My web designer/master, Lisa Firke of Hit Those Keys, has updated my site to be current with Cynsations for May. New features include photos of my two youngest cats, Blizzard Bentley and Galileo “Leo” Galilei, on Sebastian’s page. See the cats and Sebastian’s picture book selections. Then don’t forget to surf to alpha Mercury Boo (who’ll you’ll notice doesn’t dain to mention the young cats at all) and check out his kitten lit recs.

Congrats to Gregory K of GottaBook (Thoughts, opinions, and ramblings about (broadly) children’s literature from my perspectives as a writer, parent, and volunteer elementary school librarian. Oh yeah, and poetry of all sorts… with lots and lots of Fibs) on his two-book deal with Scholastic/Arthur Levine.

Congrats also to Annette Simon, author-illustrator of Mocking Birdies (Simply Read Books, 2005)(recommendation), which was named to the American Institute of Graphic Arts‘ “50 Books/50 Covers” list, as an example of outstanding book design. The jury’s selections will be mounted as a public exhibition, opening at the AIGA National Design Center in New York in September. The show will travel to AIGA chapters, student groups and galleries throughout the U.S. in 2007.

Thanks to Miss Cecil Castellucci (author interview) for cheering my upcoming gothic fantasy YA release, Tantalize (Candlewick, March 2007) at The Divine Miss Pixie Woods. In part, she says, “Vampires have never really been my thing, but Holy Moly! She made it so compelling I could not put the book down. And funny. It’s funny! I really felt like I was getting a classic vampire story that was satisfying on every single level and everything about it made sense to me.” Read the whole post.

And we have tons more links for your weekend reading pleasure. Enjoy!

“Can You Make It Goof-Proof?” by Shari Lyle-Soffe from Out of My Mind. An article on making your manuscript send-out ready. See June 9, 2006 post.

Candie Moonshower’s Home Page: official site of the author of The Legend of Zoey (Delacorte, July 2006). Surf by to sign her guest book.

“Don’t Lose That Book!” by Mark Fields from the Institute of Children’s Literature. An article on options for backing up manuscripts and other key documents. See also “Everything to Gain, and Nothing to Lose” by Shari Lyle-Soffe from ICL. An article on writing for online children’s magazines.

Getting to Know T.A. Barron by Lori Polydoros from SCBWI. More on fantasy author T.A. Barron.

Librarians Most Wanted: “Lots of people write about what they already read, watched, or listened. But aren’t you curious to know what they have on their ‘to read/watch/listen to’ list? And what path brought that item to their attention? This blog is your chance to find out.”

David Lubar, author of Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie (Dutton, 2005)(author interview)(recommendation) has won the Thumbs Up Award from the Michigan Library Association.

Picture Book Query by Barbara Kanninen. A clear, conversational overview of picture book query writing, including a sample letter that helped land Barbara a book contract! See also Barbara’s sample cover letter.

“Talking to Yourself” by Uma Krishnaswami (author interview) from Writing With A Broken Tusk. Uma talks about balancing your managerial half and your creative half in bird terms.

“Writing by the Seaside” will be held Aug. 21 to Aug. 21 in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. The faculty includes Linda Oatman High, Marty Crisp, Lois Szymanski, and Barry Lyga.

Viking Warrior by Judson Roberts (HarperCollins, 2006)(author website): a recommendation by Greg Leitich Smith from GregLSBlog.