First Draft with Sarah Enni

Boisterous, eloquent, and just the tiniest bit zany, Cynthia Leitich Smith, New York Times best-selling author of TANTALIZE and RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME, took me out for tacos and taught me a thing or twelve. I loved hearing her wise words on diversity in YA, paying it forward with newer writers, and writing 200 drafts of a single picture book.

 

Cynthia Leitich Smith Show Notes

Dear Sugar

Kathi Appelt  and Austin SCBWI

Greg Leitich Smith

Varian JohnsonDon Tate

Brett Hartman

JINGLE DANCER

Ming Doyle, illustrator for Cynthia’s graphic novels

Deborah Noyse at Candlewick press (editor)

SANTA KNOWS illustrated by Steve Bjorkman (edited by Mark McVeigh at Dutton)

HOLLER LOUDLY

TWILIGHT

Joss Whedon

FERAL PRIDE

Sara Zarr 

Ellen Oh’s post on Cynsations

FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER by E.L. Konigsburg

Judy Blume

 

Direct download: Cynthia_Leitich_Smith.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 1:36pm PDT

Myra McEntire, author of the HOURGLASS series, is as refreshing as a cool glass of sweet tea, and it was a joy to sit with her and talk British TV, living with intention, and handling life’s unexpected curveballs. 

 

Myra McEntire Show Notes

The Kingsport Mets

Trixie Belden series 

Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris

WTF With Marc Maron (podcast)

Stuff You Should Know (podcast)

Stuff You Missed In History Class (podcast)

The Spy Museum podcast, SpyCast

Mental Illness Happy Hour (podcast)

The Domestic CEO (podcast)

Get It Done Guy's Quick Dirty Tips (podcast)

The Savvy Psychologist (podcast)

Welcome to Night Vale (podcast)

SIMS homeless blog, Alice and Kev, The Story of Being Homeless in The SIMS 3

Horton Foote

Keeping Up Appearnces (BBC sitcom)

Absolutely Fabulous

Vampire Diaries

Kevin Williamson (writer for VD)

SUPERFUDGE by Judy Blume

Stephanie Perkins

THE SHADOW GATE, Myra McEntire’s middle grade series on Storybird with Molly O’Neill

Veronica Roth

CJ Redwine, Jodi Meadows, MG BuehrlenCourtney C Stevens (hear Court's podcast interview here!)

Direct download: Myra_McEntire_3.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 11:51am PDT

The delightful Alison Cherry, author of RED and FOR REAL (out December 9!) talks traumatic revision experiences, life foreshadowing, “guerrilla friending” — and her cats give us some all-star background purring.

 

Alison Cherry Show Notes

Author Solutions

Literary agent Holly Root

Strauss opera, Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow)

Lorrie Moore

Harvard Bookstore

CHAOS WALKING trilogy by Patrick Ness

Wendy Loggia, Executive Editor at Random House Children's Books/Delacorte Press 

The Amazing Race

Project Greenlight

Survivor

Pete Holmes

Caela CarterMY BEST FRIEND MAYBE

Corey Ann Haydu

Kirsten Hubbard

Lindsay Ribar

Kara Thomas (Taylor)

Maureen Johnson, "Don't be afraid to suck."

 

Holly Root, "Keep your eyes on your own paper."

Direct download: Alison_Cherry_2.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 8:43pm PDT

Talking with the wise and lovely Courtney C. Stevens, author of FAKING NORMAL and THE BLUE-HAIRED BOY, about building a writing community, writing how rock climbing made her a better writer.

Courtney C Stevens Show Notes

Stephenie Meyer

SCBWI

Ruta Sepetys and Sharon Cameron

Harper Impulse series

Rae Ann Parker, Kristin TubbHannah Dills 

Margie Lawson

Direct download: Courtney_C_Stevens.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 8:28am PDT

Talking to Kaitlin Ward, whose debut novel BLEEDING EARTH is due out in Fall 2015, about the SIMS, teen horror, how she recovered from losing her first agent, and what video games inspire her.

 

Kaitlin Ward Show Notes

WHEEL OF TIME series by Robert Jordan

THE GIVER by Lois Lowry

THE GOLDEN COMPASS by Phillip Pullman

REDWALL by Brian Jacques

MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien

ERAGON by Christopher Paolini

Realmz

The SIMS

TWILIGHT by Stephenie Meyer

Absolute Write

YA Highway

THIS IS NOT A TEST by Courtney Summers (and the sequel, PLEASE REMAIN CALM)

Goosebumps, Fear StreetChristopher Pike

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Michelle Schusterman (listen to her First Draft interview here!)

ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell

Upton Sinclair

Direct download: Kaitlin_Ward_2.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 1:05pm PDT

I meet up with Stephanie Kuehn at a lovely holiday retreat in Vermont, where she set her Morris-award-winning debut, CHARM AND STRANGE. Steph is deeply thoughtful and incredibly silly in equal measure, which makes her simply delightful. As we sat on a back porch with kids playing in a nearby hammock, we talked about Steph’s boarding school days, romanticizing Vermont, movie making, how starting to run gave her the confidence to start writing, and the experience of winning the Morris Award. I also refer to Mark Zuckerberg as a “millionaire.” Sorry for the downgrade, Zucks.

