While Cynsations is Out of the Office . . . Friday Links!

One of my favorite writers, bloggers, and friends is on Summer hiatus from her site/blog Cynsations. Yes, THE Cynthia Leitich Smith! A wonder of a woman, a wonder of a writer, and a wonderful friend to all writers and authors in the children's lit world. Cyn does an amazing Friday round-up of Links and News for Writers and while I can't even BEGIN to do what she does, here are a few links from blogs/articles that I've particularly enjoyed the past month or two.

Check out all her marvelous books right here: Cynthia Leitich Smith's Amazon Author Page

This is a shorter version this week since I've been DRAFTING like crazy! Just hit THE END!! :-)


THE WRITING LIFE:

Write On Con: The biggest, most stupendous online, and FREE Writer's Conference! Editors, Agents, and Authors share their expertise and knowledge about writing and the business! Coming August 130-14, 2013. Read the past two WOC conferences from 2011 and 2012 on the site. It's all archived!

Tim Tharpe on Breaking the Writing Rules

Sharon Shinn on Writing for the Long Haul

Austin Teen Book Festival Line-Up! Wow!

Corsets, Cutlasses and Candlesticks: a Fantastic Historical Fiction Writing Blog

FOR TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS

Interview with Colby Sharp, Nerdy Book Club Owner

Nerdy Book Club: if you're not already reading this, you should, whether you're a writer, librarian, reader, or teacher. 

Mr. Schu: Watch, Connect, Read! (5th Grade Teacher)

School Libraries are Year Round despite crippling Budget Cuts/

And just because I love it so much! Shayne Leighton did my book trailer. Check out her brand new book in her "Of Light and Darkness" Series at the link!

Enjoy and Happy Weekend!

xo,
Kimberley

While Cynsations is out of the office . . . Friday's Fun Links!

One of my favorite writers, bloggers, and friends is on Summer hiatus from her site/blog Cynsations. Yes, THE Cynthia Leitich Smith! A wonder of a woman, a wonder of a writer, and a wonderful friend to all writers and authors in the children's lit world.

Check out all her marvelous books right here: Cynthia Leitich Smith's Amazon Author Page

Cyn does an amazing Friday round-up of Links and News for Writers and while I can't even BEGIN to do what she does, here are a few links from blogs/articles that I've particularly enjoyed the past month or two.


THE WRITING LIFE: 

Writing and Motherhood by Shannon Hale

10 Things I wish I Would Have Done Differently by Natalie Whipple

Lessons in Bigotry and Bravery by Augusta Scattergood, including an NPR interview with Augusta - the link you'll find when you click *this* link! 

Ten Deadly Marketing Mistakes by Penny C. Sansevieri

10 Steps to Finding Your Writing Voice

Forty Questions for Stronger Manuscripts by Martina Boone

PERSONAL LIFE: 

Women and Success: 26 Thing Every Woman Should Know by Margaret Wheeler Johnson

Go Beyond Simple Networking and Organize Your Own Mastermind Group by Barrett Brooks

30 Quotes about Personal Fulfillment

FOR TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS:

List of Authors who Skype with Classes and Book Clubs for Free on Kate Messner's website.

Pinterest.com Skype an Author Visit

Please include me, your humble blogger. This link will take you to my Author and School Visits + *FREE* Skype for classes and Book Clubs!

What Makes a Great Book by Mikey Brooks - or How to Write a First Chapter Worthy of a Bidding War

Enjoy and Happy Weekend! I'm off to a family reunion . . .

xo,
Kimberley

While Cynsations is Out of the Office . . . Super Duper Links!

One of my favorite writers, bloggers, and friends is on Summer hiatus from her site/blog Cynsations. Yes, THE Cynthia Leitich Smith! A wonder of a woman, a wonder of a writer, and a wonderful friend to all writers and authors in the children's lit world.

She does an amazing Friday round-up of Links and News for Writers and while I can't even BEGIN to do what she does, here are a few links from blogs/articles that I've particularly enjoyed the past month or two. I've even categorized them this week!


Website Tips and Info: 

Your Homepage is not as Important as You Think by Jane Friedman

Three Ways to Improve Your Website Design by Jane Friedman

Is Your Author Website Doing its Job? 6 Things to Check by Jane Friedman

10 Ways to Build Long Lasting Traffic to Your Website by Jane Friedman

 Just some Opinions: Don't Take Everything You Read to Heart! 

Ways Authors Waste Time "Building Platform" on Social Media  by Anne

Goodbye to Twitter Village, Lessons Learned  by Benjamin Anastas

Social Networking: Snubbing a Potential Fan? 

General Writing Posts that are Mah-velous! 

Boundaries for Writers by Kristi Holl

On Writing Despair, Juicebox Mix by Libba Bray

Fear, the Uninvited Guest by Robin LaFevers - go to Writer Unboxed and read EVERY POST Robin has ever written. She is Simply Brilliant! 

