Cynsational News & Giveaways - Cynthia Leitich Smith

Authors for the Philippines: “The auction is now live and you can bid on the items via the comments on the individual posts. Once the auction has ended (Wednesday 20th November), we will contact the winning bidder and ask them to donate the funds directly to the Red Cross and send the confirmation of payment to us.” Note: auction includes editor critiques, original illustrations, author visits, mentoring and much more.

Conflict vs. Tension by Becca Puglisi from Writers Helping Writers. Peek: “Conflict should create tension. But it doesn’t, not all the time.”

“I Don’t Want an Honest Critique” by Darcy Pattison from Fiction Notes. Peek: “…I don’t want to hear it. Minor problems? OK, I’ll fix those. But major structural, plot or character problems? Don’t tell me.”

Re: NaNoWriMo a No-No? by Deborah Halverson from DearEditor.com. Peek: “Publication can be the eventual result of NaNoWriMo. I know a novelist whose debut started there. ‘Started’ being the key word.”

Hey Writer, What Are Your Strengths? by Michael G-G from Project Mayhem. Peek: “David Biespel argues that in workshops and critique groups we tend to focus on trying to improve each other’s weaknesses, in the process paying hardly any attention to each other’s strengths (I mean, they’re strengths, so they’re working, right?), and end up by reinforcing our writer’s negative self-talk.”

Make Your Hero Complex by Choosing the Right Flaws by Angela Ackerman from Adventures in YA Publishing. Peek: “When it comes to flaws, it is the why behind the negative trait that is compelling.”

Spotlight: Julie Berry on All the Truth That’s In Me: an interview by Debbi Michiko Florence from DEBTastic Reads! Peek: “I firmly believe we must invest the same care and attention in getting to know our secondary characters as we do our main character. If we believe that all humans are of equal worth, then our writing should reflect that belief.”

Need a Little Humor in Your Life? by Crystal from Rich in Color. Note: recommended comedic books featuring protagonists of color.

Querying Multiple Manuscripts by Jane Leback from QueryTracker Blog. Peek: “…some books are just not good ‘debut’ titles. They’re solid books, but they would do better as a writer’s second book because they’re a little more risky.”

Recurring Events: When to Tell & When to Show by Yahong Chi from Project Mayhem. Peek: “Unless the events all have massive emotional potential to develop throughout, reading about the same actions would become tiresome and flavourless.”

The Top 7 Lessons I Learned About Blogging Children’s and Teen Literature from Kidlit Con 2013 by Lee Wind from I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?

Indies First – Authors and Illustrators To Become Booksellers For A Day (Nov. 30) from SCBWI: The Blog. Peek: “Sherman Alexie has cooked up a great idea, and the American Booksellers Association is helping out.”

Cynthia Kadohata Wins the 2013 National Book Award in Young People’s Literature from CBC Diversity.

This Week at Cynsations

By Austinite Susan Signe Morrison

Cynsational Giveaway

signed copy of Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst (YA)(U.S. only)

See also a giveaway of Angel Fever by L.A. Weatherly and Red by Alison Cherry from Adventures in YA Publishing.

A Dino A Day Strikes Back (Con’t)

Surf over to GregLSBlog for A Dino A Day Strikes Back, featuring author Greg Leitich Smith and shot at various landmarks around Austin, Texas!

It’s a dinosaur T-shirt celebration of the paperback release of Chronal Engine (Clarion, 2013) and new editions of Ninjas, Piranhas and Galileo and Tofu and T.rex (IntoPrint, 2013)(originally published by Little, Brown).

Day 9: Nightwing Sculpture
Day 10: Austin Nature & Science Center
Day 11: The Japanese Garden
Day 12: Moody Gardens

And for those who missed last week…

Day 1: Palmer Events Center (Austin Marathon Expo)
Day 2: Texas Memorial Museum (Exterior/Statuary)
Day 3: Waller Creek Boat House
Day 4: Hartmann Prehistoric Garden
Day 5: UT Alumni Center
Day 6: O. Henry House and Museum
Day 7: Santa Rita No. 1 oil rig
Day 8: Texas Memorial Museum (Interior/Fish)

Q&A with Author Greg Leitich Smith by Jennifer Dee from Riffle. Peek: “Of books this year, I think that young middle grade me would pick Kathi Appelt‘s The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp (Atheneum). It just has such a nice, quirky atmosphere and a lot of heart.”

Chronal Engine now in paperback + new editions (& covers) for Ninjas, Piranhas and Galileo & Tofu & T. rex

Author Greg Leitich Smith Discusses His Writing at Crisman School
by Angela Ward from The News-Journal in Longview, Texas. “I like that
his books are about dinosaurs because I want to be a paleontologist when
I grow up,” Webber said. “It’s really, really amazing that he’s
actually here to talk to us.” See also the Chronal Engine Activity Kit.

More Personally

Beyond the So-Called First Thanksgiving: 5 Children’s Books That Set the Record Straight by Debbie Reese from Indian Country Today. Peek (re: Indian Shoes (HarperCollins, 2002)): “Sprinkled with humor and warmth, each story is rich with details about Native life.” See sidebar for readers’ theater script and teacher guides.

A Gate Crashers Thanksgiving! What are Gate Crashing Kid Lit Authors Grateful for This Year? by Pamela K. Witte from Ink & Angst.

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