect will finally click."

Cynsational Giveaway

Enter to win How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart (Delacorte, 2010). Just email me (scroll and click envelope) with your name and snail/street mail address and type "How to Survive Middle School" in the subject line.

Facebook, JacketFlap, MySpace, and Twitter readers are welcome to just privately message me with the title in the header or comment on this round-up; I'll write you for contact information, if you win.

Deadline: midnight CST July 31. Note: U.S. entries only.

Cynsational Events

The Austin SCBWI Diversity in Kid Lit Panel Discussion will feature author-illustrator Don Tate, illustrator Mike Benny, author Varian Johnson, author Lila Guzman, author/librarian Jeanette Larson and take place at 11 a.m. Aug. 14 at at BookPeople in Austin.

Author Pamela Ellen Ferguson will be presenting and signing Sunshine Picklelime, illustrated by Christian Slade (Random House, 2010) at 2 p.m. Aug. 15 at BookPeople in Austin.

The launch party for Brains for Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku?! by K.A. Holt, illustrated by Gahan Wilson (Roaring Brook, Aug. 2010) will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 12 at BookPeople in Austin.

Southwest Texas SCBWI Fall Editor Day will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 18 at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Featured speakers are Sarah Shumway, HarperCollins editor; Julie Ham, Charlesbridge associate editor, and Carmen Tafolla, award-winning author. See more information.

Guest Post: L.D. Harkrader on The Thin Line Between Reality and Fantasy

By L.D. Harkrader

Over the past thirteen years, I’ve published eighteen books—some fiction, some nonfiction, three ghostwritten, and one picture book. But my latest book, Nocture (Mirrorstone, 2010), is a first for me.

Nocture is a young adult novel, which is new territory for a writer who’s been solidly entrenched in middle grade for most of her writing career. (In school visits, I tell kids that although I look like a forty-something year old woman on the outside, on the inside, I’m still twelve years old—and sometimes I’m a twelve-year-old boy. They think I’m joking. I’m not.)

It’s also the first time I’ve intentionally written a fantasy. Nocture is the story of Flanders Lane, a fifteen-year-old foundling who must use her long-hidden magical gifts to save her uncle and her Wicker Street neighbors when a vampire bent on revenge threatens the city. It’s set in an unnamed fantasy time period and place in the past, which may resemble 19th century London. And it was that very setting which helped me anchor the fantasy elements of the novel into believability.

My middle-grade novel Airball: My Life In Briefs (Roaring Brook, 2005, 2003) began life as a fractured fairy tale—“The Emperor’s New Clothes” retold with a modern middle-school basketball team. It was intended to be a funny realistic story, but because of the fairy tale underpinning, early drafts occasionally tread too close to fantasy to be believable.

I spent so much time hauling Airball back from the fantasy edge that when I began writing Nocturne, I found it hard to infuse the story with those very fantasy elements it needed. My main character, Flan, was born with amazing wizardly powers, but when it came time for her to cast a spell, I pulled back from the magic, afraid it wouldn’t be believable. When she encounters a woman in a decaying alleyway, I found myself reluctant to describe the woman as the creature she truly was—a troll. Again, I was afraid I was going over the top, afraid the troll wasn’t believable.

Ironically, although the problems I had with Airball (reining in the fantasy elements) and Nocturne (allowing the fantasy elements to soar) seemed polar opposites, the solution was the same: setting.

Setting isn’t just the buildings and streets and rivers and hills characters navigate during the course of a story. It’s also the way those physical features affect the characters, the history and circumstances of a place that shape the attitudes and behavior of the people who live there. To make my stories believable, I needed to create specific settings in which these particular stories could take place.

In the case of Airball, I needed to create a small town so firmly rooted in its basketball tradition that basketball players would do anything—including play ball in their underwear—to win.

For Nocture, I needed to create a neighborhood so plagued by past tragedies that the townspeople hunkered down, afraid and suspicious of anything new or different. I set the tone by cloaking the town in fog and shadows. I used specific language—carriage wheels clattering along cobblestones, time-worn dust wafting from the pages of ancient spell books, steam swirling above a teacup—to set the place firmly and realistically in my (and, I hoped, the reader’s) head. Once setting was solidly in place, I could build my story world on its steady foundation.

