Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Plotting Can Be for You by Susanne Winnacker from Adventures in YA Publishing. Peek: “So despite the fact that I hated going into things without a plan, I tried to write my book without an outline. It would be fun, right?”

Everything Is Going to Be Okay: On Writing & Anxiousness by Leila Austin from YA Highway. Peek: “A message from the kind, sensible part of my brain to the irrational, ugly part. A reminder to let go of all the things I carry around when I sit down to write, because my brain can’t work on my novel if it’s working on a hundred things which are not my novel.”

To Pseudonym or Not to Pseudonym by Catherine McKenzie from Writer Unboxed. Peek: “…there are lots of people who do just that—publish under a pseudonym—for a myriad of reasons. It’s a question that’s been on my mind lately because my next WIP is somewhat of a departure for me.”

Foreign Rights for Dummies by Hilary Wagner from Project Mayhem. Peek: “Now this isn’t a step-by-step of the process, it’s just my own personal experience, but I hope it can give a little enlightenment for anyone who’s been wondering how it goes down or may be in the process themselves.”

Tearing Down Walls: The Integrated World of Swedish Picture Books by Laura Reiko Simeon from Lee & Low. Peek: “…recent Swedish picture books that show ethnic diversity involve conflicts about ordinary, universal topics such as sharing.” See also Making Our Own Market: Reading is Fundamental from The Brown Bookshelf.

Cover Reveal & Interview with Courtney Alameda from Hypable. Peek: “Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat—a girl who sees auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she’s trained to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual.”

Write What You Love & Stay True to Your Passion by Katherine Longshore from Adventures in YA Publishing. Peek: “Never say never. And it can pay off to write what you love.”

Worldbuilding by Stacy Whitman from The Open Book at Lee & Low Books. Peek: “…revealing enough about the world that you create interest and intrigue, but not too much.”

Cynsational Giveaways

• two signed copies of Little Green Men at the Mercury Inn by Greg Leitich Smith (Roaring Brook, 2014)(North America)
• an autographed copy of Lupita’s First Dance/El primer baile de Lupita by Lupe Ruiz-Flores, illustrated by Gabhor Utomo (Arte Publico, 2013)(U.S.)
• autographed copies of Daughters of Two Nations, by Peggy Caravantes, illustrated by Carolyn Dee Flores (Mountain Press, 2013) and Canta, Rana, Canta/Sing, Froggie, Sing by Carolyn Dee Flores(Piñata, 2013)(U.S.)
• two copies of Hung Up by Kristen Tracy or a copy of Lost It or a copy of Crimes of the Sarahs (all Simon Pulse)(U.S.) 
• signed copy of Paint Me! by Sarah Frances Hardy (Sky Pony, 2014)(U.S.)

See also ARC Giveaway of Shutter by Courtney Alameda from Hypable.

This Week at Cynsations

• Kristen Tracy on Can You Hear Me Now? and Writing Dialogue
• Carolyn Dee Flores & Lupe Ruiz-Flores on Writing, Illustrating & Team Flores 
• Author-Illustrator Sarah Frances Hardy on Paint Me!
• In Memory: Editor Frances Foster
• Event Report: Middle Grade Mayhem

More Personally

See the full Middle Grade Mayhem Event Report!

This weekend’s highlight was Middle Grade Mayhem, a joint launch event featuring authors Varian Johnson (The Great Greene Heist (Arthur A. Levine Books)), Greg Leitich Smith (Little Green Men at the Mercury Inn (Roaring Brook)), and Jennifer (“Jenny”) Ziegler (Revenge of the Flower Girls (Scholastic)) at BookPeople in Austin!

Outside The King’s English; photo by Shawn K. Stout

Busy teaching, hence this more-abbreviated-than-usual Friday roundup!

It’s been rainy this week at Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers in Sandy, Utah, but I’m having a great time (more on that to come)! Also, the sun came out yesterday!

Congratulations to fellow Austinite Anne Bustard on the sale of her debut novel, Anywhere But Paradise (for middle graders), to Andrea Cascardi at Egmont!

Personal Links

Cover Reveal (Harper, 2015)

• Cheetah Cub and Puppy are Best Friends
• Patent Office: “Redskins Disparaging”
• Jennifer Ziegler on Writing, Weddings & Siblings

Cynsational Events

Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith will speak at the Writers’ League of Texas 2014 Agents and Editors Conference on June 28 at the Hyatt Regency Austin in Texas.

Join Cynthia Leitich Smith in discussing Feral Curse (Candlewick, 2014) with the YA Reading Club at 11 a.m. June 28 at Cedar Park Public Library in Cedar Park, Texas.

Research for Fiction, Non-fiction and Historical Fiction Writers from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 13 at The Austin Centre (3809 South 2nd St.) from Austin SCBWI. Speakers authors Cynthia Levinson and Greg Leitich Smith, author-librarian Jeanette Larson and Carolyn Yoder, senior editor at Calkins Creek Books, the U.S. history imprint of Boyds Mills Press, and senior editor at “Highlights.”