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There seems to be a day for everything, so why not for the Hollywood sign? I’ve always been intrigued by the Golden Age of Hollywood even before venturing to college at the University of Southern Cal. So, naturally when selecting a location for my first Lost In book, I chose Hollywood.

This is a very fun book for tween readers or reluctant readers that I encourage you to add to your Lost In library:

Check out the trailer below.

Best, Cindy

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Hi Friends and Fans,

Below please find a round up of recent interviews for your listening pleasure. Hint: Great for school reports.

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And, I don’t read “girl books��

I never considered myself a “writer for girls.�� Yet when approaching schools for a visit there are rare occasions when I’m asked: “What about the boys?�� I have a problem with this. The questioner assumes boys can’t, or don’t read my books because the main characters are girls and/or because they’re written by a woman. It also assumes boys won’t want to attend a presentation from an award-winning female writer who writes books with female main characters. I think this assumption is wrong, and I’m basing it on my own preferences:

I read and enjoyed Jack Reacher and Harry Bosch books even though I was never in the military and I’m not a detective.I read and enjoyed The Number One Ladies Detective Agency and The Color Purple, but I’m neither Botswanan or Black.I read and enjoyed James and the Giant Peach, but I’m not a kid and I’ve never been inside a peach.I read and enjoyed Harry Potter, and I’m not a boy, not a kid, and not a wizard.I read and enjoy Findlay Donovan Findlay and the author are white women like me.

Do you see my point? A book’s main character or author’s gender doesn’t determine whether I like a book. Gender also doesn’t determine if I’d like to see the author’s presentation, and I’ve attended many presentations.

Sometimes I like to read about worlds unlike my own, people unlike me, and adventures I’ll never go on. And sometimes I like to read about people and circumstances that are close enough to me that I can imagine what it would be like to experience that book’s adventure.

It’s about choice. Sometimes I’m in a James and the Giant Peach mood, and sometimes I want Jack Reacher. Similarly, some days I want strawberry ice cream and sometimes I feel like Rocky Road.

I believe in encouraging��and inspiring kids, tweens, and teens to read books regardless of the author or main character’s gender. I understand that this topic easily transitions to book banning, which I also oppose, but that’s a topic for another day.

What have you read that you’re not “supposed to�� want to read?

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As a pee-wee soccer coach, I had kids I thought of as “fancy players�� and those who were “scrappy players.��

The “fancies�� went to expensive camps and/or played on travel teams. The “scrappies�� learned all their skills on the field. The scrappies understood the gist of the game and were eager to learn more. They were coachable, hustled, showed up early, and worked hard. I always thought of the scrappies as the underdogs.

The term has grown on me so much that I refer to myself as a scrappy writer. What I mean is that I’m not formally trained �� no MFA here. And it shows in my work. I believe fancy writers�� books are probably better written than mine. They’re more likely to get big book deals and win awards, deservedly so. Does that make me an underdog? Maybe. I mean, who doesn’t love a good underdog story?

Should I have gotten an MFA? No doubt that’s the best way to learn the craft from experts. But the time�� the money�� and, frankly, there’s just so much that can be learned on the street. Resources abound: critique groups, conferences, communities, blogs, articles, magazines, and books. If you want to learn, you should use all these resources. But here’s the key: Moderation. Here’s why: If you’re reading about writing and talking about writing, you aren’t writing. Scrappy soccer players get better by playing. See where I’m going here? Writing is a muscle. The more you do it, the stronger it gets. So, if you’re a writer, close this post now and get to work! Everyone else can read on��

Yes, an MFA would’ve been great, but it couldn’t give me something very valuable that ��I already had: a mind with tons of great ideas that spins great stories, and an unmatched determination.

Enter: Sydney Mackenzie Knocks ‘Em Dead.

My sophomore novel is an oh-so-funny paranormal mystery about a girl from southern California whose family moves to Delaware when they inherit a cemetery with secrets (think: tween Ghost Whisperer). This novel didn’t sell on its original submission to publishers. As such, it joined a pile of other work in my trunk. But, I loved that story a LOT. Every year or so I’d dust it off and work on it. It was fine-tuned many times and eventually DID sell. Of all my books it might be my favorite, not only because I think it’s an awesome, well-plotted story with funny characters, but because Sydney had to wait so long to be on the shelves. She’s an underdog, and who doesn’t like a good underdog story?

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My five Lost In�� books have been hugely popular. So popular that they’re now under shopping agreements with production companies!

Lost in London was the first. It’s a great premise: Local girl takes a school trip to London that’s initially a bust. Then she and her new friends get involved in an action-packed adventure, things turn around, and they get wrapped up in a mystery only they have the tools to solve.