It’s the same writing advice I give kids during school visits: Make the real parts as concrete and true as you can so that the parts you make up will seem completely believable.

Guest Posts at Desert Dispatches and Bowllan's Blog

Check out my recent musings at two terrific blogs in the kidlitosphere:

Guest Dispatches: Cynthia Leitich Smith/Austin, Texas, hosted by Janni Lee Simner from Desert Dispatches. Peek: "Austin is the kind of place that’s almost impossible to leave—a capital city, a college town, high tech, overeducated, joyfully diverse. Crunchy, funky, corporate and entrepreneurial. Hippy, urban cowboy and urban cool. A 24-7 celebration of the arts."

Writers Against Racism: Cynthia Leitich Smith, hosted by Amy Bowllan at Bowllan's Blog from School Library Journal. Peek: "Speculative fiction has long illuminated real-world societal dynamics. For some kids, it’s in this fantastical context that the pain of injustice and importance of cross-cultural respect will finally click."

Howdy to Natrona County Public Library (Casper, WY) Book Club

Howdy to librarian Jennifer Beckstead and the YA readers at Natrona County Public Library (Casper, Wyoming) Book Club!

Thank you for reading Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007, 2008). I hope you enjoy Quincie's story.

Blessed, which will come out next February, picks up at the scene where Tantalize leaves out, and the story incorporates characters from Eternal (Candlewick, 2009, 2010).

On Monday, I emailed my editor final tweaks on what's called "the pass pages." They're formatted like they will be for the final book, but there's still time to make some tweaks.

Tantalize: Kieren's Story, a graphic novel, is also in the works. It's being illustrated by Ming Doyle, and the sketches are amazing. The GN comes at the story from the point of view of Kieren Morales and includes many new scenes. Yesterday, I sent the copy-edited version of the manuscript back to Candlewick.

As for my own reading, I just finished Say the Word by Jeannine Garsee (Bloomsbury, 2009) and am about to start The Agency 2: The Body in the Tower by Y.S. Lee (Candlewick, 2010)--a sequel to The Agency 1: A Spy in the House.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Cheers,
Cynthia Leitich Smith

p.s. If you like spooky books, check out Gothic Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal Romance, and Urban Fantasy for Tweens and Teens.

Top Twenty Restaurants in Austin

Sanguini's: A Very Rare Restaurant is a fictional vampire theme restaurant on South Congress featured in Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007, 2008) and the upcoming Blessed (Candlewick, Feb. 2011). But what are my favorite Austin eateries in the real world?

Clay Pit

The County Line

The Driskill Grill

Eastside Cafe

Frank and Angie's Pizzeria

Green Pastures

Gumbo's

Hyde Park Bar & Grill

Hoover's Cooking

Magnolia Cafe

Mangia Pizza

Maudie's

Moonshine

Musashino Sushi

Suzi's China Grill and Sushi Bar

Threadgill's Home Cooking

Trio at the Four Seasons

Truluck's

Uchi

Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill

Guest Post: Kimberly Pauley on Writing Sequels

By Kimberly Pauley

When I wrote my first book, Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (Maybe) (Mirrorstone, 2008, 2009), I had ideas for what the next two books (should I get to write them, of course) would be like.

But a lot of things changed after my publisher decided to take a chance on me, including the age of the main character, which completely changed my plan for the second book. And, as a first-timer with a smaller publisher, I had no idea whether or not I was going to be actually asked to write a second or third book.

So, I put it all out of my head and tried to be as patient as possible.

Then the fan letters started coming. E-mails and even snail mail from kids across the country who had definite ideas about what a sequel should contain. And many of those ideas weren’t anything I’d remotely been considering. They also had questions about characters that I’d felt I was pretty done with…but they obviously weren’t.

When my publisher asked me to continue the series, I was really starting from scratch. I really just knew that hey, my main character was now a vampire (and not a sparkly one or one that bites the head off of people who annoy her). I started wondering what would come next for her. What would her challenges be?

I went back to all of the emails and letters I’d been sent and made notes. What did people feel were loose ends from the first book that I ought to wrap up? What made sense to incorporate and answer in a sequel?