Printz Award and the Power of Story: Honorees Get Personal

Breaking Bias, Maureen Johnsons Coverflip Challenge  - Fascinating look at book covers and gender bias. Loved the covers shown.

Sarah Zettel, Writing for the Long Haul: this is the newest post in the "Writing for the Long Haul" Series on Janni Lee Simner's blog.

Other authors Jannie has had so far are here:

- Uma Krishnaswami on honoring unreasonable exuberance
- Jennifer J. Stewart on finding community and support
- Sherwood Smith on keeping inspiration alive
- Mette Ivie Harrison on defining success
- Jeffrey J. Mariotte on why we write
- Judith Tarr on reinventing ourselves
- Kathi Appelt on the power of story
- Cynthia Leitich Smith on balancing business and creativity

About the Writing for the Long Haul series

Happy Weekend and Happy Reading!

xo,
Kimberley

While Cynsations was out of the office . . .

One of my favorite writers, bloggers, and friends is on hiatus from her site/blog Cynsations. Yes, THE Cynthia Leitich Smith! A wonder of a woman, a wonder of a writer, and a wonderful friend to all writers and authors in the children's lit world.

I've always loved her Friday round-up of Links and News and while I can't even BEGIN to do what she does, here are a few links from blogs/articles that I've particularly enjoyed the past month or two.

Blogs that Resonated with me for one reason or another. Or perhaps a blog that served as Inspiration. Or a blog where I Learned Something New. A blog that Made Me Think. (Yes, capital letters like Emily Dickinson. I often like Capital Letters.)

Herewith are The Links:

Reads4Tweens: a Great Book Review Site

Where I am Ridiculously Honest when it comes to Writing as a Career: Emphasis on "Ridiculous" by Dawn Metcalf: I loved this and laughed and cried and could relate Too Much!

Can You Make a Living From Writing? by Chris Eboch  Practical, good advice!

Mette Ivie Harrison on Writing for the Long Haul Jannie Lee Simner is running a series with Authors on "Writing for the Long Haul" so check out the rest of those posts. One each week. Love them!

Innovations Traditional Publishers Should Try: I've thought some of this myself! Great ideas!

Are You Building an Audience of Writers & Not Readers?: From the blog, Writer Unboxed. If you're not regularly reading this blog it is a MUST! Go subscribe, follow, whatever. Do it now.

Is Your Author Website Doing It's Thing? 6 Things to Check: by Jane Friedman

Five Traits of Published Writers: by Megan Shepherd (agency sister of mine and Author of "The Madman's Daughter" pubbed by Harpercollins)

On Writing Risks and the Safety Net via PUB(lishing)CRAWL by Kat Zhang

Finally, have you seen this new YA book trailer for Holly Black's upcoming YA, The Coldest Girl in Cold Town?

Are you going to read it? What do you think? I remember reading about the deal in Publisher's Marketplace and thinking that it takes a vampire book to its limits. Sounds gory, but intriguing. Not sure if I'll read it or not . . . the jury is still out.:-)

Happy Linkety-Link Reading this Weekend!

xo,
Kimberley

The Reader/Author Connection - Part 2!