What’s the recipe?

Fun/funny characters. The cast in Lost in London is great. I mean, really funny and city. London is a colorful backdrop.

Do you know what those three things are at their core? The basic building blocks of writing: Character, Plot, and Setting. When I go to school visits, I discuss my writing process in terms of these three building blocks, and here it is in action.

Funny characters, an action-packed plot, and a colorful setting is soooo much better than those dreaded SRA cards in the back of the classroom. (If you don’t know what SRA is, see episode ).

When Lost In London came out, its popularity grew quickly. I’d already begun other books (I tend to work on or think about many books at the same time), but those were not conceived as Lost In books at the time. This is what I was working on:

A book wherein a girl travels around Ireland to get un-cursed. The working title was Lucky Me.An idea of a book where a girl works in a pizzeria and begins making romantic matches based on people’s pizza preferences entitled #PizzashopMatchmaker.Another project that only had a title: Pardon My French. As a francophone, I knew I wanted to do something French, possibly Parisian and I thought that was a great title for a book, but that’s all I had.

When Lost in London was deemed a huge success, the works above were re-analyzed.

Lucky Me was already published, and it was decided that we’d re-release it as Lost in Ireland.

The pizza book was originally set in the US but was re-engineered and moved to Rome.

Lastly, Pardon My French was given an awesome cast and plotted into a scavenger hunt around Paris for concert tickets and retitled Lost in Paris.

But, wait there’s more. I had another in me. Another setting I loved: Hollywood! I created zany new characters and plotted a treasure hunt around the city with interesting historical tidbits.

And that’s how what’s now known as the Lost In�� series came to be. If you’re wondering if there are any more Lost In books coming out, keep watching because I have something ghostly in the works.

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Where were you when Elvis died? At the Wayne Hills Mall.

Where were you when John Lennon was shot? I don’t know.

Where were you when you got news that would change the trajectory of your career? In the carpool line.

Let’s back this truck up.

(BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!)

Quick backstory: After my first book Just Add Magic sold, my sophomore book went out on submission with no offers. After that happened, my then-agent dropped me and any screen potential for the book became my responsibility.

Oh geez, I didn’t know what to do with that.

You see, I always envisioned Just Add Magic as more than a book. I could see the film/tv scenes in my head. Coincidentally, I’d reconnected with my USC college roommate who’d graduated from its elite film school! She’d been screenwriting for some time, but hadn’t been involved in book-to-film adaptation. She didn’t know how to help me, but suggested I reach out to her agent for advice. So, I mailed her agent a copy of the book in the hopes she’d have some guidance. I followed up once or twice over the course of many months, then let it go. Then, one day when I was in the carpool line��

My Blackberry rings:

It’s her.

She read the book.

She loves it.

She wants to rep it!

The entire story is longer, but that’s the CliffsNotes version. That agent went on to sell the book to Amazon Studios, who developed it into an Emmy-nominated series that continued for five seasons and a spin-off. Kind of amazing, huh?

That agent continues to work her magic. She facilitated the option and subsequent sale of Saltwater Secrets (��Big Little Lies for tweens��) to a major studio, negotiated an option for a yet-unpublished novel and multiple shopping agreements with production companies for other work.

And that’s how it happened in the carpool line.

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I love my book My Big Heart-Shaped Fail. It epitomizes the way I want to write. Inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it’s a highly , fun, funny, fast-paced tween comedy-of-errors that chronicles one cringe-worthy day in Abby Gray’s life.

Given all that, I have pangs of guilt about this book.

Not because of the writing, but because of the horrible things I did to Abby Gray.

Let me explain�� I created a likable who does some unlikable things (she lies to her friends and keeps secrets from them) for a good reason (she fears she’s losing them). I worried that doing these things would make her an unlikable character, but the things she does are so utterly relatable, it made me like her more. But, then I did a terrible thing: I made everything in her world go wrong.

The dread comes at Abby rapid-fire over the course of one day. The story is time-stamped, in the style of the TV show 24 �� the tension increases and the stakes rise every hour. The clock is ticking for Abby to straighten out the ripples of chaos her actions caused.

The book is supported by a colorful cast of characters, both kids and adults. And all the unnecessary fat is trimmed, so every detail is significant to the conclusion. It’s a very fast read.

Anytime I finish a book I’m left wondering, will readers like it? I relate to Abby, but will they? Reading is very subjective. I’ve disliked New York Times best sellers. Not because the books weren’t good, but because they weren’t for my taste or my mood on that particular day. It’s reasonable not everyone will like my work, but that doesn’t mean its feel good when it happens.

