Introducing 2013 MCBF Author, Diane Kelly

A CPA and tax attorney, Diane spent several years at an international accounting firm where she had the pleasure of working with a partner later charged with tax fraud. She also served a stint as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Texas under an AG who pled guilty to criminal charges related to the tobacco company lawsuits. Given this work history, Diane decided self-employment might be a good idea. She also realized her experiences with white-collar crime made excellent fodder for a novel. Her fingers hit the keyboard and thus began her humorous “Death and Taxes” romantic mystery series. Diane’s debut novel, Death, Taxes and a French Manicure, won the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart award.  Visit Diane and read excerpts at www.dianekelly.com.

An Interview with Joy Preble

Q: Of which book are you the most proud? And why?

I'm proud of all of them for different reasons: DREAMING ANASTASIA because it was the first book I ever wrote and also the first book that I sold. HAUNTED because being asked to write it meant that book 1 had done very well. ANASTASIA FOREVER because I am so proud of how I brought Anne and Ethan's story to a fitting and romantic conclusion. And THE SWEET DEAD LIFE (forthcoming next year) because I think everyone is going to love Casey and Jenna as much as I do.

Q: Patty Campbell talks about the germ for a piece of writing being like the sand in the oyster.  What is your grain of sand?  Do you begin with character or setting or something else?

It varies, more often than not, I start with a character. Because once I know who the story is about - at least in a general sense-- it's easier to figure out where the story needs to do. Mostly it's sort of a combination: This is going to be a story about ______ who______ and then_______. So I guess for me, character and plot are tightly interwoven.

Q: What do you hear from your readers?

They like that Anne doesn't fall for Ethan right away. They love her loyal and funny best friend Tess. They appreciate that my witch, Baba Yaga, has layers and back story and that they find themselves sometimes sympathizing with her. They like that Ethan isn't perfect but that he is devoted to Anne.

Q: Why do you write for Young Adults or Children or Adult (whichever is pertinent)?

The best stories exist in the teen years. Everything is heightened then -- everything feels like life and death. All those wonderful firsts -- from love to loss-- so many of them hit us in those years. The emotional essence of my story telling always takes me to characters who are in that age group.

Possibly it also has to do with the fact that I spent a huge chunk of years teaching high school, so the drama is my norm. Every day someone was breaking up or being broken up with, someone was hurting or deliriously happy or angry at their parents -- often for good reason-- or getting kicked out onto the street or running into the room to show me a new tattoo or nipple piercing. And that's just the surface stuff. The adult world is nowhere near as interesting.

Q: Who is your favorite character you have written or read about?

We bookworms have so many answers for questions like this that it's hard to pick just one. Recently, though, I've fallen in huge love with DJ Schwenk in Catherine Gilbert Murdock's Dairy Queen. I adore this girl and her voice is so pitch perfect. If anyone hasn't read this book you must promise to do so immediately.

Q: What is one thing you would like your readers to know about you?

I love guacamole and avocados in general. So if you want to get on my good side, some killer guac and chips will do it. Yes, I can be bribed.

Q: In high school, where did you fall? (Prom Queen/King, Gamer Geek, Brainy/Book Nerd, Jock, Shy/Quiet Scholar, Skate Rat, Stoner, Class Clown, etc.)

Quiet/Bookish/Star Trek fan-fiction writing/viola playing in orchestra type who hated following the rules.

Q: Do you have a pet (pets)?  Tell us about it (them) and how they help/hinder your writing.

A basset/boxer mix, otherwise known as a 45 pound log of doom. She helps when she sleeps quietly, snoring while I work. She hinders when she leaps up while I'm on deadline and slams her paw through a pane in our leaded glass window because she wanted the squirrel who was walking by. I think that covers it.

Q: What is the hardest part of waiting for a book from the end of your writing to when it is released?

Waiting to see if it will sell through to the stores and waiting to see if it will be reviewed by the 'big' reviewers and what they will say.

Q: How often do you dream about the writing you are working on?

Rarely.

Thanks for your time, Joy. We look forward to seeing you at the Festival!
For more information about Joy, please visit her website.

Introducing 2013 MCBF Author, Joy Preble

Joy Preble is the author of the DREAMING ANASTASIA series (Sourcebooks), which blends paranormal romance with historical fiction. Another paranormal – about a sixteen-year-old stoner who returns from a fatal car accident as his sister’s guardian angel – THE SWEET DEAD LIFE – is set in Houston and slated for May 2013, from Soho Press. Joy grew up in Chicago, where she dreamed of being a back up singer but settled for becoming a writer so she could get paid for making up stuff. She now lives with her family in Texas, where you can find her eating guacamole, fighting her Bravo Channel addiction and insisting that Twizzlers are a food group. 

Find out more about Joy Preble at her website!

An Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith

Q: What do you hear from your readers? 

I’m honored to receive a lot of mail from YA readers—plus the occasional fan book trailer or art, photos of their pets, and suggestions for future books. A lot of teens have requested that I put their name in a book, and it has finally happened. Cameron in Pasadena, Texas will find a namesake character in my upcoming book, Feral Nights, book one in the Feral series (Candlewick, Jan. 2013).

I've also gotten a fair amount of mail from readers who said the books affected them in some positive way—a lot of girls have told me that they've switched from boys who treated them badly to boys who treated them well because of the example of Quincie from the Tantalize series.

Q: Why do you write for Young Adults/Children or Adults?

I write for both. I value the audience, and I’m inspired by young heroes. Think about it: as a kid or teen, you’re as intelligent as you’ll ever be, but you’re embarking on some critical new experiences—driving, voting, kissing—for the first time. There’s a heightened intensity to reflecting that which fascinates me. It also means the character has to stretch more, grow more, be more dynamic and challenging.