Ultimately, the sequel was heavily influenced by my readers. It’s a completely different book than what it would have been if I’d written it immediately following Sucks to Be Me (though the first few paragraphs are exactly the same as what I wrote in my original notes).

That said, the book is also probably vastly different from what it would be if I wrote it right now.

That’s the crazy thing about writing; you’re influenced by so many different things, from how you feel that day to things you’ve recently read to…well, everything.

It’s also the nature of a book. A book is never, ever finished. You simply get to a point where you and your editor are reasonably happy with how it is and you go with that. Left to our own devices, a writer would endlessly fiddle with a book, changing little thing after little thing. Or maybe that’s just me.

I’m sure that, if I get to write a third book in the Sucks to Be Me series, it will also be heavily influenced by my readers.

I’ve already heard that they’d really like to know what happens to Cameron, a character introduced in Still Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Smith, Teen Vampire (Mirrorstone, 2010).

Me? Right now I have a vague idea of what will happen to him and to Mina, and I really can’t wait to find out more myself.

Spooky Notes

Check out this Sucks to Be Me book trailer from What Bri Reads: YA Book Reviews:

Lake House Writing Retreat

I joined three fellow Austin writers--Bethany Hegedus, Julie Lake, and Donna Bowman Bratton--last weekend for wonderful writing retreat at Donna's family's lake house in Kingsland, Texas.

It's about an hour and twenty minutes northwest of Austin--a nice, sunny drive.

We settled in Friday night over homemade spaghetti and caught up on each other's news.

Here's the sun room where I spent all day Saturday working on the Eternal graphic novel (Candlewick, forthcoming). I was at the computer early, and we all put in a full day.

It's soothing to be away from the distractions of home--the ringing phone, the pile of laundry, the pressing errands to run. Adios, Internet!

Being at the lake house was extraordinarily productive and yet restful.

I didn't snag a lake-front room, but I did end up in the California King with a private bathroom. And I wouldn't have had it any other way. Lakes are spooky at night. Well, at least if you've just listened to Donna's ghost stories!

Here's Julie on the pier.

Bethany in her bedroom.

and Donna at the dining room table. A warm and gracious hostess, Donna treated us to pancakes, yogurt, blueberries, strawberries, bacon, the ultimate deli sandwich spread....

Spoiled. She absolutely spoiled us.

On Saturday night, we indulged in a well-deserved dinner at the Junction House Restaurant. I had the grilled shrimp and catfish combo.

Some of you may remember the house from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."


Sunday morning, we read in turn from our works in progress.

In the absence of illustrations, I was a bit baffled as to how to do a reading for a graphic novel. Finally, I decided to provide my own drawings for clarity and held up each to correspond with the applicable character dialogue. Pictured above are Zachary, Radford, Harrison, and Freddy from Eternal (Candlewick, 2009, 2010).

No worries, the incredibly talented Ming Doyle is illustrating the actual graphic novel adaptations of the series.

Cynsational Notes

Envious of our writing retreat? You don't have to be!

Donna's family is open to renting out the lake house--which sleeps six-to-eight--on a word-of-mouth basis to members of the children's-YA writing and literature community. Write her directly for more information.

Spooky News

Don't Take Yourself Out of the Game by Diana Peterfreund. Peek: "If you’ve written and polished the book, what a bunch of writers think about its marketability is not important. Submitting it is the only way you can get a real answer." Source: Saundra Mitchell.

How to Write When You’re Scared Spitless by Jean Sarauer from writetodone. Peek: "Fear is a shape shifter. Although it’s easy to spot when it’s smacking us around in a full-frontal assault, sometimes it’s masked in behaviors like mindless eating or dawdling in the face of deadlines. These forms of fear may seem harmless, but they undermine our work and health and need to be seen for what they are." Source: YA Highway.

Interview: Little, Brown Editor Jennifer Hunt by Alice Pope from Alice Pope's SCBWI Market Blog. Peek: "Voice is first and foremost, because I feel it’s the most difficult thing to teach or master. And as an editor, if I feel someone’s able to catch my attention with a great voice, it gives me a great deal of confidence that we can conquer any other problem their manuscript might have."

