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Do you like listening to author and illustrator interviews? I do. They’re often interesting, with bits of wisdom and great writing advice woven throughout. That’s true with the interviews Susan Raab, book publicist and author of An Author’s Guide to Children’s Book Promotion, did at the Bologna Book Fair.

Susan Raab interviewed 16 people related to children’s literature. The interviews include children’s and YA author Kathleen Duey; YA author Susan Beth Pfeffer; YA author, book reviewer, and creator of YA Book Central Kimberly Pauley; children’s author and illustrator Marla Frazee; children’s illustrator Nancy Devard; some publishers; and more.

You can listen to the interviews online; they’re interesting.

Thanks to Kathleen Duey for the link.

Y'all missed a really good lecture with Emily Jenkins last night. Not you, Tim Bush. You've been extraordinary about attending these things. And Sergio Ruzzier and Tomek Bogacki, two of Ms. Jenkins' collaborators, BOTH showed up. I know a lot of authors who never even meet their artistic brethren and here Ms. Jenkins managed to conjure up two in a single night. That's half a sandwich shy of impossible. Her talk had all sorts of new information in it too. The difficulties that come with trying to photograph your cat. The fact that her illustrators have the eerie ability to place Ms. Jenkins' husband in their books WITHOUT having ever seen him. The title of her picture book coming out in March 2007 (which I begged on bended knee for a copy of, much to the dismay of my boss). Her newest title What Happens on Wednesdays, which looks good too. The only flaw with it is that every time I see the cover I think to myself, "What happens on Wednesdays STAYS on Wednesdays".

By the way, former Spring Lecturer Meghan McCarthy has just been interviewed at 7-Imp and they somehow or other managed to charm a kick-ass picture out of the lovely lass. It'd be a shame if you missed it.

As I assume that all of you already are aware of the 7-Imp interviews, I don't like to point out one over another for fear of people thinking that I'm choosing my favorite people. So let's just makes something perfectly clear, children: I love each and everyone of you equally. Except for you, Alvina. I like you a whole heckuva lot more, so I'm highlighting the 7-Imp interview with you that's up right now.

And if you find yourself pouting over my fickle heart, do so while checking out this great interview with Calef Brown which I found via Children's Illustration. Those of you intending to polish up your interview skills would do well to perform a compare/contrast on these two different styles of the form.

I don't go about participating in blog tours for just any old author, y'know. In the case of Tracie Zimmer, however, I'm happy to do what I can. Having read her newest creation Reaching for Sun (review pending) I felt mighty obliged to help her out when she told me she'd be engaging in a blog tour of her own particular stripe. Monday it was Jo Knowles doing the honors. Tuesday was MotherReader, of course. March 6th was Little Willow's Slayground (no one ever said a blogtour had to be linear, after all). Wednesday was with Newbery Honor-winner (and recent Central Children's Room visitee) Cynthia Lord. And today? Today is with moi. Here's the quick and dirty low down.

F#8: I confess that I've a penchant for covers and it seems to me that Bloomsbury pulled out all the stops with your book. Did you have any say-so? Did other covers come up?

F#8: What are you reading right now?

Thrills!
Chills!
Disembodied ... uh ... Noggins!

M.T. Anderson's been interviewed on 7-Imp and it's an interview to put all other interviews to shame. Glad I'm not in the interview business myself. These girls would run me out of the water in a day. You know what I really got out of the piece though? Eisha's boots. I want Eisha's boots. Where did she get them?

Eisha. Give me your boots.

Nothing I like better than a good interview. Except maybe chocolate. God, I love chocolate. Sweet, delicious, forbidden chocolate (can you tell it's Lent?).

Back to interviews. One Ms. Kelly R. Fineman has a simply delicious (still stuck on chocolate) one-on-one with everyone's favorite illustrator Adam Rex. He also happens to create clay heads. Clay heads that I want. Clay heads that I, daresay, NEED. In this interview there's a very nice shout-out to my HMOCLification of Mr. Rex.

Betsy Bird over at Fuse #8 named you a Hot Man of Children's Literature in September, 2006. Has your life changed as a result and, if so, how?

Well, the pageant was nice. But before you're crowned you don't realize how many library ribbon-cuttings and the like you'll be asked to attend.

Graff. Lisa Graff.
She's lean, she's mean, she's a kick-ass writing machine. Which is to say, we've a very special guest here at A Fuse #8 Production today. Sit down and behave yourself, class. Lisa Graff, author of this year's The Thing About Georgie is stopping by here on her whirlwind blog tour. I am not the best interviewer (such skills belong far more to the 7-Imp camp) but I'll do my best for this lovely lass. After all, she is one of only five editors in my Editorial blogroll (off to the right).

For those of you unfamiliar with the plot of this book, here' s a review of the title as prepared by Big A little a. Onward!

FUSE #8: Why the burning, nay, overwhelming urge to write? And, more importantly, why children's books at all?

LG: I guess I write because I like to make up stories. I like looking at people on the subway or on the street, and trying to figure out who they are by the way they talk or how they twitch a finger. And since I’ll never know any of that for sure, I have to make it up. I write children’s books because I can’t imagine writing anything else. I love kids and telling stories about them. But I also love reading kid’s books. There’s no room for lazy storytelling or self-serving prose in children’s books, because kids won’t put up with that. You have to get in, tell your story, tell it well, and get out. A good children’s book is like a little gem—smooth, small, and perfect. And, um, shiny.


FUSE #8: You are part of a crazy group of gals knows as The Longstockings who blog regularly on a host of varied kidlit topics. Give me the skinny on how you came together as a whole.

LG: Well, all eight of us went to the New School here in Manhattan and got our MFAs in Writing for Children. It’s a very small program, so we all got to know each other pretty well. We’d meet every week and swap bits of our novels and critique them and offer suggestions, and somehow along the line we became friends too. When the program ended we decided we simply couldn’t bear to stop meeting regularly and workshopping, so we formed an official group. And then we decided to take on the World Wide Web, too, and start a blog. So far I think it’s going pretty well.

FUSE #8: I don't want to repeat any of the questions already asked on The Longstockings blog, but what the hey? What's the name of the children's book you'd like The Thing About Georgie to be mentioned with in a single breath? Which is to say, what's the best possible kidlit title someone could compare your book to?

LG: My all-time favorite kid’s book in the universe is Holes. Talk about a gem. I’m in love with that book—the way all the plotlines come together so unexpectedly and perfectly at the end, and the seamlessness of the storytelling. I’d pretty much die and go to Heaven if someone mentioned my book in the same sentence as Holes. Unfortunately, my book is completely different in terms of plot and characters and, well, everything, so probably the only sentence that would use both titles would be, “Hey, did you know that the chick who wrote The Thing About Georgie really likes Holes?”

FUSE #8: I'm stealing this particular question from the 7-Imp blog. Three authors you'd like to sit down and have dinner with.... go.

LG: Louis Sachar, obviously, because I just gushed about his book so that would be weird if I didn’t pick him. Also he seems down-to-earth and fun. Then I’d have to go with Katherine Paterson, because I think she’s a genius, and she is so wonderful at writing characters who do awful things but still manage to be completely lovable. I’m rather in awe of her. For my third author I pick George Bernard Shaw, because he’s witty and snarky and I bet he’d make fabulous dinner conversation.

FUSE #8: What's your next book? Or at the very least, some of the ideas that might be ah-percolating in your brain?

LG: My next book is called The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower, and it comes out early next year. It’s about a twelve-year-old girl who loses her scholarship to private school, so in order to earn her tuition she becomes a con artist for a summer. It’s very twisty-turny and fun. I actually just got the manuscript back from copyediting, and it’s covered in lots of pencil marks in all different colors with queries for me to answer… I should probably get cracking on that.

FUSE #8: Any advice you'd care to share with the umpteen-bazillion people out there who would kill to be in your my-book-just-got-published-by-Harper-Collins shoes?

LG: Read. A lot. I know everyone says that, and it sounds like the lamest cop-out answer ever, but it’s really true. You can’t be a writer if you don’t love to read. I think children’s writers especially can learn a lot from reading the kinds of books they want to write, and paying careful attention to everything—the structure of the story, the length, the words the author uses. I think we as writers can soak up a ton from studying what the greats have done before us.



And now a special treat. Act fast, my pretties, and be one of the first three people to send an e-mail to [email protected] with the name of A Fuse #8 Production in the subject heading. Tell Lisa that you saw her interview on this blog and IF you are one of the first three (which gives an unfair advantage to early birds and residents of Australia, I know) then you will be sent a complimentary copy of Graff's new book. Howzabout them apples, eh?

Let's take a closer look at one of our Newbery Honorees (Honorettas?, Honorikas?) for 2007. One Ms. Kirby Larson. Nice lady, that. Prone to multiple interviews as well, should you be willing to search deep enough for them amongst the reams of buried internet info out there.

One I found just the other day as I was looking for this image on Jaime Temairik's blog:

What can I say? I like-a the killer cupcakes. Cupcake-related paraphernalia gets a special slot on this blog (hint hint).

In any case, I found this interview and was pleased as punch. And then I turn around and Jen Robinson has linked to another one. So basically, anything and everything you ever wanted to know Kirby Larson-wise is now available. Go wild.