Keeping up with the Smiths - Giveaway!!

This week we are Keeping Up with the Smiths!  Giving away a signed copy of Cynthia Leitich Smith’s DIABOLICAL and her hubby, Greg Leitich Smith’s CHRONAL ENGINE!  One set of entries per person.  US only.  Winner will be notified Friday, January 18^th.  Enter today!!

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An Interview with Greg Leitich Smith

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?  

A: It depends. I usually get an idea first, but sometimes a character is wrapped up in that.  In any case, fruitful writing never occurs unless there's an actual character to go along with the idea.  With CHRONAL ENGINE, I went through two or three drafts just based on the concept until I got a handle on the character of Max and where he was coming from.

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: Definitely the brainy book nerd.   Honors and AP classes, Motorola National Merit Scholar, academic competitions, the whole shebang. Of course, my school was a bit atypical, at least by the John Hughes 1980's suburban landscape standards.  I went to high school in the city of Chicago (Chicago Public Schools) -- a school called Lane Tech that had a student body of about 5000; my graduating class was about 1100. We were all required to take shop classes and a lot of math and science (even the theatre kids :-)).  There were so many different students doing so many different things, it was easy to find common ground -- and get lost if you wanted to :-).

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

A: Cyn and I have four cats: three short-haired tabbies and one long-haired white cat.  The biggest problem with them is that they tend to like to sit on the keyboard.

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

A: Never. Occasionally, however, I do wake up in the middle of the night with a new idea or solution to a particular plot problem...

Thank you so much for your time, Greg. We look forward to seeing you at the festival!

To read more about Greg Leitich Smith, peruse his website.

Introducing 2013 MCBF Author, Greg Leitich Smith

A native of Chicago, Greg Leitich Smith now lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, author Cynthia Leitich Smith, and four cats.

In addition to CHRONAL ENGINE, Greg is also the author of NINJAS, PIRANHAS, AND GALILEO and its companion book, TOFU AND T.REX. He and his wife, Cynthia Leitich Smith, are the co-authors of the picture book, SANTA KNOWS (Dutton 2006), illustrated by Steve Bjorkman.

Although he's never built a time machine, Greg has degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Texas at Austin.  In addition, he has a degree in law from The University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor.