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Save the date: On January 29, 2011, at 2 PM, at Book People at 6th and Lamar, Cynthia Leitich Smith and Mari Mancusi will be celebrating their new releases, BLESSED and NIGHT SCHOOL, respectively, with a party and signing!

Event is open and free to the public! The celebration will include author talks, a Q&A panel, book raffle, surprise giveaways, devilish desserts, demonic drinks and signing.

Wear red and black if you're on the side of Evil or blue and black if you're on the side of Good.

Bonus points (and possible prize) to anyone who dresses up as a vampire, shape shifter, vampire slayer, angel, or fairy!

Coming this February to the ZACH SCOTT, performed by the ZACH SCOTT's "youth pre-professional troupe," a musical based on April Lurie's young adult novel, BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS:

"At first glance, April Lundquist seems like your average high school freshman in 1970s Brooklyn. She's sporting bellbottoms and dancing disco like all of her friends. But when the Mafia shows up on her doorstep--literally--April finds herself confronted with some tough choices to make. Will she be able to save her brother, navigate boyfriends, and capture the perfect kiss, all while keeping her cool? Find out in ZACH's world premier production of this new musical for the whole family!"

Saturdays February 5, 12 and 19 at 1pm & 4pm and Sundays February 6, 13 and 20 at 6:30pm on ZACH's Kleberg Stage.

Click here to buy tickets.

Cynthia and I had the pleasure of attending a read-through a few months back. Even at the rough draft script stage and without all the songs, it was hilarious and engaging. Can't wait to see it!

For your holiday shopping this year, I thought I'd highlight some of the books written or illustrated this year by members of the Austin youth literature community:

Picture Books written or illustrated by Austinites:


Shark vs. Train, by Chris Barton
Holler Loudly, by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Sweet Moon Baby: An Adoption Tale, ill. by Patrice Barton
She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story, ill. by Don Tate

Chapter Books, Middle Grade and Tween Novels:


Truth with a Capital T, by Bethany Hegedus
Brains for Lunch, by K.A. Holt
The Necropolis, by P.J. Hoover
Anna Maria's Gift, by Janice Shefelman
Front Page Face-off, by Jo Whittemore

Young Adult Novels:


Saving Maddie, by Varian Johnson
The Less-Dead, by April Lurie
Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences, by Brian Yansky

Brian Yansky on Brian Yansky: "It's an old story. I was born and I was very small and then I got larger and then one day I stopped growing and, with minor adjustments, I've stayed about the same size ever since. All of this growing happened in Iowa where, I once read, there are eight pigs for every person. I didn't really notice at the time, but I still felt compelled to leave at my earliest opportunity. I had wanderlust.

"I moved around a lot for several years. Eventually, I ended up in Texas. I got a couple of degrees along the way. One at the University of Texas. One at Vermont College--an MFA in Writing [adult program]. I wrote a lot of unpublished manuscripts before I wrote a published one. Like being born and growing and having wanderlust, this is very common, at least among writers.

"My first published novel was My Road Trip to The Pretty Girl Capital of the World (Cricket, 2003). My second published novel is Wonders of the World (Flux, June 2007). I live in Austin, Texas with my wife, Frances Hill, and some dogs and a cat named Chaos."

How did the writing life first call to you? Did you shout, "yes!" Or run the other way?

I shouted "yes" in a quiet kind of way. I loved to write. I didn't love to do many things, so finding something I loved to do was cathartic. It changed everything.

Why did you decide to write for teen readers specifically?

My Road Trip to the Pretty Girl Capital of the World was written as an adult novel but accepted for publication as a Young Adult. I started reading YA novels then, and I loved reading about characters that age. I discovered a lot of amazing novels and writers. I became a YA reader. I wanted to write another YA novel. This time I wanted to be aware I was writing a YA novel while I was writing it.

Could you tell us about your path to publication, any sprints or stumbles?

I'm the poster person for try, try again. I wrote five novels before I published my first novel. I wrote dozens of stories before I got one published in a literary journal.

Stumbles? Oh yeah. I kept myself going by telling myself this was what I wanted to do. If no one else was interested, I was still going to keep doing it for me. Being blindly obstinate can be helpful to a writer. The other thing that kept me going is that I love to write; I love the whole struggle to get a story down on paper.

Your first novel was My Road Trip to the Pretty Girl Capital of the World (Cricket, 2003). What was the book about?

Identity. The main character is adopted (like I was) and is getting into trouble at school and with his parents and with the law. His girlfriend drops him and he decides to take off on a road trip to find his birth parents. He has some adventures along the way and ends up in the Pretty Girl Capital of the World, which is Austin, Texas, my adopted hometown.

Congratulations on your new release, Wonders of the World (Flux, 2007). What was the initial inspiration for this book?

The novel is about street kids and takes place on the street. I worked at the University of Texas for a while and I used to see this group of street kids getting up in the morning in a park across from campus. There were a lot of them some mornings, and some of them were very young. I wondered what their stories were. I thought about my own youth when, for a time, I hitchhiked around the country. When I was passing through cities, I sometimes stayed in the same places as street kids did.

Even back then there were kids living on the street. I decided that I wanted to tell a story about a teen who ended up on the street and his struggle to find a way off it.

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

I guess it took me a little over a year to write the novel and then another few months for my agent to sell it. Then it was a year and a half after that to publication. There are always major events of the imagination while working on a novel. You struggle with a certain point in the plot or a character and you find your way (at least you hope you do). Besides these internal struggles, I attended a workshop called Writefest that was very helpful in motivating me to finish the novel.

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

I did some research on street kids. Nothing in depth, but read a few articles and books and looked around on the web. I discovered a very useful site called Stand Up For Kids, an outreach group for children and teens who are homeless and living on the street.

I was appalled by this statistic: about 1.5 million kids and teens live on the street in America. It confirmed my sense that there are a lot more teens and kids living on the street than most people think. My biggest challenge was creating the world my characters live in. I hope I got it right.

What advice do you have for beginning writers?

Try to write the kind of work you love to read. Read. A lot. Write. Rewrite. Listen to everything writers you admire say about writing, then only use what works for you. This will take patient experimentation. Some of the best advice I got was try to find what your characters yearns for and let that direct the story. Characters will not always be up-front about this, so sometimes you will have to write a lot to figure out what they really want. Another good piece of advice for me was try to get to the place inside you that allows you to write intutitively in a kind of continous dream. Rewrite looking for places where you seem to have lost the flow of that dream.

How about YA novelists specifically?

For me, writing YA fiction is no different from writing adult fiction except that it's about young people. It has a different feel because if you're true to voice and character your characters will see the world through the eyes of someone who is a teenager regardless of how old you are.

