Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith is now available in paperback in the U.S. from Candlewick Press. From the promotional copy:

At last, Miranda is the life of the party: all she had to do was die.

Elevated and adopted by none other than the reigning King of the Mantle of Dracul, Miranda goes from high-school theater wannabe to glamorous royal fiend overnight.

Meanwhile, her reckless and adoring guardian angel, Zachary, demoted to human guise as the princess’s personal assistant, has his work cut out for him trying to save his girl’s soul and plan the Master’s fast-approaching Death Day gala.

In alternating points of view, Miranda and Zachary navigate a cut-throat eternal aristocracy as they play out a dangerous and darkly hilarious love story for the ages.

"Suspenseful and entertaining." —The Horn Book

"Fanpires will not be disappointed with the newest addition to the genre, and the mythology is subtle enough for general fiction readers." —VOYA

"A true page-turner, I can't imagine any fan of Gothic suspense/romance not thoroughly enjoying this - and not just young adult readers either." —The Dallas Morning News

Read a sample chapter (PDF) from Candlewick.

Eternal Trailer

OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS | MySpace Video

Cynsational Giveaways

Enter to win one of two copies of Eternal!

To enter, email me (scroll and click envelope) with your name and snail/street mail address and type "Eternal" in the subject line (Facebook, JacketFlap, MySpace, and Twitter readers are welcome to comment or message me with the title in the header; if you win, I'll write you for contact information).

You will receive an extra entry for posting news of these new editions and this giveaway on your blog and/or any social networks; one extra chance for each post/tweet/link. (Include posting information and URLs with your entry).

Deadline: midnight CST Feb. 13.

Additional giveaways are ongoing this week at the Cynthia Leitich Smith Facebook Fan Page. Comment/message me to enter to win a copy of Immortal: Love Stories with Bite, edited by P.C. Cast (BenBella, 2009), Sideshow: Ten Original Tales of Freaks, Illusionists, and Other Matters Odd and Magical, edited by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick, 2009), and How To Be a Vampire: The Fangs-On Guide for the Newly Undead by Amy Gray (Candlewick, 2009). Note: both Immortal and Sideshow include short stories set in the Tantalize-Eternal-Blessed universe.

Cynsational Notes

The casts of Eternal and Tantalize will crossover in Blessed (Candlewick, 2011), which picks up where Tantalize leaves off and is a more direct companion to that earlier novel. The series will continue in a still-untitled prose novel, which is a more direct companion to Eternal.

There also are graphic novel adaptations of Eternal (TBA) and Tantalize (2011) in the works from Candlewick Press, and e-book editions of both will be available on Feb. 23.

The series is widely available. But if you can't find one of these books at your local bookstore, just ask the bookseller to order them. You can also find them in many school and public libraries. Talk to your librarian, if you need to request an interlibrary loan.

Interview by Jenny Desmond Walters for SCBWI Bologna 2010; photo of Leonard by Sonya Sones.

As a historian and leading authority on children's literature in America, your knowledge of the history of books for children is inspiring.

As you followed the development of children’s books through the last 300 years, do you recognize any specific elements of long-standing children’s literature that you would you say have contributed to a particular work’s ability to stand the test of time? Do any patterns emerge?

Hmm. While it's hard to generalize, I would say that one quality that the longest-lasting books have in common is that they are character-driven.

Little Women [by Louisa May Alcott (1868)] is still worth reading because once we meet Jo and her sisters we want to spend time with them. The same is true of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer [by Mark Twain (1876)] and the Little House [by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Garth Williams (1932)] books, even The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [by L. Frank Baum (1900)]. The narrative voice, and the assumptions about childhood that underpin the voice, are also key.

Authors who have approached young readers with a playful (and, by implication, respectful) attitude and tone have fared better over time than those who have written from on high, with an elevating lesson of some kind up their sleeve.

John Updike once said that the relationship between a good writer for children and his or her reader is "conspiratorial in nature." A memorable book is like a confidence shared.

Are there authors today who you feel may have captured that enduring magic and may well continue to be read in a hundred years? What types of contemporary work do you think will survive the test of time?

A hundred years is a lot longer now than it used to be! More people are writing than ever, there are more distractions of other kinds than ever before, and all but the tippy top of the cream of culture feels potentially disposable.

Having said all that, I think there are a great many writers whose work has a chance of going on and on. I'll just mention a few: Emily Jenkins, Hilary McKay, Philip Pullman, the late Karla Kuskin, the late William Steig, some of Terry Pratchett, some of Paul Fleischman...

You’ve written several remarkable books of interviews with renowned children’s authors and illustrators that I feel should be required reading for many! These books are a goldmine of information for those learning about their craft.

When working on your books such as, Author Talk (Simon & Schuster, 2000), or Ways of Telling: Conversations on the Art of the Picture Book (Dutton, 2002), or your most recent release, Funny Business: Conversations with Writers of Comedy (Candlewick, 2009), who was your intended audience for these books, and did you have a sense, early on, that they would become such a tremendous resource for hopeful storytellers?

I do hope the books are read in just the way you've described. Because writing and illustrating are such solitary activities, I think it also helps just to know the life stories and struggles of the people who've come before us--especially when they are the writers and artists whose books we love.

Also, it's inspiring to know the tradition you are part of, or are hoping to be part of.

It's humbling, too, and knowing it helps you to keep what you yourself are doing in perspective, which is critical for anyone doing creative work at every stage in their career.

As for the audience, I hope that some preteens and teens are also looking at those books, especially those who have any thought of one day writing or making art.

For your book Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children's Literature (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008), which outlines the fascinating history of American children's book publishing, you mentioned previously that you worked on this project for 14 years. What is the process one employs when taking on a writing project of that magnitude? What strategies did you use to maintain your writing stamina and stay focused on the ultimate goal?

I didn't think the book would take that long, and it was only when I got started on it that I realized just what I had gotten myself into. I did know I was going to have to work on other, smaller projects at the same time, both in order to make a living and for variety's sake. This turned out to be a good arrangement.

I completed my book Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom (HarperCollins, 1998), for instance, during the first few years. That wasn't exactly a small project either.

But getting through it gave me the chance to learn a lot about one of the major publishers I was going to write about in Minders--Harper--so the research did double duty for me. It was like a Double Word Score in Scrabble.

Everyone is different, but I've learned that I need to be working on more than one project at a time--a big one plus some smaller ones that are going to get done a lot sooner. That way, the experience of a sense of accomplishment always feels within reach.

In a wonderful interview with WETA’s Reading Rockets [see transcript and/or videos below], you stated that you enjoyed biographies and non-fiction from an early age. What are some of the elements that children like to find in a good nonfiction children’s book?

As a ten-year-old, I read a biography both as history and as a projection of the future life I might lead. I wanted to know my options! I think we gravitate toward this or that kind of book--biography or fantasy, say--based on our inborn temperaments. I wanted certifiably true stories. Other children want "What if?" stories.

But a biography has to tell as good a story as one you would expect to find in a fantasy or realistic novel. The only essential difference is the biographer's commitment to historical accuracy.

In that same WETA interview, you also said that becoming a parent had an impact on "the range of books that [you] would consider worthwhile." In what ways did your view about books change after becoming a parent?

I became a lot more open-minded. I realized that children like books for all sorts of reasons, only some of which have to do with literature and art. My son was born within a week of the publication of my biography of Margaret Wise Brown (Harper, 1999).

A few months later, I read Jacob Goodnight Moon (1947) for the first time and I could see right away that he was totally bored! I had never heard of that reaction to Goodnight Moon before, and here was my own son having it.

He preferred a book I had gotten in the mail as a reviewer called Where's My Squishy Ball? by Noelle Carter (Cartwheel, 1993).

I was glad to have that experience as it showed me that no book is right for every child, no matter how great its reputation. I would rather children have the chance to exercise their own judgment than be told they have to love this or that book--as if that were possible.

That's the goal that Margaret Wise Brown was working for, too, and I think she would have been delighted by my son's reaction.

Your biography, Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon: A Biography of the Author of Goodnight Moon (Harper, 1999), is a really compelling book. What was it about this author that captured your attention?

I first read Goodnight Moon in a bookstore when I was in my late 20s. I had never heard of the book before then.

I had recently moved to New York City, was writing a lot of poetry, and was hoping to get a writing career going. I wasn't sure what I wanted to write, though.

A few years earlier, as an undergraduate history major, I had written a senior honors thesis on early American children's books.

When I read Goodnight Moon that evening I responded to it first of all as a work of amazingly distilled poetry--a poem that even a two year old could understand. That kind of simplicity and clarity seemed like an ultimate achievement for a writer. I became curious about who had pulled it off.

The author bio on the back flap showed a photo of a movie-star-ish young woman who, it said, had written a great many children's books and died very young. I thought about how much I had enjoyed reading biographies as a child and how as a college student I had enjoyed writing about the history of children's books. These strands came together in the thought that I might now try to write a biography of a poet for children whose own book had sent a chill up my spine.

That of course, was just the beginning....and the more I looked into Brown's career and her life story, the more I felt that I had found a really rich subject--someone who was as questioning and creative in the way she approached her life as she was original in her writing for children. Her story also turned out to be entwined with the history of American progressive education, the avant-garde New York art scene of the 1930s and 40s, post-war American Baby Boom culture, and on and on. I felt lucky to have found a subject that led me in so many directions. Of course, that also meant more work for me!

Are there aspects of children’s literature or forms of storytelling that you think touch children’s lives more than others? What literature contributes most to the life of children and to building a love of reading?

The answer would be different for different children. For preteens and teens of today who don't see themselves as readers, I think graphic novels and funny books stand the best chance of serving as gateways to reading. For very small children, there are lots of wonderful read-aloud picture books.

The most important thing for children at the beginning is the experience of sharing a book with a loved and trusted older person. The good feeling that is conveyed by that experience is the main thing. It almost doesn't matter what book is read.

What are some of the things happening in the world of children’s literature today that you think historians might be talking about in the future?

The impact of electronic delivery systems is certainly a topic for future--and present day--historians. I happen to think that traditional books on paper will last, though maybe not certain kinds of books--not dictionaries and other reference works for instance.

Picture books stand the best chance of lasting because the physical aspects of sharing them are central to the way they are read.

Future historians will have a lot to say about comics and graphic novels and how and why they went from being vilified to being regarded as mainstream. It will be interesting to look back at all the fantasy being written now to see, more clearly than we can now, what were the real-life concerns of our time that these writers used indirection to explore.

Lastly, as a trustee of the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, and also as the author of Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children's Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became An American Icon Along the Way (Golden Books, 2007), you have a special awareness of how the perception of children’s book art has changed over the last several decades.

What changes have you observed, and how would you say children’s book art is regarded today?

As printing technology has improved, illustrators' options have increased. That's a good thing. So is the fact that more young artists see illustrating children's books as a worthy career goal. The field has gained greatly in status, and the talent pool has never been larger.

The Eric Carle Museum exists in part because this has been the trend. The time was right for a museum devoted to illustration. In turn, the establishment of the museum has carried the trend of greater recognition a big step further.

Japan already has a number of children's book art museums. England has one and may soon have more. We're seeing an international trend in the making, and that is all to the good!

On the dark side, the corporatization of children's book publishing and book selling has distorted the creative environment for illustrators, putting undue pressure to have a steady stream of blockbuster books and illustrations that shine and sparkle and generally scream "buy me!" Artists have less time to learn the ropes and grow.

But publishing tends to be cyclical and self-regenerating, so I think it's way too early to be pessimistic about the long term. As I said a moment ago, picture books may be the last traditional books left standing, and that means plenty of work for illustrators.

Cynsational Notes

Leonard Marcus is a rare bird—a distinguished children’s literature scholar who is also an award-winning writer for kids. His books include Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom; Golden Legacy; Minders of Make-Believe; and, most recently, Funny Business: Conversations with Writers of Comedy. Leonard is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and other publications and writes a regular column on picture books for The Horn Book. He has served as a judge of the Ragazzi Prize, the National Book Award, and on numerous other prize committees. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

See "Hopes and Dreams," a segment from his excellent interview with Reading Rockets in the video below (4 minutes, 13 seconds). Give it a moment to load, and then press play. Note: the entire interview series is available; scroll for more segments.



See also, in the video below, Leonard on "Books for a Multiracial Society" (1 minute, 50 seconds). Other segments include: "Images of Children: From Idealism to Realism;" "Goodnight Moon: a New Kind of Children's Book;" "The Golden Days of Golden Books;" "The Radicalism of Snowy Day and Stevie;" "The All-White World of Children's Books;" "The Emergence of Books for Teens;" "Does Quality Matter;" "Current Trends in Children's Literature;" "From Comic Book to Graphic Novels;" "Impact of Television on Storytelling;" "Understanding the World;" "A Matter of Temperament;" and "The High Art of Picture Books."



Jenny Desmond Walters is the founding regional advisor of the SCBWI Korea chapter. She is an experienced education professional with a love of learning and literature. She has worked in public television developing curriculum and promoting instructional programs, as well as worked extensively with educational publishers and learning materials companies. For the last several years, Jenny has lived in east Asia where she has become an avid writer and observer of life in Japan and Korea. Her articles have been published in national children's magazines and writing journals, and she has been a member of SCBWI for more than 10 years. Jenny currently resides in Seoul with her husband and three daughters, and she rarely runs out of interesting stories to write.

The SCBWI Bologna 2010 interview series is brought to you by the SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference in conjunction with Cynsations. To register, visit the SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference 2010. Note: Special thanks to Angela Cerrito for coordinating this series with SCBWI Bologna and Cynsations.

Austin SCBWI's Destination Publication: An Awesome Austin Conference for Writers and Illustrators took place last weekend. Keynote speakers were Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson and two-time Caldecott Honor [author-] illustrator Marla Frazee.

The faculty also included: editor Cheryl Klein of Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic; author-editor Lisa Graff, formerly of FSG; agent Andrea Cascardi of Transatlantic Literary; agent Mark McVeigh of The McVeigh Agency; editor Stacy Cantor of Walker (Bloomsbury); and agent Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown, Ltd.

In addition, Cheryl and Sara Lewis Holmes spoke together on the editor-author relationship, Marla and Liz Garton Scanlon spoke together on the illustrator-author relationship, and illustrator Patrice Barton offered portfolio reviews.

The local speaker-critique faculty included: Jessica Lee Anderson; Sibert Honor Author Chris Barton; Shana Burg; P.J. Hoover; Newbery Honor Author Jacqueline Kelly; Philip Yates, and Jennifer Ziegler.

The festivities began with a reception at my house.

The menu featured:

Texas Gulf shrimp;

an assortment of goat cheese and wild mushroom, chicken, and shrimp quesadillas made with assorted cheeses on homemade tortillas;

asparagus, snow peas, mushrooms, carrots and other garden vegetables;

a chef’s selection of cheese wedges such as Spanish sheep’s milk, English blue, triple-crème Brie, Italian Provolone and fresh goat cheese garnished with seasonal berries and grapes;

and delicious dessert bars such as: Butterscotch Brownies, Chocolate Brownies, Toffee Brownies, Lemon Bars and Seven-Layer Bars.

Catering by Central Market. In addition, Carmen Oliver provided a gorgeous mixed fruit bowl.

We had about 65 guests, ten fewer than RSVP'd. Folks traveling from Arkansas and Oklahoma were foiled by the weather.

It was chilly! There were coats, coats! in my house. Possibly the most coats ever!

Marla Frazee and Kirby Larson.

Erin Edwards and Brian Anderson.

Mark McVeigh (gray jacket) and Cheryl Klein (purple blouse).

Cheryl again.

Nathan Bransford (blue sweater) and Stacy Cantor (yellow).

Frances Hill Yanksy and former Austin SCBWI RA Julie Lake.

Jacqueline Kelly.

New SCBWI RA Debbie Gonzales, Brian Yansky, and Varsha Bajaj.

Texas Sweethearts Jo Whittemore, P.J. Hoover, and Jessica Lee Anderson.

Erik Kuntz, Mark McVeigh, Don Tate, Christy Stallop, and Gene Brenek.

Stacy Cantor, Erin Edwards, and Carmen Oliver, who was named the 2010 Austin SCBWI Meredith Davis Volunteer of the Year.

A peek inside the conference. (Most of my photos inside the room turned out too dark, so I'll leave these images to other conference bloggers).

Outside in the hall, Bethany Hegedus and Jennifer Ziegler.

Carmen again, at the post-conference barbecue at Meredith Davis's house.

Marla Frazee, Liz Garton Scanlon, and Chris Barton.

Huge thanks to Tim Crow, his committee, the speakers, and everyone who participated!

See reports (many with photos) from Shelli Cornelison, Don Tate, Chris Barton, the Texas Sweethearts, P.J. Hoover, Kirby Larson, Carmen Oliver, Vonna Carter, Samantha Clark, Mark McVeigh, Greg Leitich Smith, Sara Lewis Holmes (part two), E. "Emily" Kristin Anderson, and Austin SCBWI. Note: more posts are going live by the minute, and I'm sure I've missed who-knows-how many. But a lot of folks are making an effort to link, so these wrap-ups should lead you to others.

See also Thoughts on Conferences, also by P.J. Hoover. Peek: "I joined Austin SCBWI and signed up for the conference which was only a few weeks later. I didn't know a soul. I knew almost nothing about the publishing business. All I had was a completed manuscript and a new-found love of writing kids' books."

Enter to win a copy of Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire by Julius Lester (Harcourt, 2007)! From the promotional copy (slightly tweaked to condense):

This is the story of Cupid—the god responsible for heartache, sleepless nights, and all those silly love songs—finally getting his comeuppance.

When the god of love falls in love himself, things are bound to get interesting. And when he crosses his mama, Venus, in the process...Well, things could get downright messy.

Julius Lester brings his renowned storytelling skills to one of the world's most famous tales. In doing so, he weaves a romantic, hilarious drama brought to life with a bold new voice that's loaded with sly wisdom. The author's retelling is sure to draw new readers to classic mythology while satisfying old fans as well.

In a Powell's Ink Kids Q&A Interview with Julius Lester, he said, "I write for all ages. But I enjoy writing for children because children like stories. Literary fiction has, to a great extent, moved away from story and seems to be written for the academic literati. I like stories. I like to tell stories; I like to listen to stories. So do children."

To enter, email me (scroll and click envelope) with your name and snail/street mail address and type "Cupid" in the subject line (Facebook, JacketFlap, MySpace, and Twitter readers are welcome to just privately message me with the name in the header; I'll write you for contact information, if you win). Deadline: Feb. 12.

Enter to win one of two copies of The Book of Samuel by Erik Raschke (St. Martin's, 2009). From the promotional copy:

Samuel Gerard strives to be like every other 12 year-old: he hangs out at the bike jumps or at the mall with his friends, finds creative ways to avoid schoolwork, and repeatedly asks his parents questions that he knows have no answer.

But when his dad embarks on a religious quest to 'save the world,' Samuel’s own live is violently upended. Literally starting the day after his father leaves, Samuel finds himself on a dizzying, often humorous series of adventures, from being covered in leeches to accidentally blowing up his friends garage, from cheering up his distraught mother to supervising his feisty, racist grandma, and from making out with the most popular girl in school to a horrific, life-changing fight with the toughest girl in school.

And as Samuel tries to sort out the world around him, he begins his own journey of self-understanding, taking him squarely into the heart of his Denver neighborhood which is already threatening to burst from changing social values and mass immigration.

While The Book of Samuel tells a gripping tale about the tumultuousness of being a teenager at the crossroads of religion and community, family and friends, new-found love and deep-seated hatred, the novel is ultimately a story about the joys and pains of a boy growing up in middle-America.

In the video below, meet author Erik Raschke. Note: it's a little over eight minutes long.



From the official website: "Erik Raschke was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He received his B.A. in English from Earlham College and his M.A. in creative writing from the City College of New York. He studied Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland during The Troubles and, later, served in Armenia as a Peace Corps volunteer. A certified teacher with the New York Board of Education, he taught for many years in Washington Heights, in upper Manhattan, as an English teacher. He currently lives with his family in Amsterdam."

To enter, email me (scroll and click envelope) with your name and snail/street mail address and type "The Book of Samuel" in the subject line (Facebook, JacketFlap, MySpace, and Twitter readers are welcome to just privately message me with the name in the header; I'll write you for contact information, if you win). Deadline: Feb. 28.

Note: one copy of each book will be reserved for a teacher, librarian, or university professor of youth literature; the other will go to any Cynsations reader!

More News

An Interview with Jennifer Hubbard by Saundra Mitchell from Making Stuff Up for a Living. Peek: "I often write male characters from a first-person POV. It's not a conscious choice. A character's voice will come into my head and start telling a story. In this case, I had the starting situation: a boy with a notebook left behind by his secret girlfriend, who had just died."

'Terabithia' Author: Reading in a MySpace World: an interview with Katherine Paterson by Jeanne Sager from momlogic. Peek: "...when I realized my children were reading a book that had content in it that would bother me, and I felt they might not be mature enough to handle it, I would always read the book myself and be available to talk about it." Source: @MCLibrarian.

For Authors Only: a newsletter about advertising and promotional opportunities from Young Adult (& Kids) Book Central). Peek: "Please pass on to authors--new, old, pubbed, pre-pubbed, famous, not-famous...we'll have something for everyone."

Enter to Win The Expressologist by Kristina Springer (FSG, 2009), Stupid Cupid by Rhonda Stapleton (Simon Pulse, 2009), and A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker (Razorbill, Feb. 2010) from Kristin Walker at All the Little Things. Deadline: midnight EST Feb. 7. See more information. Read a Cynsations interview with Kristina.

Interview: Publisher Jason Low of Lee & Low Books from Multiculturalism Rocks! Peek: "...try to be bold and surprise us. Editors love to discover original stories they have not seen before and are willing to work harder to help you realize your vision if it is unique." Read a Cynsations interview with editor Louise May of Lee & Low.

This Week's New Releases from Teenreads.com Blog. Highlights include Dope Sick by Walter Dean Myers (Amistad), After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick (Scholastic), and Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson (Point).

Courage and Confidence by Kristi Holl from Writer's First Aid. Peek: "If you lack courage and confidence about your writing, I'm beginning to think that the best thing you can do for that is to just write more. A lot more."

Three Things Writers Can Learn from Photographers by Carolyn Kaufman from QueryTracker. Peek: "Capture the most important moments. Don’t bother sharing the ones that don't matter."

SCBWI-IL Prairie Writer’s Day Conference 2009 by Tabitha Olson from Writer Musings. Peek: "Today, I’m going to share what Alisha Niehaus, editor at Dial Books for Young Readers, had to say about middle grade novels."

Interview with Marguerite Abouet by The Brown Bookshelf from 28 Days Later: A Black History Month Celebration of Children's Literature. Peek: "My writing process rests mainly on creating character portraits. I like to determine their psychology, to accompany them through a history, and my imagination is fed by their interactions."

Author Interview: Jessica Lee Anderson by Mr. Maurer from Coffee for the Brain. Peek: "I spent a great deal of time researching schizophrenia, and I communicated with many individuals battling the disease which helped me to understand my protagonist and to get inside his head."

Great Kid Books: A site to help parents learn about great books for their kids ages 4 - 14. Peek: "I'm a librarian at Redwood Day School, an independent K-8 school in Oakland, CA. I'm also the mom of 3 kids, ages 5 - 10."

Six Things I Learned from Online Pitches by Kate Fall from Author2Author. Peek: "Use concrete, specific nouns in your pitches. In pitch world, lots of people discover things too late, uncover secrets, make fatal mistakes, and want things that come at a heavy price."

Interview: Rene Colato Lainez by April from Cafe of Dreams. Peek: "René Has Two Last Names (Pinata, 2009) is the story of René, an immigrant boy from El Salvador. The first day of school, he discovers that his mother’s last name is missing in his name tag. He decides to add it himself."

Rita Williams-Garcia on Life and Writing by Stephanie Greene from Through the Tollbooth. The first in a week-long series. Peek: "Like Delphine, I was glued to the news. My father was in Vietnam. I heard Robert F. Kennedy speak at Monterey Airport—I even took a picture with him. Unfortunately, we were never sent a copy." See also Rita on Quitting Her Day Job, Creativity, the Continuing Conversation. Read a Cynsations interview with Rita and her National Book Award report.

Author Jo Whittemore is kicking off the March release of her new book Front Page Face-Off (Aladdin MIX, 2010) with a series of contests spanning the month of February, the "Four Weeks of Face-Off." Each week on her blog, Jo will be featuring a different character from the book and readers will have the chance to comment and win a prize related to that character.

"Feminist" is Not a Dirty Word by Colleen Mondor from Chasing Ray. Features insights from Lorie Ann Grover, Loree Griffin Burns, Margo Rabb, and Zetta Elliott. Peek: "...what does it mean to be a 21st century feminist and on the literary front, what books/authors would you recommend to today's teens who want to take girl power to the next level?" Read Cynsations interviews with Margo and Zetta.

Interview with C.K. Kelly Martin from The Compulsive Reader. Peek: "It's a shock to me that we're in the twenty-first century and society is still circulating the idea that being a guy means being aggressive and otherwise unemotional and being a girl means being nurturing and naturally better behaved." Read a Cynsations interview with C.K.

People Who Need People: How 11 intrepid users get the most out of social media by Kathy Ishizuka from School Library Journal. Paula Chase Hyman said: "The relationships we've built have often led to personal appearances, invites to sit on panels, and book sales. Most importantly, it’s resulted in making great books more visible among a very important audience—librarians, parents, and teachers." Source: @mitaliperkins.

Interview with Debbie Gonzales by Melissa Buron from Book Addict. Peek: "It’s up at 5 a.m. for an hour of creative work. And then, from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. it is all about my business. After spending some evening time with my sweet hubby, I might sneak back to my desk and crawl back into my fiction for a few hours before calling it a great day."

Simon & Schuster is holding a special contest for TeensReadToo.com readers just in time for Valentine's Day! Five (5) lucky winners will receive gift sets including titles from their Romantic Comedies series! See more information.

The McVeigh Agency Blog: a new blog from agent Mark McVeigh. Peek: "After ten years as an editor, I switched sides and became an agent. I represent writers, illustrators, graphic novelists, and photographers of works for both adult and children." Read a Cynsations interview with Mark.

Jane Yolen’s 20 Rules of Writing by Julie from Write Up My Life. Peek: "Go easy on adverbs. Apparently, you could have made a 200-page book just out of the adverbs in the fourth Harry Potter book. But, as Jane says, 'You are not J.K. Rowling. And neither am I.'"

Young Adult Fiction: a class taught by Sara Zarr from The Glen Online. Peek: "Through lecture, writing assignments/exercises, and suggested readings, we'll talk about what young adult fiction is, and address fundamental fiction matters like voice, character, and plot in ways that are specific to the YA category." Contact Sara for more information.

The deadline for the 2010 Writers' League of Texas Book Awards has been extended to March 15. Click here (PDF) for submission guidelines and entry form. Any book published in 2009 is eligible.

28 Days Later: Kekla Magoon The Brown Bookshelf from 28 Days Later: A Black History Month Celebration of Children's Literature. Peek: "In retrospect, this rough patch became a deeply rewarding moment, because I held true to my vision for the book, which turned out to be the right thing (judging by my own happiness, as well as by the reviews and awards!)." See also the feature on Sharon G. Flake.

Coretta Scott King Book Award Curriculum Resource Center: "...a free, multimedia, online database for educators and families, featuring more than 250 original recordings with the award-winning authors and illustrators, and hundreds of lesson plans..."

Sara Bennett Wealer: a new official website from the author of Rival (HarperTeen, 2011). Note: she's originally from Manhattan, Kansas, "the little apple!" See her site for giveaway information!

Nine Traits of Sympathetic Characters by Darcy Pattison from Fiction Notes. Peek: "Apparently, I generate initial sympathy for my protag[onist], but at some point, the reader loses the connection to him. So, there’s work to do. Here are things I’m looking at." See also Use Character Traits to Make Your Character Sympathetic. Read a Cynsations interview with Darcy.

A Chat with Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, author of 8th Grade Superzero by Mitali Perkins from Mitali's Fire Escape. Peek: "Madeleine L'Engle wrote once that everything an artist does is her witness, we cannot hide what we are. And I think that's true. Whatever you believe, whoever you are will come out in your work."

Giving Critique: tips from Jennifer R. Hubbard. Peek: "Use the sandwich method. If you haven't heard of this, it's the practice of beginning and ending your critique with positive statements, pointing out what you liked about the piece. All the suggestions for improvements get sandwiched in the middle, and the praise on either end is encouraging to the recipient."

Q & A with Carrie Jones by Kate Pavao from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "There's a sort of larger-than-life aspect that really tails into what novels are often about: giving people hope and a place to escape. I live in fairly rural Maine, and I know locally there are more teens having more issues in school because there are more issues at home. Parents are stuck trying to heat their homes in 17-degree weather and they’re not getting as many hours at work or bonuses or cost of living increases." Source: April Henry.

Interview with Linda Sue Park from Spellbinders. Peek: "What do I mean by a personal stake? Most often it means 'family,' a person's ethnic background, of course. But fine stories about other cultures have been written by people who married into that culture, or adopted children from that culture, or lived among the culture for many years. Those are not the only ways, of course; beyond that it depends on the individual. Thorough research is vital to any such story, of course, but it is no substitute for a personal stake." Read a Cynsations interview with Linda Sue.

Cynsational Screening Room

Check out the book trailer for Black Is For Beginnings by Laurie Faria Stolarz, illustrated by Janina Gorrissen, adapted by Barbara Randall Kesel (Flux, 2009).



Writing as a Profession: a video from YA author Maureen Johnson. Learn more about her new release Scarlett Fever (Point, 2010).



In the Multicultural Minute, Renee Ting of Shen's Books asks Christine Taylor-Butler: What is your one wish for the future of multicultural children's books?



More Personally

Great news! I'm closing in on this month's deadline on the revision of Blessed (Candlewick, 2011)! That said, it's still a super-busy time. If y'all could hold off on any non-essential messages until I give the green light, I'd greatly appreciate it! Note: if you're wondering what my life is roughly like, see the Maureen Johnson video above.

A Conversation about Book Covers and Race by Debbie Reese at American Indians in Children's Literature. Peek: "I wonder how readers or buyers respond to one of my favorite book covers (and books)? I'm thinking of the cover for Rain is Not My Indian Name...." Note: this is part of a larger, ongoing conversation in the kidlitosphere.

Cynsational Events

18th Annual African American Children’s Book Fair will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 6 at Community College of Philadelphia (Gymnasium)(17th Spring Garden St.). The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 215-878-BOOK. Source: The Brown Bookshelf.

Author Bethany Hegedus will speak on "scene and structure" ("If You Build It, They Will Read") from 11 a.m. to noon Feb. 13 at BookPeople in conjunction with Austin SCBWI. Note: "bring a notebook and get ready to examine Aristotle's Incline and the 7 Key Scenes every book needs. Please be familiar with Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick, 2000)..., as Bethany will discuss the Seven Key Scenes used to build this gem of a book."

"More Than Words: Making Connections With Authors and Classroom Readers and Writers," sponsored by the Texas Association for the Improvement of Reading and the Central Texas Writing Project, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at Round Rock (Texas) Higher Education Center. Featured authors are: Margo Rabb; Jennifer Ziegler; April Lurie; Varian Johnson; Liz Garton Scanlon; Cynthia Leitich Smith; Don Tate; Chris Barton; Anne Bustard; and C.S. Jennings. Pre-registration ends Feb. 8. Cost: $20.00 Teachers; $10.00 Students/TC’s. Make checks payable to TAIR-CTWP Conference. Mail to: Diane Osborn; Texas State University; Department of Curriculum & Instruction; 601 University Drive; San Marcos, Texas 78666. Questions? Contact Dr. Catherine Davis or Dr. Sharon O’Neal.

2010 Houston-SCBWI Conference will be held Feb. 20 at the Merrell Center in Katy. Registration is now open. Faculty includes Cynthia Leitich Smith, award-winning author and Vermont College of Fine Arts faculty member; Ruta Rimas, assistant editor at Balzar & Bray/HarperCollins; Patrick Collins, creative director at Henry Holt; Alexandra Cooper, senior editor at Simon & Schuster; Lisa Ann Sandell, senior editor at Scholastic; Nancy Feresten, vice president and editor-in-chief National Geographic Children's Books, and Sara Crowe, agent at Harvey Klinger. Note: "All the speakers will be doing critiques. Critique spots are limited." See registration and information.

The Greater Houston Teen Book Convention is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 10 at Alief Taylor High School, and admission is free! Speakers include keynoter Sharon Draper and:

• Cynthia Leitich Smith
  
• Beth Fantaskey
• Marjetta Geerling
  
• Jon Skovron
  
• Judson Roberts
  
• Jimmy Gownley
• George O'Connor
  
• Terry Moore
• Gayle Forman
• The Fillbach brothers
  
• Elizabeth Eulberg
• Paula Morris

2010 Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop is scheduled for June 14 to June 18 at the Waterford School in Sandy, Utah. Peek: "Full-day participants spend their mornings in small workshops led by award-winning faculty. Both full- and half-day participants enjoy afternoon plenary sessions by national children's book editors and an agent, as well as breakout sessions by our workshop faculty and guest presenters. The keynote address and book signing are open to all conference attendees." See faculty.

Interview by Jenny Desmond Walters for SCBWI Bologna 2010

As an author/illustrator of over 35 award-winning children’s books that have been published around the globe, what advice do you have for writers who are just starting out?

Write about something that you’re passionate about. It shows in the words and art. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you have it, a perceptive editor will catch it and eventually your readers will relive that original passion.

Be active with your SCBWI membership. It’s the best way to keep your finger on the book publishing pulse. You’ll make firm friends and meet SCBWI members from across the world and enjoy the generous support of a global network.

You grew up in New Jersey, but your life has taken you all over the world. What was it that inspired you to want to share your many cultural experiences with children?

After studying Ethnographic Film at UCLA, I moved to the idyllic island of Montserrat in the Caribbean. Landing on the tarmac for the very first time, I felt an affinity to the people and landscape. My first book, My Little Island, was a result of my years on Montserrat.

I’m passionate about travel and feel compelled to share stories from around the world. I want to create books that all children can identify with and enjoy. Children have a natural curiosity about books. My hope is that they can travel vicariously to other countries through my books and develop a worldview that appreciates the richness of other cultures.

How do you find inspiration for a story, and in the case of your books about life in other countries, how do you choose which aspects of a culture you want to share?

Children often ask me what’s my favorite place in the world and why. I’ve traveled to over forty countries, and each has a unique story to share. Children are children everywhere, and they all love a good story. They’re all curious about the world.

I try and view the world through a child’s eye: What intrigues me? What amazes me? What stories would I take home and share? There are some stories that just have to be told. I try and connect children to rich and varied cultures so they can appreciate their own uniqueness. Creation tales from around the world help make that connection.

As someone who both writes and illustrates, do the illustration ideas come at the same time as the words or is there a certain order to the process for you? What is your creative process like?

Story always comes first—whether one tells it in illustrations or words, or the collaboration of both in a children’s picture book. The initial spark to write or illustrate a story might be generated by a character or a setting.

Seeing a statue of a wounded soldier on back of a small donkey was the catalyst for The Donkey of Gallipoli: A True Story of Courage in World War I, a story set in Turkey.

Hearing of an elephant that saved children from the Tsunami in Thailand was the inspiration for The Day of the Elephant.

Accurate details in illustrations and text create an overall sense of cultural authenticity. I’m tenacious about researching.

When I’m asked to illustrate a book, I try and visit the country and immerse myself in that culture. I talk to as many people as possible. I visit museums and libraries. I watch films and documentaries. I read books, and most importantly respect cultural protocols.

Your husband, Mark Greenwood, is also a writer, and you’re listed as the illustrator for several of his books. Do you collaborate with one another on a book from its inception?

Working with Mark is always a pleasure. He intuitively knows how I’d paint a particular scene, so he keeps me in mind when he composes the language. We constantly talk about ideas — right from the beginning. We visualize an initial concept together and then see it through to the finished book.

I take the text quite literally and paint so much detail from the text that Mark will look at the artwork or sketches and give the text one final edit. Taking a loss on the words and letting the art tell certain parts of the story always improves a picture book. It makes the collaboration of text and art stronger.

What do you love best about your job as children’s writer and illustrator?

Every project is exciting because I learn so much about the people and setting of where my books take place. I’m humbled to meet so many wonderful creative people from all over the world.

I’m fortunate that I’m invited to conduct author visits in some truly amazing places that one can only visit by invitation. I travel extensively to remote communities in Central Australia, creating books with the adults and children.

Indigenous Australians have some of the world's oldest stories, passed down for thousands of years. I consult with the elders to find a significant local story that the children can retell and create in book form. My greatest ambition is to instill pride and self-esteem in children about their unique heritage and their own ability to capture it in pictures and words.

Your website says that while working to find a publisher for your first book, My Little Island, in 1983, you moved to London from Montserrat to be closer to publishers. How did that influence your work and lead to the eventual success of publication?

I went to visit friends in London and stayed seven years. At that time, I didn’t know anything about getting a book published. I thought I should live near the publisher.

In reality, having a face-to-face meeting with the publisher was helpful, and I was able to plead my case when they hummed and hawed whether they’d print my first book. I promised if they published the book, my mom would buy every copy. I was paid £100. advance, and it’s still in print 27 years on.

Also on your website, you mention that 30 publishers turned down your first book idea until the right one finally accepted it. What was the process like? Did the book change over the course of this process?

When I first started approaching publishers, all I had was an idea and a series of paintings of Montserrat. A hard sell when you’ve never been published.

I hadn’t done my homework, so I wasted a lot of time approaching the wrong publishing houses. In the process of many publishers passing on my idea, I gained invaluable knowledge. By the 30th publisher, I had a solid proposal.

When you submit your manuscripts, how do you identify potential publishers for your work? Is it mainly through networking that you’ve had the most success, or do you also send books to the infamous “slush pile?”

Fortunately, I have a dynamic literary agent who knows what I’m looking for and what manuscripts will suit my style. I live over 16,000 miles from most of my publishers, so it’s good to have someone batting for me in the big smoke. I have a fantastic rapport with my editors and know what’s appropriate for their lists. I’m constantly meeting new publishers and have a healthy back list. All this hopefully keeps me out of the “slush pile.”

When you pitched your first book, and even for subsequent books, do you have any hints or tips you can share that you believe helped your manuscripts stand out and get the attention of publishers?

The children’s book publishing industry has changed over the years. The art has become quirkier. The shelf life of books shorter. The market competition is greater, and with eBooks, many changes are happening that will alter the way we interact with books in the technological future. Keep up with these changes.

Publishers invited to speak at SCBWI conferences often offer attendees the opportunity to submit one manuscript or portfolio for consideration. This is one way out of the infamous "slush pile."

My tips:

• Short, sharp and sweet cover letters.

• Don’t be a closet author or illustrator—share your ideas.

• One needs preparation, patience, determination, dedication and luck to break into the industry.

• Try and build a relationship with an editor or publisher.

• Authors: Practice the “elevator pitch.” In less than two minutes, explain what your book is about in preparation for that opportune moment when you meet a publisher.

• Illustrators: Have a portfolio that shows a diversity of work. It should include animals, children, and anything else you love to draw. Send out samples to art directors.

Have you ever scrapped a story because of too many rejections, or in your experience, does every good story eventually find a publisher?

Good stories eventually find their way. I have a couple of stories on the back burner that have been there for a while. Every now and then, I take them out, dust them off, and try to find them a new home. Rejection letters are like badges of courage.

Once, I received three rejections in the same day. One company designed their rejection slips as drinks coasters, which I promptly used.

And finally, do you have a new project on which you are currently working? If so, can you tell us a little about it?

I’m currently working on the preliminary art, or as I call them, sloppy copies for The Drummer Boy of John John. The book is inspired by Winston "Spree" Simon; at the age of seven, he was a drummer in a steelpan group called the John John band. He made "noise" by playing melodies on empty biscuit containers during Carnival celebrations. The proud villagers of John John, Trinidad, believe that he was the first person to play the steel drum.

Next book release--Ned Kelly and the Green Sash, written by Mark Greenwood (Walker, May 2010). Ned Kelly and the Green Sash is a window into the character of a poor boy, once honored for his bravery, who grew up to become Australia’s most famous outlaw.