Promotion by Lucienne Diver from Authorial, agently and personal ramblings. Peek: "Prep your pitch, post cards, press releases or whathaveyou to go out a few months early, about the time when the catalogues with your cover are on people's desks and orders are being placed. Follow up with a similar promotional mailing just as your book comes out." Read a Cynsations interview with Lucienne.

A Writer's Responsibility by Carrie Jones from Through the Tollbooth. Peek: "Kids deserve the best possible stories. That’s a big responsibility." See also A Writer's Responsibility: It's a Book Thing.

On Rejection by Susan Beth Pfeffer from Writer Unboxed. Peek: "I know I’m a different writer today because of those two years of dashed hopes and continuous failures. Maybe not a better writer, but a different one." Source: Elizabeth Scott. See also Thick Skin by Jennifer R. Hubbard from writerjenn.

Why The Next Big Pop-Culture Wave After Cupcakes Might Be Libraries by Linda Holmes from NPR. Peek: "Libraries will give you things for free. Hi, have you noticed how much hardcover books cost? Not a Netflix person? They will hand you things for free. That's not an especially hard concept to sell." Source: Caroline Hickey from The Longstockings.

Do Unpublished Writers Have To Blog? by Mary Kole from Kidlit.com. Peek: "It’s the familiar scenario: You’re an unpublished writer chasing publication. You don’t have a book or a deal to blog about yet, but you’ve heard that writers need platform and Internet presence, and you’ve heard that blogs get you friends and traffic and riches and unicorns, and you’ve also heard about this Twitter thing. Yet it sounds overwhelming." Read a Cynsations interview with Mary.

Taking the "Eek" Out of Critique Groups by Mary Ann Rodman from Greetings from Nowhere: Ramblings About Writing for Children (and Sometimes Some Other Stuff) from Barbara O'Connor. Peek: "A critique group is a small group of writers of the same genre (both of my current groups consist entirely of children's writers.), who meet on a regular basis to read and offer feedback on each others work. Unlike that awful acting class, the criticism is specific and non-judgmental."

YA Speculative Fiction "Boy" Books: a bibliography by Leah Cypress from The Enchanted Inkpot. Note: I recommended Brian Yansky's Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences (Candlewick, Oct 2010).

Top Ten Things I've Learned Since Becoming a Best-selling Author by Ellen Hopkins from Writers Digest. Peek: "...while I always write with my core audience in mind, I will never write in fear of censorship."

Top Ten Myths About Our E-Book Future by Nathan Bransford from Curtis Brown. Peek: "The avalanche is already here. Go to Amazon and you'll find a million books for sale with more uploaded every day, and yet we're all still able to find the books we want to read." Read a Cynsations interview with Nathan.

Cynsational Screening Room

Check out the book trailer for Halo by Alexandra Adornetto (Feiwel and Friends, 2010). Source: The Compulsive Reader.



More Personally

The two documents under the letter from my brilliant Candlewick editor are the pass pages for Blessed and the copy edits for Tantalize: Kieren's Story, the graphic novel being illustrated by the fantabulous Ming Doyle. I'm working on both over the weekend. Look for ARCs and cover art announcements soon!

Surf over to author Donna Gephart's blog, Wild About Words, to read my guest post: Promote Your Book Like a Pro -- Cynthia Leitich Smith -- Top 6 1/2 List. Peek: "Give yourself deadlines, and do what you can before the release date. Put together your readers' guide and media kit. Order bling. Hire a web designer or publicist. Contact bloggers. Plan the launch party. Work now to make it easier on yourself later."

I was honored by last Sunday's mention of my Gothic fantasy series by Sharyn Vane from The Austin American-Statesman. Peek: "We'd be remiss to write from Austin about vampire lit and not mention our own home-grown supernatural star, Cynthia Leitich Smith." As a journalist and proud Austinite, it's terrific to feel a little love from the hometown paper.

Thanks to Book Club at facebook for reading Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007, 2008). Read a Cynsations interview with Cristina Brandao on Book Club.

Highlight of the week included a review of the U.K. edition of Eternal (Walker Books) by Lauren Strachan of Craigmount High. Lauren writes, "The book jumped straight into the action and was immediately really good. ...I'd recommend it to all of my friends."


Please note that I'm not available to read works in progress. If you're looking for a professional writing coach or book doctor, visit Perspiration: Professional Critiques.

