Author Interview: Laurie Faria Stolarz on Deadly Little Secret

You last visited Cynsations in December 2007 to discuss the release of Project 17 (Hyperion, 2007). Do you have any more recent news to share on that novel or your other books?

Project 17 will be coming out in paperback in June. For its release, I'll be launching a very exciting contest (more details will be available this spring). Also, I was very happy to hear that Project 17 made the ALA Quick Pick List for 2009.

Congratulations on the success of Deadly Little Secret (Hyperion, 2008)! Could you tell us about the novel?

Up until three months ago, everything about sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at an art studio downtown.

But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, her life becomes far from ordinary.

Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe he's trouble, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. Instead she's inexplicably drawn to him, and to his touch.

But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she' in danger, and that he can help, but she's not so sure she can trust him. She knows he's hiding something, and he's not the only one with a secret.

What was the inspiration for writing it?

I wanted to write a story where the main character has to struggle with the idea of falling in love with someone who could potentially be dangerous. I tinkered with this concept in the first three books of my Blue is for Nightmares Series [(Blue is for Nightmares (Llewellyn, 2003), White is for Magic (Llewellyn, 2004), and Silver is for Secrets (Llewellyn, 2005) as well as in Bleed (Hyperion, 2006)].

In Bleed, in particular, there's a young male character who was convicted for the murder of his girlfriend. His next relationship consists of pen pal letters he exchanges with a young girl while he's in prison. Without giving too much away, the relationship is briefly pursued once he is released, but I wanted to bring this concept to another level.

Additionally, I wanted to continue experimenting with the supernatural (which I also use in my Blue is for Nightmares Series as well as in Project 17), showing how we all have our own inner senses and intuition and how, with work, we can tap into those senses and make them stronger.

I started researching different types of supernatural powers and discovered the power of psychometry (the ability to sense things through touch). The concept fascinated me, and so I wanted to bring it out in a character, showing how sometimes even the most extraordinary powers can also be a curse.

Lastly, I wanted this book to be part of another series because I love the idea of growing a main character over the course of several books. Deadly Little Lies, the second book in the Touch Series, will be released this fall.

What was the timeline between spark and each publication, and what were the major events along the way?

I sold the book based on a detailed synopsis. It came out about a year and a half later. I keep a strict ten-pages-per-week deadline for myself while I'm working on a project. This keeps me right on target, time-wise.

Do you have a vision for your career as an author or take it book-to-book or both? How does that come together in your mind?

I definitely do like to take things book-by-book. I'd like to be able to continue this career for many years to come. I'm having fun with it, I have a generous and devoted fan base, and I'm learning a lot. I'm very lucky and very grateful. For now, that works for me.

Of the ways you reach out to your readers, which do you think are most effective and why?

I'm really enjoying Facebook right now. It's very user-friendly, which is definitely a big plus for me. I like being able to update it so easily, and I've been able to connect with a lot of my readers by using it. I also send out an e-newsletter every couple of months, informing readers about signings, events, new books, and contests.

Do you have a mentor (or did you earlier on)?

Yes, my English professor during my undergraduate time at Merrimack College, Dr. MaryKay Mahoney. I was a business major in college with huge dreams of becoming a writer. It just never occurred to me that I could actually pursue that dream.

I came from a very practical family with not a lot of money, and the idea of becoming a writer was about the equivalent of going to Hollywood and becoming the next Julia Roberts. It just wasn't within the realm of possibility for me.

But MaryKay told me that I owed it to myself to pursue my writing, that I was very talented, and that she knew if I tried I could do it. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. Not so coincidentally, I dedicated Deadly Little Secret to her and to my mother.

Do you work with a critique group, a partner, or exclusively with your editor? Why does that work for you?

For years, I worked in a writers group that I really loved, but then people started doing other things and taking breaks, and so I went back to working on my own.

For Deadly Little Lies, I swapped first draft pages with Stacy DeKeyser, author of Jump the Tracks (Flux, 2008). I really like getting feedback on my work. I think it's important to get that perspective. I get so close to my work and I like having someone there to ask just the right questions along the way.

How has publishing changed since you first entered the field?

It feels as though the young adult market has quadrupled since I first started. It's exciting. There are so many more options for teens to read than when I was a young adult, which makes more opportunities for writers.

I never imagined having the opportunity to write graphic novel, being able to return to my love of screenwriting (I wrote the draft in screenplay format), and having the opportunity to work with an illustrator. But I was able to do just that with Black is for Beginnings, the fifth book in my Blue is for Nightmares Series (Flux, 2009).

If you could go back in time and talk to your beginning-writer self, what would you tell her?

I think she managed pretty well on her own, though I would tell her to have a bit more confidence. Looking back there are indeed some things I would have changed, but I've learned a lot since then, and I think I'm better for the process.

Cynsational Notes

Listen to Laurie read from the first chapter of Deadly Little Secret.

Spooky News & Keturah and Lord Death Giveaway

Enter to win an autographed hardcover of National Book Award Finalist Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt (Front Street, 2006) from Cynsations. From the promotional copy:

"Keturah follows a legendary hart into the king's forest, where she becomes hopelessly lost. Her strength diminishes until, finally, she realizes that death is near. Little does she know that he is a young, handsome lord, melancholy and stern.

"Renowned for her storytelling, Keturah is able to charm Lord Death with a story and thereby gain a reprieve--but only for twenty-four hours She must find her one true love within that time, or all is lost.

"Keturah searches desperately while the village prepares for an unexpected visit from the king and Keturah is thrust into a prominent role as mysterious happenings alarm her friends and neighbors. Lord Death's presence hovers over this all until Keturah confronts him one last time in the harrowing climax."

To enter, email me (scroll and click envelope) with your name and snail/street mail address and type "Keturah and Lord Death" in the subject line. Deadline: March 30! All Cynsational readers are eligible! Note: there is a slight uneveness to the cut of the back of the cover and a couple of slightly bent page corners, but it's otherwise in great shape.

Congratulations to Martha in Wisconsin, the winner of paperback copy of Never Trust a Dead Man by Vivian Vande Velde (Magic Carpet Books/Harcourt, 2008)!

More News

Interview: Cyn Balog - Author of the upcoming Fairy Tale (Delacorte, June 23, 2009) from Want My YA. Peek: "Fairy Tale is about a teenage girl who learns her boyfriend is a fairy, and that he's due to leave her and return to Otherworld on his 16th birthday. She decides to fool the fairies and fight to keep him with her." Learn more about Fairy Tale.

Fillers and Drainers by Kristi Holl at Writers First Aid. Peek: "After you attend your next writing event (large or small) ask yourself: 'Was I filler or a drainer today?' Did you make encouraging comments as well as ask for help? Did you give as well as take?"

Audiobooks with Mary Burkey of Audiobooker from Elizabeth O. Dulemba. Peek: "No, I don't feel that listening to audiobooks is reading - but it isn't cheating either! In today's world, we often overlook the listening component of Language Arts. By integrating audiobooks into a literacy program, students increase vocabulary, gain fluency, hear how phrasing and intonation results from punctuation, and experience authentic accents and dialects."

Author R.L. LaFevers of Shrinking Violet Promotions fame will be appearing at 11 a.m. March 22 at BookPeople in Austin. Read a Cynsations interview with R.L.

Join author Michelle Knudsen to celebrate the release of The Dragon of Trelian (Candlewick, 2009) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 14 at Books of Wonder (18 W. 18th Street) in New York City! Peek: "A middle-grade fantasy adventure involving a princess, a mage's apprentice, a dragon, a hundred-year war, several secrets, old grudges, new enemies, lots of danger, a little romance, and an evil plot against the kingdom of Trelian that must be stopped at all costs!" Read a sample chapter (PDF file). Read a Cynsations interview with Michelle.

Kids book author accumulating accolades for first novel by Kayla Slimp from The Eagle of Bryan-College Station, Texas. Peek: "Kathi Appelt said she still feels like she's shaking the glitter out of her hair."

Maggie Gets Violent: My Thoughts on Bloodshed in Books by Maggie Stiefvater at Words on Words. Peek: "While I think there's a time and a place for physical pain in a novel (anyone who has read any of my novels will see that I live by these words), I never think that physical pain will have the same affect on the reader that emotional pain does." Read a Cynsations interview with Maggie.

More Personally

Attention MySpace readers: you may want to check out the fan-generated Eternally Tantalizing Role Playing Game and new character page for Sabine on MySpace. In addition, there are now over 400 members of Tantalize Fans Unite! (Thanks, Britmett Bear!).

Attention Facebook readers: you may want to check out my featured author interview at The Ultimate YA Reading Group.

Publishers Weekly says of Eternal: "The confessional style, alternating between Miranda and Zachary's points of view, is intriguing as a diary—readers should be hooked by this fully formed world, up through the action-packed finale."

Gwenda Bond of Shaken & Stirred says of Eternal: "the best kind of sequel--the kind that's even better than the first book... If you never thought guardian angels could be awesome, we have something in common: We were wrong. Dark, witty, fabulous. Read this now."

{Insert Book Title Here} YA Book Blog chimes in: "The whole vampire/guardian angel concept was interesting... I loved how she left us with a glimmer of hope at the end that left me begging. I want the third novel now! I can't wait to see what this author will come out with next."

Thanks to Kim Winter at Kat's Eye for re-reading Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007)!

Thanks to Donna Bowman Bratton for her report on author Lila Guzman's Austin SCBWI presentation (with photos!).

Spooky News & Never Trust a Dead Man Giveaway

Congratulations to Rosemary Clement-Moore on the release of Highway to Hell (Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil)(Delacorte, 2009)! From the promotional copy: "Maggie Quinn was expecting to find plenty of trouble with Lisa over Spring Break. Give a girl a bikini, a beachfront hotel, and an absent boyfriend, and it's as good as a road map to the dark side. But Maggie doesn't have to go looking for trouble. Trouble has started looking for her. One dead cow and a punctured gas tank later, she and Lisa are stuck in Dulcina, Texas—a town so small that it has an owner. And lately life in this small town hasn't been all that peaceful. An eerie predator is stalking the ranchland. Everyone in town has a theory, but not even Maggie’s psychic mojo can provide any answers. And the longer the girls are stranded, the more obvious it becomes that something is seriously wrong. Only no one—not even Maggie's closest ally—wants to admit that they could have been forced on a detour down the highway to hell." Note: Rosemary will be signing the book from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. March 14 at Barnes & Noble in Hurst, Texas! Note: I would be there myself, except I'm heading out of state this weekend. Read a Cynsations interview with Rosemary.

Definitions for the Perplexed: Sell-In and Sell-Through from Editorial Anonymous. Peek: "It's a tough, tough business, and it's only tougher these days. Do everyone a favor and go buy a book, okay?" Note: buy two! Also, if you haven't already read through EA's whole Publishing Dictionary. Very useful info.

Wonderful Bookclub Books! Cheap, Badly Bound, Wonderful Bookclub Books! from Editorial Anonymous. Peek: "The idea of the Scholastic Book Clubs is to make children's books available at prices that children could conceivably afford. In poorer areas, this is a blessing, and studies have shown the important psychological difference that owning a book makes to children."

Interview with Flux Editor Brian Farrey from Karen Screk at Crowe's Nest. Peek: "You can learn from writers whose material you don’t care for just as much as you can from writers whose material you adore. Know what’s out there. It’s very, very easy for me to spot a submission written by someone who hasn't read a contemporary YA novel. Ever." Read a Cynsations interview with Brian.

Attention, Writers with an Advanced Degree: The Fourteenth annual Vermont College of Fine Arts Postgraduate Writers' Conference is scheduled for Aug. 11 to Aug. 17. Note: The event will include two workshops in Writing for Young Adults, led by award-winning author-teachers Kathi Appelt and An Na. Note: the event is open to all writers with an advanced degree, not just VCFA alumni (though of course we hope they'll come).

