By Laura Sibson
When I first met Katherine Locke through a Philly author group, I was struck by the sheer number of ideas they have for stories and their ability to write across age groups. From picture books to middle grade anthologies to young adult novels with fantasy elements, Katherine can do it all.
Continue Reading Guest Interview: Laura Sibson Talks to Katherine Locke About Approach to Craft »
By Laura Sibson
Last fall, Christine Kendall and I kept running into one another at book festivals in and around the Philadelphia area. Finally, I decided I needed to learn more about this delightful West Philly author so I’ve invited her to take part in our exploration of the writing process.
Thank you so much for joining us today to talk about your writing process and the ways it’s evolved.
By Sara Ryan
When I was invited to contribute a post about what it’s like to be an author and a librarian, I remembered I’d talked about it when I was interviewed at Cynsations about my book The Rules for Hearts (Penguin, 2007), quite some time back.
A few years after that,
Continue Reading Guest Post: The Author-Librarian Life with Sara Ryan »
I met twin Auschwitz survivor Eva Mozes Kor in 2018, when she gave a speech at Western Michigan University. I was there after experiencing increased antisemitism in both my work and personal life. I felt a need to do something about it, but I wasn’t sure what,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Danica Davidson on Writing a Holocaust Survivor’s Memoir »
By Julie Lee
Julie Lee is the author of the middle grade historical novel Brother’s Keeper (Holiday House, 2020), a story inspired by her mother’s escape from North Korea during the Korean War.
History has always eluded me. The longer it gets, the more there is to know, and so we distill it into digestible bits,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Author Julie Lee on Remembering & Writing Forgotten History »
Spotlight image above: A.A. Prime accepts the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Translated YA Book Prize. See the entire presentation here.
Early in the pandemic, the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative named two winners of its 2020 Translated YA Book Prize: The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi,
Continue Reading Guest Interview: A. A. Prime on Translating Red Mantle »
By Varsha Bajaj
Count Me In (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2019) is an uplifting story of a community rallying to support its own. It is a story that celebrates finding your voice.
In 2020, it was a finalist for the Global Read Aloud program which helped librarians and teachers find it.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Varsha Bajaj Makes Real Connections in a Virtual World »
Hard work, persistence.
I’ve always believed in them.
It’s there in my first picture book The Amazing Idea of You, illustrated by Mary Lundquist (Bloomsbury, 2019), which celebrates the journey from potential to fruition, be it for seed, tadpole, child or idea:
Hidden in this apple
is the idea of a tree
wrapped tight
in this shiny seed.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Charlotte Sullivan Wild on Creating Love (When Work Isn’t Enough) »
The Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is particularly vibrant, and among its many offerings is a mentorship program named for Cynthia Leitich Smith!
I have been the program’s mentor twice, most recently working with the wonderful Carol Kim.
Stories are the work of a community, not a creator in isolation. I am struck by this truth every single time I hold my debut picture book, Gitty and Kvetch, illustrated by the phenomenal Ariel Landy (Atheneum, 2021), in my hands. Its pages carry the fingerprints of all the people who have poured into my life and this story.