Like me, you're married to a fellow author. How do you relate to each other in the writing part of your lives?

Wonderfully. We support each other and read for each other. There are some parts of the writing business that are very difficult, and we help each other through these. I feel very lucky to be married to someone who walks into the room where I'm supposed to be writing and sees me staring out the window (at length) and does not feel obligated to point out that I do not seem to be writing, or for that matter doing anything. I seem to be lost in space. She understands that writing, in fact, requires that you stare out the window a lot. At least for me. When I start talking about a character as if he or she is a real person, she does not suggest I see a therapist or covertly call friends and family for an intervention. She understands. I feel very lucky to be married to another writer.

What do you do when you're not reading or writing?

Teach, watch movies, travel, exercise, eat out, listen to music, play with my new Old English Sheepdog.

April Lurie on April Lurie: "I'm a Brooklyn girl. When I write, I'm back in my old neighborhood reinventing my teenage life. But for the past fourteen years my husband and I have been raising our kids in Austin, Texas--a fabulous city with a vibrant and supportive children's and young adult writers' community."

You last spoke to Cynsations in 2002 about your debut novel, Dancing In the Streets of Brooklyn (Delacorte, 2002). Could you fill us in on your writing life since that time?

I've had a lot of ups and downs since my fist novel was released. For two years (maybe more, I lost track!) I wrote and revised a summer camp story that never came together.

I'm very stubborn, but when I finally let it go I decided to take a risk and write a story about a shy, Scandinavian girl who gets mixed up with the Italian Mafia. I sent my editor the first three chapters and she loved it! I wrote Brothers, Boyfriends & Other Criminal Minds in nine months and during that time I think I found my voice. At least, I hope I did.

After that, I decided to try something different and write a story from a fifteen-year-old boy's point of view. It was great fun. That book--The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine--will be coming out in May 2008 with Delacorte. I'm very excited.

Congratulations on the publication of Brothers, Boyfriends & Other Criminal Minds (Delacorte, 2007)! Could you tell us about the story?

Thank you! Sure. The year is 1977, and fourteen-year-old April Lundquist lives in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, home of the Colombo and Bonanno crime families. April has always felt safe in her neighborhood (who's going to mess with the mob?), but when Salvatore "Soft Sal" Luciano, approaches April with a business proposition she can't refuse, things begin to change.

Not only is April finding hundred-dollar bills in her school books, but now her older brother, Matt, is in serious trouble for dating a crime bosses daughter.On top of this, her long time crush, Dominick DeMao--bad-boy rocker and heart-breaker--is suddenly interested in her.

It's a bit of a roller-coaster ride, but in the end, April learns a little about family, friends, and choosing the right guy.

What was your initial inspiration for writing this book?

I really put myself out there because this story is partly autobiographical. I grew up in Dyker Heights and several mobsters lived on my block. When I was a kid I thought it was totally normal (doesn't everyone live this way?), but as I got older I began to realize what a unique experience I had. Finally, I figured, hey, I should write about this!

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

Well, let's see. It was quicker this time around! I began writing the story in early 2005, and finished by the end of the year. I have a wonderful editor at Delacorte who was kind enough to read parts of it along the way and offer advice. The only problem was the cover art. It was difficult to find a concept that worked. Then, right before the catalogs were about to be printed, my editor sent me a jpeg of the final art. I loved it! Definitely worth the wait.

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

I was a teenager in 1977, but I still had to do quite a bit of research about the time period, i.e., fashion, movies, music. It was kind of like a refresher course. I read books about the Mob and watched all my favorite gangster flicks--"Goodfellas," "Donnie Brasco," "The Godfather"--which was very enjoyable. Of course, growing up around the Mafia helped a lot--I basically knew about their family life, what cars they drove, what clothes they wore, the lingo, the gestures, but of course the challenge was making it real for the reader. Hopefully, I did.

What do you love about the writing process and why?

I love coming up with an idea that excites me, and I love finding the voice of my protagonist. Writing is very solitary and sometimes I get lonely, so I enjoy the whole process of getting to know my characters so they seem like friends. I love working with my editor, who always seems to know how to make a story better.

What about do you wish you could skip and why?

The first draft can be daunting. Staring at the blank page when you've had a bad week and would rather be out having lunch with a friend is tough. But I wouldn't skip any of it, really. Writing is a long, messy process and I suppose even the bad times are necessary.

How about publishing? What do you love about it? What do you abhor? And again, in both cases, why?

Hmm, publishing. Yes, I suppose we do have a love/hate relationship. I'll admit, having a book published is a fabulous feeling. Kind of like giving birth. But then there are reviews and marketing pressures and (sometimes embarrassing) book signings. The highs and lows can be hard to deal with, especially when you are trying to be creative!

If you could go back in time to your beginning author self, what would you tell her?

Relax. Don't worry so much. Take your time and enjoy life.

Elaine Marie Alphin on Elaine Marie Alphin: "I was born in San Francisco in 1955 and knew from the time I was three that I wanted to become a writer. My dad and I would go for walks in the early morning on weekends, and tell each other stories we'd made up, and I decided that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life: make up stories and share them with other people.

"We moved to New York City when I was nine, and I fell in love with Broadway and with the American Museum of Natural History. I was heartbroken when we moved to Houston when I was thirteen, but grew to feel very much at home there, so much so that I chose Rice University for my college years.

"I was awarded a Watson Research Fellowship, so after I graduated I lived in England for a year, doing research on a novel about Richard III and the murder of the Princes in the Tower. I imagined that the book would be for adults, because all the lit I'd studied at Rice had been for adults--but when I returned to America I met Arthur Alphin, who would become my husband, and he told me he thought I ought to consider writing for young readers instead.

"I'm still grateful for this insight. I wrote Tournament of Time (Bluegrass Books, 1994) for middle graders and decided that kids were my real audience after all. I write for a wide range of ages, from beginning readers through teenagers. The only book I've ended up writing for adults is a book on how to write for young readers!"

For those new to your work, could you briefly summarize your back list, highlighting as you see fit?

Although Tournament of Time was the first book I wrote for young readers, The Ghost Cadet (Henry Holt, 1991) was the first book I published for young readers. It placed on fourteen state award lists and won the 1995 Virginia Best Book Award, and it was so successful that Henry Holt asked me to write a companion book some years later. Ghost Soldier (Henry Holt, 2001) was nominated for the 2002 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile Mystery, has placed on six state lists and won the 2002 Society of Midland Authors Children's Fiction Award and the 2004 Young Hoosier Book Award.

In addition to writing novels for middle graders, I also write novels for young adults. Probably my most successful YA novel to date has been Counterfeit Son (Harcourt, 2000), which won the 2001 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult mystery, has been placed on numerous state award lists and Best Of... lists, and has just been optioned for film.