Dealing With Negativity from Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent. Peek: "All of this boils down to one thing: negativity is a test of strength. If you show weakness in the face of negativity: you lose. If you show strength and character in the face of negativity: you win." See also suggestions from Nathan's readers on Dealing with Frustration. Read a Cynsations interview with Nathan.

How (and When) to Follow-Up with Agents and/or Editors from Tracy Marchini at My VerboCity. Peek: "Sometimes, it seems that writers are over-anxious in their follow-up methods after submitting to an agent or editor. Here's some basic guidelines to make sure your follow-up is professional and effective."

How to stay organized if you are a disorganized writer by Emily Marshall at Author2Author. Peek: "Sometimes I’m dealing with hundreds of story ideas, multiple drafts of a project, and even two or three books at a time. That’s a lot of computer files, paper, and general confusion."

Agent Advice: Kelly Sonnack of The Andrea Brown Literary Agency from Chuck Sambuchino at Guide to Literary Agents. Note: Kelly is looking for middle grade fiction and cultural memoirs. Peek: "I will admit a particular soft spot for picture books but there's only so many of those I can take on at a time. I really love literary, coming-of-age YA, as well as quirky and smart MG. I'm also particularly loving graphic novels for kids these days. We're living in a time that is ripe for them, and it's exciting to help shape that." Source: Alice's CWIM Blog.

Congratulations to Arthur Slade on the U.S. release of Jolted! See trailer below. Trying to get a feel for steampunk in the children's-YA market? Check out the covers of Arthur Slade's upcoming novel, The Hunchback Assignments.



Trapped by Kimberly Willis Holt at A Pen and a Nest. Peek: "As writers we sometimes forget to explore the endless possibilities when we create our worlds. Sometimes we hit a barrier and if we're too tunnel-visioned we may lose the chance at adding another layer or plot point that enriches our story." Read a Cynsations interview with Kimberly.

Sara Crowe Literary Agent: new official site features client list, news, and blog. Peek: "I am always looking for young adult fiction and middle grade fiction for my children's list. I represent a few wonderful picture book writers and am not looking to add to that list at this time. I am open to hearing from author/illustrators."

Swagology 101 by Mary Hershey from Shrinking Violet Promotions. Peek: "...as a former kid that had no disposable income, I love being able to give a child something totally free, no strings attached. I give out postcards, candy, stick-on gem earrings, small notebooks, fun erasers, and pencils. Only the postcards have my promotional information on them."

The Book Roast blog will be hosting a Pitch Party on St. Patrick's Day--March 17 from 7 a.m. through 7 p.m. EST. Peek: "We're inviting participants to submit a pitch for a book (real or for fun). The theme is 'luck,' and the pitches will be limited to 75 words. One pitch per participant. You'll have fun, and you can use a pen name if you like! Five highly esteemed editors (Evil Editor; Editorial Anonymous; Edittorrent; Moonrat; Ms. Spitfire) will select their favorite three, and say why those pitches stood out. The winning pitches will be announced at 9 p.m. EST." Note: "Ms. Spitfire is technically in marketing, but she has occasion to touch the slush." More info will be posted late Friday evening on the Book Roast blog.

Q & A with Melissa Marr from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "...it only gets easier to work with this world. When I write I often know where my characters will go in the future."

Congratulations to Jennifer Ziegler on signing with Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agency and to Erin for signing with Jennifer! Congratulations to on the sale of Jennifer's "Sass & Stupidity" to Stephanie Elliott at Delacorte. Read Cynsations interviews with Jennifer and Erin.

Resource Recommendations

Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland (Image Continuum, 1993). As relevant for writers as musicians as painters as photographers as dancers, this economical slim paperback is a godsend for anyone who's a human being and trying to create art.

Walking on Alligators: A Book of Meditations for Writers by Susan Shaughnessy (HarperCollins, 1993). This gem of a paperback is a must-have for the writer's peace of mind and piece of soul. From the promotional copy: "This daily motivator of people who write provides an insistent wake-up call for the creative urge, with insights on how to work against resistance, live with the loneliness, develop discipline, and dare to take deeper risks in their work. These 200 essays explore every aspect of the process of writing."

Reminder

Enter to win a paperback copy of Never Trust a Dead Man by Vivian Vande Velde (Magic Carpet Books/Harcourt, 2008)(originally published in 1999) from Cynsations. To enter, email me (scroll and click envelope) with your name and snail/street mail address and type "Dead Man" in the subject line. I'll touch base if you win. Deadline: March 18! All Cynsational readers are eligible! Read a Cynsations interview with Vivian.

More Personally

The social highlight of the week was a surprise visit by author Shana Burg, who came bearing an out-of-this-world gift--a Princess-Senator Leia Organa Flash Drive!

Do you think it holds the plans to the Death Star?

I'm guessing that many of you will want one of your own. So FYI: designs featuring C3P0, Wicket, Luke Skywalker, and others are also available. Note: Han Solo and Boba Fett are low on stock (figures). See Star Wars MIMOBOT designer USB flash drives.

Attention Austinites: as you know, it's almost time for SXSW 2009! If you're like me and want to support our live music scene, but feel somewhat lacking in band savvy, you may want to check out Turn2live ("the first online tool that enables users to discover shows using intuitive search terms. These terms exist outside of the traditional boundaries of genre, artist and venue and include creative, mood-oriented keywords such as 'sunny' and 'sensual.'")

Love the attitude of the guardian angel (GA for short). So go out and buy this book." Read a Cynsations interview with P.J.

Author Interview: A.S. King on The Dust of 100 Dogs

A.S. King on A.S. King: "A.S. King was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. After earning a degree in photography and working in a few stinky darkrooms, she moved to Dublin, Ireland; where she swore off television and started writing novels.

"Two years later, she moved to a small farm in rural Tipperary. There, she divided a decade between writing, teaching literacy, breeding rare poultry, and finding exciting ways to feed herself. She now lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and children.