Cynsational Notes

Frané Lessac is an author and illustrator of international renown, having over 35 award winning children's books published throughout the world. She has exhibited her work in London, Paris, Sydney, Perth, New York, Los Angeles, and the Caribbean. Frané is on the Executive Committee of the Australian Society of Authors and the Illustrator Liaison for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in West Australia. Her greatest ambition is to instill pride and self-esteem in children about their own unique heritage and their ability to capture it in pictures and words. Learn more about Frané Lessac.

Jenny Desmond Walters is the founding regional advisor of the SCBWI Korea chapter. She is an experienced education professional with a love of learning and literature. She has worked in public television developing curriculum and promoting instructional programs, as well as worked extensively with educational publishers and learning materials companies. For the last several years, Jenny has lived in east Asia where she has become an avid writer and observer of life in Japan and Korea. Her articles have been published in national children's magazines and writing journals, and she has been a member of SCBWI for more than 10 years. Jenny currently resides in Seoul with her husband and three daughters, and she rarely runs out of interesting stories to write.

The SCBWI Bologna 2010 interview series is brought to you by the SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference in conjunction with Cynsations. To register, visit the SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference 2010. Note: Special thanks to Angela Cerrito for coordinating this series with SCBWI Bologna and Cynsations.

Learn about Bonnie Christensen.

Note: interior illustrations below are from Bonnie's Django, World's Greatest Jazz Guitarist (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, 2009) and featured here with permission.

What do you love most about the creative life?

In attempting to answer this question, I ran straight into a wall. There are so very many things to love about the creative life, can I love all of them "most"? I'll try to be obedient and address the lovable aspects in order of preference. And I'll explain why as best I can.

#1 The moment of creation. Where did that idea come from? Why won't it leave me alone? What does it want me to do? Is it insane? Can I actually even mention it to my agent without feeling like a total ninny?

It's pure bliss though, this something new that rose up out of the earth one morning while I was making the espresso.

#1. Freedom. This doesn't just mean that I can wake up at a ridiculous hour and lounge around in my jammies, eating salt-and-vinegar chips and chocolate-covered coffee beans all day while reading every Jane Austen novel for the 100th time.

No. But maybe tomorrow. No, no. Freedom to explore, or do nothing, to take a walk or a shower at 3 p.m. The strange sort of place that a wonderful idea will crop up in the unstressed mind. I can spend a day at the beach, if I work all weekend. I'm a grown up, and I can create my own life, my own schedule. It's wonderful to have the freedom to daydream and doodle and sometimes to do nothing at all.

I have a friend who often says "nothing is something to do." I like that.

[Yes, #1 is a tie.]

#2 Research. The older I get, the more ignorant I feel. To create books or illustrations requires research of all sorts. Travel, reading, museums, meeting people, learning new languages, understanding other cultures, other times in history.

At the moment, I'm fascinated with Etruscans; three years ago, I knew nothing more than the name. But one day, when a series of ideas have percolated properly, the Etruscans will tap on my door and present me with a task. That's when the work truly begins. But it's work rooted in curiosity and enthusiasm, an exploration or the best sort.

#3 Change. From Etruscan to jazz musicians to a child learning to make borscht to a journalist putting her life in jeopardy for writing out against lynchings, each book brings a new universe of experience and understanding, new friends and enemies, new costumes and lighting and architecture.

In short, each book is a new life, each one entirely unique.

[Cover art from Magic in the Margins by W. Nikola-Lisa, illustrated by Bonnie Christensen (Houghton Mifflin, 2007).]

#4 Fun. Jammies and espresso and a big table with lots of crayons and newsprint, or a tiny notebook with fine black pens. Crayons smell good; they really do. And I can blast my iPod as loud as I like, and when Marvin Gaye comes on, I can jump up and dance around like a dervish and then do it again and again.

I can do whatever I want in my studio. But I know that if I want to keep my studio, I'd better sit back down sooner or later and do the work part. And the work part is good too, always creating a challenge to be solved whether with illustration or writing, and I like challenges.

How do you define professional success?

Hm. This is something that changes constantly.

At one time professional success meant not being a "one-book wonder."And then it meant "just keep going." But that's not success exactly, that's really lining up work.

Now that I've stopped counting the books like birthdays, it seems professional success is really a personal philosophy. And what I'm concerned with is personal success within my profession. It's easy to identify professional success; loads of books published, awards, being made into an action figure (okay, I exaggerate, but if I had the kind of success I'd demand it!)

Just look at the New York Times best seller lists, buzzing with brilliance. Once upon a time, these lists gave me sour grapes and ennui. Now I don't look at them, and I'm much happier.

I let my mind wander. I let my body wander to foreign places. I play the violin.

I'm scatterbrained. Sometimes I go to an important event and later discover I'm coated with a nice layer of cat fur because I need glasses for more than reading.

I'm in the business of making the best books possible for me, and even then, they are never good enough, but I try to keep in mind the child who will read the book and discover elements included to amuse myself while working, and those same elements will make the child happy too. This is my personal success within my profession.

Could you tell us about your new release?

My latest book is Django, World's Greatest Jazz Guitarist (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, 2009) which I both wrote and illustrated. It's a biography of Django Reinhardt, the gypsy jazz guitarist who rose to prominence in Paris dance halls of the 1920s and '30s but was then badly injured in an accident. He didn't give up guitar despite losing use of two fingers of his fretting hand; instead, he spent almost two years retraining himself to play in a new style adapted to his ability. Really an incredible man with a rare musical talent.


The other project I’m working on is The Princess of Borscht, written by Leda Schubert (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, 2011), a lovely and funny story about a girl trying to make borscht to help cure her grandmother who's in the hospital. It's quite a leap from the serious nonfiction work, and I'm loving the serendipity of it all.

After that, I have Fabulous, A Portrait of Andy Warhol (Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt, 2011), a picture book bio of Andy Warhol, coming out. Cool.

Cynsational Notes

Django, World's Greatest Jazz Guitarist was named the 2010 Young Children's Book Winner of the ALA Schneider Family Book Award. Peek: "The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences."

The Craft, Career & Cheer series features conversations with children's-YA book creators about positive aspects of their creative and professional lives.

Interview by Jenny Desmond Walters for SCBWI Bologna 2010

On your website, you have wonderful information for people interested in learning more about your agency. One of the things you mention is that Greenhouse is looking for stories that have "a great concept, memorable characters and a strong voice."

Can you give some specific examples of the kinds of qualities that make characters memorable to you as you read?

Most of all I want to believe in a character. I want to leap out of the reading experience (words on a page) and into the mind of that individual, so I am caught up and transported into their world. I want to feel their dilemma and the difference between what is going on in their head and what the other characters may see or hear; the inner agenda versus the outer. For example, the feisty girl who is vulnerable inside. I want to experience not only a story arc but also a character arc, so the protagonist makes a satisfying journey that gives meaning and richness to the unfolding events.

As someone once said, "The best stories teach us more about ourselves than about the characters." Very true, and if we feel changed ourselves by a story, by our identification with a character, then we are unlikely ever to forget it. Isn’t that the essence of great fiction?

Before becoming a literary agent, you were a children's publisher for many years, working with some top authors in the industry. What factors propelled you towards starting your own literary agency?

I had been Publishing Director of Macmillan Children’s Books in London for a number of years. While I loved my team and we were very successful, my time was increasingly spent in management--of staff and systems. I had a deep feeling that I was moving towards a major change in my life. I was hungry to get back to doing what I loved most--working closely with writers, editing, developing stories. I was also very drawn to an entrepreneurial endeavor--starting something from scratch, but with the personality and culture that I envisioned, rather than one imposed by corporate demands.

I felt I had the experience and qualities that, as a publisher, I sought in literary agents. I knew the business inside and out, I loved negotiating and doing deals, and I had many years’ editing experience. I also had a transatlantic identity–knowledge of both U.S. and U.K. publishers and markets. Oh, and I was engaged to marry an American man!

All these things came together when my old friends over at Working Partners in London said they were keen to "do something in the U.S.A." This gave me the backing of a highly successful parent company and access to the difficult infrastructure that a single-agent company just can’t afford–finance, legal, tax and media experts, plus an amazing rights-selling sister company, Rights People.

When I came up with the name Greenhouse I knew I had found the perfect scenario--autonomy to create a great agency brand, but supported by a very experienced back-office team. The idea of launching this in the U.S.A. totally thrilled me.

I love the Greenhouse's slogan that it's "a place where writers grow." What are some of the specific ways you interact with your clients in order to nurture their growth and their careers?

I’m a great believer in the fact that all areas of life feed into each other; i.e., If we are supported, connected, happy and excited about what we do, we will achieve more than we ever thought we could. So the first thing is that I try to foster a culture of communication, friendship and lively connectedness for our clients.

While Julia [since January 2009, Julia Churchill has been developing the U.K. side of Greenhouse] and I keep in touch with authors as much as we can, we also encourage authors to seek support from each other as they go through the often bumpy ride to publication and beyond.

I try to be very responsive; if an author contacts me, I get back to them very fast, wherever I am. I also often call them just for a catch-up and chat. Anxiety and self-doubt are big issues for most authors, and I try to head off those feelings or deal with them as well as I can. We want our writers to focus on their creative work, while we deal with the rest.

I love strategizing, and I’m always thinking "what comes next?" for our clients. How are we going to get to the next level, how do we position ourselves, what should the next story be if we’re to consolidate, etc. etc.?

Our goal is to keep authors under contract, with a developing career. This business isn’t just about getting published, it’s about staying published, and that’s something we keep in mind all the time.

We also get very editorially involved and try to help writers grow in their craft and self-confidence--more on that below.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face when selecting a new client?

I tend to see opportunity rather than challenge when I take on someone new. What I love is when I have a gut feeling that a particular writer is for me. Their story, their style, their interaction just meshes, and I have an instinct that it’s going to work between us, professionally and personally (because both are very important; this is going to be a close relationship for the long term).

First and foremost, I’m looking for a writing voice that leaps out at me and announces that this individual has something special, even if raw. Plotting we can often fix, but it’s tough to create voice if it doesn’t exist. I love writers with an ear for language, a stylistic panache, a je ne sais quoi that excites me. It isn’t a question of being "good enough" (as some submitters suggest); it’s all about being standout.

Before I take someone on, I like to think very carefully about the manuscript and how it could be made stronger before submission (usually it can). I therefore need to know that the writer is keen to work hard, to revise, that they are truly serious about developing their craft.

There is often so much revision in the process--even after we’ve sold the book--and attitude, flexibility, meticulousness, openness are key ingredients.

The submission journey is one of shared risk for author and agent--I imagine us setting off down the road together, hand in hand.

You’ve been in the business for 30 years. How would you say it has changed over the course of this time?

That’s a huge question!

Briefly, when I started out, children’s publishing was a little niche run by "nice girls" who stayed in their "kiddies’ corner."

Yes, I’m serious. Our aim was to make small sums of money from a lot of titles. So, the real change is that now children’s publishing is big, big business, acknowledged as often the most recession-proof, profitable area of corporate publishing. Rowling, Pullman, Colfer, Horowitz, Meyer (and so many more) have shown the international sales clout attainable and that has in turn galvanized Hollywood.

There’s also much more international synergy. Twenty years ago markets were more disparate; it was all much more amateurish. Now, children’s books are much more sales-and-marketing led, and we see adult-level publicity/marketing campaigns (not for all books, of course).

News of hot properties spreads around the world extraordinarily fast. A big book in the U.S. is likely to be big--or at least highly sought after--in many territories. Of course, that’s also attributable to the Internet age and ever-increasing globalization. This international view particularly underpins Greenhouse; we see the whole world as our marketplace.

The other thing of course, is new media and where all that is taking us; ebook publishing, digital download, apps, hand-held readers. What will the Apple Tablet bring?

Exciting times, even if we do have to hold on to our hats. It goes against our literary grain, but we have to think not only of "stories" but also of "content."

On your website, you note that you are an "editorial agent." Can you explain more about what that entails? Is this the kind of service that all agents provide, or would you say this is a unique aspect of The Greenhouse?

I can’t claim we are unique, but it’s true that editorial is a strength of ours. We believe more in potential than in initial actuality. By which I mean that I’m looking for voice and concept, but if the plot is a bit of a muddle and the characters need more development, we are prepared to work closely with authors to develop these areas. Of course that is a gamble--we can’t be sure the manuscript will develop into something fabulous, but there are times when we take that risk (and it has paid off very well for us and the authors concerned).

There’s also a small number of authors whom I feel are cruising just below a point where we can be confident of taking them on; perhaps their story needs a much deeper level of creative input. We’re currently looking at how we might work more with a small number of these. Nothing is formalized, but it’s an area that interests me and we’re just connecting now with our first individual in that capacity.

I believe it’s our responsibility not only to try our hardest to get an author a deal, but also to get them the best possible deal. Usually, this means taking time to get a manuscript into optimum shape before submission. It’s all about care; we never just "fling stuff out and see what sticks."

Your blog is filled with jewels of information and inspiring topics for hopeful writers. It’s clear that you balance an enormous number of responsibilities. How do you find time to keep up with the ever-increasing demand to have a presence on social networking forums and blogs, and do you think it is important for hopeful as well as established writers to do the same? Have you ever picked up an author because you read his or her blog?

I personally don’t dwell too much on social networking. Julia Tweets from the Greenhouse site, but I honestly don’t have the time. However, I do quite a lot of interviews and take my own blog very seriously--like a carefully honed journalistic assignment each week.

I see it as helping to present the "face" of the agency, letting visitors into what I think and feel about the industry and the business of writing. But I also like to demonstrate that I too am a writer--I craft my work and struggle to get it right; I share in the pressures.

Of course, there is value in anything that promotes a writer and develops their fan base, and social networking can be great for that. But it isn’t a universal panacea, and I do worry about the hours aspiring writers can spend blog-reading, Facebook-ing and tweeting.

It’s not about being friends on Facebook; it’s about becoming a strong and memorable writer. For me, it all comes down to that, and focusing on the nuts-and-bolts craft is the absolutely hardest thing. Perhaps we all need to shut out distractions for one day each week?

I always look at links to blogs or sites that writers include in submissions, but for me, that’s not mandatory. In some ways it can be easier to create your web presence after you have a deal, so you can target it more accurately. I’ve never signed an author on the basis of their blog, though it’s great (and an additional incentive) if that is lively, relevant, fresh and original; it all helps to create an impression. Plus, it can reveal a great self-promoter. However, if your web presence is tired, badly designed, out of date or banal, then it isn’t going to help you.

Your agency represents middle grade and young adult manuscripts. Are there any stories you’re not getting right now but would like to see come across your desk?

There’s a lot in my blog about what I’m looking for, and I recommend reading through back posts to get a wider sense of that. However, in general I’m looking for work that leaps out at me for some reason. Yes, I’m still interested in dark YA (the money is still there), but it’s got to have something very fresh. I see a lot of very similar stories; Death in every imaginable guise is huge!

I’m intrigued by "what if?" concepts because asking oneself that question can lead to boldly original plotting. I also like big issues in YA--faith, meaning, redemption . . . I want to be challenged as well as swept away emotionally.

I’d like to see more quality/charming/beautiful writing for girls in middle grade, and I'd love to find a really hilarious story for boys (not relying on the perennial supposed boy-pleasers of slapstick and farts). I’m interested in international stories, with authentic settings, and I have always loved brilliant high-concept or character-led work for tweens.

Writers who try to do something different, who are ambitious in a literary sense, are always very welcome.

In an interview at the beginning of 2009 with Cynthia Leitich Smith, you said that you hoped to begin accepting picture books in the future. Do you still see that as something the Greenhouse will do and, if so, do you have any timeline in mind for when this might happen?

Ah, something I am often asked. Our position at the moment is that we represent picture book texts when by a client whom we initially took on for older, longer fiction. In fact, we sold our first picture book last fall.

I’m afraid I don’t have a timeline at the moment for soliciting picture books from the wider public. We are very, very busy with older fiction and receive a huge number of submissions, so I have a concern about widening the net right now. It made sense to focus on older work at the outset because I’m a fiction editor by background, my expertise is particularly with character and plotting, and because there’s much less synergy in the international markets for picture books. But it’s something I’m keeping under review and I wouldn’t be surprised if we are considering picture books by the end of the year (but I’m not promising).

Are you accepting unsolicited submissions at this time? What is the best way for a prospective client to get in touch with you?

We always accept unsolicited submissions, and a number of our authors joined us in this way. We accept e-queries only, and all submission guidelines are given on the Greenhouse website. I’d suggest any interested writer should start there and closely follow the instructions.

And last, do you have any tips or suggestions for authors who meet you at conferences?

If an individual met me at a conference and wants to submit work then they should include where we met in the email heading and also give more details in the body of the message, so I’m reminded about the conversation we had. Inevitably, I prioritize submissions from people I’ve met, especially if they are exclusive to Greenhouse.

I enjoy meeting authors and talking about writing, and I’ve become friends with a number of writers whom I didn’t subsequently go on to represent.

We’re all in this business together, we’re united by our love of books and reading--and a profound belief in the power of literacy and imagination for young people. Plus, it’s all a lot of fun. The only constraint, unfortunately, is time!

Cynsational Notes

Sarah Davies was a children’s publisher in London for more than 25 years before moving to the U.S.A. in 2007 to launch the Greenhouse Literary Agency. Based in Washington, D.C. and London, the Greenhouse exclusively represents authors of children’s and YA fiction and is not only transatlantic (Sarah personally represents both American and British authors direct to both markets), but also unusually international–foreign rights are sold by sister-company Rights People, a specialist children’s rights-selling business with a fast-growing reputation for selling literary properties around the world.

In her publisher incarnation, Sarah worked with and published authors such as Judy Blume, Meg Cabot, Sharon Creech, Karen Cushman, and Philip Pullman. As an agent, she represents many debut authors, a number of whom have achieved deals at auction – among them, Sarwat Chadda, Lindsey Leavitt, Brenna Yovanoff, Tricia Springstubb, and Valerie J. Patterson.

Sarah has been a fiction editor half her life, and brings a wealth of editorial experience to her role as literary agent, working closely with writers to reach an optimum submission point. Sarah says, "Everything I’d most like to tell you about the Greenhouse is in its name. It’s where writers grow!"

Jenny Desmond Walters is the founding regional advisor of the SCBWI Korea chapter. She is an experienced education professional with a love of learning and literature. She has worked in public television developing curriculum and promoting instructional programs, as well as worked extensively with educational publishers and learning materials companies. For the last several years, Jenny has lived in east Asia where she has become an avid writer and observer of life in Japan and Korea. Her articles have been published in national children's magazines and writing journals, and she has been a member of SCBWI for more than 10 years. Jenny currently resides in Seoul with her husband and three daughters, and she rarely runs out of interesting stories to write.

The SCBWI Bologna 2010 interview series is brought to you by the SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference in conjunction with Cynsations. To register, visit the SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference 2010. Note: Special thanks to Angela Cerrito for coordinating this series with SCBWI Bologna and Cynsations.

Today PaperTigers announced its Spirit of PaperTigers Project, an initiative of Pacific Rim Voices, with the aim of promoting literacy "while raising awareness of our common humanity."

This will involve a donation of 100 book sets of seven carefully selected multicultural books to libraries and schools in areas of need across the globe.

See Choosing the 2010 Book Set by Sally Ito from PaperTigers. Peek: "We are especially concerned with young readers for whom literacy is a crucial pathway out of adverse conditions in life, and with communicating to them the message that there’s a place for all of us, with all our similarities and differences, in the world we share."

Cynsational Notes

The February 2010 issue of PaperTigers also includes interviews with author-illustrator Claire A. Nivola, author-illustrator Bolormaa Baasansuren, and authors Guo Yue and Clare Farrow by Marjorie Coughlan as well as interviews with author Lucia Gonzalez, author-illustrator Lynne Barasch, author-illustrator Grace Lin, and author Katie Smith Milway by Aline Pereira.

Susan VanHecke is the debut author of Rock 'N' Roll Soldier: A Memoir, co-authored by Dean Ellis Kohler (HarperTeen, 2009). From the promotional copy:

"During a time when none of us knew for sure if we would live or die, I came to know the true power of music."

Dean Kohler is about to make it big--he's finally scored a national record deal! But his dreams are abruptly put on hold by the arrival of his draft notice.