Simon Says (Harcourt, 2002) is another YA novel that's very special to me. I wrote the first draft of that book in 1977, while I was still in college, when I was struggling with the realities of wanting to live the creative life. It's probably the book that brings in the most correspondence from readers, who have been touched by the characters' struggles to find ways to be true to themselves.

My most recent novel, The Perfect Shot (Carolrhoda, 2005) won the 2006 ForeWard Book of the Year Gold Medal in the Young Adult category, and it's very special to me because it centers on my passions for history and its impact on the present, and for justice. I've gotten intense reactions from teen readers about this one, both to the basketball subplot and to the whole idea of struggling to prevent injustice. There's more information about these and my other books at my website: www.elainemariealphin.com

You are one of the author-teachers associated with Novel Secrets: A Novel Retreat in 3 Acts, and your focus will be starting and developing a novel. Could you tell us more about that?

Nancy L. Sharp and I met at a conference in North Dakota where I'd led an interactive session on developing plot and character, and she came up with this wonderful idea for a retreat that would carry participants through actually writing a first draft of a new novel, revising it, and then learning how to market it, and how to move forward to the next novel.

She asked me if I'd be willing to lead the first Act of the Retreat on planning your novel and getting to work on your first draft. I've written about developing plot and characters in Creating Characters Kids Will Love (Writer's Digest Books, 2000) and I've led workshops getting writers started before at several SCBWI conferences, but always in a small way, as part of a conference program in which other speakers offered other subjects (in case attendees were more interested in writing picture books or getting an agent, for example), so I was thrilled by the idea of focusing on a single novel for the whole weekend.

I'm sure some writers will come to the retreat with ideas in mind, and others will come hoping to find ideas, so I plan to take everyone through the process of delving into their passions to find inspiration for their writing, and then crafting a plan for their book. It's amazing how much writers can accomplish when they're inspired and free from the daily domestic routine!

Will you be lecturing, offering writing exercises, critiquing?

I'll be doing some lecturing, but everything will be geared to getting participants writing and bonding together in small critique groups. My sessions will be accompanied by lots of worksheets with exercises to help participants develop main and secondary characters and plot, structure and pace their novel, and then deepen the original plot skeleton--what I like to call the roller coaster track since the experience of writing a novel (as well as the experience of reading it!) is a lot like a roller coaster ride.

Everybody who attends can look forward to doing a lot of writing during the retreat, first making notes on their novel, and building up to actually writing some of that novel before they leave (we have free time set aside to write), so that they have a good start to carry them over their return to home, family, and the interruption of the pure creative writing life we'll enjoy at the retreat.

What are a few of the challenges in starting a novel?

The biggest challenge is getting an idea that will support a novel--the second biggest challenge is holding off charging ahead with that idea before you have a chance to work out what you really want to do with it--what voice you want to use, where your story actually begins, what background research needs doing so you can write naturally about what your characters are doing and thinking.

I really struggled to hold myself back from plunging into writing Counterfeit Son until I researched serial killers and sailing, for example.

Some writers feel comfortable plunging in right away, understanding that means they'll have to do considerable revision later on as the novel comes into clearer focus in their minds, but other writers, especially beginning novelists, get frustrated when their idea peters out on them, and may just stop. Or they keep trying doggedly, but they want to retain what they wrote in the first flush of enthusiasm, even though it no longer fits with the way the book is evolving, because they worked hard on it. So I advocate doing a great deal of planning and getting to know your characters so that once you plunge in you find it easy to return to your writing and keep moving forward.

How do the psychological and the professional fit together...or not?

This question made me scratch my head--at first I interpreted it as the characters' psychological lives fitting together with the writer's professional life, which can be challenging because as you live more and more in the world of your novel, with your characters, thinking their thoughts and feeling their emotions, their psyches can impinge on your day-to-day world, to the point where you may answer a question or write a letter in a tone or in words that your characters might use. This can be embarrassing when you're speaking with or writing to an editor...

However, then I was told that the question was intended to mean the way the writer's psychological life fits with her professional life. Oops. You can see just how character driven I am. Anyway--in the first place there's something about a writer's psyche that drives her to write, to explore ideas on paper in the guise of characters, so the two fit together very well.

However, in everyday life we have a lot of distractions. There's our personal life (caring for families, cooking (or buying take-out), perhaps a paying job to cover bills, etc.) and then there's our professional, or business, life (dealing with editors, perhaps teaching, perhaps writing other, short, projects separate from our novel, maintaining our website, corresponding with readers, etc.).

The artistic psyche often gets frustrated with these less creative sides of life, because there are only so many hours in a day. It's a juggling act for us all, and one of the things we'll be talking about at the retreat is a writing plan that allows time for both the creative side and the less creative side of living.

However, there's another aspect to the writer's psychological life. We're all affected by things that happen to us, for good or for bad, and these things shape our psychological lives--they give us our hang-ups. Strong novels grow from strong hang-ups, as writers explore aspects of our psychological lives through their characters. So, in the end, the psychological life feeds the professional life.

Could you share one tip for beginning novelists?

Care passionately about your subject matter and about your characters, especially your main character. You're going to be taking a long journey with your characters for quite some time, and you should want to enter into their world, not dread going there.

"Kathi Appelt was born on July 6, 1954, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Her family only lived in North Carolina for a short time and then moved to El Paso, Texas; and finally to Houston.

"Most of Kathi's books and poems come directly from her own life because that's what she knows best and feels most strongly about.

"Over the years, Kathi has written many picture-book favorites, including Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers, illustrated by Joy Fisher Hein; Oh My Baby, Little One, illustrated by Jane Dyer; the Bubba and Beau series, illustrated by Arthur Howard; Merry Christmas, Merry Crow, illustrated by Jon Goodell, and her latest: My Father's House, illustrated by Raúl Colón. She has also written several award-winning books for older readers, including My Father's Summers: A Daughter's Memoir, Kissing Tennessee: And Other Stories from the Stardust Dance, and Poems from Homeroom: A Writer's Place to Start.

"She currently lives with her family in College Station, Texas.

"Kathi used to think that a real writer had to have lots of exciting, maybe even dangerous, adventures in order to have something meaningful to write about. Now she knows that the best writing is about the people, places, pets, and objects that surround us and that we meet every day. She’s discovered that writing about them is the absolute best way to really know them and in the process to come to know ourselves a little better. She now knows that writing is really a way of seeing, and she’d like to encourage you to get out your old journal or start a new one and see what shows up."

Your latest picture book, My Father's House (Viking/Penguin, May 2007), is a beautiful poetic tribute to Earth and our environment, what was your inspiration for writing this book? And why now?