"Her short fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines and has been nominated for cool stuff. The Dust of 100 Dogs (Flux, 2009) is her first young adult novel. "

What were you like as a young reader?

When I was a child, I'd stay up reading in my "office" (my bedroom closet) later than everyone else in my family, even though I was the youngest. I can't remember much of what I was reading. I recall A Wrinkle in Time and a few other titles (Harriet the Spy and a lot of mysteries and ghost stories) but for the most part, I'd read anything. The weirder, the better. Once I found Paul Zindel, my early teen life was complete.

What about young fictional heroes appeals to you as a writer?

I relate well to young heroes and heroines. Younger characters tend to have genuine innocence, and can explore certain themes and subjects that adult characters can't approach realistically. I feel this type of character has the potential to change (or at least, challenge) minds -- and that will attract me every time.

Could you tell us about your path to publication? Any sprints or stumbles along the way?

Well, it took me seven novels and fifteen years to finally sell a book. I can't say there were any sprints in that. Mostly, I stumbled along.

Looking back on your apprenticeship as a writer, is there anything you wish you'd done differently? If so, what and why?

While we were living on the farm in Tipperary, I wrote all day nearly every day, balanced with farm chores--gardening to feed us, minding the chickens. It was the most ideal writer's life I could ever imagine.

Though I did query agents and try occasionally to seek publication, it became clear that I was in the wrong country to sell the books I was writing, so I concentrated on enjoying my time there, because, man, was it nice! So, there was nothing I would have done differently.

I wouldn't trade that time for anything.

On the flip side, what was most helpful to you in terms of developing your craft?

I think, relating to craft, taking a few years to write poetry, and more recently, short fiction was most helpful to me as a novelist. I'd sworn off short stories back in 1996, when I'd written a few that were horrid. Then, in 2006, I wrote a story that got published and nominated for an award, so I continued to write and publish about fifteen more stories. It's amazing how concentrating on the short form for a year made my novel-length fiction more immediate and fresh.

Congratulations on The Dust of 100 Dogs (Flux, 2009)! Could you tell us about the novel?

I like to say The Dust of 100 Dogs is part historical, part contemporary and part dog-training guide, but here's the back cover blurb for a better description:

"In the late seventeenth century, famed teenage pirate Emer Morrisey was on the cusp of escaping pirate life with her one true love and unfathomable riches when she was slain and cursed with the dust of 100 dogs, dooming her to one hundred lives as a dog before retuning to a human body--with all her memories intact. Now she's a contemporary American teenager, and all she needs is a shovel and a ride to Jamaica."

What was your initial inspiration for writing the book?

The idea came from my journeys into Irish history. I used to walk my dogs down my small road [in Ireland] and think of the people who had walked that road before me. The rest unraveled from there.

My exploration of what the Irish endured, especially during Cromwell’s time, stirred feelings about the things women have endured throughout history.

What was the timeline between spark and each publication, and what were the major events along the way?

For The Dust of 100 Dogs, the timeline goes something like this:

Idea circa 1999/2000.

Started writing in 2001/2.

Finished in 2003.

Queried and rejected by a lot of U.K. agents.

Moved to the U.S. in 2004. Rewrote book and queried U.S. agents with no luck. Put book in drawer with five other drawer books and started writing seventh book.

2006 - agent liked #7; he offered to represent me and started shopping the older novels, including The Dust of 100 Dogs.

Sold The Dust of 100 Dogs to Flux in late 2007.

Publication in 2009.

I think that makes it an even decade between idea and book. I'm really hoping to slim that down next time around.

What were the challenges (literary, research, psychological, and logistical) in bringing the book to life?

The big challenge when it came to publishing The Dust of 100 Dogs was my location.

Even as late as 2004, many agencies refused to accept email, which made things very expensive for someone like me, who had to spend up to $60 per full manuscript sent.

On the more positive side, that same location made the Irish history research easier through generous neighbors who offered their libraries of books I would have never found elsewhere.

How do you balance your life as a writer with the responsibilities (speaking, promotion, etc.) of being an author? Or, more globally, how is that adjustment going?

Though I enjoy promoting, I'm still most excited by writing, and I've trained myself to turn off the Internet before noon when I am writing new material.

As promotion becomes a bigger part of my life, I plan to invoke the "I'm Allowed to Disappear Any Time I Want" rule at least twice a year.

What do you do outside the world of books?

I'm a mother of young children, and I run a contracting business from home.

At different times in my life I've been: a breeder of rare poultry; a photographer; a master printer; a pizza delivery driver;an electrician; a self-sufficient smallholder; a swimming addict; and (my favorite job ever) a literacy teacher.

And now that I've settled into my new home here in the U.S., I've started serving on my community library board as well as the swimming pool board. (Spot my two favorite things.)

What can your fans look forward to next?

I just finished a YA book called Ignore Vera Dietz and I'm working on another historical/contemporary YA mix that I should finish by December, all going well.

You can find me online at www.as-king.com or www.thedustof100dogs.com, or my blog, where I keep readers updated on D100D events and hold weekly writing contests.

Spooky News

Congratulations to Carrie Ryan on the release of The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Delacorte, 2009)(excerpt). See the book trailer below.



Visit P.J. Hoover at the Book Roast today and enter to win a copy of The Emerald Tablet (Blooming Tree, 2008). Answer this question in the comments at the Book Roast: "Whose mind would you like to be able to read, and why?"

Resource Recommendations

Writing Past Dark: Envy, Fear, Distraction, and Other Dilemmas in the Writer's Life by Bonnie Friedman (HarperCollins, 1993). From the promotional copy : "The first book for writers that explores the emotional side of writing--dealing with everything from envy to guilt to the dreaded writer's block." Note: Worth twice the cost for the chapter on envy and the "anorexia of language" alone. I've noticed lately that community morale is a tad shaky. If you're going through a hard time, please don't think you're alone or that no one cares. Be good to yourselves and each other, and, if the TV news is freaking you out, just turn it off for a while. Seriously. Hugs.

