Cover Reveal & Author Interview: Maria Marianayagam On Her Upcoming Picture Book & Her Writing Life

By Suma Subramaniam

Maria Marianayagam and I connected on social media over our common love for children’s books and South Asian children’s literature a few years ago.  I’ve been a fan of her writing for a while now. Although we live miles apart from each other, she is fun to interact with.

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Author Interview: Jenna Lee-Yun on the Intersection of her Work as a Clinical Psychologist & her Writing Life

Cynsations is celebrating its 20th anniversary by switching to a quarterly publishing schedule, featuring in-depth interviews and articles. Thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm!

By Suma Subramaniam

I’m thrilled to welcome MG author Jenna Lee-Yun to Cynsations! I met Jenna at several SCBWI events in the Seattle area a few years ago,

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Poet/Author Interview: Janet Wong On Poetry & Her Long Writing Career

Cynsations is celebrating its 20th anniversary by switching to a quarterly publishing schedule, featuring in-depth interviews and articles. Thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm!

By Suma Subramaniam

The first time I met Janet Wong was a couple of years ago in her house for a summer party. I was smitten and blown away by her humility and generosity despite being a senior,

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Author Interview: Srividhya Venkat Discusses Writing Cultural Stories & Nonfiction

Cynsations is celebrating its 20th anniversary by switching to a quarterly publishing schedule, featuring in-depth interviews and articles. Thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm!

By Suma Subramaniam

Today we welcome author Srividhya Venkat back to Cynsations to discuss her first picture book biography.

Tell us about your newest nonfiction picture book biography,

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Author Interview: Jyoti Gopal Shares Strategies for Juggling Multiple Projects

By Suma Subramaniam

I’m thrilled to welcome Jyoti Gopal to Cynsations today!

You lived in many countries before settling down in the United States. How did that experience inform you as an author? 

Living outside one’s culture, learning different languages, straddling different ways of being – these were gifts,

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Author Interview: Laurie Goodluck Reflects on her Influences & Forever Cousins

By: AJ Eversole

Today on Cynsations we are chatting with Laurie Goodluck. I had the pleasure of meeting her during We Need Diverse Book’s Native Writing Intensive in its debut year, 2020. Seeing her career move forward since that time has been absolutely beautiful.

What is the heart of Forever Cousins?

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Cynsations Return & Author Update: Cynthia Leitich Smith on Writing, New Releases, Native Voices & Allies

Cynsations Return & Author Update: Cynthia Leitich Smith on Writing, New Releases, Native Voices & Allies

Learn more about Cynthia Leitich Smith.

By Traci Sorell
for Cynthia Leitich Smith‘s Cynsations

As an New York Times bestselling author and the creator of Cynsations blog, Cynthia is well known to many. But after reading her upcoming YA novel, Hearts Unbroken (Candlewick,

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Cynsations Intern: Robin Galbraith on Giving Yourself Permission to Write

Cynsations Intern: Robin Galbraith on Giving Yourself Permission to Write

Would-Be Kid Writer Robin

By Robin Galbraith

I tried to write my first story when I was in second grade. My family was gathered around the TV like every night. While “M*A*S*H” played in the background, I stared at my blank paper and dreamed up what I thought was a hilarious story of a girl who used every possible excuse to avoid going to bed—a subject I knew well.

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Cynsations Readers Interview Cynthia Leitich Smith

Cynsations Readers Interview Cynthia Leitich Smith

By Cynsations Readers

Over the past couple of weeks, children’s-YA author Cynthia Leitich Smith put out a call for questions from readers on Cynsations and Twitter. Here are those she elected to tackle and her responses. A few questions were condensed for space and/or clarity.

See also a previous Cynsations reader-interview post from November 2010.

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