One day as I was driving, I had my radio on and was listening to a young minister talk about his love for the earth and bemoaning the fact that so many people who called themselves "spiritual" seemed to have such disregard for our planet. He was specifically referring to the notion that the Bible advocated mankind's dominion over the Earth. He felt that was a misreading, and that the word "dominion" did not necessarily mean "use up" but rather "keep safe."

His "safekeeping" message spoke to me in vibrant way, and so I've tried in this book to provide a celebration of our beautiful planet, and to subtly suggest that it's our job to keep it and its inhabitants safe.

In your dedication, you thank Al Gore for his service and commitment on behalf of our beautiful blue planet; how has his work for the environment affected or inspired you?

I first read Al Gore's book, The Earth in Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit (Plume reprint, 1993), many years ago, and his message then was one that made sense to me. I was also inspired by his passion for this subject, especially since he relates to it in a deeply personal way. I felt he was speaking to me as one person to another, rather than to just another nameless face in the crowd. He makes me feel as though my small efforts can really help as far as being a good steward for the earth.

One of your recent picture books, Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers: How a First Lady Changed America, illustrated by Joy Fisher Hein (HarperCollins, 2005)(author-illustrator interview), also had themes about our natural environment and was quite popular, garnering much critical acclaim. What kind of feedback did you receive from teachers, readers, etc., and why do you think it was such a success?

First of all, I hope that the book reminded us of a very special woman, one who made a definite mark upon our national consciousness about the environment. Lady Bird Johnson was really the first national figure to bring the notion of conservation fully to our awareness.

The case can be made that Theodore Roosevelt also did this, but he is not quite so "unsung" as Mrs. Johnson. He gets a lot of credit—well-deserved—for really establishing our national park system.

But I felt that Mrs. Johnson deserved some recognition, even though she herself is very unassuming and not at all in need of that same recognition. I wanted to remind children, and their parents and teachers, that Mrs. Johnson is largely responsible for our beautiful roadsides, especially in the springtime when they're covered with wildflowers.

I believe that the book has been well-received because not only is it a slice of American history that has gone unnoticed, but also because it's a celebration of the work of one person who made a huge difference—and continues to make a difference.

Your children's books span every age level, what are the challenges in writing for such a wide audience? How do you approach writing for young adults differently than for kids?

I don't approach it too differently, honestly. In some ways, toddlers and teenagers have a lot in common. They're both intense, both determined to do things their own ways and in their own time, both separating from their families and wandering out into the bigger world. Testing the waters so to speak.

Regardless of what age I’m writing for, I always try to write toward the hearts of my audience, to recognize the longings that we all feel at various times in our lives. I also enjoy the challenge of writing for the various age groups. While they all have similarities, they also have obvious differences. It's a way of stretching myself as a writer to think about aiming a particular story toward a particular audience.

Your two sons are in college now, but while they were growing up, how did they inspire your work?

Well, I would never have written for children if I had not become a parent. Before my boys came along, I had no real awareness of children's books to be honest. But once they were here, books saved us in so many ways. I was unprepared for parenthood, but I somehow knew that reading to my sons was a good thing to do. So that's what I did. Thank goodness.

How has being a parent affected your writing? Do you have any advice for other parent-authors?

As far as being a writing parent, I would say first of all to savor the time you have with your children. They grow up so fast that it's almost unbelievable. Don't go along on any guilt trips about not writing enough when your kids are young. The writing will come, but your kids are going to vamoose before your very eyes.

And second, I would say to learn how to write in small snatches of time. If you look for that long thirty minutes all to yourself, you'll never find it. Instead, honor those five minutes here and there. Have a notebook handy at all times. It's pretty remarkable how much can be written in five minute increments. I still write in those small segments.

Tell us a little about your writing process and work environment; do you write every day?

Yep, I write every single day. That said, I don't always write stories. I often spend my writing time answering correspondence, or filling up my journal, or just "playing" with an idea or what not. I wish I were more disciplined and could work on a schedule. I might get more done. But the way I write now seems to work for me.

And as for my work environment...I have a wonderful, small loft studio upstairs in my home. From my desk, I can look directly into the branches of a big oak tree, which is a home to numerous birds and squirrels and other small critters. When I look out at the tree, I feel almost like I'm in my own private tree room. I think it's important for writers to have a space, even if it's small, that is uniquely your own. Mine is a place I love to slip away to any time of the day. I have my own "stuff" there, and I work hard to keep it from being too cluttered. Clutter distracts me.

I confess that I take something of a slow approach to my work. I usually have to drink a cup of coffee, read the newspaper, check my e-mail, and work the NY Times crossword before I actually plunge into the work of the day. It's my ritual if you will. I do my actual writing on a computer, a laptop, but I still keep a journal by hand. And I carry a small notebook in my purse, just in case a good idea pops into my head. There's nothing more frustrating than to think up a good idea, or any idea for that matter, and be caught without paper or a pen!

You've taught writing at Texas A&M and Vermont College, and have conducted writing workshops for many years. How has teaching informed your own work?

I've always felt that the best way to learn something is to teach it, which is sort of cliché. But beyond that, I truly believe that it's our stories that separate us from the rest of the animal kingdom. I'm fond of telling children that we humans are the "story animals."

In so many ways, our stories are at the center of who we are, and in so many ways I believe that our stories can save us if we can learn to share them. It's really no surprise that stories are at the root of both love and conflict. We go to war over whose story is "most true," don't we? And yet, the basic gathering of humans in a circle to share stories has the power and ability of exposing our basic humanity to each other. We all have more in common with each other, especially in matters of the heart—family, children, trees, cats—than we have differences.

So to me, teaching is all about being a catalyst for telling stories. If I can encourage others to share their stories in the best way they know how, then maybe I'm helping to make a difference in the world, even if it's in a small way.

Do you read a lot of other picture books to keep up on what's new and popular? If so, what are some of your favorite recent ones and why?

Yes, I try to keep up with current picture books. That said, without small children in the house, I read fewer of them than I used to. My current favorite right now is Alison McGhee's Someday (Atheneum, 2007), which is just heartful and lovely. I'm completely smitten with Alexander Stadler's "Beverly Billingsly" books. I also love Kimberly Willis Holt's whimsical Waiting for Gregory illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska (Henry Holt, 2006)(author interview). And just about any book that features a cat is fine with me. I love Judith Schachner's "Skippyjon Jones" books--they just crack me up. She clearly knows cats.

What's coming out next for you, and what are you working on now?

My first novel will be out in the spring of 2008. It's called The Underneath, and is set in the swampy forest of East Texas. I'm excited about it--the main hero is a cat named Puck. I'm still working on the final edits for this novel, but I'm also doing the research for my next novel, which will be set on Galveston Island, one of my favorite places in the world. My grandmother lived there and I have many happy memories of summers with her. I don't know much about the story yet, but I'm eager to get it started.