See also Fear of Browsing by Kristi Holl from Writers First Aid. Peek: "If I found my books on the shelves, I'd wonder why they hadn't sold. If I didn’t find my books on the shelves, I hoped they were sold out, but I never had the nerve to ask if they’d ever been on the shelf in the first place."

The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner (Riverhead, 2000). Everybody Hurts says: "Far more than a how-to manual, this book offers inspiration, inside views, and a colorful, anecdotal look at the publishing world-all delivered in the smart, funny, unpretentious voice that has helped to make Lerner one of the most prominent names in the business."

Reminder

Enter to win a paperback copy of Never Trust a Dead Man by Vivian Vande Velde (Magic Carpet Books/Harcourt, 2008)(originally published in 1999) from Cynsations. To enter, email me (scroll and click envelope) with your name and snail/street mail address and type "Dead Man" in the subject line. I'll touch base if you win. Deadline: March 18! All Cynsational readers are eligible!

GregLSBlog

My husband and sometimes co-author, Greg Leitich Smith, recommends A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn (HarperCollins, 2009), The Books of Pellinor (Candlewick, 2005-2009), and discusses literary coincidences--the latter being a must read for those with any interest in cannibalism, the Titantic, or the way fiction mirrors/predicts reality.

More Personally


Authors Unplugged: author P.J. Hoover reports (with exciting Q&As) on my lunch with her, and fellow authors Jody Feldman and Jo Whittemore at Z'Tejas on 6th Street in Austin. Peek: "We each brought questions for the others. I agreed to do the abridged version, though those around us...definitely got the unabridged version. I think we were getting a few strange looks." See Jody's report.
Review: 'Eternal' by Melissa Medore-Moore from San Antonio Express-News. Peek: "The offer of redemption sets this tale apart from others that feed upon the current fascination with vampires and the occult that possesses preteens and teens." Note: at at time when review columns are being trimmed, it's so wonderful to see such thoughtful coverage devoted to YA literature in a daily newspaper.

Once Upon A Romance's Review Of... Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith from Amy Lignor. Peek: "Not only is this a good read for 14-year-olds, but I believe that mothers will truly enjoy the wit as well."

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith: a review by eplteenlibrarian from The Cool Cafe @ Englewood (Colorado) Public Library. Peek: "The ending to the love story (because it does become one, though a twisted one) is moving and hopeful in a way you don't expect."


Thanks to Melissa Walker for the (above) photo of the almost sold-out display form a bookstore in Utah.

Thanks to Janet Fox at Through the Wardrobe for letting me know that Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007) and Eternal (Candlewick, 2009) are on the shelves of her local bookstore in College Station and to Debbie Reese at American Indians in Children's Literature for letting me know that Tantalize is at her local Meijer in Urbana, Illinois.

Thanks also to Cecil Castellucci for the snapshot of a young girl at an LA restaurant reading Rain Is Not My Indian Name (HarperCollins, 2001).

And thanks to Don Tate who highlighted Cynsations ("Your Blog Is Fabulous") at The Brown Bookshelf. Don says: "There are so many social networks now, and the kidlitosphere has grown so large that it's hard to keep up with all that’s going on. So Cynsations and/or SpookyCyn has become my main source of industry news." See more recommendations!

Author Interview: Saundra Mitchell on Shadowed Summer

Saundra Mitchell on Saundra Mitchell: "I've been a phone psychic, a car salesperson, a denture-deliverer and a layout waxer. Now that I'm an author and screenwriter, I'm happy that I've finally found my calling."

What were you like as a young reader?

Voracious. Cereal boxes, newspapers, toothpaste tubes, comics, books, equipment manuals, if it had words on it, I wanted to read it. To this day, I can tell you that Crest is a clinically approved dentifrice and you don't get ice cream at Dairy Queen--you get quiescently frozen dairy treats.

My mother claims she took Kathleen Windsor's Forever Amber (MacMillan, 1944) away from me when I was four or five. Shortly after that, she introduced me to the library. (And probably specifically the juvenile section!)

Why do you write for teenagers today?

That's just what comes out! When I wrote Shadowed Summer, I thought I was writing for an adult mainstream audience. Rachel, one of my beta readers, finished it and said, "This is a young adult novel!" And my response was, "Really?"

I don't know why I was surprised; YA and MG are the only fiction I read, and I set out to write a book that made me feel giddy and destroyed and overwhelmed like The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause (Laurel Leaf, 1990)(author interview) did when I was 17. Sometimes, you're the last one to know yourself.

What about young fictional heroes appeals to you as a writer?

Everything is the end of the world. Everything is new. Everything is possible; everything is impossible. I love the absolute desperation that comes with smart people who are experiencing things for the first time.

I joke with my friends that I like to blow stuff up, but in a way that's true. I like to see how things can explode and what happens when they do. And that works best with teen protagonists. I mean, think about it.

If Romeo and Juliet were 30, they wouldn't be tragic--they'd be pathetic.

Could you tell us about your path to publication? Any sprints or stumbles along the way?

I've had a slightly weird path, in that I'd been a screenwriter for fifteen years before publishing my first novel. So I never know whether to include that path with this one. For example, if I hadn't been a little burned out on film, I never would have written a novel at all.

But I wrote my very first script because someone read one of my short stories and asked if I could adapt it. (I said yes, then spent the weekend learning how to write scripts.)

So, they're completely tangled, but completely unrelated. Do the hitches and stumbles trying to secure representation in LA really reflect on the challenge of finding a literary agent? I'm not sure.

I've had a really exciting and rich career in short film. More than three hundred productions, a hundred and fifty festival selections, and 10 trips up to Academy Award eligibility. (No nominations... yet!) Even though I've worked on the periphery of Hollywood instead of fully in it, I've met amazing people and learned so much.

