Interview with Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, co-authors of Santa Knows
by Debbi Michiko Florence
Cyn, your previous works include a picture book, a chapter book, a tween novel, and several short stories. Greg, you've written two tween novels. This is your first collaboration as husband and wife on a project. Can you share with us your process? How did you decide to work together, and how did you decide what to work on?
CLS: I'd had the original idea for Alfie as a character and a first line that later went by the wayside. But much of the story is about logistics—how Santa accomplishes so much in one night—and I wanted to go with a more contemporary-feeling answer than "magic." Greg holds two degrees in electrical engineering, so he's more the tech thinker in the house. I went to him for his sensibility. Right off, he seemed infinitely adept at unraveling the finer points of elf science and technology.
GLS: After we talked about it, Cyn generated the first draft. We then wrote and re-wrote the story, over Christmas carols and cocoa, until we had a draft we were satisfied with. Then we sent it to our agent, who began submitting it. We got a revision letter from our editor that was about twice as long as the actual manuscript. We then talked about where we wanted to go with it, and I generated a new first draft. Again, over Christmas carols and cocoa, we wrote and re-wrote, until we finally sent the manuscript in on Christmas Day.
Where there special challenges to co-authoring a picture book? How about challenges of writing that were specific to being married to each other?
CLS: I've had people ask if we argue or if our creative process ever becomes too personal, and really, that hasn't been a problem. We met as first year law students, which had equally competitive possibilities, but from the start adopted the attitude that we were a team. Greg first began writing in part at my encouragement because he was such a strong critiquer of my fiction. That said, we're more direct with each other than we would ever be with anyone else.
GLS: It ended up being fairly straightforward, in part, I think, because we shared the same vision of where we wanted the book to go. Also, we both agreed with much of what appeared in the editorial letter.
Why a Christmas story? Why Santa?
CLS: I'm a holiday person, and I love to go all out and embrace the special-ness of such days. Santa has always charmed me. I love the idea of someone who puts kids first, who values them and works for them. Like a children's author, kids are Santa's audience. But essentially, I started with character—with Alfie—and then went to Noelle and Santa to build from there.
GLS: I also love the holidays and grew up on all kinds of Christmas TV specials and Christmas books. I thought it would be fun to do a sort of 21st Century Christmas book, and we brainstormed all kinds of ways for Santa to do his “magic,” a lot of which got cut from the final draft. Sadly, the picture book world is probably not ready for Teflon runners and/or silicone-based lubricants (to allow for a sled landing when there's no snow).
Alfie F. Snorklepuss, the disbelieving boy in your picture book SANTA KNOWS, is quite a character. How did he come about? How did he evolve during your revisions?
CLS: Alfie always was strong willed, highly logical and highly emotional at the same time. Greg and I had been interested in writing more humor and more central boy characters, both of which are underrepresented in the field. Alfie as an anti-hero seemed like a natural. Basically, with each revision, his vision and plan became bigger, grander, and more dramatic—finally swelling to tall tale proportions.
GLS: Alfie always was passionate, but also a bit more matter-of-fact and didactic. He became more larger-than-life because, after all, he had to be able to stand up to Santa.
Do either of you have siblings? Who were you more like? Alfie or Noelle?
CLS: I'm an only child, so siblings fascinate me. I'm forever intrigued by the competitive inclinations, the impact of birth order, and their unique bond. I do have a remarkable number of cousins that I adore, but it's a different dynamic.
GLS: To the first question, I have an older brother. To the second, I'm taking the 5th. Heh.
Now that you've both had experience writing pictures books and novels, what do you like best about each? What are the challenges of each?
CLS: What I like best about the picture book is that you can hold the whole story in your head at one time. It's more intellectually containable. This is more a difference than a challenge, but no matter how engaging the text may be, ultimately, it's the illustrations that are the star of the show. That's why I feel so remarkably blessed and wowed by the art Steve Bjorkman did for Santa Knows and Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu did for Jingle Dancer (Morrow/HarperCollins, 2000). Like in Alfie's story, with picture books, writers have to put our faith in someone else.
The novel on the other hand—for better and worse—offers the writer's best efforts at center stage. As a novelist, I feel more exposed and responsible for the book's success.
GLS: I like the fact that picture books are short. As Cyn says, they're more easily containable simply because of that fact. The challenge is that every word has greater impact sine there are fewer of them.
With a novel, though, you have to take your time, and interweave plots and sub-plots, making sure the thing makes thematic sense in its entirety. The simple fact that a novel is longer makes this harder.
Share your favorite Christmas moment from childhood.
CLS: Grandma Dorothy cooked for the masses in a kitchen barely big enough to turn around in, on four burners and a small stove. I don't think I did more than squeeze through on occasion, but I remember always looking for a little pot of buttery shoepeg corn, which she made just for me and my cousin Stacy. We'd eat it like candy after dinner.
GLS: Decorating the house for Christmas and putting up the tree were always special occasions. We'd get a fire going in the fireplace and put Christmas carols on the old Motorola stereo and carefully unwrap and hang the ornaments. Of course, we'd always fight over who got to put the star on top!
Christmas morning, I was always the first one awake and anxious to find out what Santa had brought. (My brother's birthday is Christmas Eve, so he got to open presents the day before, which I always thought was completely unfair.)
What are you working on now? What can fans expect next?
CLS: My next release will be a YA gothic fantasy novel, Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007) and I have another gothic fantasy YA under contract, which is my current creative focus.
GLS: At the moment, I'm working on a new comedic novel set on a cattle ranch in Texas.
For more about Cyn: www.cynthialeitichsmith.com
For more about Greg: www.gregleitichsmith.com
For more about SANTA KNOWS: www.santa-knows.com
Interview © Copyright December 2006 by Debbi Michiko Florence
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For more about Cyn: cynthialeitichsmith.com
For more about Greg: gregleitichsmith.com
For more about SANTA KNOWS:
santa-knows.com
See also my earlier interviews with Cynthia, in 2004 and 2001, and with Greg, in 2003 and 2004.
Contents © 2001-2008 by Debbi Michiko Florence. All rights reserved.
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