Rose Kent on Rose Kent: "Rose Kent is a Navy veteran and former public relations manager. She lives near Albany, New York with her husband and blended tribe of six children. Kimchi and Calamari is her first children's novel. It publishes from HarperCollins on April 10th."

What about the writing life first called to you? Were you quick to answer or did time pass by?

Two comments always appeared on my report cards in elementary school: "shy" and "loves to write." I was a quiet, little freckle-faced kid. I think writing stories became a means for adventure. I wrote mysteries and melodramas that took hundreds of pages of loose-leaf paper. And they all featured gutsy girls tracking down the bad guys and righting the world. Come to think of it, my protagonists were all tall too, with cool names like Marlo or Chastity (this was the 1970s, after all).

With time I outgrew the shyness. In fact, I attended the United States Naval Academy, in one of the first classes that admitted women. That rigorous experience and later my five years of service as a naval officer were wonderful and demanding. But even in those action-packed years, writing was an anchor in my life (whoops, there goes the Navy reference). I kept a journal during training tours aboard ship. I edited a newsletter at the joint command where I was stationed in San Antonio, Texas. Later, when I left the Navy, I worked in public relations for a food company. My favorite part of that job was writing news stories about food and the people who made it and sold it. You can really get wacky with words when you're hyping Kraft Mac and Cheese and Oscar Mayer wieners. I even got to ride in the Wienermobile, a feat that impressed my own children more than publishing a novel.

What made you decide to write for young readers?

In part writing for young readers evolved as my own children grew. My four kids and I read hundreds, even thousands of books together that made us laugh and cry and often left me amazed at the talent of countless children's authors. My older kids are in college now, but reading out loud together is still part of the nightly routine at our house with Connor, age eleven, and Theresa, eight. And I can still remember the rainy day that I sat down, alone, and read Missing May by Cynthia Rylant (Scholastic, 1992). I was blown away by the power of this seemingly "quiet" story. That book inspired me to write my story. That was seven years ago and here I am, still at it.

On a deeper level, I wasn't drawn to young readers simply because I had children. I've always respected children as readers. You can't pull the wool over kids' eyes--they'll sniff out stale characters from under a heap of perfumed prose. Kids want to know who to root for, and they want rich stories. And I appreciate how young people have minds that still seem to be open to new ideas and perspectives.

Could you tell us about yo

Congratulations to my husband and sometimes co-author Greg Leitich Smith on the publication of the Japanese edition of Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo (Poplar Sha, 2007)!

The book was originally published in hardcover by Little Brown in 2003, then in audio by Recorded Books in 2004 and in paperback by Little Brown in 2005. A Korean edition also is forthcoming. Read author interviews about the novel from Cynsations, Downhome Books, Debbi Michiko Florence and YABC.

From the flap copy: "Elias, Shohei, and Honoria have always been a trio united against That Which Is The Peshtigo School. But suddenly it seems that understanding and sticking up for a best friend isn't as easy as it used to be.

Elias, reluctant science fair participant, finds himself defying the authority of Mr. Ethan Eden, teacher king of chem lab. Shohei, all-around slacker, is approaching a showdown with his adoptive parents, who have decided that he needs to start 'hearing' his ancestors. And Honoria, legal counsel extraordinaire, discovers that telling a best friend you like him, without actually telling him, is a lot harder than battling Goliath Reed or getting a piranha to become vegetarian.

What three best friends find out about the Land of the Rising Sun, Pygocentrus nattereri, and Galileo's choice, among other things, makes for a hilarious and intelligent read filled with wit, wisdom, and a little bit of science."

Honors and Awards

• Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner 2003
  
• Writers' League of Texas Teddy Award, 2004
  
• A Junior Library Guild Selection
  
• An ALA Popular Paperback for Young Adult Readers, 2006
  
• Nominee, Georgia Children's Book Award, 2005-2006
  
• Featured, Texas Book Festival
  

"A fresh, unusual story of friendship and honesty, riddled with wit, intelligence, and more than a few chuckles." --School Library Journal

"[A] fast-paced send up of school life. Smith achieves just the right balance of intelligent wit and drama in his first novel." --Booklist

"Smith's sparkling debut offers three seventh grade narrators, each of them precocious, intelligent, and wickedly funny... Readers will identify with these smart characters and enjoy the vicarious attendance at their idiosyncratic school." --Publishers Weekly

Author Interview: Cynthia Leitich Smith from Alma Fullerton. Here's taste: "Writing fiction seemed a tremendous indulgence against great odds. It was something I'd do someday. But it slowly occurred to me that many people 'someday' their way through their entire lives. The only way to make dreams a reality is to commit to them fully." Read the whole interview.

Agent Interview: Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown from Alma Fullerton. Nathan is looking to see "Anything original with a great plot." Read the whole interview.

Agent Interview: Dan Lazar of Writers House from Alma Fullerton. Of today's children's market, Dan says: "From what I can tell, it's become more and more of a 'business' and less and less of a quaint 'club.' Which is not necessarily a bad or good thing, but it's a dynamic that affects how we all work." Read the whole inteview.

Marian Hale on Marian Hale: "I can't remember a time when I didn't love books, but it wasn't until I was twelve and instructed to write a short story for my sixth grade English class that I first became aware that I loved writing, too. However, other than the occasional attempt at poetry over the years, I never pursued it. I suppose a lack of confidence had a lot to do with it. The path to becoming a successful author seemed nebulous and unachievable.

"I married the love of my life right out of business college, and some years later, I went into custom home design. Designing was a wonderfully creative outlet for me at the time. I enjoyed manipulating space to suit each client and the drafting of blueprints, but I especially loved that I could do most all of it at home with my three children close by.

"Years later I finally decided to give writing a real try. I wrote short stories for children and adults and eventually entered them in contests. When my efforts began to place and win prizes, I moved on to my first mid-grade novel, a failure on a professional level, but a huge success in exposing my strengths and weaknesses. It also reinforced my love for children's literature--historical fiction in particular--and I've never looked back."

What about the writing life first called to you?

I'm not so sure I was called to writing. I probably thought so during those early attempts, but it didn't take long to realize that the choice was never mine to make. It's just who I am, like being born with brown hair or blue eyes. Now, I can't imagine not writing.

What made you decide to write for young readers?

It was just fun! I especially loved historical fiction, the way it allowed me to step back in time and experience intriguing eras and events as though I were there, seeing it all through the eyes of a teen or preteen. But I suppose what appealed to me most about writing for young readers was the opportunity to tell stories that would help my own children and grandchildren form a more intimate bond with the past, to ask the questions that would help them recognize the eternal connection we all have with older generations all over the world.