But films aren't yours in the same way that novels are; they're a collaborative art form. The director decides what the eye sees; the actor decides the tone of voice, the motion of their hands. The editor decides the pace and rhythm of the story.

Yes, absolutely, in fiction, you have your agent, and your editor, and the copyeditors, all working together to make a novel as good as it can possibly be, but in the end, that book is your book. The characters say what you want, the way you want. The picture in the window is yours.

And I wanted a taste of that after spending a long, long, long time of handing my words to the next person down the line and letting go. As publication paths go, I know I'm actually very, very lucky.

I wrote my second novel and got my first agent within the same year. My climb to publication is actually pretty fast, if I isolate fiction from screenwriting. But if I don't, it's been a long career full of all kinds of stumbles and sprints that don't finish with my book being published.

My friend Kurtis Scaletta talked recently about the difficulties of describing a career in writing as a "path." This is exactly the sort of question he had in mind!

Looking back on your apprenticeship as a writer, is there anything you wish you'd done differently? If so, what and why?

I wish I had realized what I was doing when I was younger. I feel like I'm getting a very late start compared to so many amazing authors.

I mean, Jessica Burkhart is twenty-two, a total sweetheart, and she's got the whole Canterwood Crest Series (Scholastic, 2009) on shelves and in hands already. I definitely feel like I'm trying to catch up!

Congratulations on Shadowed Summer (Delacorte, 2009)(excerpt)! Could you tell us a little about the novel?

Thank you so much! Shadowed Summer (Delacorte, 2009) is a southern gothic ghost story, about Iris Rhame's fourteenth summer in dying, backwater Ondine, Louisiana.

Just when Iris and her best friend Collette are about to give up their childhood games of pretending magic and conjuring magic, a real ghost whispers in Iris's ear--"Where y'at?"

And with that whisper, Iris, Collette, and Collette's first boyfriend, end up immersing themselves in mystery of a teen who disappeared decades ago. But what they discover is that in a town as small as Ondine, every secret is a family secret.

What was your initial inspiration for writing the book?

Initially, I had the main character, Iris show up in my head. She didn't come with a story. She didn't seem to want anything. She loomed there, silently waiting--for what, I had no idea.

Finally, I decided I would write a supernatural love story, and that's when Iris intervened. She wasn't interested in falling in love--with the living, or the dead. So I still had a character, and some of her friends but no idea what to do with them.

Around that time, I got news that one of my best friends from high school had taken his own life. Which stirred up embers of thoughts I had mostly let cool after my brother's suicide when we were teens.

It was a shock, both times, because it's a terrible, final reminder that we can't really know anyone.

So Iris settled down with me to think about that--to roll that idea over with me: we don't know what other people contain. And that means no one else will ever know what we contain, either.

That's where Shadowed Summer came from.

What was the timeline between spark and each publication, and what were the major events along the way?

I wrote the first draft of Shadowed Summer in the summer of 2003. I submitted it to the Delacorte Press YA prize that year, and landed my first agent with it. I didn't win (or even place!), and over a year and a half my agent and I revised with a publisher interested enough to give notes, but not interested enough to make an offer.

Eventually, the editor asked if maybe my main character could be crazy instead of haunted, and I withdrew it from consideration. I eventually parted company with my first agent as well, I think in 2006?

I waited six months and started my agent search anew...with exactly one query. I was ready to give up! But I told myself, I should try one more time--fully expecting to give myself an easy out! Luckily for me, the one agent I queried--Sara Crowe--took me on. Three months later, in January 2007, she sold Shadowed Summer to Delacorte Press. (I guess it was destiny!)

Then, the first thing I had to ask my brand new editor was- "Will it be okay if we don't start revising until July?" My part in the film programs for which I work devours every second of time I have from February 'til June, when I hand the scripts off to production. She was totally understanding, which was such a relief!

We revised from July until November in 2007, and then I saw my copyedits and FPPs in the spring of 2008. My book will finally be on shelves February 10, 2009! My daughter was barely a year old when I started this novel. She starts second grade in the fall!

How do you balance your life as a writer with the responsibilities (speaking, promotion, etc.) of being an author? Or, more globally, how is that adjustment going?

This is my first novel, and so far, I'm overwhelmed. Trying to figure out the rhythm of the waiting--between edits, or between sales--that's tripped me up a couple of times. And since it's my first, I feel like I should do everything people ask me to, to promote it.

I'm not a relaxed anticipater--if something is going to happen, I'm wound up until it actually happens. I'm still adjusting to an industry where "soon" can be measured in months. And I'm not really chill about getting things done at a leisurely pace. If I have an interview, or a revision, I have to bang on it until it is done.

I think I'm getting better, though! I actually said "no" to some things this week, I let some questionnaires wait overnight, and I'm starting to get the hang of ignoring submissions and potential news so I can get back to work.

So I figure, at this rate, I will be Publishing Zen... soon.

What was it like, being a debut author in 2009?

Terrifying! This whole debut thing is scary anyway, right? I had no idea that three-revision passes were normal. I didn't even know what FPPs were, or that I would see them! Copyedit symbols, ARCs, whether an ARC is a galley... there's so much to learn, punctuated by long periods of time where everyone's too busy working to talk to you.

So it's already nerve wracking, and then late in the year, some houses quit acquiring new books. Then other houses started laying people off, erasing entire divisions--so many friends lost their editors in November and December! (I feel so lucky that I wasn't one of them!)

Which means, of course, people have to start talking about how the Newbery is no longer relevant and the returns policy has to change or it's all over and publishing might be dead anyway because of the Kindle.

Then, to top it off, came the news that all books without third-party lead-free certification might be pulled from shelves on February 10th--the same day I'm supposed to debut.

Talk about a relaxing and exciting entrance into the world of publishing!

What do you do outside the world of books?

I'm a screenwriter, and now an executive producer with the teen film series Fresh Films and Girls in the Director's Chair. We teach talented teen all over the U.S. how to produce a movie, and then we give them the equipment and the support they need to do it!

I used to write all the screenplays based on teen-submitted ideas, but now I run the Emerging Screenwriters program. Under my instruction, nine teens revise, refine and sometimes write brand new scripts until they're ready for production.

And, it's not wicked exciting or anything, but I do a lot of corporate and and content writing on the side. I draft letters, or newsletter copy, or...basically, anything people want written, I can write it for them! The words are an addiction for me, what can I say?

What can your fans look forward to next?

Novel-wise, we're still working on what my next book should be. But I'll definitely be spearheading the next season of Emerging Screenwriters with Fresh Films and Girls in the Director's Chair.

Spooky News & Never Trust a Dead Man Giveaway

80,000 words of Fun, Fun, Fun from Maggie Stiefvater. Peek: "15,001-18,000 words: "The First Epiphany Phase" I are a writer! I can do this fast! I love this - the angst, the passion, the sheer criminality of this character and the emo-city of this other one! I am having a Writer High!"

If you are on Facebook, you can become a fan of Carrie Jones's Need (Bloomsbury, 2009). See also Moving On Up: 'Need' by Carrie Jones by Shannon Maughan from Publishers Weekly.

YA YANot?: the official social network of TeensReadToo. See my page.

"Magical Magazine Fiction" by Jan Fields from the Institute of Children's Literature. Peek: "Fantasy in magazines differs from fantasy in books in several important ways..."

Random House Buys Ten Speed Press (Tricycle Press) from Children's Book Biz News. Peek: "Editorial will remain in Berkeley, California and Ten Speed will become part of the Crown Publishing Group, one of four divisions at Random House."

TMI (or To Blog or not to Blog) by Kristina Springer from Author2Author. Peek: "You most likely wouldn't go up to someone in an office and say hey, guess what my salary is. Right? So don't do it online either."

More Personally

TeensReadToo gives Eternal (Candlewick, 2009) five stars and cheers: "This novel is definitely a page-turner. It is filled with danger, deception, humor, love, sadness, and hope."

Looking for a signed copy of Eternal (Candlewick, 2009) or Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007)?

You can find it in the BookKids department of my local independent bookstore, BookPeople, located at 6th and Lamar in Austin, Texas; or you can order it by calling: 512.472.5050 or 800.853.9757(shipping priced separately). Note: "BookPeople is open all week 9 a.m. -11 p.m., 364 days a year."

As long as you're shopping, why not take a look around and see what else you can find?

Here's the local author shelf...


You can also check out spooky fantasies...

Giveaway Reminders

Enter to win a paperback copy of Never Trust a Dead Man by Vivian Vande Velde (Magic Carpet Books/Harcourt, 2008)(originally published in 1999) from Cynsations. To enter, email me (scroll and click envelope) with your name and snail/street mail address and type "Dead Man" in the subject line. I'll touch base if you win. Deadline: March 18! All Cynsational readers are eligible!

Giveaway and Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith by Liviania from In Bed With Books. Enter to win a copy of Eternal (Candlewick, 2009). Peek: "...author contest can be entered by commenting on his or her interview or guest blog. The comment must be relevant to the content of the post." Scroll here for how to earn bonus points.

Interview: Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of Eternal, Tantalize (Win stuff!) from Boy with Books. Comment between now and March 7 to enter to win a copy of Eternal (Candlewick, 2009) or Indian Shoes (HarperCollins, 2002)!

Cynsational Events

Cynthia will be speaking on "Writing and Illustrating Native American Children's Literature" (with S. D. Nelson) and "Monsters and Magic: Writing Gothic Fantasy Novels for Teenagers" on March 15 at the Tucson Festival of Books.

Cynthia will sign Eternal (Candlewick, 2009) and Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007, 2008) at 3 p.m. April 2 at Candlewick Booth at the annual conference of the Texas Library Association in Houston.

Authors Kathi Appelt and Cynthia Leitich Smith invite you to join them at 1 p.m. April 11 at BookPeople (Sixth and Lamar) in Austin. They will be celebrating the success of Kathi's The Underneath (Atheneum, 2008), which was a National Book Award Finalist and newly crowned ALA Newbery Honor Book, and the release of Cynthia's Eternal (Candlewick, 2009). The event will include very brief readings, entertaining commentary, and a signing by both authors. Please help spread the word! Let me know if you can make it! Hope to see y'all there! Read a Cynsations interview with Kathi.

Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith from In Bed With Books, Eternal Giveaway

Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith by Liviania from In Bed With Books. Peek: "In fantasy, you have to succeed at everything you would in realistic fiction, plus make the fantasy elements hold together logically and earn their place in terms of character, plot, and theme. Beyond that, you can in some ways go more dramatic with your theme because the metaphor dilutes the risk of it being too on the nose."

Enter to win a copy of Eternal (Candlewick, 2009). Peek: "...author contest can be entered by commenting on his or her interview or guest blog. The comment must be relevant to the content of the post." Scroll here for how to earn bonus points.

Spooky Notes

Illustrator Interview: Gene Brenek on Images of Eternal from Cynsations. Peek: "I got such a kick out of the descriptions of Joshua and Zachary. According to Zach, being blessed with good hair is one of the assets to being an angel. I had to use a typeface that really captured the essence of heavenly hair. As much work as these guardian angels do, they deserved their own T-shirt [see below]."


Interview: Shayne Leighton on the Eternal Trailer and "The Incubus" from Cynsations. Peek: "You...gave me a rough list of the textual aspects that you wanted to see in the trailer as well as the royalty-free piece of music, and I went from there."

Eternal Trailer

Spooky News & Never Trust a Dead Man Giveaway

Enter to win a paperback copy of Never Trust a Dead Man by Vivian Vande Velde (Magic Carpet Books/Harcourt, 2008)(originally published in 1999). From the promotional copy:

"When Selwyn is accused of murdering his rival, Farold, he is sealed in the village burial cave with Farold's moldering corpse to await starvation or worse. Worse comes along quickly in the form of a witch who raises Farold from the dead. Selwyn thought he disliked Farold when he was alive, but that was nothing compared to working by the dead man's side as they search for the real killer."

