Follow-up Interview with
Cynthia Leitich Smith (2004)
by Debbi Michiko Florence
What have you been working on since we last chatted?
I have an upper level young adult novel in progress, which has been heaven. And hell. In fact, today I've been busy keying in changes on a revision. More on that in months to come.
Do you work on one project at a time? Or many at once?
I can work one novel manuscript at a time or one novel manuscript and a shorter project or two. But two novels at a time is a no go. The only exception would be if my primary-focus novel was resting for a few months. This past year, I wrote a rough draft of a new YA mss while another was cooling. Part of me envies the productivity of folks who can compartmentalize and stretch in many directions at once. But a bigger part loves to sink into this or that otherworld and live in it, live with the characters for long stretches at a time.
Do you have a ritual you follow before you’re able to settle down to work for the day? What is it?
For rough drafts and major revisions, at midnight, I take my laptop and lap desk to the sunroom and listen to either "soundscapes" on the TV music channel or music that fits the mood of the work in progress, depending. In case of writer's block, I also take my CD player and diva tunes so I can dance around in the dark to, say, Celine or Cher or Olivia N-J or the "Footloose" soundtrack until I get unstuck. I usually have a glass of water or tea, the company of one-to-four cats, and of course the resident ghost. For keying in changes, I do almost the same thing in the same place, except that it's during daylight hours while a DVD of either a chick flick or horror movie is playing. Today, I have on "What A Girl Wants."
What’s the best advice you were ever given, and by whom?
Write no more than two pages a day. If you still have ideas of what to write the next day, go ahead and jot them down in the form of notes you can return to. That way, you're only greeted with a blank page that first time you sit down to work on the project. I think it was Linda Sue Park who mentioned this to me, though it's been so long ago, I can't be sure. Hopefully, a first line will come. If not, start typing the phone book until it does. It will. At some point your mental sanity preservation instinct will kick in and give you a first line to save you from the tedium.
What books have you recently published, or will be released soon?
In fall 2005, I'll have two newly released YA short stories:
"A Real-Life Blond Cherokee And His Equally Annoyed Soul-Mate" by Cynthia Leitich Smith, Moccasin Thunder, edited by Lori M. Carlson (HarperCollins, fall 2005)(ages 12-up). The anthology is a collection of original short stories for teens by Native authors. I'm pleased with my contribution. It's the first love story I've written where no one dies.
"Riding With Rosa" by Cynthia Leitich Smith, Cicada magazine (date TBA). This story touches on the parallels between racism and homophobia, examines the people who take a stand and those who stand aside.
These contemporary, Native American short stories represent my first published young adult fiction. They also both feature male, first-person protagonists—something new for me. I'm finding myself particularly intrigued by this age level and audience. I'll be doing more young adult fiction in the future.
Interview Update © November, 2004, by Debbi Michiko Florence.
See also my original interview with CLS, in 2001.
what's new?
Cynthia Smith can be found online at her web site .
See also my original interview with CLS, in 2001.
Contents © 2001-2008 by Debbi Michiko Florence. All rights reserved.
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