Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Welcome back to Cynsations!
I hope y’all had a joyful summer.
By Austin standards, it was blessedly cool in the 80s and 90s.
I finished up edits on the pass pages for Feral Pride (Candlewick, 2015) and focused on the business of being an author,
Austin’s new boardwalk along Lady Bird Lake!
Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Thanks so much for being a Cynsational reader!
I appreciate your enthusiasm for and interest in the world of books for kids and teens.
Breaking news: Effective immediately, Cynsations is going on summer hiatus until September.
Jennifer Mathieu is the first-time author of The Truth About Alice (Roaring Brook, 2014). From the promotional copy:
Everyone knows Alice slept with two guys at one party. When Healy High star quarterback, Brandon Fitzsimmons, dies in a car crash, it was because he was sexting with Alice.
Continue Reading New Voice: Jennifer Mathieu on The Truth About Alice »
M.K. Hutchins is the first-time author of Drift (Tu Books, 2014). From the promotional copy:
Tenjat lives on the shores of Hell, an ocean filled with ravenous naga monsters. His island, a massive Turtle, is slowed by the people living on its back.
Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Get It Write This Summer from Nerdy Chicks Rule Summer School 2014. Peek: “Kidlit Summer School is a four week writer’s workshop that will run from July 21 through August 15. Because we (Kami (Kinard) and Sudipta (Bardhan-Quallen)) both enjoy teaching writing classes, we wanted to find a way to offer craft-based writing advice on a particular topic each summer.
Follow @jancipatterson
I heard about the Utah Arts Council Original Writing Competition from one of my grad school professors. This was in 2007–I’d been writing novels for seven years. I had five novels drafted and had been sending books out for years and receiving form rejections.
So when I heard about the Young Adult Novel category,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Janci Patterson on Writing Contests »
The youth literature community is deeply saddened by the sudden death of Nancy Garden, age 76, on June 23.
Nancy was a groundbreaking author, perhaps best known for her YA love story, Annie On My Mind (FSG, 1982).
I’m honored to say that she graced this online platform with her wisdom and,
Follow @SWiersbitzky on Twitter
When I visit classrooms and talk about storytelling, I often discuss the “seeds” of stories. And how the best seeds come from real moments in our life; moments of great joy, or sadness, fear or confusion.
They’re the nuggets of truth that often inspire a story,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Shannon Wiersbitzky on Fiction as a Form of Truth »
By Ann E. Burg
Sometimes when I visit schools I bring a beat up old pot filled with trinkets and toys, gadgets and gizmos, photographs and mementoes.
My mother’s sister gave me the pot when I first went out on my own.
She and my mother subscribed to the culinary philosophy if you can read,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Ann E. Burg on Serafina’s Promise »
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?”