Stephanie Kuehn Show Notes

Debra Driza

Corrine Jackson

Veronica Roth

THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt

COMMITTING JOURNALISM by Dannie Martin and Peter Y. Sussman

Dannie Martin

The Wicker Man (film)

The Conformist (film)

Vertigo (film)

Direct download: Stephanie_Kuehn_2.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 11:40am PDT

The conversation continues, with Libba Bray, Printz award-winning YA author of THE DIVINERS and GOING BOVINE, discussing how she came to children's literature, the struggle to balance honesty with self-preservation, and writing with depression.

Libba Bray Part 2 Show Notes

Laurie Halse Anderson

David Levithan

Rachel Cohn

Francesca Lia Block

Angela Johnson

Aaron Zimmerman, New York Writers Coalition

Ann Brashares

Sweet Sixteen

Cecily von Ziegesar

Holly Black

SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder

Save The Movie, by Peter Suderman in Slate (the "why are all movies the same?" article)

Cynthia Leitich Smith

Scott Westerfeld

Justine Larbalestier

John Green

Nova Ren Suma

Robin Wasserman

Emily Lockhart

Maureen Johnson

Barry Lyga

C. Alexander (Sandy) London

Adele Griffin

Matt de la Pena

Shannon Hale

Sara Zarr

Jon Skovron

Maggie Stiefvater

Judy Blume

"Miles and Miles of No Man's Land," Libba Bray’s post about depression

Stephanie Perkinsblog post about depression

"The Shame of Depression," by Myra McEntire

HELTER SKELTER by Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry

 

CARRIE by Stephen King

Direct download: Libba_Bray_Part_2_2.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 12:35pm PDT

The only thing better than getting to chat with YA icon Libba Bray (author of New York Times best-selling series A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY, Printz award-winner GOING BOVINE, and genuinely terrifying historical paranormal THE DIVINERS, among others) about writing was getting to chat with her about life. Libba is as hilarious as she is wise, and our conversation was so fun, I decided to cut it into two parts rather than leave an hour or more on the cutting-room floor. In this episode, Libba talks about having her rock collection stolen as a kid, that one time Wes Anderson helped stage a play she wrote, and talks about how growing up in Texas set her head at a certain tilt.

Libba Bray Show Notes

Seven Samurai, directed by Akira Kurosawa

Citizen Kane

The Legend of Boggy Creek

The Planet of the Apes

American Gigolo

The Exorcist

Christopher 'Kit' Marlowe

Lois Lowry (her BEA speech)

CHARLOTTE'S WEB by E.B. White

I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS by Maya Angelou

THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD by Zora Neale Hurston

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS by Ernest Hemingway

THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH by Norton Juster

Aaron Sorkin

Harold Pinter

The Thin Man

Bringing Up Baby

The Marx brothers

Neil Simon plays

Woody Allen

Pitch Perfect

Agent Sarah Burnes

No Country For Old Men

HOW TO SAY GOODBYE IN ROBOT by Natalie Standiford

Rushmore

David Sedaris

Johnny Thunders

Singin’ In The Rain

Fitness Focus Form and Function with Marky Mark

Richard Simmons

Cindy Crawford

THE LAMB WHO SAVED EASTER 

Peter Marks, theater critic of the New York Times and the Washington Post

New York International Film Festival

Mawkish

Direct download: Libba_Bray_Part_1_2.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 8:36am PDT

Meeting with Natalie Standiford was like stepping into a world where all my teen fantasies about what life as a writer would look like (amazing NY apartment, effortlessly chic clothes, a separate office with built-in shelves and a bass amp in the corner). It was only made better by the fact that Natalie’s books - HOW TO SAY GOODBYE IN ROBOT, THE BOY ON THE BRIDGE, CONFESSIONS OF THE SULLIVAN SISTERS and so many more - are beautiful, thoughtful, and filled with quirky nuance, just like the books I dreamed (dream!) of writing. Natalie is so sweet and welcoming, and had wise, wise words about building up an immunity to writer’s block, writing about real-world fairylands, and finding creative release outside the written word.

 

Natalie Standiford Show Notes

FEAR STREET (THE CHEATER; LIGHTS OUT; THE SECRET; THE BURNING; THE FEAR STREET SAGA)

Sarah Burnes, agent at The Gernet Co., who represents Natalie (and me!)

Annie Hall, film

Jane O’Connor, FANCY NANCY

Hilary Knight (illustrator of Eloise)

ASTRONAUTS ARE SLEEPING

Parachute Publishing

GOSSIP GIRL by Cecily von Ziegesar

THE CLIQUE by Lisi Harrison

THE DATING GAME by Natalie Standiford

Disney ELLE WOODS books

Harold and Maude (movie)

BITTERBLUE by Kristin Cashore and her blog post about starting over

Darcey Steinke, adult novelist

Rene Steinke

David Levithan, author and editor at Scholastic, the “camp counselor of the YA writers.”

Dan Ehrenhaft (Editorial Director, Soho Teen, guitarist of Tiger Beat)

Libba Bray (novelist, lead singer of Tiger Beat)

Barnabas (Barney) Miller (author, drummer of Tiger Beat)

 

Direct download: Natalie_Standiford_2.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 11:32am PDT

Q&A Show Notes

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Find podcast extras here!

Jenn from Appleton video

NAME OF THE ROSE, Natasha Romanov comic by Marjorie Lu

Junot Diaz

BookPeople in Austin

The Strand in NYC

Parnassus Books in Nashville

The Last Bookstore in LA

Politics and Prose in D.C., and Modern Times coffeeshop

NIMONA by Noelle Stevenson (aka Gingerhaze)

Alison Cherry

 

HYPERBOLE AND A HALF by Allie Bosh

Direct download: Mini-Ep_QA.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 9:24am PDT