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To continue with our theme, we asked Sarah Prineas, author of The Magic Thief, who she wanted to thank today.

Sarah?

Hmmm. It's hard to pick just one person to thank after months of meeting booksellers, teachers, and librarians from all over the country, and after seeing how hard everybody at my publisher works.

I considered Becky Anderson, owner of Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, who hosted the prepublication dinner where I met the first kid readers of my book; I considered thanking the book's editor, Melanie Donovan, for acquiring the books and being such a joy to work with; I considered my publicist at HarperCollins, Cindy Tamasi, who cheerfully made all the fall tour events run so smoothly.

But one thing I've realized in the six months since The Magic Thief came out is that the independent booksellers are hugely important. Most of the indy booksellers I've met have been passionate advocates for the books they love. I thank them all for that, but the one I thank the most is Diane Capriola at The Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia.

When The Magic Thief was a Summer 2008 Booksense Children's Pick , Diane was the one who wrote the blurb. She invited me to attend the Decatur Book Festival, where I had an absolutely fabulous time and enjoyed meeting Diane and her staff in person. She also told me she nominated the book for the E.B. White award .

How can I thank booksellers like Diane enough? I don't think I can. But still, I'll try: Diane, thank you!!

And let us all join Sarah in thanking Diane too!

We're back with the lively Sarah Prineas for an intimate interview with this imaginative author. Settle in for your chance to get the 1 on 1 scoop.

2k8: Tell us, Sarah, where do you do most of your writing? Are you a coffee house writer or house hermit?

Sarah: House hermit. My house is pretty small so I don't have a home office. During my "writing days" (days off from my halftime dayjob) I write at the kitchen table. Keeping me company are the cats, Feather and Sparkle (who, by some weird coincidence looks just like Lady, the cat in THE MAGIC THIEF). This is a picture of them looking symmetrical instead of fighting, which they do on a schedule. I write on a black stealth MacBook computer named Sparks. It has a dragon sticker on it. Also keeping me company when I write is a cup of Lady Grey tea with cream and sugar. Check out the mug! One of my best buddies sent it to me after I got the book's cover art.

2k8: What a great gift! So, how did THE MAGIC THIEF come about? What got you started with the story?

Sarah: It was originally supposed to be a story for Cricket magazine. I had the first couple of lines--"A thief is a lot like a wizard…"--in a file on my computer for over a year: but I didn't have a protagonist or a story. But once I saw the letters to the editor in Cricket asking for mores stories with magic and wizards and more two-part stories, Conn's voice and character leaped into being.

2k8: It's amazing how things evolve, isn't it? How did you end up finding a publisher for it? Give us the deets.

Sarah: My publication story is pretty much textbook and boring. About a month after finishing the novel I got an agent through a referral. The agent had me do some revisions. She sent off the manuscript to 10 editors and after a couple of weeks we did the deal with HarperCollins. As my agent said later, "It's the way deals are supposed to work but never do." Except that it did! It took about a year from the day I started writing the book to the day I sold it.

2k8: Very cool! We like it when things go smoothly. Did anything at all catch you off guard when you were writing it?

Sarah: Oh, yeah. I didn't know I was a children's writer! Well, and first I didn't know it was a novel. It was supposed to be a story, but I found Conn's voice so fun to write and the possibilities of the Wellmet world so exciting, that the story turned into a novel manuscript. When my agent sent it to mainstream children's publishers instead of sf/fantasy ones I was surprised. She knew what she was doing, though.

2k8: We love it when all the pieces fall perfectly together. Now what question won't most people know to ask you? And what's your answer?

Sarah: What's your favorite disease? Lyme disease, definitely. Book one was put onto a "crash" publication schedule, so the editing process happened quickly. My editor called at the beginning of June and asked if I could finish edits by the end of the month. Then I caught Lyme disease (stupid tick). All of a sudden, edits needed to be done by the end of the week. And I did them! With a 102 fever and chills from the Lyme disease. The funny part of it is, my hometown is Lyme, Connecticut. Not funny ha-ha, really…

Wow, talk about rough revisions! And you and Meg Cabot now have something in common. Hopefully you'll share some good things too! Thank you so much for your time, Sarah.

Tune back in tomorrow when Sarah will expound on maps!

Three more days to go for Auction 1 of Robert’s Snow: For Cancer’s Cure fundraising, where my piece Little Night: See Me Shine is open for bidding.

And, while people are doing the rounds among the snowflakes, here are a few more images from my desk.

My snowflake is made from clay,

kneaded, pinched, shaped, sculptured over wire,

and then baked hard. A child.

Felt, poked in and out with a sharp needle, made the hair.

The softest of yarn

crocheted like my mama taught me when I was five,

To make a snowy hat.

A snowflake!

On this edition of Just One More Book!, Mark speaks with illustrator and Houghton Mifflin Art Director, Scott Magoon about children’s books as a gateway drug, what an Art Director looks for in children’s book illustrations and his 2007 snowflake, Loch Kindness (The monster in this loch gets a “taste” of the holiday spirit).

Scott’s heart-warming snowflake is up for bids December 3-7, 2007.

Books mentioned:

• Lissy’s Friends
• The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster (on JOMB)

Robert’s Snow: for Cancer’s Cure is an online auction of wooden snowflakes painted by participating children’s book illustrators. This annual event, which was started in 2004 by author Grace Lin and her husband Robert Mercer, has raised over $200,000 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Just One More Book! is one of many online children’s literature resources participating in the promotion of this year’s Robert’s Snow auction. Over the next few weeks we will be publishing interviews with participating illustrators and we’re hoping that you’ll find yourself bidding on the incredible art that’s available to you during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

You can read more about Robert’s Snow: Art Auction for Cancer’s Cure here.

On this edition of Just One More Book!, Mark speaks with illustrator Laura Huliska-Beith about the inspiring over-the-top optimism of the 1950s, how a pair of roller blades and an obedience school drop-out influenced her children’s book illustration career and her 2007 snowflake, Three French Hens.

Laura’s feisty, festive snowflake is up for bids December 3-7, 2007.

Books mentioned:

• The Recess Queen
• The Looking Book
• The Book of Bad Ideas

Robert’s Snow: for Cancer’s Cure is an online auction of wooden snowflakes painted by participating children’s book illustrators. This annual event, which was started in 2004 by author Grace Lin and her husband Robert Mercer, has raised over $200,000 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Just One More Book! is one of many online children’s literature resources participating in the promotion of this year’s Robert’s Snow auction. Over the next few weeks we will be publishing interviews with participating illustrators and we’re hoping that you’ll find yourself bidding on the incredible art that’s available to you during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

You can read more about Robert’s Snow: Art Auction for Cancer’s Cure here.

On this edition of Just One More Book!, Mark speaks with illustrator Diane Greenseid about singing colours, the process of developing a book and the creation of her snowflake, Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall, and a Great Winter, Too!

Diane’s spunky snowflake is up for bids November 26-30, 2007,

Books mentioned:

• The Trouble with Tilly Trumble
• Teeny Weeny Bop

Check out Diane Greenseid’s blog here.
Robert’s Snow: for Cancer’s Cure is an online auction of wooden snowflakes painted by participating children’s book illustrators. This annual event, which was started in 2004 by author Grace Lin and her husband Robert Mercer, has raised over $200,000 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Just One More Book! is one of many online children’s literature resources participating in the promotion of this year’s Robert’s Snow auction. Over the next few weeks we will be publishing interviews with participating illustrators and we’re hoping that you’ll find yourself bidding on the incredible art that’s available to you during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

You can read more about Robert’s Snow: Art Auction for Cancer’s Cure here.

Thanks to everyone who has played along and bid on the four copies of Revolting Librarians Redux that KR and I have on ebay as a fundraiser for the EFF. The auction closes tomorrow and has already raised $80+ which may be a drop in the bucket but I’ll be happy to send them a nice thank you note from the librarians for all the work they’ve done and continue to do. update: thanks everyone, the books got a bunch of bids and went for $21/each. $84 to the EFF!

As many of you know, bloggers all over the kidlitosphere have been posting about the upcoming Robert's Snow auction. Amazingly talented illustrators have painted snowflakes, which will be auctioned off during 3 consecutive weeks, and all of the proceeds will go to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Booktopia and Tweendom will proudly show-case Adam Rex! Adam has graciously agreed to answer some burning questions, and I will be giving away a brand spanking new hardcover copy of The True Meaning of Smekday to a lucky reader!