Cynsational Events

The launch party for Brains for Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku?! by K.A. Holt, illustrated by Gahan Wilson (Roaring Brook, Aug. 2010) will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 12 at BookPeople in Austin.

Southwest Texas SCBWI Fall Editor Day will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 18 at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Featured speakers are Sarah Shumway, HarperCollins editor; Julie Ham, Charlesbridge associate editor, and Carmen Tafolla, award-winning author. See more information.

New Voice: Shannon Delany on 13 to Life

Shannon Delany is the first-time author of 13 to Life (St. Martin's, 2010). From the promotional copy:

Something strange is stalking the small town of Junction…

When junior Jess Gillmansen gets called out of class by Guidance, she can only presume it’s for one of two reasons. Either they’ve finally figured out who wrote the scathing anti-jock editorial in the school newspaper, or they’re hosting yet another intervention for her about her mom.

She’s relieved to discover Guidance just wants her to show a new student around—but he comes with issues of his own, including a police escort.

The newest member of Junction High, Pietr Rusakova has secrets to hide--secrets that will bring big trouble to the small town of Junction—secrets including dramatic changes he’s undergoing that will surely end his life early.

What is it like, to be a debut author in 2010? What do you love about it? What are the challenges? What came as the biggest surprise? In each case, why?

Being a debut author in 2010 is frightening most days, overwhelming others. But I love that I’m so awake and aware. But being at this point at this moment in history is a challenge.

Starting as a cell-phone novelist, I’m keenly aware of the way technology is changing the publishing industry and communication overall. I feel an intense need to be a part of all of that—to be involved and on the edge of all the changes, but being in the thick of the social media revolution and being an author is a balancing act.

How “present” and “public” should an author really be? How much do we market ourselves versus our books? As necessary as a website and a blog seems to be now, and as great as it is to chat with readers and librarians through Facebook "like" pages and Twitter, I think being too available—too present—is a risk, too. There’s something to be said for the allure of mystery. Perhaps being too accessible will make writers who are savvy in social media seem less valuable.

The biggest surprise has been that there are so many debut authors going through almost the same exact things I’m dealing with. With all the connectivity, no one’s ever really alone on the publishing journey.

As a paranormal writer, how did you go about building your world?

I decided the best way to build Junction and Farthington—the two main towns making up 13 to Life’s world—was by seeing them through my narrator’s eyes.

My narrator, Jessie, has grown up in Junction. She’s lived a rather unremarkable life (at least in her opinion) until her mother dies. And like most people, Jessie views her world with her particular vision while carrying her particular baggage.

Her world doesn’t show her anything paranormal until the first night in the story, in part because she’s never thought her world might include the paranormal. It’s startling when she realizes there’s something odd going on in her town, and she does what many of us would do initially: she dismisses it. As Jessie’s eyes gradually open, so do readers’ eyes.

As I wrote the first novel, the world around Jessie broadened and deepened. Jessie gets an even better sense of just how weird the world is in the second book (coming January 2011).

Cynsational Notes

From the author's website: In 2008, Shannon's greatly abbreviated version of 13 to Life (written in just five weeks) won the grand prize in the first-ever cell phone novel contest in the western world through Textnovel.com. Then St. Martin’s Press offered her a contract for a series the characters. Shannon expanded on the cell phone novel version, adding the subplots and characters.

Previously a teacher and now a farmer raising heritage livestock, Shannon lives and writes in Upstate New York.

New Voice: Marianne Malone on The Sixty-Eight Rooms

Marianne Malone is the first-time author of The Sixty-Eight Rooms (Random House, 2010). From the promotional copy:

Almost everybody who has grown up in Chicago knows about the Thorne Rooms.

Housed deep within the Art Institute of Chicago, they are a collection of sixty-eight exquisite – almost eerily realistic miniature rooms. Each of the rooms is designed in the style of a different time and place, and every detail is perfect, from the knobs on the doors to the candles in the candlesticks.

Some might even say the rooms are magical.

Imagine... What if, on a field trip, you discovered a key that allowed you to shrink so that you were small enough to sneak inside and explore the rooms’ secrets? What if you discovered that others had done so before you? And that someone had left something important behind?

