What I gave my husband for Valentine’s Day: variety pack cake donuts from Krispy Kreme and a card from BookPeople.

What he reciprocated with: dinner at home. Caviar salad (caviar (the budget kind), heart of palm, tomato, cottage cheese) and lobster with turkey, sauce, and broccoli spears, followed by dark-chocolate covered strawberries.

It was a gorgeous day, in the low 80s and sunny. I also dropped off a gift for a friend and a couple of recommendation letters for booksellers who’ve been nominated for awards. Also, I finished my rough draft of a new YA novel.

The mail included news of a book, Red Ridin’ In The Hood And Other Cuentos by debut author Patricia Santos Marcantonio, illustrated by Renato Alarcao (FSG, 2005), which appears to be a fractured fairy tale. By the way, FSG has the most marvelous marketing person. If you’re a writer researching publishers, please note that the house does a lovely job with publicity.

I also received a copy of Cecilia’s Year by Susan & Denise Gonzales Abraham (Cinco Puntos Press, 2004). It’s a historical ‘tweener novel, set in the 1930s in New Mexico.

Cynsational News & Links

Tonight join YA authors Libba Bray (A Great And Terrible Beauty), A.M. Jenkins (Damage), Catherine Atkins (Alt Ed), Mary E. Pearson (A Room On Lorelei Street) at 8:30 EST (7:30 Central) as they kick off a discussion with other YA writers and readers about point of view. Go to the YA Authors Cafe and click the chatroom icon. See also: A Conversation with Libba Bray by Claire E. White from Writers Write; Award-Winning Author A.M. Jenkins by Sue Reichard at Suite101.com; Preview Interview: Alt Ed by Catherine Atkins from Preview Magazine; and visit Mary E. Pearson’s Web site.

Interview with Tim Travaglini, editor, Walker & Company from Robin Friedman Interviews With Editors. More information about Walker, which as I was just mentioning, has been coming on strong lately. Robin Friedman’s site also offers interviews with other editors, including: Victoria Wells Arms, editorial director at Bloomsbury; Margery Cuyler, editorial director at Cavendish; and Amy Hsu, Greg‘s editor at Little Brown, among others. Insights from great minds at top-notch houses; a don’t-miss site for those researching for submissions. Robin Friedman is the author of A Silent Witness (Houghton Mifflin, 2005) and How I Survived My Summer Vacation And Lived To Tell The Story (Cricket, 2000). Learn more about Robin, and check out her Writing Secrets.

Jacqueline Jules: official site of the author of Noah And The Ziz, illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn (Kar-Ben, 2005); The Hardest Word: A Yom Kippur Story; and Once Upon A Shabbos, (all of which have the same publisher and illustrator), among others. The Hardest Word was named a Notable Book For Young Readers by the Association of Jewish Libraries and a National Jewish Book Award finalist in 1991. Site offers extensive activities.

E. Lockhart, author of The Boyfriend List, blogs about how Live Journal folks can add non-LJ blogs (like hers and mine) to their friends’ list; see the Feb. 14 post.

Mad Woman In The Forest: Mumbles, Mutters, Shrieks: features some Q&A between high school students and Laurie Halse Anderson; see the Feb. 15 post.

Illustrator Don Tate’s blog introduces blogs by fellow Texas illustrators Trevor Romain and Roz Fulcher, which is how I found out about the Children’s Illustrator Blog Ring.

“You keep writing because you love the process,” she [Katherine Paterson] said. “It’s the most rewarding part. You can never make enough money, never win enough prizes to satisfy you.

“The best reward is being able to create a world, create people that other people care about.”*

*linked from ACHUKA.