Author Interview: Kellye Crocker Uses a Light Touch for a Serious Subject

By Gayleen Rabakukk

I’m thrilled to welcome author Kellye Crocker to Cynsations! Like me, she’s a Vermont College of Fine Arts alumnx more than a decade past graduation. Her debut middle grade novel, Dad’s Girlfriend and Other Anxieties (Albert Whitman & Company, October 2022) features practical tips on mindfulness and managing anxiety shared through a hilarious,

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Guest Post: Abigail Hing Wen on Character Development the Brutally Hard Way

By Abigail Hing Wen

After twelve years of writing and hundreds of rejections as I learned to write, I can’t quite believe my first novel is coming out in just eight weeks.

My biggest struggle had always been my characters. I read dozens of character craft books and asked for advice from character gurus like Coe Booth and Sandra Nickel.

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Interview: Author Christine Marciniak & Editor Madeline Smoot on Once Upon a Princess

Interview: Author Christine Marciniak & Editor Madeline Smoot on Once Upon a Princess

By Gayleen Rabakukk

The popularity of the recent royal wedding illustrates society’s continued fascination with monarchies. 

A new middle grade novel, Once Upon A Princess by Christine Marciniak (CBAY, 2018) offers a twist on familiar tropes. From the promotional copy:

After a coup in her country,

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Guest Post: Tamara Ellis Smith on Another Kind of Hurricane

Guest Post: Tamara Ellis Smith on Another Kind of Hurricane

By Tamara Ellis Smith

Space. Not up, as in the final frontier, but between, as in the distance between you and me.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that kind of space lately, and I’ve been especially curious about what can happen inside of it. What I’ve come to believe is that anything can happen—and everything.

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