Winner of the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery, BBYA, Quick Pick, A SLJ Best Book of the Year. The Bulletin said, "[A] supsenseful page-turner... The pace never lets up."

To enter, email me (scroll and click envelope) with your name and snail/street mail address and type "Dead Man" in the subject line. I'll touch base if you win. Deadline: March 18! All Cynsational readers are eligible!

The winner of the Cynsations ARC giveaway of City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (McElderry Books, March 24, 2009) was Gina from Illinois. Congratulations, Gina!

More News

Author Interview: A.S. King: A Poised at the Edge Author Interview from Hello Ma'am. Peek: "I didn’t write with an outline, though I did write a lot of notes, which I do for every book. Pages and pages of them—a kind of thinking out loud for me, where I bounce things around to see how they sound."

Be yourself as a writer by Emily Marshall at Author2Author: 5 YA Authors, 5 Journeys. Peek: "Are you good at complex characters? Witty one-liners? Quirky, yet lovable heroines? Dark, mysterious plot lines? Good! Then don’t be afraid to play up your strengths and use them to your advantage."

Writing Retreats by Mary Atkinson from Crowe's Nest. Peek: "Settling in is a necessary part of going on retreat. It might take you an hour; it might take you three days. Either way, it's got to be done. One of the fastest ways I've found to settle in to a new retreat space is to unpack my suitcase and then take a nap."

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci: a review from Oops...Wrong Cookie "Where several Texas librarians write about books and stuff." Peek: "All kinds of geek- and nerddom is explored here. I was pleasantly surprised with the breadth of topics: Star Wars, Star Trek, Buffy, academic teams, astronomy, high school spirit!, dinosaurs, online gaming, LARP (live-action role-playing)." Note: Geektastic includes "The Wrath of Dawn" by Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith and will be released by Little, Brown in August 2009.

Congratulations to readergirlz on your second anniversary and to TeensReadToo on your third anniversary!

soup of the day by Jama Rattigan from Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup. Peek: "Put on your flame retardant jumpsuit and sombrero, then let out a big OLÉ, for the master of the macabre and undisputed King of the Weenies, David Lubar, on the official release today of The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies (Starscape, 2009)!"

Book of Nonsense (CBAY, 2008) Giveaway from P. J. Hoover at Roots in Myths. Note the author of Book of Nonsence is David Michael Slater. Peek: "It's a fun book about a set of twins, a bookstore filled with awesome books, and of course a book with nonsense letters that change and appear and disappear. If you like fantasy books or know someone who does, this is a perfect book for you!"

More Personally

Thanks to Patti Kurtz and her students in "Adolescent Literature" at Minot State University for their hospitality at Monday's online chat. Please keep in touch!

Thanks to Megan Fink for sending on her article "Tasty Treats for Books with Bite," which appeared in the summer 2008 Young Adult Library Services magazine. In a sidebar, my own Quincie--of Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007) and soon Blessed (Candlewick, forthcoming) fame herself is interviewed! Here's a peek from "Interview with a New Vampire": "A shocking number of people prejudiced against shape-shifters. As someone who is wereperson-friendly, I highly recommend [Klause's] Blood and Chocolate to teens and Werewolf Rising by R.L. LaFevers to tweens. Obviously, these authors did their homework and found out that shifters can be good guys. Hm....or maybe they're shifters themselves. I've heard that Annette has been known to howl."

I'm honored to be the March Author of the Month at the Ultimate YA Reading Group at Facebook!

A timeless remedy for teen angst: a review by Norah Piehl of Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith from BookPage. Peek: "Smith has built on centuries of vampire lore to create a spooky, snarky, supernatural world all her own."

My husband and sometimes co-author is new on Facebook. If you know Greg Leitich Smith, please look for him there. You can say, "nice bangs, Batman."

A peek into my office. Bashi (in the box) and Leo (on the windowsill) bask in the spring sunshine. Note my crack organizational system for mailing supplies.

"A Lesson on Vampires" & More Spooky News

A Lesson on Vampires: An Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith by Stephanie Greene at Through the Tollbooth. Peek: "'It was an ambitious book in terms of 'mythology' building,' Cynthia said. 'I believe in angels (and ghosts too), but somehow I suspect my creative liberties were not insubstantial. I have a well developed history for the vampires, the shifters (going back to the ice age), and the angels. On the craft front, I also had to develop two voices/protagonists, each with their own internal-external arc and have them mirror in a way that was thematically resonant.'"

deenaml says of Eternal, "I loved Zachary and really enjoyed this novel."

Reminder: Interview: Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of Eternal, Tantalize (Win stuff!) from Boy with Books. Comment between now and March 7 to enter to win a copy of Eternal (Candlewick, 2009) or Indian Shoes (HarperCollins, 2002)!

More News & Giveaways

Faith and good works: Mormon writers find their niche in wholesome young adult genre from The Boston Globe. Peek: "That Mormon writers have come to loom large in an increasingly popular literary genre can be linked to several unique characteristics of their faith and culture: an aversion to the sex and swearing that prevails in adult fiction, a propensity for large families that often means a child-focused life, and an affinity for fantasy writing." Note: Julie Berry, the debut author who's the primary focus of the article, is one of my former students and an extraordinary talent. Please look for her new novel The Amaranth Enchantment (Bloomsbury, March 3, 2009).

Book Giveaway: Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner from Endicott Studio: The best place for mythic art. Peek: "This week, I am giving away a book that was one of my most anticipated titles of 2009--a book that totally lived up to all my expectations and excitement." Deadline: March 8.
Events

Libraries host local children's authors for readings: A bevy of area children's authors will present readings at the Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL) on The University of Texas at Austin campus on March 7. The event, entitled "Books for Kids," is an extension of Explore UT--"The Biggest Open House in Texas"--and is being hosted by the University of Texas Libraries. See more information.