I love this description from the Houston Library for the interview I just did with them: “Robin Brande discusses writing,…
I love this description from the Houston Library for the interview I just did with them: “Robin Brande discusses writing,…
I am happy to report that Cyn (who owns the award-winning author site Cynsations) agreed to let me interview her to go along with the posting of her new book, ETERNAL, on my site under “Good Books to Share.”
I enjoyed reading ETERNAL. The pace is swift, and the set-up interesting from the get-go. Miranda, the teenage heroine, has a guardian angel. He messes up and she is turned into a vampire. Now her angel has to make amends. But is he committing the ultimate no-no for guardian angels? Is he falling in love with her? ETERNAL kept me turning the pages through a single sitting. For anyone who likes a good love story, as well as for fans of vampire tales.
Cynthia Leitich Smith
How old were you when you first started seriously writing?
I guess it depends on what you call “serious.” By fourth grade, I was writing poems in my bedroom more evenings than not. I even “bound” them in a homemade book with the help of my mom. By junior high, I was editor of the school paper-a position I had again in high school. By my sophomore year of college, I was spending my summers working in newsrooms. By my third year of law school, I was teaching legal writing. At 28, I quit my “day job” to write fiction for young people.
How many rejections did you get before you got your first acceptance?
I honestly don’t know, but with regard to writing for young readers, my apprenticeship was about two-and-a-half years before my first sale.
How do you make up names for your characters?
With JINGLE DANCER (Morrow, 2000), most of the names are family names. The one exception is “Jenna,” which I simply thought sounded musical with Jenna. Quincie P. Morris in TANTALIZE (Candlewick, 2007) is named after Quincey P. Morris in Abraham Stoker’s classic novel Dracula (1897). But beyond that, I often look for variety in terms of syllables, vowel and consonant sounds, first letters, etc. or meanings. The name “Miranda” from ETERNAL (Candlewick, 2009) means “miracle.”
When you write do you like quiet, music, or lots of activity around you?
Increasingly, I prefer sort of neutral music-no lyrics, which I generally tune out. It works like “white noise.”
What’s the earliest childhood memory you can think back to? Does it appear in any of your writing?
I remember burning the silver plate off a gold spoon with a candle flame. I think everyone else was eating pie in the kitchen. And no, not so far.
What age child do you have in your head? Is there more than one child there?
It’s very crowded-I have a four, ten, fourteen, seventeen, and a nineteen-year-old.
Do you have any regrets about writing for young readers?
Nope.
What do you have hidden in a dresser drawer? (We won’t tell, will we, everyone?)
Nothing too interesting, I’m afraid. My iPod and the key to my treadmill.
What do your favorite pair of socks look like?
They feature tiny Texas flags.
Given that you won’t sunburn, and you have lots of water . . . would you rather walk through Death Valley or Mall of America? Why?
Death Valley-scenery and peacefulness.
If you woke up in the morning and found someone’s shoes in your refrigerator, what would you think?
That the cats were growing more sophisticated by the hour.
Have you ever been abducted by aliens? If so, did they wear socks? What did they have hidden in their zormorpholater? And did they tell you the titles of any of their favorite books?
No aliens, faeries perhaps.
Will you name a character in your next book after me?
Maybe, but I can’t promise he/she will be a good guy.
Finally, let’s end up looking toward the future. What’s up next for you? Anything you want to tell us about?
I just finished (I hope) text revisions on the graphic novel adaptation of TANTALIZE, which will be told from the point of view of Kieren, the werewolf hero. I’m also jazzed about the short stories I have coming out this year. “The Wrath of Dawn,” co-authored by Greg Leitich Smith will appear in GEEKTASTIC: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci (Little, Brown, 2009) and “Cat Calls” will appear in SIDESHOW: Ten Original Tales of Freaks, Illusionists, and Other Matters Odd and Magic, edited by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick, 2009).
Thanks, Cyn!
Now to all of you . . . go forth, and read!
Ciao!
Shutta
Thank heavens for Adrienne and Eisha. Because they were at the Rochester Teen Book Festival last weekend, and actually had the strength to write a post about it. Which I’m totally stealing now. Or look at this one, which includes a clip of Wordgirl, with my new pal Jack Ferraiolo doing the [...]
Very informative (and hopefully inspirational) interview. And maybe those DC film folks will stop utterly mangling your work.
Though y’know, the DC 48 Hour Film Project is coming up again in just a month…
And any time both Neil deGrasse Tyson and Encyclopedia Brown get shout-outs, I’m happy.
(For the record, speaking as a type geek, Times New Roman and Calibri are later Microsoft fonts — and if I thought about it, I could probably rattle off the entire set of original Mac fonts…)
Bill, I so hoped you wouldn’t see this, because when I rewatched it last night, I was thinking, “Why didn’t I say Tohubohu Productions? Why didn’t I say Bill and Pam Coughlan? AAAARRGGG!” So now I’m totally exposed. But at least I can say in public that the fabulous DC film group is you. And you are so fabulous.
And thank you for the correction about the Microsoft fonts. I’ll stop spreading that misinformation. And yes, you clearly are a type geek. Which is cool.
Ready for another 48 Film Project whenever you are, Captain!