Now he's in Qui Nhon, Vietnam, serving as a military policeman. He keeps telling himself he's a musician, not a killer, and that he's lucky he's not fighting on the front lines. When Captain orders him to form a rock band, it's up to Dean to find instruments and players, pronto.

Ingenuity and perseverance pay off, and soon the band is traveling through treacherous jungle terrain to perform for troops in desperate need of an escape--even if it's only for three sets.

And for Dean--who lives with death, violence, and the fear that anyone could be a potential spy (even his Vietnamese girlfriend)--the band becomes the one thing that gets him through the day. During one of the most controversial wars in recent American history, this incredible true story is about music and camaraderie in the midst of chaos.

See also Susan VanHecke: Adventures in Authorhood.

Could you describe both your pre-and-post contract revision process? What did you learn along the way? How did you feel at each stage? What advice do you have for other writers on the subject of revision?

When Dean Kohler first told me nearly ten years ago about the band he'd formed in Vietnam, I knew his story would make a great book. So I put together a proposal and sample chapters and landed an agent who shopped it around to publishers of books for grown-ups. We had no takers--Dean's story was too "Boy Scout-ish," they said, not enough blood and guts.

Of course, I was crushed, but I put the proposal away and moved on to other projects. Dean's tale was always in the back of my head, though.

When I started writing for children a few years ago, I pulled the proposal back out, recast it as a YA, and pitched it to children's publishers. Several editors were interested, and HarperCollins ultimately acquired it in a pre-empt.

One of the hazards, though, of selling a book from a proposal is that all parties involved–author, co-author, editor, agent–each have their own ideas of what the book should be.

My editor at HarperCollins hated our first manuscript. Despised it. Like not-sure-we-should-give-you-another-chance detested it.

I've been writing professionally for nearly 20 years, and it was the first time an editor didn't at least sort of like what I had come up with. So that was totally devastating.

Thankfully, I was given another chance, but with a very short deadline to prove myself. To keep on track, I hired a pair of fabulous freelance editors with decades of children's publishing experience.

With their guidance (actually, it was more like validation–to my relief, they both approved of the new direction I'd mapped out), I literally rewrote the entire manuscript from the ground up in just a few weeks.

When the book coaches were satisfied, when I was satisfied, when Dean was satisfied, I held my breath and sent the entirely revised manuscript off to HarperCollins.

And the editor liked it. Whew! There was work still to be done, but it got the green light.

We went through several more rounds of revisions to tighten dialogue and streamline some overwriting. To get the word count down to what HarperCollins wanted, we had to throw out many huge chunks–subplots, non-crucial action, etcetera–so I had to rejigger for continuity.

Some of the changes were difficult to swallow at first, but it was exciting to see how things all came together in the end. It took a lot of faith in our editor that she knew what was best for the manuscript, plus a willingness to compromise and to keep our minds open.

Ultimately, all the revising was worth it. We were able to secure a powerful foreword from rock musician Graham Nash and an endorsement from the National Vietnam War Museum. The book's receiving excellent reviews and was nominated for a Cybil (Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Award) for best YA nonfiction of 2009 a month after its release. Dean and I are so grateful for the enthusiastic reception!

How have you approached the task of promoting your debut book? Are you enjoying the process, or does it feel like a chore? What advice do you have on this front for your fellow debut authors and for those in the years to come?

HarperCollins told us right from the top that they've found online publicity and promo the most effective at reaching the teen market. So that's where we've focused most of our energies.

We set up a dedicated book website, and loaded it with Dean's photos, 8 mm film footage, and audio from his Vietnam experience.

Now as you read the book, you can visit the site and view actual images of the characters, setting, and action, even hear clips of Dean's wartime band. It really brings Dean's story alive; we're very excited about it.

We also included a discussion guide for use in the classroom and book clubs, plus a playlist of all music mentioned in the book.

Of course, we're pursuing media coverage, as well. The HarperCollins publicity department has been truly awesome about sending out review copies. I know how swamped they are with so many titles all needing attention, so I'm totally willing to help out where I can.

I worked at a music industry PR firm in New York City eons ago, so it's been fun for me to do all that stuff again–dream up media hooks and angles, craft a solid press release, research media outlets and the best ways to reach them and so forth. We're fortunate in that our book also appeals to adults, so we have a broader audience to pitch to.

And, boy, the Internet has opened up so many PR possibilities! Bloggers, article and press release distribution sites, social networks, discussion groups and chat forums, video and photo sharing sites, web rings–it goes on and on! You could literally spend all day, every day plugging your book online.

I've tried to consolidate my cyber-efforts wherever possible. For instance, I've set up my author's blog to feed to Amazon's Author Central and Jacketflap, and I also do a quick cut-and-paste of every author-blog post to my blog at Red Room. That's killing at least four birds with one stone–love that! Plus I cross-link all my blogs and websites (my author site, my other book sites). So I try to get everything working kind of synergistically.

The free online press release distribution services are especially useful. I've had releases picked up by blogs and news sites around the world, plus it gets your info out there on the all-important search engines.

I'm a big Google Analytics fan, too–gives you really helpful stats like where on the web your visitors are coming from, what search keywords they used to find your site, which pages they visit most and for how long, even where, geographically, in the world they're located. Very cool stuff!

Cynsational Notes

Check out the book trailer below for Rock 'N' Roll Soldier: A Memoir.



Rainy Day in Downtown Qui Nhon, Vietnam, 1967: video of a quick ride through downtown Qui Nhon, Vietnam with teen soldier Dean Kohler of the 127th MP Company, US Army.

Teenreads.com is again collaborating with the Children's Book Council (CBC) on the 2010 Teen Choice Book of the Year, offering teens an opportunity to share their five favorite books of 2009.

The five titles that receive the most votes will serve as the finalists for the CBC’s 2010 Teen Choice Book of the Year.

Once the five finalists have been determined, Teenreads.com will announce where to vote for them. The winner will be announced in May 2010.

See the list of nominees so far. On that same page, you can find information on how to nominate other titles published in 2009.

Deadline: this Monday, Feb. 1.

Interview by Jenny Desmond Walters for SCBWI Bologna 2010

Wow, you have an impressive set of credentials, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to ask you some questions today.

I see on your client list that you have well-established YA authors like Ellen Hopkins as well as debut YA authors like Holly Thompson, my colleague in Tokyo. Are there things you do differently in your work with emerging clients and already established clients?

I enjoy working with authors at both ends of the spectrum and do represent well-established YA authors like Ellen Hopkins and talented debut YA authors like Holly Thompson, who is my colleague Jamie Weiss Chilton's client.

There are things that I do differently depending on where the author is in her or his career. With emerging clients, I tend to do a lot of hands-on editorial work; we may go through several rounds of revision before a work goes out. In planning my submission strategy, I think carefully about where the author is likely to get the most nurturing and support. I'm ideally looking for editors whom I know are very strong editorially (yes, I'm afraid all editors are not equal in this regard), who tend to be more hands-on, and who, by temperament, taste, and working habits, I believe will be a good fit and communicator with my client. Of course, I want the editor who I believe will be most passionate about the project. I also give consideration to whether, at a particular imprint within a particular house, there is real space for the author to grow.

For already established clients, I am typically working to strengthen their position within an existing house--assuming of course that we're happy with the publisher. Certainly, I want to negotiate for the best deal terms possible and, ideally, want the terms to improve for each book.

There may also be aspects of the relationship that we want to change. I focus on commanding more marketing and sales support, and work to guarantee the author will be an active partner in key marketing and production decisions. I'm looking for tangible commitments that will help move the author to the next level of her career.

If we're not happy with the existing publisher, then I'm thinking about the same things but also casting the net more widely and focusing on finding a house and imprint that has real space for my author to grow, that will publish her smarter and with more support, with the backing of an editor usually further along in her or his career, who will be a passionate champion and advocate.

In a previous interview with CBI Clubhouse, you mentioned the concept of “highly illustrated books for young readers.” Can you tell us more about this emerging new category, and do you continue to see this as a developing genre?

A one-size-fits-all approach to developing readers seems problematic. I think there is a gap between picture books and chapter books and see the new category of highly illustrated books for young readers as helping to fill this space.

These highly illustrated books for young readers have different proportions of text to art, but the commonality is that they allow developing readers to more fully experience and understand a story by providing illustrations that work in conjunction with the text. The form frees authors to tell a more engaging and compelling story because there are illustrations to foster understanding.

Additionally, I also happen to believe readers of all ages have an appetite for stories told in compelling ways with both text and images.

You have a new book of your own coming out in Spring 2011 called, Emma, The Extra-Ordinary Princess. Does this book fall into the highly illustrated books for young readers category, and if so, when you write a chapter book that you intend to be highly illustrated, how does that affect the way you write the story?

Emma, The Extra-Ordinary Princess, forthcoming Spring 2011 with Dutton, is a highly illustrated book for young readers.

As with picture books, while I was writing it, I had in my mind the fact that I needed to leave room for the art. As I worked on the story, I thought about the action and dramatic scenes in a more cinematic way, trying to imagine how they might work in the art.

Again, it's the balancing act of leaving room for the illustrator while giving enough of a framework to create character and set dramatic events in motion. I think about finding the key telling detail that may speak volumes about the character or the physical environment but don't write in a lot of description or scene-setting since this will be the work of the art.

In addition to Emma, you recently published your first picture book for young readers called Buying, Training & Caring for Your Dinosaur, illustrated by Marc Brown (Random House, 2009). I love the title!

What were your experiences being on the author-side of publication, and what’s been most exciting about your entrance into this new domain?

I'm glad you like the title--thanks! I have a good picture of both sides because my husband is an author himself (Barry Eisler--he writes political thrillers) and also because I do work so closely with many of the authors I represent.

However, it was still an illuminating experience for me to see how things work from the author-side of publication. I have a new-found respect for authors because now I know, first-hand, what it feels like to wait for reviews and to hold your breath as you try to gauge a book's reception. The suspense!

I also am extremely hands-on as an agent, which serves me well on this front, but I realize now how much is not in the control of the author when it comes to the publishing process and the marketing of a book.

In terms of the most exciting things for me, I got to work with an editor I adore and respect, Michelle Frey at Knopf, and it's been a joy to get to see how she works from the perspective of actually being one of her authors.

I also have found it intensely exciting and invigorating to do book signings, school visits, and even a presentation I gave at the New York American Museum of Natural History, where about 400 girls slept over. (I gave my talk in pajamas at 11 a.m. at night.) I love connecting with kids over my book and our shared love of pets and dinosaurs. Kids are so open and responsive at the picture book age. What a high!

Okay, now back to some agent-related questions! When writers are seeking agent representation, how would you suggest they best represent their work to an agent? Is a query letter with a sample manuscript enough?

Our website, www.andreabrownlit.com, gives specific guidelines for how we accept submissions. We accept only e-queries, and I do think that a strong and polished query letter with a compelling sample of the writing (we ask for the first 10 pages initially or a full picture book manuscript) is enough to get our attention.

To me, the best query letters convey the following--what makes the work special, what space in the market it occupies, what credentials you bring to the table that are relevant for your book. An irresistible 10 pages that raise burning questions in my mind, then seal the deal by compelling me to ask for more.

In the case of a picture book writer who may already have several manuscripts to submit, should they only select one to send to an agent, or do agents like to see the broader scope of a potential client’s writing?

I advise leading with your strongest picture book, and perhaps mentioning one of the other ones about which you feel most strongly. With picture books, in particular, there is a tendency toward cherry-picking. If we see something we love, and then see one or two more that leave us lukewarm, we may pass.

What would you say are some of the biggest challenges you encounter in selecting new clients?

The biggest challenge is the volume of material that comes in. Many times, we see work that is good, that is maybe even publishable, but for me to take something on, I have to be absolutely passionate about it and also believe that the author has other amazing books in her or him.

Another challenge is that the author must be able to revise. Some authors may come in with something strong, but if they can't revise or aren't open to editorial feedback, then I'm not going to offer representation to them.

Also in the interview with CBI Clubhouse you spoke a lot about authors; use of emerging technologies to market themselves and their books. How does a web presence and online expertise help a writer in today’s market, and more specifically, from an agent’s point of view, is online presence something you look at when evaluating a potential new client?

It is a truth of the market and the economy that publishers are doing less than probably ever before to promote authors, sometimes even when they spend considerable money acquiring a book. For this reason, the job of publicizing the book and getting the word out falls to the author.

A web presence is important for all authors since this is a key tool in publicity and marketing. This is especially true for middle-grade and young adult fiction since the readers for these categories are online and so computer savvy. Social networking presents an incredible opportunity for writers to connect to their audience and to publicize and market their books at minimal cost, apart from the time and energy commitment.

I do look for an online presence when evaluating potential clients although it isn't a requirement. For middle grade and especially young adult fiction, I think it is something that can mean the different between an average deal and an amazing one.

What are some of the more effective and impressive online strategies you’ve seen?

I've seen some of my authors blog in incredibly smart ways--conveying their charm and personality, while providing great content in a truly entertaining, unusual, and fun package.

Many of my authors use social media like Twitter and facebook to network in smart, innovative ways that lead to growing a readership for their blogs, to repeat visits to their websites, and to recognition in the writing community and sometimes really important blurbs from big authors in their space.

One of your authors, Maggie Stiefvater who authored Shiver (Scholastic, 2009), has made an impact doing blog tours. Can you explain more about what that is and share how you think her efforts affected the response of readers to her book's debut?

A blog tour is when an author does guest blogs on other sites. Again, the key here is doing the research to figure out which blogs are widely read, which focus on your target audience, and which are likely to be receptive to you guest blogging.

Then reverse engineer your approach. Come up with an angle or topic for a guest blog that is going to give value, interest the host blogger, and appeal to readers.

The great thing about blog tours is you can do this at little financial cost. (There is of course a significant time commitment.) You can reach a wide and diverse audience, and you can do this both within the smaller window around publication and make it an ongoing part of your campaign. It's a great way to get the word out about your book and also to start to build name recognition and a brand for yourself as an author.

It's smart viral marketing, since those who read book or publishing blogs care about books--they'll pass along the word about you elsewhere.

I think Maggie's incredibly smart blog tours and savvy online campaign have had a big impact on sales. They've helped build her as a brand and also helped recruit her publisher, who sees what a great investment she is and a great partner.

Lastly, if you could write a recipe for the next “breakout” book in terms of commercial success and/or literary acclaim, what are some of the ingredients you think it would surely need to have?

To me, books that break out this way are both literary and commercial. When I think about whether a book is strong enough to go into auction, I consider what commercial space it occupies in the market. I'm looking for something in an existing and lucrative space, but that also feels fresh and different enough from the big books that are already out there.

I believe key elements to a breakout book are a strong, original voice; a unique, fresh perspective or angle; a compelling, page-turning, riveting narrative structure/plot; and emotional power.

It also helps if there's something special about the author -- if there's a story behind the story, or if the author has already shown that he or she can garner a certain kind of visibility.

Cynsational Notes

Update: Laura is now unable to attention the 2010 SCBWI Bologna conference, however, she has been rescheduled to participate on the 2012 SCBWI Bologna conference faculty.

Jenny Desmond Walters is the founding regional advisor of the SCBWI Korea chapter. She is an experienced education professional with a love of learning and literature. She has worked in public television developing curriculum and promoting instructional programs, as well as worked extensively with educational publishers and learning materials companies. For the last several years, Jenny has lived in east Asia where she has become an avid writer and observer of life in Japan and Korea. Her articles have been published in national children's magazines and writing journals, and she has been a member of SCBWI for more than 10 years. Jenny currently resides in Seoul with her husband and three daughters, and she rarely runs out of interesting stories to write.

The SCBWI Bologna 2010 interview series is brought to you by the SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference in conjunction with Cynsations. To register, visit the SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference 2010. Note: Special thanks to Angela Cerrito for coordinating this series with SCBWI Bologna and Cynsations.

Rainbow Books 2010: a bibliography of picture books as well as fiction and nonfiction for older children and teens from ALA Rainbow Project. Peek: "The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table and the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association have released the 2010 Rainbow Project Bibliography of recommended titles for youth from birth to age 18 that contain significant and authentic gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (GLBTQ) content." Note: selections include Newsgirl by Liza Ketchum (Viking, 2009).

Multiculturalism Rocks! A blog on multiculturalism in children's literature. from Nathalie Mvondo. Peek: "This blog celebrates multiculturalism in children's literature and the people who make it happen." See Interview: Editorial Director Stacy Whitman of Tu Publishing from Multiculturalism Rocks. Peek: "As we started on this journey, working on a business plan with the local Small Business Administration office, I did a lot of research..., and found that small presses are growing now. Some of the big houses started out as smaller houses during the huge downturn of the late 1970s and during the Great Depression. So that gives me some hope that we’re on the right track...."

Interview with Editor-Author Jill Santopolo by Kyra from Throwing Up Words: Because sometimes it's the only option. Peek: "I think the most important thing is to write about something you love or a story you feel compelled to share. That’s when an author’s writing is the strongest, when the story means something to him or her." Read a Cynsations interview with Jill.

When the ALA Calls: Stead and Pinkney on Winning the Big Prize by Diane Roback from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "When you win a Newbery or a Caldecott Medal, you find out in a phone call—usually very early in the morning—and then your life is instantly changed. Both Rebecca Stead and Jerry Pinkney got that phone call this past Monday morning; we spoke with both of them to find out where they were when the phone rang, what their reactions were, and what came next."

Cover Stories: The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams by Melissa C. Walker from readergirlz. Peek: "...when I saw the cover, I thought, 'This is Kyra, free. This is Kyra on the inside.'" Read a Cynsations interview with Carol.

Structure by Brian Yansky from Brian's Blog: Writer Talk. Peek: "In terms of structure, these localized desires need to feed into the larger themes. If they do, then the localized action will add to the larger action." Read a Cynsations interview with Brian.

Whatcha Reading Now?: a new site from Jodi Wayne, Kerry O’Malley Cerra, Michelle Delisle, Susan Zide Safra. Peek: "We, the fabulous girls of Whatcha' Reading Now?, promise to bring you books for kids and teens that will make you think, cry, laugh out loud, or keep you at the edge of your seat. We love books that will make you think about the world in a new perspective and books that you won’t forget long after you’ve turned the last page. We promise to read with passion, diligence, and open-mindedness to bring you reviews of books we love." Don't miss the January 2010 issue celebrating dystopian YA literature.

The Ghost Writer by Karen Cioffi from Karen and Robyn--Writing for Children. Peek: "He’s kind of like a superhero of the writing world. He lifts you up and helps you create what you don’t have the time, energy or skill to do yourself."

The Carnival of Children's Literature is Back by Anastasia Suen from Picture Book of the Day. Peek: "Our January 2010 host is Jenny Schwartzberg at Jenny’s Wonderland of Books. Our first 2010 carnival date is Jan 30. (Please have your posts in by midnight Jan 29.)" Note: For debut authors, Anastasia is offering the online class School Visits 101 Workshop, starting Feb. 3.

Congratulations to the children's-YA nominees for the 2010 Edgar Awards, given by the Mystery Writers of America! Source: Tasha Saecker from Kids Lit: Books for toddlers through teens, plus reading, writing and more. Read Cynsations interviews with nominees John C. Ford, Saundra Mitchell, and Aaron Reynolds.

Peni R. Griffin: Idea Garage Sale: a blog from the San Antonio-based middle-grade and YA novelist. Peek: "The cliche question all authors hate - 'Where do you get your ideas?' The idea is the easy part. The idea is so easy to get, you can't give them away. I'm here to give them away, to share them, and invite you to recognize yours. We're all creative. Not all of us pay attention." Read a Cynsations interview with Peni.

K.A. Holt's Online Disaster: Wherein I Write About Things A Writer Might Write About Writing: a new URL for the blog from the Austin-based speculative fiction novelist. See also K.A. Holt's YouTube page. Read a Cynsations interview with K.A. Holt.

Decidophopia by Kristi Holl from Writer's First Aid. Peek: "Years down the road, when the kids were in school and then grown, Decidophopia set in. Suddenly I had some choices. Even with teaching part-time, I could schedule most of my days however I wanted."

Getting the Most Out of Twitter by Kate Fall from Author2Author. Peek: "Just like the trick to loving a new neighborhood is to connect with the right people, the trick to loving Twitter is to follow the right people. Twitter is for my writing life. Facebook is for my personal life."