Congratulations on the publication of Dark Water Rising (Henry Holt,2006)! What was your initial inspiration for this story?

Thank you! I first considered this project some years ago when my husband came home from work with a tattered book found in an old abandoned house about to be torn down. It was a full account of the 1900 Galveston Storm, written soon after it happened.

I'd read many articles over the years about the devastating Texas hurricane that took more than 8,000 lives, but never one written while wounds were still tender, while wind and floodwaters still haunted dreams.

I wanted to read more, to search out the multitude of hundred-year-old accounts and photographs, all of which were so vivid with intimate detail, so achingly real and painful that I felt as though I'd experienced this turn-of-the-century city and disastrous storm myself. It was this window to the past that brought me to write Dark Water Rising (Henry Holt, 2006), and in so doing, I wanted to honor the overwhelming loss and Herculean efforts to rebuild the great city of Galveston. I was able to incorporate hundreds of documented details into my story and was very pleased when Reka Simonsen, my editor at Henry Holt, encouraged me to include some spell-binding photos of the aftermath in an author’s note.

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

The inspiration for Dark Water Rising came in 2003, almost a full year before I could even think of starting a new project. When I could finally clear my desk, I spent the next six months researching and cataloging the details I wanted to use. I walked Galveston's streets, studied the nineteenth century architecture, visited the Rosenberg Library to read transcripts of oral interviews, toured homes that survived the great storm, sought out where the two-story ridge of debris left by wind driven water had once encircled the city, and walked along the seawall where Saint Mary's Orphanage had once stood, envisioning the two dormitories that had housed ten Sisters and more than ninety children who perished that day. It was a poignant and inspiring journey. I then spent the following six months trying to do justice to all those who had endured the deadliest storm to ever hit our country.

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

One of the most difficult challenges was choosing the best location in the city for my characters to experience the storm. I needed an actual home and surviving family, one that would allow me to show the devastation as fully as possible. I finally realized that I'd have to map the entire city, block by block, and key it to names and personal accounts before I could make that decision. The map also helped me locate major businesses, schools and churches, and gave me the confidence to write as though I'd walked through those 1900 neighborhoods and business districts myself.

Even more challenging was the emotional toll this story took on my day to day life. I don't believe anyone could read the many accounts of individual loss from this storm and not experience an intense emotional response. I certainly couldn't, but I couldn't allow myself to take the easy path of skipping lightly through the horrific aftermath either, just to ease my own discomfort. I needed to stay true to even the smallest details, though it meant living with the grisly effects of this storm for a full year.

From the onset of this project, hundred-year-old photos and heartrending personal accounts haunted me every day, and they were the last thing in my thoughts before falling asleep each night. These were real people, caught up in a real disaster, something that could still happen to any one of us today, and more than anything, I wanted to stay true to their stories.

I'm likewise a fan of your debut novel, The Truth About Sparrows (HenryHolt, 2004)(recommendation). Could you tell us a bit about this book?

Thank you; that's always so nice to hear. The Truth about Sparrows was my first historical fiction and a story very close to my heart. It follows Sadie, a twelve-year-old girl who loses her Missouri home during the Great Depression and is forced to start all over in a one-room tarpapered house on the Texas coast. Although the characters are fictional, most of the events were taken from my parents' and grandparents' experiences, even the scene where Sadie has no choice but to help with the birth of her baby sister. It was a joy to recreate this struggling 1933 fishing and shrimping community for young readers, and I was especially grateful for the opportunity to include the character of "Daddy," modeled after my own grandfather who had polio before he was a year old and never walked.

What do you hope readers take away from the story?

I suppose I've had the same hope for both books. I'd like to think my readers will come away with a deeper appreciation for what so many families, even their own, have endured and overcome, and perhaps be inspired to face their own adversities with that same kind of courage and determination to succeed.

What advice do you have for beginning novelists?

One turning point for me was learning to trust my own instincts and allow myself to become each character. This was tremendously helpful in letting readers in on my character's thoughts so they could share in the emotion, understand the cause, and care about the outcome. I've always tried to let each part of my story evolve naturally to a believable conclusion, following when it insisted on wandering paths I'd never expected or drew me to characters I'd never planned, even when doing so could change the ending I'd envisioned. This seat-of-the-pants writing may not work for everyone, but some of my most surprising and gratifying scenes/characters were
written this way.

I suppose the best advice I could give to any new writer, besides the important "read, read, read," is to love what you’re doing. Love the characters, the words and the images they evoke, and yes, even the revisions. Look at each revision as another chance to bring more clarity, to make some part of your story touch your reader more deeply and hopefully linger long after your book is back on the shelf.

What do you do when you're not writing?

I'm still doing an occasional home design and my family keeps me very busy since my daughter and her preschool children are with us now, but I try to always make time for the simple joys. When I can, which isn't nearly often enough, my husband and I like to pull our travel trailer to a river or lake to fish and watch the sun go down. We take a few good books and CDs, grill fish, veggies, and stuffed jalapenos, and open a nice bottle of wine. My grandchildren are finally big enough to go with us occasionally, so we’ll probably need a larger travel trailer before long!

What can your fans look forward to next?

My next book, untitled at this time, is another historical fiction set in 1918 Canton, Texas, and again, partially derived from old family stories.

It begins with the dreams of sixteen-year-old Mercy Kaplan, a sharecropper's daughter, who has never wanted to be anything at all like her mother. Mercy longs to be free, far from the threat of being saddled with kids, dirty laundry, and failing crops the rest of her life. When the deadly 1918 flu epidemic sweeps through Canton, she gets what she wants in a way she never imagined and soon finds herself employed by the newly widowed Cora Wilder. But there's something secretive and downright strange about the woman. And then there's Daniel Wilder, her eighteen-year-old stepson, with his green eyes and fierce determination to protect his fatherless siblings, just the sort who could sweep a foolish girl off her feet and into a dull and wearisome life like her mother's if she isn't watchful. But Mercy is watchful, and observant enough to uncover the clues to Cora Wilder's odd behavior, which inches her ever closer to exposing a twenty-year-old murder.

