2014 Cynsational Book of the Year!
The height of awards season is upon us!
I watched the ALA Youth Media Awards via live stream while escorting a plumber around my master bath. He was amused that I could barely tear myself away long enough to wave at the shower.
Farewell to Bonnie Christensen by Elizabeth Bluemle from Publishers Weekly. Peek:
“She radiated loveliness, both personally and in her work. She was a gifted and creative artist, author, illustrator, and print maker, active both locally and overseas in exhibitions and galleries.”
As much as we would like to commit our entire lives to writing, most of us live in the real world. We can’t afford to spend our time at Walden Pond or in a permanent, never-ending, writer’s retreat.
We fit in writing amongst our day jobs, our kids,
Welcome back to Cynsations! I’ll be posting sporadically until I’m up to speed for 2015.
It’s been a busy winter, highlighted by teaching at the winter residency of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults and speaking at ALA Midwinter in Chicago.
Continue Reading VCFA Winter Residency & Cynsational Return »
Happy (Almost) New Year, and many blessings to y’all in 2015!
Cynsations will be on hiatus until sometime after the ALA Midwinter Conference in Chicago–hope to see many of you there.
Thank you for your support and enthusiasm over the course of the year.
Continue Reading Winter Hiatus, Podcast Interview & Feral Pride Review »
2014 Diversity in YA Gift Guide from CBC Diversity. See also African-American Interest Young Reader Titles by Diane Patrick from Publishers Weekly.
First Five Pages Workshop Featuring Literary Agent Tracey Adams from Adventures in YA Publishing. Peek: “…will open for entries at noon EST on Saturday,
Young people love poetry.
At least they love writing it. When I ask teens whether they read much poetry, though, the answer is usually no.
I think I know why. Outside of my bona fide freaky obsession with Emily Dickinson from the age of six,
Continue Reading Guest Post: E. Kristin Anderson on Teens Need Verse »
Original White House Invitation Emily Received in Wheels of Change.
The idea for Wheels of Change (Creston, 2014) came about through the discovery of two things while researching my family tree.
One was the fact that my paternal great-grandfather was a carriage maker in Washington D.C.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Darlene Beck Jacobson on Wheels of Change »
Nicole Maggi is the first-time author of Winter Falls (Twin Willows Trilogy) (Medallion Press, 2014). From the promotional copy:
Sixteen-year-old Alessia Jacobs is dying to get out of her small town of Twin Willows, Maine.
Things start looking up when a new family comes to town—but when she falls for Jonah,
Continue Reading New Voice: Nicole Maggi on Winter Falls (Twin Willows Trilogy) »