2010 Amelia Bloomer List: Recommended Feminist Literature from Birth through 18 from Amelia Bloomer Project. Peek: "This list is in alphabetical order by author; a more formalized list (sorted by reading categories, with an introduction and annotations), is forthcoming." Selections include Supergirls: fashion, feminism, fantasy, and the history of comic book heroines. by Mike Madrid (Exterminating Angel Press, 2009); see also a tie-in video (follows commercial).

Author-Editor Lauren Tarshis shares her Top 6 1/2 List of What Makes a Good Short Story from Donna Gephart at Wild About Words. Peek: "It's essential that there is something your character needs to gain or stands to lose."

Positivity by Adrienne Kress from The Temp, The Actress, and The Writer. Peek: "Twitter wisely. By which I mean, if you find you are following someone that you constantly feel jealous of, or if you find you are following someone who only wants to post links to articles about how crappy the writing world is these days, stop following them. Follow people who inspire you, follow people you care about; you have the choice."

SCBWI Prairie Writer's Day part one and part two by Tabitha Olson from Writer Musings. "The best way to learn voice is through example, by analyzing published works. Look at word choice, sentence structure, and other writing features that create the voice. How did these authors do it? How would you do it?"

FSG’s [Margaret] Ferguson Gets Her Own Imprint by John A. Sellers from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "The imprint was announced Monday in a memo to staffers from FSG BFYR publisher Simon Boughton, in which he called Ferguson 'the heart, soul, and brains of the Farrar, Straus & Giroux children’s publishing program.' The imprint will publish approximately 15 titles per year, across all age ranges and formats." Source: Anastasia Suen.

Giveaway of Timekeeper Moon by Joni Sensel, 11th Grade Burns by Heather Brewer & Incarceron by Catherine Fisher from The Spectacle. Peek: "Authors talk about writing speculative fiction for teens and pre-teens."

Marvelous Marketer: Cheryl Klein (Senior Editor, Arthur Levine Books) by Shelli at Market My Words. Peek: "Friends on Facebook from my high school class have told me they’re planning to buy my book, and most of them aren’t even interested in writing for children!"

Dialogue: A Balancing Act by Sarah Sullivan from Through the Tollbooth. Peek: "Pull out your writing how-to books and you will read that dialogue serves two purposes: 1. To reveal character and 2. To advance plot."

Harper Debuts Writing Site for Teens by John A. Sellers from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "...the official launch of inkpop, an interactive writing platform and community for teenagers created by the HarperTeen imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books. Inkpop serves as an online community for young writers; the publisher calls inkpop the 'anchor' of its digital strategy for the teen market."

Sarah LaPolla is now freelance critiquing YA fiction, and Tracy Marchini is now freelance critiquing picture books, early chapter books, middle grade and young adult fiction and non-fiction. Read a Cynsations interview with Tracy.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black: a short story from BSC. Peek: "...today we are pleased to offer our readers 'The Coldest Girl in Coldtown,' a story from Holly Black’s The Poison Eaters and Other Stories (Big Mouth House, 2010). I want to tell you how this is the first collection by Black, that she is the co-writer of the Spiderwick Chronicles, and that she has seen her name on the NY Times Bestselling list, but then I’d be stealing back the thunder that Grant stole from me by sending me this rather concise official word (after which, you can get to the story!)..." Read a Cynsations interview with Holly.

Staff Post: Christy Ottaviano, Editorial Director Christy Ottaviano Books from Get to the Point: a Blog from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. Peek: "Nothing gives me more satisfaction than to watch a writer I admire grow stronger with each new book and push themselves in ways they never thought possible."

SCBWI Team Blog Pre-Conference Interview: Editor Alvina Ling by Jolie Stekly from Cuppa Jolie. Peek: "...I’m often asking authors to bring more emotion into the work, and am also keeping an eye on making sure each book is a very satisfying read."

Conference Tips (Especially for the Less Experience Conference-Goer) by Jane Makuch from Alice's CWIM Blog. Peek: "Clean and pressed doesn't have to mean expensive, but it does show professionalism." Note: many SCBWI conferences don't have a "pitch" opportunity (if it's not in the program, don't try to create it independently by cornering an agent), but many of the other tips apply across the board.

Is It True Yet? I Sure Hope So. by Jo Knowles. Peek: "At some point, you can't ask your beloved critique partners to read another draft. There's just not enough time. And really, at some point, you have to stop relying on everyone else to tell you yes or no. Because you're the only one who can really answer that all important question: "Is it true?'" Read a Cynsations interview with Jo.

Cynsational Author/Illustrator Speaker Tip: be respectful of regional diversity, your audience, and your hosts. Don't say to a one-time hometown crowd, "Boy, I'm glad I made it out of this place!" or minimize local authors or make disparaging remarks based on your (mis)conceptions of local politics. Err on the side of graciousness and focus on writing, books, young readers and the people who connect books to them.

Dissect a Scene by Darcy Pattison from Fiction Notes. A quick look at the basics of a scene. Read a Cynsations interview with Darcy.

Book Addict: A blog about books, writing, authors, publishers and more books from Melissa Buron. Check out Melissa's recent interviews with Varsha Bajaj, Vicki Sansum, P.J. Hoover, Kimberly Willis Holt, Shana Burg, Dotti Enderle, Jenny Moss, and Cynthia Leitich Smith. Peek from Varsha, "My father and grandfather were perfumers and sampling strips of sandalwood and jasmine were always being sniffed and perfected. Making perfumes became a part of my imaginative play. Didn’t everyone make perfumes of dirt, crushed flowers and pebbles?" Note: add Melissa on LJ.

Fieldnote #2 by Steven Withrow: Steven Malk, Children’s Book Agent from Jules at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. Peek: "I completely understand the impulse to want to get your work out into the world as soon as you possibly can—I really do—but it really behooves you to take some time and think hard about your overall career strategy and what sort of agent you want."

Reed's Interview with Gary Paulsen from National Geographic Kids. Peek: [on his favorite sled dog] "Cookie saved my life once. I was trapping beaver. I took one step and went down in 12 feet of water. It was about 30 below outside above the water. I saw a rope that had come with me off the sled, and it started to move. Cookie got the team up and pulled me out of the hole. When I retired her, I brought her in the house and she never went out again." Source: @randomhousekids.

Featured Sweetheart: David Macinnis Gill from the Texas Sweethearts. Peek: "Know your field of literature and know the audience that it serves. There are reasons that the books published today are being published, and to understand those reasons—and how you work fits into a growing canon of work—you need to read." Read a Cynsations interview with David.

Tricks of the Trade: Revision Tips from Picture Book Authors by Michelle Markel from The Cat and the Fiddle. Peek: "Today TC & TF features revision tips from authors who have taught in UCLA Extension’s Writers Program." Read a Cynsations interview with Michelle.

Anatomy of Buying a Picture Book by Josie Leavitt from ShelfTalker: A Children's Bookseller's Blog. Peek: "I buy fewer [hardcover picture book] titles, but more copies of books. This is risky, but there's a comfort level customers see with multiple copies of a single title. It sends a message that we like this book enough to have five on hand. Multiple copies are also easier to display, thus making them easier to see and to buy."

Show v. Tell by Brian Yansky from Brian's Blog: Writer Talk. Peek: "This ridiculous advice is passed along like it’s one of the Ten Commandments. I’m hear to tell you, brothers and sisters, it is not. No novel only shows." Read a Cynsations interview with Brian.

Starting Over: Why Helen Hemphill gave up a successful career in business to write novels for children by Susannah Felts from Chapter 16, a community of Tennessee writers, readers & passersby. Peek: "Twelve years ago, the Texas-born, Nashville-based novelist was doing PR for the finance industry--about as far from the bright colors and characters of the children's--book section as it's possible to get. Then, after more than two decades, Hemphill walked away: "It was glitzy and glamorous in a crazy way, but it wasn't me...." Read a Cynsations interview with Helen.

SCBWI Team Blog Pre-Conference Interview: Eddie Gamarra of the Gotham Group by Lee Wind from I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? Peek: "Eddie Gamarra is a literary manager/producer at The Gotham Group, specializing in representing works for TV, Film and Dramatic rights."

SCBWI Team Blog Pre-Conference Interview: Razorbill President Ben Schrank from Suzanne Young. Peek: on blogging/vlogging, "I have heard our marketing people say that ‘it depends on the author’ and I agree with that. We know that Sarah Dessen has been blogging forever and is enormously successful at it. But there are authors who do not blog, who are also very successful."

Growing a Thicker Skin by Mary Kole, a children's-YA writer and associate agent at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, from Kidlit.com. Peek: "It’s in your best interest to develop a thick skin, learn how to take criticism and rejection, separate yourself from what you’ve put on a page, learn everything you can about the industry, get realistic, and keep writing every day." Source: @inkyelbows.

28 Days Later: A Black History Month Celebration of Children's Literature kicks off Feb. 1 at The Brown Bookshelf. We're talking 24 authors and 4 illustrators in 28 days! See the 28 Days Later downloadable poster from Don Tate. Read a Cynsations interview with the founders of The Brown Bookshelf.

On "Using Social" Media by Janni Lee Simner from Desert Dispatches. Peek: "My take on the Internet from a writer's perspective is this: it isn't a street corner for hawking your wares. It's a giant sprawling party. The rules of how to act here aren't all that complicated, because they're pretty much the same rules that apply to parties everywhere: Be polite...." Read a Cynsations interview with Janni.

YALSA Axes Venerable BBYA List by Debra Lau Whelan from School Library Journal. Peek: "BBYA will no longer exist, but there’ll be a new list called 'Best Fiction for Young Adults.'"

This Week's New Releases from Teenreads.com Blog. Highlights include the paperback release of Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner (Random House). Read "Invasive Species" a short story by Janni set in the same universe from Coyote Wild (Aug. 2008). Read a Cynsations interview with Janni.

Children's Books with Muslim and Related Cultural Themes from Rukhsana Khan. Categories include contemporary picture books, contemporary novels and short story collections, folktales, nonfiction, and other resources for educators.

Writers: Always Working by Kristi Holl from Writer's First Aid. Peek: "You understand that 'I’m thinking' means 'so please don’t interrupt.' Chances are, your family won’t. Instead they will walk into the room where you’re 'thinking-writing' and say, 'Oh good, you’re not doing anything. Can you hold the ladder for me?'”

Love Me or Hate Me, It Doesn't Matter by Lisa Schroeder from Author2Author. Peek: "I turned off my Google Alerts recently, and YA author Sara Zarr congratulated me on taking that step." Read a Cynsations interview with Lisa.

Congratulations to Bethany Hegedus and Kekla Magoon on the winter issue of Hunger Mountain, dedicated to the memory of Norma Fox Mazer and focusing on the theme of controversy. Highlights include tributes to Norma by her daughter Anne Mazer, editor Rosemary Brosnan of HarperCollins, former student Deborah Wiles, and Marion Dane Bauer. Beyond that, Kathi Appelt talks about Blurring the Lines, Lisa Jahn-Clough tackles censorship, and J. Patrick Lewis asks "Can Children's Poetry Matter?" See also thoughts from agent Regina Brooks and agents Holly McGhee and Emily Van Beek and much more!

Judy Goddard Award

Since 1983, the Judy Goddard Award has been given every year to an outstanding writer or illustrator of books for children. In 1997, a second Judy Goddard Award was added for an author of young adult literature. Note: recent honorees include S.D. Nelson.

The winners must either live in Arizona or have a close connection with the state. The prize is awarded jointly by Libraries, Ltd, an Arizona organization founded by Mrs. Goddard (wife of Arizona Governor Sam Goddard) and her friends 40 years ago to promote literacy in children, and the Arizona Library Association.

Source: Joan Sandin.

Cynsational Screening Room

Check out this video of Sydney Taylor Book Awards Gold Medal Winners from Jewish Books for Children with Author Barbara Bietz. Read Cynsations interviews with Robin Friedman and April Halprin Wayland. Don't miss the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour from The Association of Jewish Libraries Blog!



Check out this book trailer for Positively by Courtney Sheinmel (Simon & Schuster, 2009).



See the video below for Inside Notes for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon with Grace Lin. Source: Elaine Magliaro at Wild Rose Reader. Read a Cynsations interview with Grace.



Terrific new videos also include Copyedits Unveiled from Denise Jaden and Crisis Intervention from Kiersten Writes.

More Personally

Don't miss the half-page ad for Eternal (Candlewick, 2009, 2010), which appears on page 43 of the February/March 2010, Vol. 16, Issue 4 of GL: Girls' Life Magazine! It's positioned across from an article, "How To Date a Vampire (Without Getting Bit) by Georgia Clark and a fashion sidebar, "Vamp It Up!"

Eternal will be released in paperback in the U.S. Feb. 9! See the blog buzz, cover art, interviews, review quotes, and reader's guide.

The Eternal ad is featured with a half-page ad for Another Faust by Daniel and Dina Nayeri (also Candlewick). Austinites may remember Daniel and Dina as the adorable brother-sister team who spoke with me last fall on a panel at the Texas Book Festival.


Cynsational Events

Author Bethany Hegedus will speak on "scene and structure" ("If You Build It, They Will Read") from 11 a.m. to noon Feb. 13 at BookPeople in conjunction with Austin SCBWI. Note: "bring a notebook and get ready to examine Aristotle's Incline and the 7 Key Scenes every book needs. Please be familiar with Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick, 2000)..., as Bethany will discuss the Seven Key Scenes used to build this gem of a book."

"More Than Words: Making Connections With Authors and Classroom Readers and Writers," sponsored by the Texas Association for the Improvement of Reading and the Central Texas Writing Project, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at Round Rock (Texas) Higher Education Center. Featured authors are: Margo Rabb; Jennifer Ziegler; April Lurie; Varian Johnson; Liz Garton Scanlon; Cynthia Leitich Smith; Don Tate; Chris Barton; Anne Bustard; and C.S. Jennings. Pre-registration ends Feb. 8. Cost: $20.00 Teachers; $10.00 Students/TC’s. Make checks payable to TAIR-CTWP Conference. Mail to: Diane Osborn; Texas State University; Department of Curriculum & Instruction; 601 University Drive; San Marcos, Texas 78666. Questions? Contact Dr. Catherine Davis or Dr. Sharon O’Neal.

The Greater Houston Teen Book Convention is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 10 at Alief Taylor High School, and admission is free! Speakers include keynoter Sharon Draper and:

• Cynthia Leitich Smith
  
• Beth Fantaskey
• Marjetta Geerling
  
• Jon Skovron
  
• Judson Roberts
  
• Jimmy Gownley
• George O'Connor
  
• Terry Moore
• Gayle Forman
• The Fillbach brothers
  
• Elizabeth Eulberg
• Paula Morris

2010 Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop is scheduled for June 14 to June 18 at the Waterford School in Sandy, Utah. Peek: "Full-day participants spend their mornings in small workshops led by award-winning faculty. Both full- and half-day participants enjoy afternoon plenary sessions by national children's book editors and an agent, as well as breakout sessions by our workshop faculty and guest presenters. The keynote address and book signing are open to all conference attendees." See faculty.

Lara Zielin is the first-time author of Donut Days (Putnam, 2009), which was recently name to the 2010 Texas Library Association Lone Star List. From the promotional copy:

Emma has a lot going on. Her best friend's not speaking to her, a boy she's known all her life is suddenly smokin' hot and in love with her, and oh yes, her evangelical minister parents may lose their church, especially if her mother keeps giving sermons saying Adam was a hermaphrodite.

But this weekend Emma's only focused on Crispy Dream, a hot new donut franchise opening in town, where Harley bikers and Frodo wannabes camp out waiting to be the first ones served. Writing the best feature story on the camp for the local paper might just win Emma a scholarship to attend a non-Christian college. But soon enough Emma finds the donut camp isn’t quite the perfect escape from all her troubles at Living Word Redeemer.

In a fresh, funny voice, newcomer Lara Zielin offers up a mesmerizing, fast-paced narrative full of wit and insight.

Looking back, are you surprised to debut in 2009, or did that seem inevitable? How long was your journey, what were the significant events, and how did you keep the faith?

Recently, at a Chicago book event with several other authors who'd had their debut novels published in 2009, someone in the audience asked how long the writing process took for each of us, from rough start to finished publication.

At the low end of the scale, some writers said between two and three years. I was at the high end of the scale, falling somewhere between eight and nine years.

I penned my first draft of Donut Days in 2001. It was pretty godawful. I revised and re-wrote for a long time, and it wasn't until early 2007 when I finally landed an agent.

The book sold relatively quickly, and then came the editing process. Somehow, in my head, I assumed this wouldn't really be that arduous or take that long.

I was wrong.

The editing process was super tough for me [don't miss video below!].

My book went through many, many drafts and, even though my editor had great insights the whole time and was absolutely directing me toward the right changes, I just couldn’t make it all work. At one point I submitted a draft that was largely acknowledged as being much worse than the one that came before it.

My halting ability to do what my editor really needed me to definitely pushed out the publication date. I'm happy, actually, that it was 2009; for a while there, it was looking like it was going to be 2010.

I'm so thankful I had a solid editor who really was improving the book and not just asking for things willy-nilly. Ironically, I'm a magazine editor for my day job, and I kept thinking, I have the word "editor" in my job title. Why can't I do what she needs me to do? I never quite figured that out, actually. The good news is, my editor’s work really made the novel sing--and I think that's what kept me going, even amid all the frustration.

My second book, Promgate, which we're editing right now, is slated for release in 2011. I'm hoping I'll have an easier time of it, now that I have one book under my belt. We'll see!

As someone with a full-time day job, how do you manage to also carve out time to write and build a publishing career? What advice do you have for other writers trying to do the same?

While there is a huge part of me that would love to write full-time, there's a bigger part of me that's grateful I have a job that I love doing work where I get to be creative and where I am surrounded by awesome colleagues. I think if my income was at all dependent on my writing, I would stress out about it a lot more.

I read once that the best advice anyone could offer for newly published writers is: Don't quit your day job. Adopting an attitude that embraces full-time work for the mental freedom it offers me--versus carping about how I can’t have yoga pants for business attire--has been a great help.

In general, I'm the kind of person who thrives on structure. If you give me carte blanche to do whatever I want, I'll probably lay around in my jammies all day eating cheese. It's that bad. Having a day job is a good thing for me: it means I get up at a regular time, that I have a routine, and that I have to plan out when I'm going to write and actually be slightly thoughtful about it.

Most of the time, I don't write during the workweek. Usually, I try and crave out some time on the weekends, ideally in the morning because I'm most productive (and creative) before noon. The challenge, of course, is to not fill up my weekend with errands and social events so that I can actually use my free time for writing.

I have found that it's essential for me to communicate with my husband about what my writing needs are, and to collaborate with him about how to get it all done. So, for example, we had a schedule for a while where, during the workweek, I would walk our dog Amos in the morning, and my husband would walk Amos at night. Now, that schedule varies because I've decided to either write some mornings or attend a spin class. But I couldn't have made that change without the help of my husband and communicating with him about how to make sure things--like the dog--still get taken care of.

One area where I'm looking to improve my productivity is to be more regular about writing. Because I mostly write on weekends, I won't pen a word for five days, then I'll sit down and pound out 6,000 words in one day. I think these fits and starts are fine, but I would like to try and have a bit more of a steady writing diet, versus starving then gorging myself.

I guess this means I'll probably have to watch less Reality TV in the evenings (it was nice knowing you, "Ghost Hunters" and "Top Chef"!) but ultimately, I know it will be a positive change. And hopefully one that yields more published results!

Cynsational Notes

The New Voices Series is a celebration of debut authors of 2009.

In the video below, don't miss "Lara Zielin's agony and ecstasy as she edits her debut novel, Donut Days. 'Editing Letter' is sung, karaoke style, to Corey Hart's 'Never Surrender.'" Note: highly recommended.

Congratulations to the winners of the third American Indian Youth Services Literature Award, given by the American Indian Library Association!

The winner for best picture book was A Coyote Solstice Tale by Thomas King, illustrated by Gary Clement (Groundwood, 2009). From the promotional copy:

Trickster Coyote is having his friends over for a festive solstice get-together in the woods when a little girl comes by unexpectedly. She leads the party-goers through the snowy woods to a shopping mall--a place they have never seen before.

Coyote gleefully shops with abandon, only to discover that filling your shopping cart with goodies is not quite the same thing as actually paying for them.