March 11, 2013 The Secret Language of Stories by Carolee Dean THE READER/AUTHOR CONNECTION - Part Two Last month I discussed a "Letter to the Author" project I conducted with freshman and sophomores at the high school where I work as a speech-language pathologist. Students read the graphic novel Tantalize and then wrote letters to the author, Cynthia Leitich Smith. My article included several tips on how to brainstorm content with students and incorporate goals and objectives into the letter writing process. A copy may be found here. The classroom teacher and I were delighted by the results. Even the most reluctant writers all completed a three paragraph letter. As a follow up to last months letter writing project, I will be discussing additional tips for connecting authors and readers.    1. Connect with authors through books and websites like  Dear Teen Me. While serving on a panel at the Montgomery Book Festival in February, I met co-panelist E. Kristin Anderson and fell in love with the book she edited with Miranda Kenneally entitled Dear Teen Me. The book contains letters by various authors to their teen selves and includes entries by Ellen Hopkins, Lauren Oliver, Carrie Jones and Cynthia Leitich Smith. The various authors cover a wide range of topics including finding true love, discovering the true meaning of friendship, as well as surviving physical abuse, body issues, and bullying. The stories are sometimes funny and sometimes sad, but always close to the heart. I highly recommend this book as well as the website Dear Teen Me for connecting readers and authors. While we anxiously awaited Cynthia's response to our letters, we read her excerpt from Dear Teen Me. Learning about Cynthia's experience of break up, heart break, and the girl bully who tormented, but ultimately admitted that she admired Cynthia, made it that much more meaningful when we received Cynthia's response to our student letters. She answered individual questions within a group letter and I made copies to hand out to all the students so they could follow along as I read the letter aloud in class. 2. Connect with authors through their personal websites and blogs. If you are interested in having students write letters to an author and want to know whether you should send the letters to an email or snail mail address, try finding the author contact information online. Most children's/young adult authors love connecting with young readers and provide a contact page on their website where you may generate an email directly to them. If you contact the author before you have students write the letters, you will also know the odds of the author writing back (before the end of the school year). Let the author know that you are hoping their response can be part of your classroom connection to their book. As an author, I have been in the awkward position of receiving a packet of letters in July that was mailed in March, but didn't reach me until mid-summer because it was sent to my editor who then sent it to my agent who then sent it to me. You might be able to avoid this type of time-lag by contacting the author directly. 3. Arrange a Skype or Classroom Visit. While you're at the author's website, see if they have a page with information about their availability for school visits. Talk to your school librarian to find out if you have the financial resources to invite an author visit your school. This can get expensive if you have to pay travel costs, but many authors are now conducting Skype visits at a greatly reduced price. Some are even free.  4. Give students extra credit for attending author events put on by local bookstores. You may be surprised to learn how many well-known authors are coming through your town. I live in Albuquerque, which is by no means a literary hub, but we are always having authors visit or local bookstores. This fall Lois Lowry gave a free one-hour talk at the University of New Mexico in promotion of her new novel, Son. It was right after the seventh graders at a local Charter School had finished reading The Giver. Unfortunately, the teacher didn't know about the event until after it was over. Imagine what an extraordinary opportunity it would have been to hear Lois Lowry speak! Don't let this happen to you. Get on the mailing lists for your local book stores and keep your students up on authors that might be of interest to them. We've also had such student favorites as Lemony Snicket, John Green, and Alyson Noel come through town. These authors talk about everything from the personal life experiences that inspire their stories to research and the writing process, and most of the events are completely free. 5. Connect with local authors through  organizations such as SCBWI. You may be surprised to discover that you have many local children's and young adult authors living just within miles of your school. Many of these authors offer reduced rates for local school visits and might be willing to come in for an hour or two as opposed to a whole day. You may find out the names of local authors are by talking to book sellers or by contacting your local chapter of the Society of  Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (scbwi.org). If you have an interest in writing for children or young adults, you may want to consider joining this organization yourself. Many chapters have monthly meetings that are open to the public where you could potentially meet some of your local authors. The most important thing to remember is that reading is about forming connections... to other cultures, other ideas, other times, and other people. Some of the most interesting characters you will ever meet, are the authors who created the fascinating worlds we all love to visit. Join Our Mailing List! Meet the Spellbinders Carolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a master's degree in communicative disorders, and has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a speech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. Take Me There is a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Her paranormal verse novel, Forget Me Not, was published by Simon Pulse in October of 2012.    She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Act of Haiku."             Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in NewMexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.      To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to my website.      Kimberley Griffiths Little has won the  Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs      She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing workshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides.       Upcoming Author Events  Caroline Starr Rose April 19 New Mexico Library Association Youth Luncheon Albuquerque, NM July 27 19th Annual Norfolk Public Library Literature Festival, Norfolk, NE

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Don't Miss the Contest of the Month!!!

The prize packages are FANTASTIC!!! Cyn is one generous chick-a-dee, cutie-pie!

You only have until tomorrow at midnight (Monday) so hurry!!!

Eternal Grand Prize Giveaway Package: in celebration of the Feb. 10 release of Eternal (Candlewick), author Cynthia Leitich Smith is giving away several prize packages, some including signed copies of the novel, tie-in T-shirts, finger puppets, stickers, guardian-angel tokens, and more! See details here.

Deadline midnight CST Feb. 9! All Cynsational readers are eligible to win!

Don't you lurrrve this book? Don't you WANT it???

Wednesday Wanderings

It's an appropo Subject Title since my blog is called Kimberley's Wanderings - so I get to do just that - wander like crazy, ha!

My good friend Cynthia Leitich Smith's new book, ETERNAL is out in FIVE DAYS!!!! JUST FIVE DAYS!!!! I cannot wait to read it!

Here is the delicious and "tantalizing" trailer:



The book cover for EXPLORE WITHIN A MEDIEVAL CASTLE is fantastic. And it's just the kind of book my boys devoured when growing up. Heck, I still buy them all sorts of kid's books, even though they're much older now. Ahem. And even though they are not SUPPOSED to be much older!




Last but not least:

If you want to feel good about yourself as a writer, here is a tidbit from Rachel Gardner whose blog is always uplifting, fun and full of writing and publishing information.

Quote: "It's truly an embarrassment of riches. Every single query that gets to my inbox represents someone's passion, their heart and soul, their hard work, often years of their life. Each one could possibly change lives or inspire or entertain or teach... or all of the above. There is unlimited potential to change the world in my inbox everyday! I am humbled and awed at the privilege of being the recipient of such treasure.

Thank you to all of you writers who put yourselves out there, make the effort, follow your passion, and pursue that publishing dream. I admire and salute you."

Isn't she darling sweet? Go here to read the full post: Rachel Gardner, Rants and Ramblings of a Literary Agent