Cynsational Notes

on Dark Water Rising

"A master of her craft...this is historical fiction at its best." --Kirkus, starred review

"...this fine example of historical fiction has something for almost everyone." --Booklist, starred review

"... this is a stunning novel." --Children's Literature

"Fact and fiction are blended effortlessly together in an exciting read that leaves readers with a sense of hope." --School Library Journal

on The Truth About Sparrows

Nominated for six state awards and selected for the following awards and honors: Editor's Choice for 2004 by Booklist Magazine; Top Ten First Novels by Booklist Magazine; 2004 Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers by VOYA (Voices of Youth Advocates); Lasting Connections of 2004 by Book Links Magazine; Children's Books 2004: One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing, by the New York Public Library; Teachers' Choice for 2005 in the Advanced category by IRA (the International Reading Association); The Best Children's Books of the Year 2005 edition, selected by the Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education; 2005 Notable Books for a Global Society list by the NBGS committee of the Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group of IRA (the International Reading Association); "Worthy of Special Note" books for The 2005 Virginia Jefferson Cup Award (for historical fiction and nonfiction); The Editor's Choice - Best book of the Month by
Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review.

"Hale's evocative, sure prose, in Sadie's colloquial voice, brings alive the setting and the family's survival challenges with cinematic detail that's reminiscent of the Little House books." --Booklist, starred review

"...a beautifully realized work, memorable for its Gulf Coast setting and the luminous voice of Sadie Wynn." --Kirkus

"...triumphant and memorable." --Horn Book

"Sparrows is a breath of fresh air even when it brings tears to your eyes." --USA Today

"...for its depth of detail, keen sense of place and, especially, for Sadie, Hale's story is a debut novel worth seeking out." --San Diego Union Tribune

"...this is a unique, powerful and enlightening novel which will speak to the inner person in all of us...a treasure of a book.” --Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review

Thanks to all who celebrated with us in person or in spirit at the launch party for Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007) on Friday, Feb. 23!

In keeping with the Sanguini's motif (the fictional vampire restaurant in the novel), guests were asked to sign in as predator or prey.

We decorated in low-key Gothic colors, mostly with accents--including the framed Sanguini's fangs-style logo in the foyer, black-and-red linens for the daybed, black tapers in the candlesticks, black votives in the tray display, black-and-red pillar candles in the fireplace, red drop crystals in the parlor chandelier, black coasters, and black table cloths. Off-limits rooms were marked with crime-scene and police-line tape.

We also set three tables with the matching linens on the front terrace for those who wanted to enjoy the bright, breeze, 70-something degree night.

So far as wardrobe went, I opted for a slinky black shell and pants, black cowbody boots, my snake-wrapped earrings, my antique gold watch necklace (originally grandma's), and a full-length black net cape.

The previous day, Barbara Marin at Bo Salon on South Congress had taken my hair to a near black featuring a subtle dark blue sheen with red stripe accent streaks in front, and Kate Pham, also of Bo, painted my nails in alternating red and black. Many guests commented that they thought I should keep the 'do permanently.

The to-die-for menu, from Primizie Catering, featured: antipasto; smoked salmon gravlox; fresh vegetable crudite platter; imported and domestic artisan cheese board with vineyard grapes and seasonal berries; fresh seasonal fruit; oven dried tomatoes finished with local goat cheese balsamic vinaigreette and snipped chives; Italian sausage "spiedini" with peppers and pecorino romano cheese; calzone with mushrooms and Italian cheeses; miniature stuffed and baked pizza pockets filled with Italian cheeses, wild mushrooms and charred tomato; cocktail sandwiches (wild mushrooms, garlicky spinach and artichoke herb spread on Italian flatbread); and stuffed porcini mushrooms. Absolutely delicious! The calzone and porcini mushrooms were especially popular with our crowd. Guest Anne Bustard graciously provided an Italian creme cake.

Colby Neal 's The Flower Studio designed the gorgeously gothic buffet flowers.

Candlewick Press co-sponsored a giveaway of the final book (guests were each welcome to take one). I pre-autographed the copies. A few folks also bought (prior to the party) and brought more for me to sign.

Door prizes included ARCs of the following 2007 novels by Austin-area authors: Brothers, Boyfriends, and Other Criminal Minds by April Lurie (Delacorte); Onaj's Horn: the Silverskin Legacy (Book Three) by Jo Whittemore (Llewellyn); Runaround by Helen Hemphill (Front Street); and Wonders of the World by Brian Yansky (Flux).

We also gave away a basket filled with fixings for an Italian dinner from Central Market. Contents included: black squid ink pasta; pesto sauce with truffles; sun-dried tomatoes; parmesan; dark chocolate; Sanguini's mug, sticker, mousepad, and magnet; wine biscuits; and a bottle of Travis Peak Cabernet Sauvignon.

We had a crowd of about eighty from throughout Central Texas, though with ebb and flow, there were usually only about sixty people inside the house at any given time.

Guests included such luminaries as writers Brian Anderson, Kathi Appelt, Anne Bustard, Janie Bynum, Betty Davis, Alison Dellenbaugh, Peni R. Griffin, Lila and Rick Guzman, Helen Hemphill, Frances Hill, Varian Johnson, Lindsey Lane, April Lurie, Mark Mitchell, Sean Petrie, Lupe Ruiz-Flores, Liz Garton Scanlon, Elaine Scott, Jerry Wermund, Jo Whittemore, and Brian Yansky, illustrators Gene Brenek, Joy Fisher Hein, Christy Stallop, and Don Tate, current and former Austin SCBWI RAs-authors Tim Crow, Meredith Davis, Debbie Dunn, Julie Lake, and Nancy Jean Okunami, as well as a bounty other book pros (teachers, school and public librarians, university professors of children's/YA lit, and so on), including author-librarian Jeanette Larson, librarian-blogger Camille Powell, and a number of additional book lovers, friends, and significant others.

Kathi Appelt was kind enough to propose a toast!

I'd say about a third of the guests were writers or illustrators, about a third other book folks, and about a third significant others and additional guests, which made for a lovely mix.

My special thanks to the central Texas children's and young adult book community for all of its enthusiasm and support. I'm so honored and thrilled to have such amazing people in my life.

Cynsational Notes

Thanks also to our servers, Anna and Eric! They looked fierce in their custom Sanguini's T-shirts designed by Gene Brenek. Thanks to author Julie Lake for facilitating their hiring.

Thanks also to Michael Helferich for lending us his chainsaw. Because the weather cooperated, we didn't need to have the outdoor fireplace on the terrace, but it gave us peace of mind to have it as a back-up plan.

Primizie Osteria – Italian Café and Wine Bar will open soon at 1000 E. 11th Street, Suite 200 in Austin.

See more party news and pics at GregLSBlog. Once the festivities started, we were too busy to keeping shooting photos, but I'll be sure to highlight any other party posts that may arise. Speaking of which, check out Don's "A tantalizing party" at Devas T. Rants and Raves, Liz's "Community" at Liz In Ink, Camille's "Friday Night Highlights" at Book Moot, "Tantalize Party" (with excellent party pics!) at Jo's LJ, and Alison's "A tantalizing weekend" at Alison Wonderland.