Ruthie Stewart and Jack Tucker are best friends in sixth grade. Ruthie has the feeling that nothing exciting ever happens in her life, while Jack experiences every day as an adventure.

The Sixty-Eight Rooms is the story of an adventure they have together. It starts with a field trip and ends with…well, Ruthie will never say “nothing exciting ever happens” again!

If you love fantasy and adventure and magic, with a little mystery-solving thrown in, The Sixty-Eight Rooms will be a book you can’t put down.

What is it like to be a debut author in 2010? What do you love about it? What are the challenges? What came as the biggest surprise? In each case, why?

I agree with people who say we are at a sea-change moment in the world; I don't know where we are in the process, and maybe its my age, but it appears the world of my childhood is fading.

Here I sit at my computer, (really, so small!) with constant notifications coming in from gmail, facebook, news sources. I can Skype anywhere in the world. My cell phone can ring, vibrate, bring me a text or an image. This is 2010, and it has arrived with dizzying speed. My book is about none of it, although my characters use cell phones and computers.

Of course, all of these technologies have affected how a book gets published, launched and publicized; this very blog a case in point.

When I sat down to write this - my first - book, I considered nothing about what would happen to it after I wrote it. Perhaps I was naive, or blissfully ignorant. I was teaching art at the time (in a wonderful school for girls), and I simply hoped that some of my students would like the book, maybe it could be published, and some other kids would like it as well. I thought a lot about what sort of books I loved as a child and what books my own three children were attached to.

It didn't occur to me that a whole army of adults, professionals in the field, would have to join in and support my book, that the book would be posted on blogs and websites and links could be sent in a millisecond. I think not knowing all this was liberating. And I think what came as the biggest surprise was discovering just how big a production it is to get a book out there.

Writing the sequel has presented a different set of challenges because now I am older and wiser. But fortunately, my wonderful editor, Shana Corey, and everyone I've worked with at Random House have been great guides for me. It also feels as though the main characters in the story are also there with me, so I am not alone.

I suppose what I love most about publishing at this moment has something to do with the kind of book I am publishing. One might call it "old-fashioned." But after teaching for over a decade (in grades fifth through eighth), I discovered that even as times change (and texting and facebook entered the classroom!) kids don't really change. At least the younger ones.

The books that I loved, growing up in the sixties, are still beloved. The classics work. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (HarperCollins, 1952) and From The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (Atheneum, 1968) remain popular.

As a teacher, a parent, and now a writer, I enjoy the responsibility we have to children, to offer stories that engage their imaginations, to offer characters they can relate to. It's that generative process of passing something good on to our children. So even as the world changes so fast we could lose our balance, we don't let them fall.

Oh, and I'm surprised that there is a Kindle version of my book - they didn't even exist when I started writing!

As a contemporary fiction writer, how did you find the voice of your first person protagonist? Did you do character exercises? Did you make an effort to listen to how young people talk? Did you simple free your inner kid or adolescent? And if it seemed to come by magic how would you suggest others tap into that power in their own writing?

Yes, it certainly seems like magic, the creative process! Even though I've written a story with two main characters, Ruthie and Jack, who are best friends, the story is told from Ruthie's point of view.

I think, ultimately, that Ruthie is some version of me in sixth grade. She yearns to live in a more interesting apartment, without having to share a room with her sister.

The theme of place resonates with many people, and I discovered this to hold true even among my young students. They would decorate their "cubbies" (instead of lockers) as small interiors, or themed spaces. It was delightful.

When describing Ruthie's frame of mind throughout the story, I knew young readers would relate.

I can't say I did character exercises or anything so systematic. However, I have a daughter who has done quite a bit of improv acting who has explained the process to me; I think my writing process has a lot in common with that.

Basically, you find yourself in a situation, you accept the premise, and then you must respond in character. In order to do that one must, of course, be able to empathize - get out of oneself to portray other characters and let their personalities exist.

The language that my characters use - I hope - will be familiar to readers. Having taught for over a decade means I can hear how kids speak; it is certainly not a foreign language to me.

To some extent, I do tap into my inner sixth grader when I'm writing. But the individual personality of all the characters in the book has to shine through, so I have to tap into them as well!

It all comes from your own head, in the end, so the mystery of how one's subconscious organizes the conscious self is the key.

In fact, the entire story appeared in my head after taking a nap. I can't say I dreamed it exactly, but the characters and the main arch of the story simply arrived, like a package on the doorstep!

When I was an art teacher, I used to divide the course into two parts: skill acquisition and creativity building. The latter was the trickier, even though the students believed that was the fun part. I used to give them materials - often found objects that were not traditional art materials - and have them make anything. The only requirement was that it not look like the object they started with.

The idea of making something out of nothing is so useful (and I will get on my soapbox about arts education now); creativity is problem solving in its most basic form. Without it, we don't go to the moon, invent antibiotics, and write books!

Everyone must find their own way into the creative process. I've heard of writers who set an alarm for 3 a.m., wake up, write for a few hours, then go back to bed. Some can only write in the evening, others can only work in total silence, etc.

I realized late in life that I have stories and characters floating around in my head all the time.

Sadly, something about the education I had made me not like writing until well after leaving formal schooling. Only then did the activity of writing became pleasurable to me. The freedom to put into words a world that is of my own making, filled with characters I have created, brings immense satisfaction.

On a practical note, I never finish a writing session without making notes about how the next session will start. I don't necessarily follow the notes precisely, but for me, it alleviates the fear of writers block; I've left myself a little gift for the next day.

Cynsational Notes

Book trailer by Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana):

Fire by Kristin Cashore Named Winner of the Inaugural Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction

The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has announced the winner of the inaugural Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction.

Established in 2008 to honor the wishes of young adult author Amelia Elizabeth Walden, the award allows for the sum of $5,000 to be presented annually to the author of a young adult title selected by the ALAN Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Committee as demonstrating a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit.

The winner of the 2010 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award is:

Fire by Kristin Cashore (Dial).


The 2010 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award finalists include:

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey (Simon & Schuster);

The other finalists were Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork (Arthur A. Levine); North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley (Little, Brown); and The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill S. Alexander (Feiwel and Friends).

All Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award titles will be identified by an award sticker—gold for the winner and silver for the four finalists. This year’s winning title and finalists will be honored at an open reception on Nov. 22, immediately following the 2010 ALAN Workshop in Orlando.

For more information on the award, please visit ALAN Online: The Official Site of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents.

Spooky News

You Can't Kill the Undead: Or, Paranormal Romance Isn't Going Anywhere by Kiersten White from Kiersten Writes. Peek: "This agony, this feeling that truly connecting with your crush was impossible, stemmed from the idolization of the Other. That person was so foreign, such a mystery, it made you want them even more and terrified you that it was impossible to ever get them." See also Jennifer R. Hubbard on Romance with Friction from AuthorsNow!

Business vs. Art by Mary Kole from Kidlit.com. Peek: "As much as writers and agents and editors want it to be all about the art, they need to make money for themselves, for their agency, for their house. As much as people like paying their rent and putting their kids through school, they also want to create something meaningful and fulfilling…." Read a Cynsations interview with Mary.

20 Tips for Attending SCBWI Conferences by Linda Joy Singleton from The Spectacle. Peek: "After receiving a business card or bookmark, make a note on it to remind you about the person you just met. When I get home after a conference and have a bunch of cards, it’s easier to remember clearer with helpful notes to remind me of new friends." Read a Cynsations interview with Linda.

Seven Power Twitter Tips and Why I Like Them by Michael from IHEARTEdTech. Peek: "Retweet the good stuff from others. Sharing is caring. Somewhat related to the above, you’ll find that retweeting helps you build relationships with those you retweet."

10 Things My Creative Writing MFA Taught Me Not to Do by Kate Monahan from Writer's Digest. Peek: [Don't] "Assume you have to save every piece of work. Some stories are worth letting go. Some stories are 'practice' stories, building blocks. They help us grow as writers." Source: April Henry.

Read-a-Likes: Zombies: a reading round up by Karin from Karin's Book Nook. Note: look for Brains for Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku?! by K.A. Holt, illustrated by Gahan Wilson (Roaring Brook, Aug. 17, 2010).

