Congratulations to my very cute husband, author Greg Leitich Smith, whose author copies of his second novel, Tofu and T.Rex (Little Brown, 2005) arrived yesterday.
The novel is a companion book to his award-winning debut, Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo (Little Brown, 2003)(Recorded Books, 2004), and will be available for sale in July.
We had been told that the colors on the ARC wouldn’t quite reflect those on the novel, and we’re so pleased with the final results. That raised, glossy T.Rex really pops!
Read Interview With Debut Children’s Novelist Greg Leitich Smith by Debbi Michiko Florence (updated November 2004); Author Interviews: Greg Leitich Smith from Downhome Books (October 2003); The Story Behind The Story: Greg Leitich Smith on Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo from CLSCLR; and Profile of Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith by Dianna Hutts Aston.
I also was pleased to receive my ARC of Rainbow Road by Alex Sanchez (Simon & Schuster, 2005). It’s the third book in the Rainbow trilogy, which included Rainbow Boys and Rainbow High. Alex lived in Austin as a child, and he spoke on a panel and TLA with Greg and me.
Cynsational News & Links
The NE/NC Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators presents its fall conference, “The Adventure Awaits,” Sept. 24 at the Hilton Arlington in Arlington, Texas. Featured speakers include: Suzanne Nelson, Senior Editor, Scholastic Book Club Division; Catherine Frank, Editor, Viking; Robert Mayes, Editor, Farrar Straus Giroux; Patrick Collins, Creative Director, Henry Holt; Dian Curtis Regan, Keynote Speaker, author of many award-winning books for children including Ghost Twins, Monster of the Month Club, Chance, The Initiation, and Princess Nevermore. Note: Dian is one of my fave people in children’s publishing, and Chance (Philomel, 2003) is one of my fave picture books. She (relatively) recently moved to one of my home states, Kansas.
“Critique Groups: From Water Wings to the High Dive” by Lisa Lawmaster Hess, in the Publishing Paths section of Writer’s Support from the Institute of Children’s Literature. See also the May 12 transcript of “Anything Goes, But What Does a Banned-Book Author Do Next?” an archived ICL chat with Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
Check out the Children’s Literature Choice List for 2005.