Gene Brenek on Gene Brenek: "Well I had to put on a little 'ABBA Gold' to gear up for this. Let's see, I was born in Houston many moons ago, but not as far back as when ABBA was still in heavy rotation. I was an 80's kid, more Prince back before he changed his name to a hieroglyph and way before he went back to being Prince. Why is my bio suddenly full of old pop artist references? Dunno, I guess that's what happens when I'm left to my own devices.

"Let's move this ahead a few years shall we? I'm currently a creative director for a big ad agency in Austin, Texas. In my spare time, I'm working on a master's in writing for children and young adults at Vermont College, which is truly a great program. I also have been illustrating dummies for my own picture book ideas. Let's just say I don't sleep. And I'm waiting, PATIENTLY, to be discovered. Ahem."

Thanks so much for designing logos for Sanguini's, the fictional vampire restaurant featured in my gothic fantasy, Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007). What was your initial inspiration for the designs?

Designing a logo is a lot like creating a picture book in a way. You need a very simple idea. A logo can't contain several different concepts at once and be effective. The ones with staying power are very iconic.

Certainly what separated the dead from the undead restaurants was the vampire mythology. So I started brainstorming and writing down anything that came to mind when I thought about vampires.

Usually I spend a fair amount of time trying out various color combinations but this assignment begged for two colors. Black, the color of night and red. Yes, black is the absence of color but when you're talking to printers it's still an ink color. Red seemed an obvious but essential choice: blood, wine, marinara.

One logo idea, that for better or worse got nicknamed "the girly one," came out of Quincie's, the protagonist's, femininity. I loved the idea of blood draining off the gothic lettering and dripping down a flowering vine, as if elements of the restaurant were changing who she was.

I also kept coming back to puncture wounds. The other logo (see above) incorporated that idea. So thank you for coming up with a restaurant that had two i's in the name, you made my job easy. If you ever write a book about a vampire-themed Ikea, I may have some leftover ideas for all those umlauted furniture names.

What considerations came into play when developing the logos?

I treated this project as I would any other design project. Before starting any sketches I had a few questions. What the owners were like? What was their vision for the restaurant? Who was their clientele? What cues could I get from the interior spaces? And while that may seem like a tough assignment, given that it's a fictional place, I found that the writing was crafted in such a way that it was very easy for me to get a sense of all of these things.

I approached this as not a design project for author Cynthia Leitich Smith but for Quincie [the protagonist]. I tried to understand her as much as I could and what her sensibilities were. Now it could be argued that Cyn and Quincie are one in the same, certainly there are aspects of that, but they are different people.

What were the challenges in bringing them to life?

Honestly the biggest challenge was not getting to design the menu, interior, the matchbooks, the business cards –all the elements that go into shaping one's identity.

What was your experience working with Printfection and CafePress? Why did you select those companies?

I went with these two companies because they offer so much flexibility. They print on demand, meaning that rather than doing a run of say 100 shirts in every size that I then had to store and ship, when someone places an order then it gets printed and shipped. They take care of it all. And I like the quality of their merchandise.

What advice would you give to folks trying to design and produce book tie-in promotions?

Think outside the box. Why not create items for a fictional vampire themed restaurant? But know that your reader is smart. Just because a tie-in isn't physically in the book, it's a part of the book. Initially I had envisioned staying away from a gothic typeface. I was leaning toward something more modern. Then I read a passage about the gothic lettering on the menu and it guided me away from something slick and contemporary. I needed to remain faithful to the book. It wasn't an entirely blank canvas.

Restaurant items made sense; to me Sanguini's was a prominent character in Tantalize. Designing items based around where the protagonist had gone to school would've made no sense what so ever.

More personally, do you count yourself among fans of the fanged ones? If so, what do you think is the appeal?

Of course I'm a fan. Vampires seem to have all the smarts. They also have big personalities, charisma. You want to hang out with them. Imagine a book where someone opens a tax-attorney-themed restaurant. Yawn.

What do you do when you're not working for the undead?

What do you mean? I'm an art director for an ad agency. I'm always working for the undead.

Actually, I'm writing and illustrating a couple of ideas of my own in the picture book arena. Depending on who you talk to that particular market is either dead or undead. For my sake, I'm hoping it's undead.

Cynsational Notes

Shop Sanguini's at Printfection and CafePress; see the other Sanguini's logo option.

Read the latest interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith (me again) at Not Your Mother's Bookclub. The topic is my new YA gothic fantasy title, Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007), and the Q&As are fangfully fantastic. Here's a sneak peek:

"As for the long answer... It hardly seems possible, but I first began looking through magazines for photos to inspire characters and asking them to write letters to me in late 2001. I don't know though that I did more than just flirt with the story in that first year. I was essentially gathering courage. In the couple of years that followed, I wrote short stories for a number of anthologies, taking full advantage of the opportunity to stretch my skills. Write stronger. Braver. Fangs out. Eventually, I sank in with a vengeance."

More News & Links

Check out the latest review, this one from the Wordcandy Blog. Here's a taste: "Tantalize features a genuine sense of foreboding, contrasted with the frenetic atmosphere of a major restaurant opening. This unusual combination made for a constantly surprising and highly effective horror story."

The 11th Carnival of Children's Literature from MotherReader.

2007 Oklahoma Book Award finalists include: Sharon Darrow for Trash (Candlewick); Molly Levite Griffis for Paradise of the Prairie (Eakin); and Tim Tingle for Crossing Bok Chitto (Cinco Puntos). See the whole list. Read a Cynsations interview with Sharon.

From Page to Screen: Gabor Csupo's Bridge to Terabithia by Martha V. Parravano from The Horn Book.

Author Alma Fullerton offers new interviews with authors Niki Burnham and Mark L. Williams as well as agent Stephen Malk of Writer's House.

Author Anastasia Suen has launched the Blog Central Guide, highlighting children's authors and illustrators' blogs. Read an interview with Anastasia.

Debbi Michiko Florence has launched her redesigned author site. See her new interview with Sally Keehn, author of Magpie Gabbard and the Quest for the Buried Moon (Philomel, 2007). Learn more about Debbi's superheroic web designer Lisa Firke of Hit Those Keys (who also is my web designer).

The YA Authors Cafe offers its first interview at a new location. Cynthia Leitich Smith (that would be me) is the featured author, and I'm talking about Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007).

Here's a sneak peek: "My world is eclectic, and (also unlike most genre fiction) reflects the diversity of our real one. Peel back the scary romp, and there's depth there--thematic treatments of alcholism, feminism, race and class relations, all through analogy. But many YAs will just enjoy the marinara-baked chills, and that's just fine."

Read the whole interview. Leave a question in the comments today.

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Candlewick, Feb. 13, 2007) is now available. Here's a peek: