Downhomebooks, which interviewed my husband, author Greg Leitich Smith, about his debut novel, Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo (Little Brown, 2003) a couple of years ago, has posted an update in which Greg answers questions about his latest title, Tofu and T. rex (Little Brown, 2005) (read the whole, two-part interview or scroll to see the update).

Greg talks about food tolerance, what happens when beliefs/goals conflict with loved ones’, inspiring readers to think, character development, and using exaggeration in writing comedy.

Congratulations to Greg also on his Kliatt review, which heralds, “The story is a witty farce, perfect for gifted and talented students who probably rarely find a book about people like themselves.”

Cynsational News & Links

Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo: reviewed by Adria Balgassi at “Read Books. They Are Good For Us.” A teen review blog.

Children’s Writing Update for August 24 from Write4Kids.com. Includes magazine market news, manuscript and expense tracking charts (a giveaway for writers!), and an article by Laura Backes on what she’s learned in her past 15 years on the job.

On Writing Nonfiction for Kids: a collection of 11 articles from Fiona Bayrock.

On A Scale of 1 to 5: Author Chris Barton on categories of rejection letters. Chris’ debut title, The Day-Glo Brothers, is a picture book biography, scheduled from Charlesbridge in 2007.

Why Genre Matters by David G. Hartwell, Senior Editor at Tor/Forge Books in New York, and is the publisher of The New York Review of Science Fiction, from Libraries Unlimited.