Life Gets in the Way by Ann Aguirre from Writer Unboxed: About the Craft and Business of Genre Fiction. Peek: "Without fresh experiences, your work withers and becomes frail." Source: Elizabeth Scott.

Cynsational Author Tip: you do not own the copyright to reviews of your book and should not publish them without permission. Keep any quotes short, attribute, and if online, it's gracious to include a link to the review source.

Jane Fitch's 10 Rules for Writers from the Los Angeles Times. Peek: "Try to become stretchy–if you generally write 8 words, throw a 20 word sentence in there, and a few three-word shorties. If you’re generally a 20 word writer, make sure you throw in some threes, fivers and sevens, just to keep the reader from going crosseyed." Source: Lisa Schroeder.

Marriage for Writers by Peni R. Griffin from Idea Garage Sale. Peek: "For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer - who you marry will affect what you write, when you write, how you write. I recommend that every writer who is contemplating marriage read a few biographies with that in mind, and consider how this person fits in with your writing life." Read a Cynsations interview with Peni.

Cover Stories: The Blood Coven Series by Mari Mancusi from Melissa Walker. Peek: "They even changed the original jokey back cover copy to something darker and more mysterious to emphasize the angsty romance in the books, rather than the humor." See Mari on "Kids Don't Read Like They Used To...And That's a Good Thing."

What are Your Favorite Blogs? by Alice Pope from SCBWI Children's Market Blog. Peek: "There are just so many good industry blogs to choose from, and the task of creating the lists is a tad on the tedious side. It's kind of like cleaning out my closet. It's not awesome while I'm doing it, but I'm always very happy with the results when it's finished."

An Interview with Literary Agent Lauren MacLeod by Jeff Rivera from GalleyCat. Peek: "In addition to a great voice, I'm always looking for funny books in any of the YA or MG sub-genres. Funny is very hard to pull off, but it is a real sweet spot for me. I'd also love to see more YA or MG horror in my slush pile."

Tweet Roundup by Alice Pope from Alice's SCBWI Children's Market Blog. Peek: "Today's tweet soup: a stock of tips and advice, heaping spoonfuls of craft and vampire, a dash of this, a dash of that, topped off with a couple crispy conference croutons."

A Novelist's Storyboard by Tami Lewis Brown from Through the Tollbooth. Peek: "There's a block for an image, and underneath, lines for text. So how do you fill it in--- what goes in those blocks? I have some recommendations, but ultimately it's up to you."

In the Harry Potter Era, An American Fantasy by Rebecca Serle from The Huffington Post. Peek: "Both The Underneath (2008) and Keeper (2010) [by Kathi Appelt (both Atheneum)] are fantasies but they are also deeply rooted in America. Just when we think we're in some faraway land you remind us--nope, still Texas!"

Eight Ways to Enrich Your Character by Darcy Pattison from Fiction Notes. Peek: "What would your character never say or do? Of course, they must say or do this very thing. And do it with memorable lines. One of my characters knows his place in his world and it’s a humble place. So, when he says he’d be Emperor some day, it enlarges his characterization."

Cynsational Screening Room

Tenner Debuts for July to December:

Tenner Trailer Group 3 from tye murphy on Vimeo.

Check out the book trailer for Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus (Egmont, 2010), and see an interview with Anastasia from Denise Jaden.



More Personally

Much of this week was spent working on the Eternal graphic novel in the dining room. The gray-and-white blanket on the chair beside mine was knitted by one of my very favorite people, Rita Williams-Garcia. I'd resolved to keep the cats off of it. I did. However, Mercury has his own opinion on the matter. In fairness, he has been quite respectful. I've never seen him demonstrate such a love of natural fibers.

Thanks to editor Alvina Ling and co-anthologists Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci for organizing Monday night's twitter chat in honor of the paperback release of Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd (Little, Brown, 2010). Thanks also to everyone who tweeted by!

Spooky Events

The launch party for Brains for Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku?! by K.A. Holt, illustrated by Gahan Wilson (Roaring Brook, Aug. 2010) will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 12 at BookPeople in Austin.

Southwest Texas SCBWI Fall Editor Day will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 18 at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Featured speakers are Sarah Shumway, HarperCollins editor; Julie Ham, Charlesbridge associate editor, and Carmen Tafolla, award-winning author. See more information.