The trickster is tricked and goes back to his cabin in the woods--somewhat subdued--though nothing can keep Coyote down for long.


The winner for best middle-school book was Meet Christopher: An Osage Indian Boy from Oklahoma by Genevieve Simermeyer, illustrated with photographs by Katherine Fogden (Council Oak Books, 2008, produced in association with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian). From the promotional copy:

In this fourth book in the series, My World: Young Native Americans Today, meet Christopher, an eleven-year-old Osage boy from northeast Oklahoma.

Join Christopher and his family at the annual I’n-lon-shka Dances on the Osage Reservation, where they gather for outdoor feasts, dress in their traditional outfits, and dance with the entire community. Go fishing at the lake with Christopher and his brothers, hear him play the trombone in music class, and learn the Osage language as he learns it, too. Watch Christopher’s mother practice finger weaving, and meet his grandmother, who works at the Osage tribal museum. Learn the stories of Osage ancestors, those who hunted buffalo and lived in hide-covered lodges, and those who first learned to drive cars and pilot airplanes.


The winner for best young adult book was Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me: A Novel by Lurline Wailana McGregor (Kamehameha, 2008). From the promotional copy:

Moana Kawelo, PhD, has a promising career as a museum curator in Los Angeles. The untimely death of her father–and the gravitational pull of Hawai'i when she returns home for his funeral–causes Moana to question her motivations and her glamorous life in California.

Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me is the story of Moana’s struggle to understand her ancestral responsibilities, mend relationships, and find her identity as a Hawaiian in today’s world.


"He Hawai'i Mau:" "This short film [below] is a two-minute journey through the life of the filmmaker [and author of the AILA award-winning novel for YAs] Lurline Wailana McGregor. Her voice-over describes her life as shown through old family movies and photos from her childhood to the present day. The theme is her growing awareness of her Hawaiian identity, what defines her today as a Hawaiian and why Hawaiians have become so passionate about their culture and its future."



Source: Debbie Reese from American Indians in Children's Literature.

Cynsational Notes

From the AILA website: "Books selected to receive the award will present Native Americans in the fullness of their humanity in the present and past contexts. Additional information about the award and criteria used to evaluate books can be found here."

Warren Hanson is an illustrator and author who has helped create some very beloved books.

He illustrated Tom Hegg's NYT Bestseller A Cup of Christmas Tea (Waldman House, 2004) and four books about a lovable, many-colored bear named Peef (Waldman House). He has written and illustrated The Next Place (Waldman House, 1997), Older Love (Waldman House 2003), Kiki's Hats (Tristan, 2007), Beginning: Encouragement at the Start of Something New (Waldman House, 2002), Raising You Alone, and many other books for children and adults.

He looks forward to the release of The Sea of Sleep, illustrated by Jim LaMarche (Scholastic, fall 2010), and has recently moved from St. Paul to Houston.

When and where do you write? Why does that time and space work for you?

I'm not a very disciplined writer. Or at least it would appear that I'm not. I will go for weeks without writing a word. But the appearance is deceiving. I have many seeds planted in the soil of my mind all the time, and those seeds are each at a different stage of development. When suddenly one of those seeds is ready to sprout and be put down on the page, then I will write feverishly, for several hours a day.

During that stage, it doesn't matter where I am. At my desk (often the least appealing), in the back yard, in a hotel room, at the library (my satellite office) or the coffee shop (my other satellite office). I seem to be able to tune out the noise around me and concentrate fully, no matter where I am. During those times, I am never without my notes and emerging manuscript. I have to be able to stop what I'm doing and write no matter where I am.

When a story is in this growth stage, and I am beginning to craft the actual words that will appear in the final version, I am often in awe of the process.

I suspect that all writers will say that there are times when we look at the page or screen in front of us and say to ourselves, "Oh my gosh, that is beautiful! Where in the world did that come from?!" So that old cliche of "it wasn't written by me but through me" often feels real.

Of course, that is not to deny the hard, hard work that goes into this. It's like working in a diamond mine. You dig and dig, toil and toil, and then suddenly there is a beautiful, sparkling gem winking at you out of the darkness. (I hope you geologists out there aren't too critical of this illustration.) You just stare at it in awe. You suspected it was there, of course. But when it's finally right there in front of you, it can be absolutely breathtaking.

How have you come to thrive in such a competitive, unpredictable industry?

Well, most of the time it feels less like thriving and more like its rhyming partner, surviving. And I do it by using every tool in my toolkit every day.

People who are outside the writing/illustrating/publishing arena often ask me what a typical day is like. But there is no such thing. Some days I'm writing. Some days I'm drawing. Some days I'm doing school visits. Some days I'm doing a program for a church group or a volunteer luncheon or a book club. And some days I'm answering email, networking, mailing postcards, freshening my website, researching publishers. And most days I'm doing a little bit of all those things and more.

Most authors get contacted often by people who have written a story and want to get it published. Those people make it feel like a hobby. But I work very, very hard every day.

Sometimes it doesn't look like work. I might be sitting in the back yard with a pad of paper, staring at the sky. But that work is exhausting. So in order to "thrive," I use every asset that I have, every day.

I've always been comfortable in front of an audience. In fact, I enjoy it. So I seek speaking engagements, both for the income and for the opportunity to read new work and gauge reactions. I've always enjoyed music, so now I incorporate my singing and songwriting into my public appearances, using music to relate to people in the same way that I try to with my books.

And I've never been afraid to act silly in front of other people. This now is a tool I use in cultivating school visits. If I can entertain the kids and at the same time teach them about the creative process, I feel like I'm doing good work.

So I'm very busy. Every day is full. And that's how it needs to be, if I am to earn a living doing what I love to do.

What can your fans look forward to next?

I have a children's bedtime book coming from Scholastic for fall 2010, and I'm really excited about it. The book is entitled The Sea of Sleep. It is a very lulling, gently rocking rhyming book that is truly intended to send little ones into dreamland. (I made the mistake of reading it to a group of kids during a school visit once. Bad idea!)

It's illustrated by Jim LaMarche, who has long been an inspiration to me in my own illustration work. I had originally envisioned a very dreamy, ethereal approach to the artwork, and I knew from the beginning that I was not going to be the appropriate illustrator. I actually wrote it with Mary GrandPré in mind. This was before she got so busy with a boy named Harry.

The manuscript languished for years. Scholastic bought it in 2003. Then it languished again as the quest for an illustrator kept bogging down and editors kept leaving.

It finally landed in the hands of Dianne Hess, and she just about knocked me out when she called to say that Jim LaMarche would do the art.

He took it in a different and wonderful direction by drawing a baby otter floating in the sea on his mother's loving tummy. The art is done, and I am absolutely thrilled!

But there are other projects in the works. I've had a picture book accepted by Beach Lane Books, Allyn Johnston's imprint at Simon & Schuster. As I write this, I haven't received the contract yet, so I don't know anything about a schedule. It's called It's Monday, Mrs. Jolly Bones, and it's a rather wacky book for young children.

I'm shopping a middle-grade boy novel called "Dawn of the Dork," and I've had some nibbles. I've just finished writing an adult feel-good book called "Today's Special," which I trust will be picked up by Tristan, my long-time publisher in Minnesota. And I have a couple other irons in the fire. So I'm wishing on a lot of stars at the moment.

Cynsational Notes

The Craft, Career & Cheer series features conversations with children's-YA book creators about positive aspects of their creative and professional lives.

In the video below from Tristan Publishing, Warren Hanson sharing his new release, Everything Happens For A Reason (Tristan, 2009) on KARE11 News.

Interview by Jenny Desmond Walters for SCBWI Bologna 2010

Barefoot Books has a delightful and inspiring founding story. How did your experiences when you were starting out shape the values of your company today?

The publishing values of the company have remained a constant since the beginning; I think what has shaped the corporate values of the company is the desire to support and promote writers and artists and in particular to support mothers with young families, whether they want to write or to take advantage of the Barefoot Ambassador programme as independent distributors.

Running a small business with young families taught me and my business partner, Nancy Traversy, the importance of flexibility and the value of persevering and sticking to what you believe in.

One of the aspects that makes Barefoot Books stand out from other publishers is the fact that you have created an ingenious network of Barefoot representatives who embrace your products and sell them in their homes, schools, and communities. How does this aspect of your company affect the quantity and type of books that you choose to develop?

This is by far the most rapidly expanding area of our business. We have invested a lot of time and money in creating an online offer, which anyone and everyone can use to earn money by selling Barefoot Books, both in their local communities and online.

The rise of social media has changed and will continue to change the way in which parents and educators buy books and exchange ideas and experiences; this is now at the heart of our business, and it is exciting to see how quickly it is growing.

How many manuscripts do you receive each year, and what qualities make the good ones stand out?

We bring out about twenty new books a year; we often receive more [manuscripts] than this in a week. Many are very good indeed; to stand out, a manuscript needs to explore an idea or a theme that we don’t already have on the programme; beyond that, everything is in the execution. It can be funny, serious, intimate, exotic; it needs to work on its own terms.

This is easy to prescribe but difficult to achieve; I think a successful children’s writer somehow needs a lightness of touch and, at the same time, the ability to touch on the big issues in a way that makes sense to a young child; the ability to awaken a sense of the mystery and wonder and complexity of life.

What are some of your favorite titles published by Barefoot, and what makes them so?

This is a very difficult question to answer! However, there are three books in particular that my own inner child returns to again and again. They are Hugh Lupton’s Tales of Wisdom and Wonder, The Barefoot Book of Buddhist Tales by Sherab Chodzin and Alexandra Kohn, and The Gift, a new book by Carol Ann Duffy, which is scheduled for publication this autumn.

In quite different ways, each of these authors has written stories that are beautifully crafted, profound, and ambitious in the themes they embrace, and respectful of children’s natural ability to be reflective and curious about their place in the world.

Are there any tips you can give writers and illustrators in presenting their work to a publisher like Barefoot Books?

Presentation matters. So does researching what we do and not sending material which is out of keeping with our offer. For example, there is no point in anyone sending us a fifty-thousand word fantasy novel; we have a very small young fiction programme, and its emphasis is on original stories of no more than twenty-thousand words which offer children a window into different ways of life.

We also work a lot with rhyme for under fives and with stories of between 1,500 and 2,000 words that carry a simple message without moralizing.

It’s important that writers don’t try to attach themselves to illustrators; we do some books with illustrators who also write, but when a good manuscript comes in, we prefer to find the illustrator ourselves.

Barefoot offers a large collection of stories from around the world, however the industry often tells us that multicultural folk tales are a "hard sell." Can you tell us what your take is on this, and also, why do you think Barefoot is so successful bringing multicultural tales to the market?

When I started Barefoot Books, multicultural folk tales were published in a very dreary way. The retellings were flat and "anthropological" and the presentation dismal. No wonder they were a hard sell.

If stories have stood the test of time for centuries in the oral tradition, it seems to me reasonable to assume that this is because they are at some level conveying quite significant messages about the human condition. If these stories can be presented in an engaging way, with language which attracts young readers and is a delight to read aloud, there is no reason why they can’t sell well.

However, I have found that a certain sleight of hand helps: for example, I have a collection of princess stories – they are all multicultural folk tales, but they work because they are marketed as "princess tales" and because two of the stories are very familiar to adult western readers--(The Princess and the Pea and The Sleeping Beauty). The majority of stories in the collection are quite unusual, but it is the comfort of recognition, I think, that gives buyers the confidence to buy the book.

What advice do you have for writers of folk tales or multicultural stories?

First, it is important to acknowledge your sources and to have at least two written sources for each story. If you have that, you are then free to make the story your own.

I work with a lot of writers who are also professional storytellers because the work they have done "live" with children has often helped them to shape their stories. Practice your craft not just by writing but also by telling your stories to young audiences; you will find nothing helps you create a sense of pace and drama as well as a roomful of children. When you are writing for children, it pays to use children as your critics. They know what they like.

What are some of the top qualities or desired topics that will you be looking for in books submitted to you in 2010?

Stories with environmental themes are doing very well for us at the moment, and we expect this trend to continue.

It’s impossible to talk about Barefoot Books without also acknowledging the colorful, vibrant, playful illustrations contained in your stories. What is your process for finding and selecting illustrators, and how would you recommend that an illustrator approach you with his or her work?

This can be the best and worst part of the job! Sometimes, it can take nearly forever for us to find the right illustrator for a project; at any one time, I have a pile of manuscripts in need of illustrators and illustrators whose work would be great for us if we could find the right manuscript.

What I try to look for is illustrators who have found their voice; it is quite hard to define what this means, but their work needs to be completely their own. It may well reveal influences, but it has to be the kind of art that you look at and say "that must be so-and-so." It can’t look anonymous or neutral. Electronic submissions are fine in the first instance.

And last, stories of the infamous Slush Pile are told among writers like ghost stories around the camp fire, leaving many writers feeling uneasy about how to navigate this mysterious unknown. Can you tell us a little about your own slush pile -- how you handle it, when you tackle it, and what you hope you'll find when reading it?

Ah, the infamous Slush Pile! I think it is essential for writers to appreciate that they are in a field where supply outstrips demand. Often, manuscripts are rejected because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, not because they are lacking in merit.

I recommend that writers look at publishers’ programmes before they make their submissions; most publishers don’t want to cover the same picture book topic twice. For example, I have a wonderful rhyming story about a small boy who won’t go to bed. I don’t need another picture book on this topic.

There are almost certainly many topics and manuscripts out there which would be just right for Barefoot, but I won’t recognize them until they land on my desk. The process is continually surprising–that is what makes it fun!

Cynsational Notes

Learn more about Tessa Strickland. Peek: "Though I was born and brought up in rural England, I’ve always been fascinated by different cultures, by the relationships between people and their surroundings, and by the stories we share to make sense of our world. I graduated with a degree in classics from Cambridge University and taught English to schoolchildren in Japan for several years. On my return to London, I began my career in publishing, working first at Penguin and later at Random House, where I was Editorial Director of the Rider List."

Jenny Desmond Walters is the founding regional advisor of the SCBWI Korea chapter. She is an experienced education professional with a love of learning and literature. She has worked in public television developing curriculum and promoting instructional programs, as well as worked extensively with educational publishers and learning materials companies. For the last several years, Jenny has lived in east Asia where she has become an avid writer and observer of life in Japan and Korea. Her articles have been published in national children's magazines and writing journals, and she has been a member of SCBWI for more than 10 years. Jenny currently resides in Seoul with her husband and three daughters, and she rarely runs out of interesting stories to write.

The SCBWI Bologna 2010 interview series is brought to you by the SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference in conjunction with Cynsations. To register, visit the SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference 2010. Note: Special thanks to Angela Cerrito for coordinating this series with SCBWI Bologna and Cynsations.

Carole Garbuny Vogel is the award-winning author of 26 nonfiction books for children and young adults. Her father was a physicist, and she inherited his fascination with science.

Her first book was Why Mount St. Helens Blew Its Top, co-authored with Kathryn A. Goldner (Dillon Press, 1981), and Carole went on to write books about earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and many other environmental-related topics.

Early in her career one of Carole's editors dubbed her the "Queen of Natural Disasters," and the nickname still fits.

What kind of child were you?

I had an immense curiosity about the natural world. I lived for books and outdoor activities like camping, hiking, boating, playing in the snow, horseback riding, and exploring new places. I also had a passion for family history and science. Except for the horseback riding, I haven’t changed much.

The problem for me was that my elementary school in suburban Pittsburgh, was third rate. It didn't even have a library. Instead there was a "book room," a large janitor's closet where teachers could choose books for the two narrow shelves in each classroom devoted to extracurricular reading. Every year, I exhausted the content of the two shelves within the first couple of months of school.

Adding to this, the suburb of 60,000 where I lived didn’t have its own town library. Instead, the book mobile from the county library system came every Thursday to the local strip mall. The book mobile was a converted bus and held more books than the two classroom shelves, but the selection was static. It took me longer to work my way through its selection, but eventually I ran out of books there, too.

My mother was as appalled by the lack of books as I was. So every weekend, she would take my two sisters and me to the main library in Pittsburgh. It was my most favorite place in the city (actually, it tied with the zoo and the dinosaur exhibit in the museum).

Mom decided to do something about the lack of a local library and worked with other like-minded volunteers in the League of Women Voters to get our township to build its own facility. When news of the League's aspirations appeared in the local newspaper, we received a spate of obscene phone calls, including one death threat, from irate citizens who didn't want to fund a library with their tax dollars.

Who were your favorite authors?

I didn't have a favorite author but I gravitated toward books with themes of the natural world. For instance, one of my favorites was Songs of the Swallows by Leo Politi (Scribner, 1949). This Caldecott Medal winning book immortalizes the annual return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano Mission and the boy who loved them.

When I was little, I thought the children who lived near San Capistrano were the luckiest kids in the world because they had these special birds that came back to visit them every year like clockwork. I wish somebody had told me that the cardinals and the robins in my yard were just as special.

All migrating birds respond to an internal clock that lets them know when it is time to migrate, and they commute back and forth between the nesting area where they were born and feeding grounds in warmer climes. One of the things I most enjoyed about writing The Man Who Flies with Birds (Kar-Ben, 2009) is that I got to write about migration triggers and how birds find their way between nesting and feeding areas.

When I was a preschooler I loved Scuffy the Tugboat, a Golden Book by Gertrude Crampton, illustrated by Tibor Gergely. It was the story about a toy tugboat who longed for bigger things than just sailing in a bathtub. One day his owner placed him in a small brook with a quickly moving current and he sailed away. The small brook turned into a larger one and the larger one turned into a river and the river flowed into the ocean.

What I loved about the book was the metamorphosis of the flowing water from tiny babbling brook to large stream to giant river to ocean.


I lived at the top of a steep hill a few miles from the Allegheny River. When it rained hard, the water from our yard cascaded down our driveway, through our backyard, through our neighbor’s yard, down a road, and into a storm drain that emptied into a small stream. The small stream joined a bigger one that collected even more water and became a large creek (pronounced "crick" by western Pennsylvanians). The creek emptied into the even larger Allegheny River. About ten or more miles downriver, the Allegheny combined with the Monongahela River and formed the roiling Ohio River. Many hundreds of miles later the Ohio joined the mighty, muddy Mississippi and eventually spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. I wanted to follow the rainwater from my yard on its long and wonderful journey to the ocean.

Do you know where the water from your yard ends up?

Could you tell us about your apprenticeship as a writer?

My grandmother lived in New York City and was a great believer in letter writing. So from the time I was in first grade, I wrote to her regularly. She detested letters that started out, “How are you? I am fine.” So I tried to spice my letters up by tattling on my sisters and describing the trouble that the boy next door got into. I left out the part about my role in these events.

I loved writing letters, and by the time I entered college, I had mastered the craft. One of my old boyfriends saved all the letters that I had sent to him freshman year. When he married someone else several years later, he mailed them all back to me with a note saying that he couldn’t destroy the letters because they were so beautiful.

What was the single best thing you did to improve your craft?

Switched from using passive verbs to vivid, active ones.

What, if anything, do you wish you'd done differently?

I should have gotten a Ph.D.

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

I majored in biology, earned a master's degree in teaching, and taught elementary school for five years in Pittsburgh. My husband found a job in the Boston area, and we moved, but I couldn’t find a teaching position in our new location.

Then I saw an ad in the newspaper for an el-hi science textbook editor. I landed the job and began ghostwriting science text books and teachers guides for the elementary school market.

While at work I met another science editor whose skills and expertise were comparable to mine. At lunch one day, we discovered that we shared the same desire–to write a children’s book. The next day Mount St. Helens erupted, and we decided to write about the volcano together.

Through dumb luck and perseverance, we found a publisher, and we went on to write eight more books and launched a freelance-editing partnership. We parted nine years later when our interests diverged.

Congratulations on the release of The Man Who Flies with Birds, co-authored by Yossi Leshem (Kar-Ben, 2009)! In your own words, could you tell us about the book?

The Man Who Flies with Birds is the story of Yossi Leshem, an Israeli bird expert. Yossi actually soars with eagles—and with storks, pelicans, and other high-flying birds. Using a silent glider, motorized only for takeoff and landing, he can stay aloft among bird flocks for eleven hours. By tracking the migratory patterns of the 500 million birds that pass over Israel each year, he has been able to significantly reduce the number of bird/airplane collisions.

Since early childhood, Yossi has been fascinated by birds, but it wasn’t until he reached his mid-thirties and learned about birds striking planes that he began his life’s work of studying and eventually flying with migratory birds.

Spending so much time in the air made Yossi acutely aware that birds have no boundaries. He wondered if a shared concern about birds could be used to connect people of different nationalities.

This unique nature book is based on Yossi’s research and offers new insights into the science of migration, examines the impact of changing ecological and cultural conditions on birds, and tells the story of one man’s mission to protect the environment and make peace in the Middle East, one bird-lover at a time.

What was your initial inspiration for writing this book?

I read an article in New Scientist Magazine that described Yossi's work, and I immediately knew his life story would make a great children’s book. So I contacted Yossi and asked him if I could write a children’s book about him. He was interested but on the condition that we would co-author it together. I agreed, and so “The Man Who Flies with Birds” is an autobiography, even though it is told in the third person.

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

Shortly after I signed the contract with Lerner Publishing for The Man Who Flies with Birds, I was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer.

Between the stress and the anesthesia, I completely lost my writing ability for about ten months. This was more traumatic than the cancer.

The cancer was picked up so early that the cure rate is nearly 100 percent, so I wasn’t panicked about dying from cancer. What panicked me was the thought that I might never be able to write again. It was a short-term memory issue. I would start to write a paragraph, and by the time I got to the second or third sentence, I would lose my train of thought. I didn’t know where I was going.

What made this even more frustrating was that I had outlined the book completely before my diagnosis. I knew what was supposed to go on each page. But I was dealing with extremely complex science concepts, and I needed to address the complicated political situation in the Middle East. Putting all of this at kid level and making it an interesting and fast-paced read was the challenge. My ability to write came back gradually, and finally, I was able to complete the manuscript and quickly go through the editing and production stages with my editor.

I got a great conciliation prize for delaying publication. The very week that the finished layout was scheduled to go the printer, a U.S. Airways jet taking off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport encountered a flock of geese. The impact destroyed the engines, and the pilot, Captain Sullie Sullenbeger, made his extremely skilled emergency landing in the Hudson River. All aboard survived.

My editor and I made the decision to include a photo of the passengers standing on the wings of the downed airplane and a description of the incident.

This made for one monumental headache. Remember, the book was already complete. There were no holes that need to be filled. Fitting Sullie's story in, meant pulling an existing photo from the book and writing new text that fit in seamlessly. We pulled this off successfully. If you read the book, you don’t get the sense that something else should have been in the spot.

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

My co-author is an Israeli and lives in Tel Aviv, which is seven time zones away from my home in Massachusetts. During part of the time we were collaborating, Yossi was on sabbatical in Japan, which was even further away, so finding a time when we could speak was a challenge. Luckily, we both used Skype so telephone bills weren't exorbitant and most of our communication was done via email.

Language was a tremendous barrier. Yossi’s native language is Hebrew, and some of the reference articles that I needed were written in Hebrew. I found translations for some, but occasionally the meaning of words was lost in translation, and the information was incorrect. So, I was extremely dependent on Yossi for providing the information I needed. Luckily, he was an expert on his own life and work!

Yossi’s written communications were clear cut, but he speaks with a thick Israeli accent, so sometimes I had difficulty deciphering what he said. For instance, he pronounces the word for "birds" as "beards."

Could you update us on your back-list books, highlighting as you see fit?

Wow–I've written 26 books so the list is long. Let's start with The Restless Sea, a six-book series on the oceans for middle school students (Scholastic Library, 2003). I wish I had published these six books as individual trade titles and not as a series for an institutional publisher. The books represent some of my best writing and most important ideas, and they are enhanced by the most amazing photographs. I devoted three years of my life to this series. This is how I describe the individual titles:

Shifting Shores

Read about sunken cites that lie beneath the ocean and cities which are sinking now and may drown in the near future. You may be surprised by the causes of their demise. The ground beneath your feet may feel rigid and unmovable, but the Earth's thin, outer crust is broken into large slabs called tectonic plates. The plates move relative to each other, colliding, ripping apart, or scraping past each other. This jostling gives rise to spectacular mountains ranges and immense canyons on land and beneath the sea.

Learn how these tectonic movements reshape coastlines and unleash the world’s cruelest natural disasters—monster earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. A discussion of doomsday rocks—giant meteorites—and their potential to wipe out life as we know it rounds out this book.

Note: In this book I predicted the destruction of New Orleans by a strong hurricane two years before the city was destroyed. When I was writing the text, I felt so strongly that New Orleans was doomed that I convinced my husband to change our vacation plans so we could show the city to our kids. I'm glad he listened!

Human Impact

Human beings have collectively become one of the potent forces in nature, transforming the ocean through overfishing, uncontrolled coastal development, global warming, and pollution. The most dangerous refuse in the ocean may be discarded military equipment, such as bombs, mines, and poison gas.

The ocean is not as resilient as it once seemed. Filthy harbors, dead zones, toxic algae blooms, mass extinctions, and alien invaders from distant waters are all ominous signs of troubled seas. The current generation of scientists and policy-makers has had limited success in reversing the decline of the oceans.

Read why the next generation—the kids in school today—will be better equipped to make a difference when they reach adulthood.

Ocean Wildlife

It’s eat or be eaten beneath the sea. Discover how underwater creatures adapt to their dangerous environment and how they survive and even thrive in a place where most wildlife ends up in the belly of a predator. Cannibalism, deadly venoms, and even sex transformation (changing from a male to female or vice versa) are successful strategies used by some species to compete.


Dangerous Crossings

Gripping real-life stories about killer storms, ship crushing ice, fire at sea, and starved sailors turned cannibal will keep readers turning these pages filled with incredible oceanic disasters and the natural forces that contributed to them. Bloodthirsty pirates of long ago—male and female—come to life in these narratives, along with harrowing accounts of modern-day piracy.


Savage Waters

From the violent origin of Earth and its oceans in a cosmic demolition derby to the celestial impact on waves, tides, and ice ages, readers will be awed by the extraterrestrial forces at work in the natural world. Journey along the hidden landscape of the sea and discover the complex paths of currents, and the relationship between ocean and climate in this dramatic investigation of the world ocean and the secrets it has yet to reveal.


Underwater Exploration

The ocean floor covers nearly 71 percent of the Earth’ surface, yet we know more about the sun, moon, and stars than about the depths of the sea. Until recently, the extreme pressure and inability to navigate underwater made deep-sea exploration almost impossible.

Journey deep beneath the sea on a quest for adventure, knowledge, and sunken treasure in this exciting look at how ocean mapping, manned submersibles, and underwater robots are revealing the secrets of the ocean.


Here are my other titles:

Weather Legends: Native American Lore and the Science of Weather (Millbrook Press, 2001).

This book juxtaposes Native American myths of the origin of interesting weather occurrences with an explanation of the meteorological forces that create weather. In it, you will find native legends of murderous serpents, immense sky warriors, and kindly spirits beings, and how these entities are linked to the amazing dramas that take place in the sky overhead. The book also gives a brief summary of how scientists understand the meteorological forces that dominate the atmosphere and create the weather we experience.

Breast Cancer: Questions & Answers for Young Women (Twenty-First Century Books, 2001).

This is a revised edition of my award-winning book, Will I Get Breast Cancer: Questions & Answers for Teenage Girls. It really should have been titled "Everything You Want to Know about Breasts and Breast Cancer."

It provides a thorough explanation of breast physiology, function and health. I don’t shy away from issues dealing with size and development, sexual response, and how to respond to stupid wise-cracks from boys.

I tackle breast cancer head on in a non-frightening way. I explain what cancer is, how it is diagnosed and treatment options. I also deal with the emotional and physical aspects–what to expect when someone has breast cancer–and I wrap up with current research and hope for the future.

I may be one of the few self-help writers who has actually benefited greatly from the content of her own writings after publication. I had not experienced breast cancer personally when I wrote the book, but I found the book extremely helpful later when my own cancer was diagnosed. I went into panic mode, but I knew I could trust what I had written.

Nature’s Fury: Eyewitness Reports of Natural Disasters (Scholastic Reference, 2000).

Tornadoes, blizzards, hurricanes, wildfire–read for yourself the eyewitness accounts of people who faced 13 different natural disasters and lived to tell about it. Their stories are taken from historical archives, newspapers, and other published sources and from personal interviews and correspondence. These first-person accounts show the courage, ingenuity, and resilience of survivors in the face of natural forces that cannot be controlled. It is a very real view of what it is like to face nature’s fury and survive. This book was a winner of the Boston Authors Club Book Award for young readers.

Legends of Landforms: Native American Lore and the Geology of the Land (Millbrook Press, 1999).

Exploding volcanoes, earth-rattling quakes, mammoth floods, as well as a myriad of other geological and meteorological events have shaped the landscapes of North America. Long ago, Native Americans attributed these events to fearsome dragons, bloodthirsty serpents, helpful giants, and other spirit beings with earth-sculpting capabilities. These interpretations were passed on in the form of legends. This book retells some of these legends and also provides dynamic scientific and explanations of earth-shaping forces.

Some of my earlier titles are:

• Shock Waves Through Los Angeles: The Northridge Earthquake (Little Brown, 1996);

• The Great Midwest Flood (Little Brown, 1995);

• The Great Yellowstone Fire co-authored with Kathryn A. Goldner (Sierra Club/Little Brown, 1990).

My website shows most of the other books that I have published.

If you could go back and talk to yourself when you were a beginning writer, what advice would you offer?

I would tell myself to get a Ph.D. in history, specializing in Holocaust studies, and become fluent in German, Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, Polish, Italian, and French so I could read original documents. Additionally, I would study conflict resolution so the lessons of the Holocaust could be applied to current events.

What special advice do you have for children's nonfiction writers?

Unless you have a trust fund, make sure you have the skills and degrees necessary to get well paying work to supplement your writing income.

Other than your own, what is your favorite children's nonfiction book of the year and why?

I need to take a pass on this question. I am on the awards committee for the Boston Authors Club, and so I see a lot of incredible books but I am not comfortable publicly identifying which one I like best.

However, if you are looking for a good read, go the Boston Authors Club website and check out the award-winning books and recommended ones for both young readers and adults. The top award winner in each category takes home a prize of $1,000.

What do you do when you're not in the book world?

My husband and I have spent the last few years rebuilding my grandparents' 75-year-old lakeside cottage. We alternate our time at the lake between grunt work in the house and yard, and fun things such as hiking, kayaking, throwing barbeques and dinner parties, and entertaining out-of-town guests. Some of our biggest challenges involve keeping bats, ground squirrels, and flying squirrels out of the attic and keeping Canada geese and great blue heron off our dock (if we don't, our dock gets covered in bird poop.)

Genealogy is one of my greatest passions. I am the daughter of Holocaust survivors, and as a result, I have tremendous interest in family history and the historical events that impacted my family. This interest has led me to some of my most amazing life experiences.

For instance, I joined a dialogue group that brought together children of Holocaust survivors with sons and daughters of Nazis. In the group, I met a woman Inge Franken whose father, like mine, was born in Germany in 1912.

My father’s life and the lives of his family members in Germany were shattered when Hitler came to power and enacted his anti-Jewish legislation. Many of his relatives were murdered. I have been able to learn the fate of most of his close relatives, but to this day, I still don’t know how one of his uncles perished—he vanished without a trace.

Inge's father became a devout Nazi, joined the German Army, and participated in the siege of Leningrad, which killed 1.5 million civilians, mostly by starvation.

Together, Inge and I speak in classrooms in both the United States and Germany about growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust.

What can your readers look forward to next?

I’ll let it be a surprise.

Cynsational Notes

The Man Who Flies with Birds was named to the Smithsonian Notable Books for Children 2009 list, and it was recognized as a 2010 Sydney Taylor Award Notable Book for Older Readers. "The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Presented by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) since 1968, the Award encourages the publication and widespread use of quality Judaic literature."

Story Secrets: Ice by Sarah Beth Durst from Holly Cupala. Peek: "I wrote this book as a love letter to my husband. It's about true love... the kind of love where you'd go east of the sun and west of the moon for each other. So this novel is very closed to my heart. It's also about polar bears, one of the coolest animals ever. No pun intended."

Fabulous New Fiction: 2k10 Debut Author Bonnie Doerr by Janet Fox from Through the Wardrobe. Peek: "The Florida Keys! What an exotic, beautiful place to set a story. Hundreds of acres of wildlife refuge surrounded me. The adorable endangered Key deer would be delightful subjects. There was a rich human success story in their survival. Wonderful science behind it. What mystery could surround them? How could teens get involved? Add a little danger, unique characters, a taste of the wild on land and sea."

The Call (Yes, the call. With the agent!) by Kristina McBride. Peek: "I had spent two years writing three novels, countless hours researching agents to query, double that in time spent on perfecting the query letters, and finally, after everything, I was going to speak to an actual, real-life literary agent sitting in one of those crazy tall buildings in NYC! After freaking out for a few hours, I decided that I needed a plan."

Before Accepting Agent Representation by Kathleen Temean from Writing and Illustrating: Sharing Information About Writing and Illustrating for Children. Peek: "Don't skip this crucial step because you're worried that questions will scare him off, or that the offer won’t last. This isn't a TV promo, it's a potential business partnership. His offer is on the table, waiting patiently for your consideration and ultimate response."

Interview with Libby Schmais, author of The Pillow Book of Lotus Lowenstein from the YA Authors Cafe. Peek: "I remember writing the first sentence and immediately liking the character of Lotus. The beginning is pretty straightforward, in the classic first person narrative 'Call Me Ishmael' tradition. Lotus starts with: As you may have guessed, my name is Lotus Lowenstein and this is my diary."

Interview with Nancy Holder by Malinda Lo from The Enchanted Inkpot. Peek: "It's just as hard to write a short story as a novel, and harder to write a comic book. The comic book form is incredibly difficult, and I'm humbled by the artistry of my betters (and grateful for my great artists). I used to prefer writing short stories, but I like the sense of continuity and flow that I can get from working on a novel. But really, what I like to do is write. "

Stages of Revision by Natalie Whipple at Between Fact and Fiction. Peek: "The plot is your base—your story relies on this as a firm foundation. If you have weak areas, you risk readers putting down your book. Because of that, my first revisions always revolve around tightening the plot." Souce: Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent.

Social Networking: What a Children's Publisher Expects: A Conversation with Donna Spurlock from Charlesbridge Marketing by Harold Underdown from The Purple Crayon Blog. Peek: ""It's always been the case (even at Charlesbridge) that a few books are your 'lead books' and they get the majority of the marketing dollars. Here it's been more of an even distribution, but when a book starts to pull ahead in sales, or we know going in that a Jerry Pallotta or Mitali Perkins is going to be working overtime to promote the book, we get behind them more financially. Authors need to do the legwork to get to that point. And it's their personality that's going to do it." Read a Cynsations interview with Harold.

Alisha Niehaus on Editing Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet by Erin Dionne (Dial, 2010) from Before I forget...musings, ramblings, and ideas to note from author Erin Dionne. Peek: "One thing I always do is approach each draft as a new manuscript—unless I have a specific question, I don’t go back to my previous notes. This way, if one element has been 'fixed' by a new one, or if it wasn’t that big of an issue in the first place—or if something still feels unaddressed, I have fresher, more holistic eyes."

How to Write a Great Query Letter: An Example That Worked by Cheryl Klein, editor at Arthur A. Levine Books from Brooklyn Arden. Peek: "Gbemi [Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich ] has kindly allowed me to reprint her original letter here and annotate it...."

Top 10: Selling Your First Children's Novel by Jen Nadol from 2010: A Book Odyssey. Peek: "54% of Tenners got an agent with less than 10 queries, but 17% of us queried more than 40 agents before getting an offer. As one of that 17%, I can vouch that persistence (read: stubbornness) pays off...to a point. "

"Rock Bottom" by Kerry Madden from A Good Blog is Hard to Find. Peek: "...that year of writing somebody else’s story and then the grief and distraction of trying to get paid, I realized I was losing my own voice. I had hit rock bottom. I still took care of the kids and lived my life with a very patient and loving husband, but I had let my stories go in the name of money, and what a paltry sum it was. And so I returned to the first few chapters of a children’s novel I’d started called Gentle's Holler (Viking, 2005), and those Weems’ children saved me." Read a Cynsations interview with Kerry.

Looking at the Agent Search by Lisa Schroeder from Crowe's Nest. Peek: "I didn’t whine publicly about the rejections. You never know who might be reading, so it’s important to keep that frustration under control and always be professional. Have writer friends you can vent to, or set up a special locked LiveJournal account for friends to read only." Read a Cynsations interview with Lisa.

Key to Marketing Your Book: Time Well Spent by Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent. Peek: "Needless to say: unless you were born with more hours in the day than the rest of us, doing everything is not possible." Read a Cynsations interview with Nathan.

Be Kind to Failure by Tami Lewis Brown from Cynsations. Peek: "Creativity is all about moving into new directions. Taking chances. Being risky. Breaking the rules. And when you break those rules you're upsetting the applecart, for others and for yourself. You're grabbing failure by the neck and giving it a good strong shake."

Children's/YA Books Set in Haiti: a bibliography compiled by Mitali Perkins from Mitali's Fire Escape. Peek: "Stories can bring faraway people and places from the screen into our homes and hearts, and keep them there, even through information overload or compassion fatigue." See 2009 Illustrated Books with African American Characters, also from Mitali. Read a Cynsations interview with Mitali.

Thematic Book List - Earthquakes by Tricia from The Miss Rumphius Effect. Peek: "The list that follows explains the science behind earthquakes. You'll find some nonfiction titles, some poetry, and a bit of history, both true and imagined."

Teaching Professional Development Classes for Teachers by Darcy Pattison from Fiction Notes. Peek: "As freelance writers, we often need to look for creative ways to generate income to pay those pesky bills. One solid way for me has been to teach professional development sessions in the summer, continuing education classes for teachers which are required for renewal of their certification." Read a Cynsations interview with Darcy.

Kidlitosphere Immersion Week: an online class taught by children's author Anastasia Suen. Peek: "Immerse yourself in the social media world of children's book authors, illustrators and reviewers and have your social media questions answered in this 5 lesson email workshop. During this week you will explore: blogs, microblogs, book reviews, virtual tours, and your social media plan." Dates: Feb. 22 to Feb. 26; March 22 to March 26. $19.99.

Myracle Worker by Debra Lau Whelan from School Library Journal. An interview with YA author Lauren Myracle. Peek: "I just like them. So yes, I guess I do hang out with tweens and teens a lot, whether at church, or my kids’ schools, or through contact with the scads and scads of awesome babysitters I’ve lured into my life. I ask them questions, I Facebook them with 'how do y’all feel about _____' concerns, and I actively solicit interaction on my blog."

What Can You Do with a Paleta? by Carmen Tafolla, illustrated by Magaly Morales (Tricycle, 2009) is the thirteenth annual winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book. The award is given by the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC), a library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Interview with a Two-Time Newbery Committee Member Vaunda Micheaux Nelson from Spellbinders. Peek: "The secrecy is both necessary and part of the fun. I cannot tell you what went on behind the closed doors during the many hours of sequestered meetings. (Committee members need to feel free to speak frankly, knowing that their comments will not be repeated outside.) I cannot tell you what books were or were not discussed. I cannot tell you specifics about the balloting. It's all confidential. Forever. But there are some things I can tell you about my year." Note: Vaunda also is the 2010 winner of the Coretta Scott King Award.

The Writer’s Page: Hot Dog, Katsa! by Kristin Cashore from The Horn Book. Peek: "Writing fantasy happens to be all about limitations. It's about keeping to the rules; it’s about building a world that’s believable to the reader because it’s both comprehensive and consistent; it’s about assembling a body, a structure, that stands up on its own."

In Which I Am the Bearer of Very Bad News by Kiersten White from Kiersten Writes. Note: Kiersten is the debut author of Paranormalcy (HarperTeen, 2010). Peek: "Expect submissions to be hard. Expect to be something of an emotional wreck. But expect to succeed. And work toward this success by being smart about things. What should you do while you're on submission?"

Where Have all the Folktales Gone? by author Bobbi Miller. Peek: "The question sparks this wonderful conversation among writers, editors, agents, and librarians — a gathering of wisdom from those who share the love of the traditional tale — as they explore the following questions: Have we outgrown our need for folktales? Are there contemporary complements? Where do the retold, re-imagined and refurbished folktales fit in a folktale collection? Are they folktales? What is the folklore process anyway?"

Official Jekel Loves Hyde Book Trailer Contest from author Beth Fantaskey. Awesome first-pace prizes include meeting the author! Deadline: March 15.

Whole Novel Workshop for Fantasy with authors Laura Ruby and Anne Ursu from May 1 to May 8 from Highlights Foundation. Peek: "The Whole Novel Workshop offers writers the rare opportunity to have the entire draft of a novel read and critiqued prior to the workshop, followed by a week of intense, one-on-one mentoring."

Seven Questions Over Breakfast with Melissa Sweet by Jules from Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. Peek: "Her mixed-media collage illustrations are detailed and exuberant, always visually appealing; her watercolors, luminous. Full of graceful details for young children and picture book aficionados alike, they clearly mark the work of an illustrator with a keen eye — for nature and for children, in particular."

Sylvan Dell Publishing's Blog: "...will keep you updated on all that’s happening around the Sylvan Dell offices, from new book releases and awards won to stellar national reviews and exciting technological advances. Come back often to read entries from the Sylvan Dell staff, as well as articles and advice from our authors and illustrators."

Expert Scoop with Agent Jennifer Rofé of Andrea Brown Literary Agency from The Brown Bookshelf: United in Story. Peek: "Ten percent of my clients are 'people of color.' Though this isn’t a primary factor in my selection process, I do find myself attracted to stories featuring multicultural characters where race isn't the issue."

Screening Room

In the video below, YA author Lisa Schroeder talks about How to Do a Drive-By Book Signing. Short, sweet, and nicely illustrative. Read a Cynsations interview with Lisa.



In the video below, Renee Ting of Shen's Books talks to Debbi Michiko Florence about what she loved most writing her two non-fiction titles, China and Japan. Read a Cynsations interview with Debbi.



Check out the book trailer for Darklight by Lesley Livingston (HarperTeen, 2009). Read a Cynsations interview with Lesley.



Here's a sneak peek at the book trailer for Front Page Face-Off by Jo Whittemore (Aladdin Mix, March 2010). See also Jo on revision.



Check out the book trailers for Hearts at Stake (The Drake Chronicles) by Alyxandra Harvey (Walker, 2009).





Thanks to reader Clandestine Mariane from the Philippines for creating this fan book trailer to celebrate Eternal (Candlewick, 2009, 2010).



More Personally

I'm thrilled to be back at Cynsations after my winter hiatus teaching at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults winter 2010 residency in Montpelier! Note: VCFA is now accepting applications from international students!

While in Vermont, I was honored to learn that I'd been featured as Author of the Month at Fully Booked Bookstores in the Philippines! It was such a thrill to hear from so many new readers because of that great news.

Harley students review 'Indian Shoes' by Cynthia Leitich Smith (HarperCollins, 2002) from the DemocratandChronicle.com of Rochester, New York. Peek: "Ray convinced the lady to take his shoes, a pair of sneakers with neon orange laces, instead." Note: includes photo with student art. Learn more about Indian Shoes. Don't miss the reading group guide and free readers' theater.

Thanks to D.L. Keur from The Deepening: World of Fiction for featuring Eternal (Candlewick, 2009, 2010).

Even More Personally

Congratulations to all of the ALA award winners, honorees, and list makers! See Austinites put in a solid showing in American Library Association literary awards. Peek: "Nice job, folks. Austin grows by the day as a literary mecca, but our authors really seem to do a bang-up job with kids’ stuff." Read Cynsations interviews with Jacqueline Kelly, Liz Garton Scanlon, Chris Barton, and beloved expat Libba Bray.

Congratulations to Austin YA author Margo Rabb on the Dec. 30 birth of her son, Leo Stephen. Read a Cynsations interview with Margo.

Congratulations to Austin's Erin Edwards on the publication of her "Oracle of Love" craft in "Disney Family Fun Magazine."

Austin Area Events

Congratulations to the incoming Austin SCBWI regional advisor Debbie Gonzales on her new leadership role in the chapter (and to the members, who'll wildly benefit from her efforts).

Author Bethany Hegedus will speak on "scene and structure" ("If You Build It, They Will Read") from 11 a.m. to noon Feb. 13 at BookPeople in conjunction with Austin SCBWI. Note: "bring a notebook and get ready to examine Aristotle's Incline and the 7 Key Scenes every book needs. Please be familiar with Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick, 2000)..., as Bethany will discuss the Seven Key Scenes used to build this gem of a book."

More Cynsational Events

From The New York Times: "'Tea with Chachaji' (Monday through Thursday) Inspired by Uma Krishnaswami’s book Chachaji’s Cup (Children's Book Press, 2003), the show focuses on the relationship between Neel, a young American of Indian ancestry, and his great-uncle Chachaji, whose traditions seem more foreign as Neel grows older. Presented this week in the Bronx, the show will travel to Manhattan and Brooklyn. (Through Feb. 11.) At 10:30 a.m., Lovinger Theater, Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, at Goulden Avenue, Bedford Park, the Bronx, (212) 573-8791, makingbookssing.org; $16; $8.50 for school groups." See more on the production from Children's Book Press.

The Greater Houston Teen Book Convention is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 10 at Alief Taylor High School, and admission is free! Speakers include keynoter Sharon Draper and:

• Cynthia Leitich Smith
  
• Beth Fantaskey
• Marjetta Geerling
  
• Jon Skovron
  
• Judson Roberts
  
• Jimmy Gownley
• George O'Connor
  
• Terry Moore
• Gayle Forman
• The Fillbach brothers
  
• Elizabeth Eulberg
• Paula Morris

Note: bring money to purchase books and food.

Cynsations will be on hiatus from now until sometime shortly after Jan. 22 while I teach at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults winter 2010 residency in Montpelier.

I look forward to working with fellow faculty members Kathi Appelt, Margaret Bechard, Alan Cumyn, Sharon Darrow, Sarah Ellis, A.M. Jenkins, Ellen Howard, Uma Krishnaswami, Julie Larios, Martine Leavitt, Laura McGee Kvasnosky, Leda Schubert, Shelley Tanaka, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Tim Wynne-Jones. In addition, Carolyn Coman will be matched with post-graduate students.

Kimberly Willis Holt is the writer in residence. Sarah is leading the picture book certificate program, and the visiting author-illustrator is Lynne Rae Perkins.

Our graduate assistants will be Marianna Baer, Debbie Gonzales, Sarah Sullivan, and Zu Vincent.

Cynsational Notes

Children's-YA writing enthusiasts should watch my Twitter account! Beginning Sunday, I'll be tweeting the occasional faculty quote from the winter residency. Note: you do not have to be registered at Twitter or to "follow" me to read the tweets. You can just go to my Twitter page, and they'll all be displayed there, in descending order, from most to least recent.

For those holiday vacationers who may have missed it, last week I posted my Cynsational Books of 2009. I'd like to highlight just a couple more: The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King (Flux, 2009) as well as The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series by Heather Brewer (Dutton, ongoing). Read a Cynsations interview with A.S.

Here's the book trailer for The Dust of 100 Dogs:



Here's the book trailer for Tenth Grade Bleeds (Dutton, 2009). Note: Heather is also highly recommended as a speaker. I had the pleasure of being on a panel with her in Westlake, Texas, last fall and was absolutely wowed by her savvy, smarts, and ability to connect with tweens.



This just in! Here's the new book trailer for Eleventh Grade Burns (Dutton, Feb. 2010).



Likewise, here's a quick recap of the interviews posted from Dec. 21 through the end of the month. Texas debut author Jill S. Alexander discussed story in country music; Jessica Blank wrote a guest post on adapting a novel into a screenplay; David L. Harrison talked about professional and artistic success, Michelle Markel shared her insights on taking writing risks, and debut author Penny Blubaugh reflected on early reading influences and her MFA.

New Releases

This Week's New Releases from Teenreads.com Blog. Highlights include books by Gordan Korman, Susanne Dunlap, Jordan Sonnenblick, Julie Ann Peters, Delia Ephron, Courtney Summers, Angela Johnson, Dia Reeves, Mari Mancusi, Jennifer R. Hubbard, Tim Bowlar, Lisa McMann, and Jacqueline Woodson.

Eighteen-year-old author Noni Carter talks about her novel, Good Fortune (Simon & Schuster, 2010). Note: Noni is a student at Harvard University.



Here's a book trailer for Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder (Simon Pulse, 2010). Read a new interview with Lisa by Tabitha Olsen from Writer Musings. Peek: "Because I started with picture books, where you need to be succinct as possible, I do think it helped me with the verse. I seem to do well in getting to the heart of a scene and figuring out how to get the emotional truth with just the right choice of words."



Here's a book trailer for Captivate by Carrie Jones (Bloomsbury, 2010). Read a new interview with Carrie from Fantastic Book Review. Enter to win a copy of Captivate.



Welcome YA Rebels

Vloggers YA Rebels describe themselves as "seven young adult authors giving you the behind the scenes drama!" Notes: now posting regularly; video includes cameo by John Green.



More News & Giveaways

Cover Stories: Prada & Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard from Melissa Walker at readergirlz. Peek: "A few weeks later, they had a photo shoot, and they sent me the three best options--and they let me pick (my choice at left)! There were two styles of jeans and two types of red high heels. It was super exciting to be able to have some input at that point, and I'm grateful that the folks at Razorbill shared it with me." See also Cover Stories: Far From You by Lisa Schroeder and Cover Stories: Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph.

Manuscript Blindness by Brian Yansky from Brian's Blog: Writer Talk. Peek: "You have to look at the worth of your scenes in terms of the whole. Do they all belong? If they do belong, have you devoted the right amount of emphasis to each?" Read a Cynsations interview with Brian.

Top Ten Questions Dutton Editors Ask Themselves When Looking At A Manuscript from Kathy Temean at Writing and Illustrating: Sharing Information About Writing and Illustrating for Children. Peek: "Does the action of the story move at a good pace and hold our interest? Does tension build as the story moves forward?" Source: Janet Reid, Literary Agent.

10 Things I've Learned about the Writing Biz by Charlene Teglia from Genreality. Peek: "Don’t discount your business abilities and leave that up to other people because you’re 'just a writer'. You're also an independent business person and uniquely gifted with the ability to come up with solid ideas." Source: Elizabeth Scott.

Win an ARC of Everlasting by Angie Frazier (Scholastic, 2010) from Angie Frazier: Adventures of a YA Novelist. Deadline: midnight EST Jan. 8. Learn more about Everlasting.

A Diamond in the Slush: What Picture Book Editors Are Really Looking For by Melanie Hope Greenberg from SCBWI Metro NY News. Peek: "In developing a project, however, they [Alexandra Penfold of Simon & Schuster and Alisha Niehaus of Dial] recommend that authors keep looking for ways to broaden its appeal." Source: Tammi Sauer.

Interview: Melissa de la Cruz by Little Willow at Bildungsroman. Peek: "The supernatural stories are easier. For The Ashleys and The Au Pairs, it was fun but I found it exhausting after awhile to keep up with all the trends and incorporate them in the book in a new way." Read a Cynsations interview with Melissa.

Six Word Resolutions & Goals! A Book Giveaway! And a New Year's Poem For You! by April Halprin Wayland from Teaching Author's: Six Children's Authors Who Also Teach Writing. Note: "April posted a follow-up to the contest we held last fall asking readers to post their goals for the new school year. Now it's time for readers to report on how they did. Those who didn't make their goals are invited to post a revised goal. And anyone who missed the original post is welcome to share a new writing resolution for 2010. One lucky participant will receive an autographed copy of April's award-winning picture book, New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story, illustrated by Stephané Jorisch (Dial, 2009)."

How I Got My Agent by Anna Staniszewski. Peek: "Sometimes you have to be willing to put one project aside, as I did, and realize that it might not be the one that's going to get you an agent/get you published/etc. That's why you should never stop writing, because you never know which manuscript will grab someone's attention."

Congratulations to David Lubar on the release of Dead Guy Spy (Starscape, 2010), the second book in his Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie series! Peek: "Nathan Abercrombie is getting used to his rotten life as a half-dead zombie. The good thing is he doesn't feel any pain. The bad thing is his body can't heal, so he has to be really careful not to break anything. But that's hard to do when his wrestling-obsessed gym teacher, Mr. Lomux, matches him up with Rodney the bully, who's looking for any excuse to break his bones. Then one day, Nathan is approached by the secret organization B.U.M.—aka the Bureau of Useful Misadventures—which offers him a cure in exchange for his help. Nathan jumps at the chance to become the world's first zombie spy, but soon discovers that B.U.M. isn’t quite what it seems. Can Nathan trust them?" Read a Cynsations interview with David.

Melanie Kroupa to Join Marshall Cavendish by Lynn Andriani from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "Kroupa will be joining Marshall Cavendish Children's Books as an editor-at-large on Jan. 1, reporting to publisher Margery Cuyler. Kroupa will work for the publisher, which is located in Tarrytown, N.Y., from her office in Dedham, Mass."

Mary Cole of Andrea Brown Literary Agency on Urban Fantasy by Parker Peevyhouse from The Spectacle. Peek: "Believe it or not, some of the most successful urban fantasy stories are also some of the funniest, and that has everything to do with voice. Without humor, personality and wit, 'dark' and 'gritty' will soon become 'bleak' and 'grating.'"

Marvelous Marketer: Nathan Bransford (Literary Agent) by Shelli at Market My Words. Peek: "Traditionally it wasn't really the agent's job to promote books, but I think that may be changing somewhat with the times."

Katherine Paterson Named National Ambassador for Young People's Literature from School Library Journal. Peek: "Katherine Paterson, a two-time Newbery medalist and two-time National Book Award-winner, replaces Jon Scieszka as the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, a two-year position created to raise national awareness of the importance of lifelong literacy and education." Note: Yesterday, Candlewick Press announced the upcoming publication of an illustrated middle-grade novel from Katherine. The Flint Heart is a retelling of the story by the late British fantasy novelist Eden Phillpots, written by Katherine and her husband, John Paterson. It will be illustrated by John Rocco and is slated for publication in March 2012.

Channeling My Inner Boy by Mary Atkinson from Crowe's Nest. Peek: "I’d write scenes like these and wonder, where did that come from? Do those boys really live inside me? Who are they? What do these scenes say about me? Am I crude, nasty, and violent?"

The First Sentence or Three by Rosalyn Schanzer from INK: Interesting Nonfiction for Kids. Peek: "In honor of finding some firsts in nonfiction, I thought I’d try to dig up a few books with great first sentences or first paragraphs; the kind that surprise you at first glance and pull you into a first-rate story right away."

The Longstockings: a new site from Coe Booth, Daphne Grab, Lisa Greenwald, Jenny Han, Caroline Hickey, and Siobhan Vivian. Don't miss 12 Months of Workshop: an opportunity to submit 25 pages of your work in progress to be workshopped by the Longstockings. Peek: "that writer will receive a document compiling the helpful notes, suggestions and (surely) lots of praise from The Longstockings!" Note: this contest will be held every month of this year.

Successful Queries: Agent Ted Malawer and 'My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters' from Chuck Sambuchino at Guide to Literary Agent's Editor's Blog. Peek: "Sydney's largest paragraph sets up the plot, the conflict, and introduces some exciting potential love interests and misadventures that I was excited to read about."

MG/YA SFF Virtual Conference by Tiffany Trent from Eudaimonium: Finding the Gold. Peek: "So, I want to try an experiment. I'm planning on holding a one-day virtual conference sometime in late March or April. I want this to be a truly useful conference to writers and aficionados of MG/YA SFF. Many of us see the same panels over and over again at conferences, making us feel like we've wasted time and money. How might we do it differently? What panels would you like to see that you haven't seen?"

Featured Sweetheart: Cailin O'Connor by P.J. Hoover from The Texas Sweethearts. Peek: "You may recognize Cailin as the genius behind the Bridget Zinn auctions in the past year."

Revision by Brian Yansky from Brian's Blog: Writer Talk. Peek: "...there's a time during revision where you have to be more analytical. The story is in place and the characters are real, and your manuscript feels like all the elements are fitting together. To get to this evolutionary moment in the manuscript, you had to depend on your creative side: instinct and imagination and inspiration. But now you need the analytical side that evaluates." Note: Brian shares a scene-by-scene list of questions to consider for revision. Read a Cynsations interview with Brian.

Comment Challenge 2010 from MotherReader. Peek: "Since it is said that it takes twenty-one days to form a new habit, we’re going to run the Comment Challenge for the next three weeks — starting Friday, Jan. 8, and running through Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010. The goal is to comment on at least five kidlitosphere blogs a day."

Author Interview: Natalie Standiford on How To Say Goodbye in Robot (Scholastic, 2009) from Teenreads.com. Peek: "Once a real story starts to gel, I write a loose plot outline. Some books have complicated plots and require a more detailed outline. I always end up changing things as I write anyway. But I like to know what's going to happen so I can keep the story focused and sharpen every detail into an arrow that points toward the end."

Congratulations to fellow Austinites Lila and Rick Guzman on the release of Lorenzo and the Pirate (Blooming Tree, 2010)! Peek: "The fourth book in the Lorenzo series, it is set on the high seas in 1779 and tells the story of Spanish participation in the American Revolution." Source: Writers' League of Texas. Read a Cynsations interview with Lila.

Is Your 'But' Too Big? by John Gibbs from An Englishman in New Jersey. Peek: "Be wary of such people. Many of them carry a virus, Excusitis, a mental affliction which can kill writing dreams by causing the person suffering from it to doubt themselves and their ability. Symptoms include excessive use of the phrases like 'I wanted to be a writer, but...', 'I’ve always thought I had a book in me, but...', 'I love writing, but...'"

Matt Phelan is the winner of the 2010 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction for The Storm in the Barn (Candlewick, 2009). Source: Read Roger.

Congratulations to Sharon Draper, E.B. Lewis, Tanita S. Davis, Kekla Magoon, and the other nominees for the 41rst NAACP Image Awards in "Outstanding Literary Work - Children" and "Outstanding Literary Work - Youth/Teens!"

Writing Links from Cynthia Leitich Smith Children's-YA Literature Resources features lots to know about agents, book design & art direction, editors & publishers, education, illustration, promotion, publishing, and writing. See also Inspiration in Writing Children's & YA Books and Perspiration: Self Study.

R.J. Anderson talks about Rebel, the sequel to Knife (Orchard UK)(titled Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter in the U.S. from HarperCollins). Source: The Enchanted Inkpot. Read a Cynsations interview with R.J.




Kidlitosphere Diversity Discussion

PaperTigers Reading the World Challenge 2010. Peek: "Choose one book from/about/by or illustrated by someone from each of the seven continents – that’s: Africa; Antarctica; Asia; Australasia; Europe; North America; South America. Have the books read aloud to you or read them yourself; share them as part of a book-group or in class. Combine your choices with other reading challenges. The books can be picture-books, poetry, fiction, non-fiction...the choice is yours."

Reflecting on the Great Mosaic of Humankind by Jane Kurtz at The Power of One Writer. Peek: "I tend to be disappointed with consumers more than editors because I've seen what it's like to have authors, editors, illustrators, art designers, sales reps, and others on the publishing team pour their hearts into a book that only sits in a warehouse because people–by and large–weren't adventuresome enough (or openhearted enough) in their reading tastes."

Demand Diversity in Publishing by Colleen Mondor at Chasing Ray. Peek: "Think about balance in your reviewing--think about books for kids with black skin or brown, kids who attend a Mosque or Synagogue, kids who go to school on a reservation or Native village in Alaska or that had grandparents from Asia or the Middle East or India or Kenya or Haiti or Cuba. Think about everyone else as much as you think about yourself."

Kids of Color in Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy--a look back at the 98 books nominated for the Cybils from Charlotte's Library: Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Children and Teenagers. Peek: "Here are the kids of color I found, the ones who got enough page-time to be memorable."

More Personally

My holiday highlights included reading Nightshade by debut author Andrea Cremer (Philomel, Oct. 2010). It was my great pleasure to send in a blurb for the novel, which you can read here.

Look for a screen shot and recommendation of my picture books bibliography from Cynthia Leitich Smith Children's & Young Adult Literature Resources in "Web Monthly: Picture This--Websites About Picture Books" by Greg Byerly on pg. 35 of the January 2010 issue of School Library Monthly (formerly School Library Media Activities Monthly.