Q: What is one thing you would like your readers to know about you? 

I used to be a closeted geek. When I was a teenager, I was a student council officer and varsity cheerleader and editor of the school newspaper. But I floated across cliques and also read superhero comics and saw “Star Wars” (the original, now subtitled “A New Hope”) over 300 times at the movie theater.  The public "me" was just that—for public consumption, trying to live up to everyone else’s expectations. As I've grown up, I've embraced my inner geek, writing fantastical prose and graphic novels and connecting them with all kinds of teens.

Q: Do you have a pet (pets)?  Tell us about it (them) and how they help/hinder your writing. 

I am kept by four cats—Mercury, Bashi, Blizzard, and Galileo (“Leo”). All are tabbies except Blizzard, who’s, not surprisingly, snow white. They’re mischievous and affectionate and keep me company while I’m tapping away at the keyboard. They also largely inspired the werecats in the Feral series.

Thank you so much for your time, Cynthia! We look forward to seeing you at the Festival!
To learn more about Cynthia, check out her awesome blog & website!

Introducing 2013 MCBF Author, Cynthia Leitich Smith

Cynthia Leitich Smith is the New York Times and Publishers Weekly best-selling author of TANTALIZE, ETERNAL, BLESSED, DIABOLICAL and TANTALIZE: KIEREN’S STORY (Candlewick). Her award-winning books for younger children include JINGLE DANCER, INDIAN SHOES, RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME–for which she was named a Writer of the Year by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers–(all HarperCollins) and HOLLER LOUDLY (Dutton). She looks forward to the 2013 release of ETERNAL: ZACHARY’S STORY and FERAL NIGHTS (Book One in the FERAL series)(Candlewick). Cynthia’s books also have been published in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand, France, Poland, and Turkey.

Her website at www.cynthialeitichsmith.com was named one of the top 10 Writer Sites on the Internet by Writer’s Digest and an ALA Great Website for Kids. Her Cynsations blog at cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/ was listed as among the top two read by the children’s/YA publishing community in the SCBWI “To Market” column. A former member of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA faculty in Writing for Children and Young Adults, Cynthia has lived in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Illinois, and she now calls Austin, Texas home.

An Interview with Cory Putman Oakes

Q: Why do you write for Young Adults?

A: The books that made me really fall in love with reading were all Young Adult Books, so I think that’s naturally where my brain goes whenever I sit down to write something myself. Even as an adult, I tend to read mainly YA because there is just something so appealing about that genre. They say you should start a book at the moment that the main character’s life is about to change – well, I feel like that really sums up the YA genre in general. Everyone’s life starts to get interesting when they make that transition from child to adult. It’s an inherently exciting time, full of so much possibility that it presents a never-ending string of potential storylines to writers.

I also enjoy the peculiarities of YA. The pace is quicker in YA (as compared with adult books). And I have found that teens in general refuse to waste their limited free time on anything they don’t absolutely love, so as a writer, there is the added challenge of making your book worth their while.

Q: In high school, where did you fall? (Prom Queen/King, Gamer Geek, Brainy/Book Nerd, Jock, Shy/Quiet Scholar, Skate Rat, Stoner, Class Clown, etc.)

A: Nerd Alert: I did pretty much everything at my high school that was not considered cool: I was a drama geek, I was captain of the water polo team, and I was in all of the Honors/AP classes. In my free time, I liked to write and take karate lessons (two things that were so nerdy there weren't even any school clubs for them). My grand finale was organizing a rebel student production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing during my senior year, after the regular drama teacher refused to consider it for the spring play.

Man, was I cool. But I wouldn't change a thing. The vast majority of people in this world did not sit at the popular table in high school, so I doubt I would be able to connect with as many readers if I had been one of the “Chosen Few” when I was younger. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself . . .

Q: Do you have a pet (pets)?  Tell us about it (them) and how they help/hinder your writing.

A. I have four pets who are the absolute rulers of the house. Even my two-year-old can’t compete with them when it comes to pure getting-their-way-ness.

The two dogs are Abby and Bailey. Abby is a 7-year-old Lhasa Apso. My husband and I got her right after we got engaged, so she has been with us through everything and has a special place in our hearts. We adopted Bailey(a shepherd mix) just nine months ago – she was a teeny 3lb fluff ball when she first moved in with us, but she has grown tremendously in size since then. Abby and Bailey get along pretty well and take turns sitting at my feet when I write at home. I bring them on walks during writing breaks and they are both very good at listening attentively while I talk out plot problems.

We also have two cats named Charlie and A.C. Their mom was a stray cat who had a litter of kittens just outside of an apartment complex we used to live in. They spent the first weeks of their lives underneath an old air conditioning unit (hence the name, “A.C.”). But now, they are accustomed to life as spoiled house cats. They both enjoy lounging on whatever surface I happen to be writing on and, like all good cats, try their best to get between me and my work. My computer screen has lots of hair on it.

Thanks so much for your time, Cory. We look forward to seeing you at the festival!
Connect with Cory at her website!

Introducing 2013 MCBF Author, Cory Putman Oakes

Cory Putman Oakes was born in Basel, Switzerland, but grew up in Novato, California and attended Marin Catholic High School. She then spent three fantastic years at the University of California at Los Angeles before graduating in 2001 with a B.A. in Psychology. In 2004, Cory graduated from Cornell Law School with a Juris Doctorate Degree and her husband, Mark (the first was the intended consequence of attending the school, the second was a bonus). Since then, she has been an associate at a big law firm, taught business law to undergraduates at Texas State University and written several books for young people.

Cory now lives in Austin, Texas with Mark and their two children, Sophia and Alex. In addition to writing, Cory enjoys reading, cooking, running, and hanging out with her family and pets.

For more about Cory Putman Oakes, go to her website here.