I try to stay away from reviews in the same way I try to stay away from chocolate. I sneak some. (In the case of chocolate, maybe more than some.) Overall, the reviews have been very positive. (Phew.) My favorite so far is from a reader who said she read it in one sitting.

So, maybe making everything go wrong for my main character wasn’t so bad after all.

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What’s a snackable book? “Snackability�� is to middle-grade books what “binge-ablity�� is to streaming shows.

Kids are busy. We’re all busy. Thanks to social media we’re accustomed to messages in photo or video format, or in one-hundred-forty characters. Young people have consumed messages this way their entire life. They expect short, snappy, quick communications. This is one of the reasons I’ve deliberately crafted my most recent books to be “snackable.��

“Snackability�� is to middle-grade books what “binge-ablity�� is to streaming shows. It’s a style that fits the lifestyle and consumption patterns of today’s tweens. Scenes are quick. Sentences, paragraphs, and chapters are short and easy to read. If my reader can skim, I haven’t done a good job making the book snackable because I’m already concise and tight to a fault. There is very little unnecessary description and exposition, but I’m heavy on awesome dialogue. I can easily list a hundred of my weaknesses, but I think I’m good at dialogue. Lastly, each chapter ends with a hook�� the hook is just enough sugar high to keep the reader needing more. My Big Heart-Shaped Fail epitomizes all of the above and is told in time-stamped sections over a twelve hour day�� it worked for the show 24, why not for a middle-grade book?

I think this style will appeal to young readers, especially reluctant readers. We’ve seen that it appeals to adults, as it’s very much the style of James Patterson, who’s proven that young readers and adults like it. Kindle recently-ish launched Vella, a digital reading platform that serves its customers short episodes of stories. What Kindle calls episodes, I think of as “snacks.��

When considering how to publish my many writerly confessions, I chose to do so in bite-sized blog posts. As such, I need to keep it short, so this is the end.

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I’m going to tell you something you probably never hear from a writer. Here it comes�� are you ready for it?

I didn’t like to read as a kid.

I was jealous of the kid under the sheets with a flashlight reading because they couldn’t sleep until I knew the end. I wanted to be that kid, but I just didn’t like reading.

I think there are several reasons why.

I wasn’t good at it. At an early age I was put into the Turtle reading group. Not joking �� that’s what it was called. (My, how times have changed.) I might’ve been a slow reader, but I knew what the label meant and I resented it. It gave me a certain attitude about reading and probably school in general.The items used to teach and test reading were awful, in my opinion. The dreaded SRAs �� did anyone else have those over-sized laminated flashcards in the back of the classroom? They were color-coded and in a box like you might have record albums. You had to read a few paragraphs about something terribly boring and then answer dumb questions about the stupid paragraphs. As you might expect by my tone, I did poorly on them and stayed in Turtle-type groups longer than would’ve probably been necessary if I’d only applied myself.Lastly, there were limited choices. I stumbled on some Encyclopedia Browns that I liked, but I rarely found anything that grabbed me. Yet�� I wanted to be grabbed by books.

In later grades I encountered “required reading.�� Oh, how I detested required reading. I remember Steinbeck in particular. Nothing against Steinbeck, but not a great choice to get a kid who’s not excited about reading to be excited about reading. So I wasn’t excited and I didn’t read.

Decades later when my own kids, who also didn’t love reading despite having an author-Mom, had required summer reading, I examined the choices. While I can admit required reading lists had evolved, I cringed at many of the choices. My son’s school did One Book One School, which I love in theory. I bought several copies of the book the administration had chosen and I sat down several times to read it. It was a best-seller and critically acclaimed. I was a dense and challenging read. I didn’t like it. Reading it was not fun. I finally told my son, “I’m tapping out. Good luck with it.��

Regardless of being a poor reader, wanting to boycott SRAs, and not liking the choices, I loved libraries and books and writing. I often had a big book from the library in my backpack. I didn’t read it, but I loved the idea of loving to read it. Weird, huh?

Here’s what I’ve come to understand: I like stories. I consumed them via cassettes, movies, tv, and cartoons.

Things began to turn around for me as a young adult, thanks to a few fantastic thrillers: Connelly, Patterson, Grisham, Child, Brown and the other Brown, Cornwall, Scottoline etc�� And for the first time in my life, I began reading for enjoyment. I’m now quite voracious, but I’m also darn picky. I have a 50-Page Rule (It used to be a 25-Page Rule, but I’ve matured). This is the rule: If I’m not totally into a book in the first 50 pages, I don’t finish it. I can’t tell you how many highly recommended books, best sellers, and Oprah’s picks don’t pass my 50-Page Rule. This isn’t because they aren’t good books, as reviews and sales numbers attest that they are. (This includes the aforementioned One Book One School). ��It’s because I don’t like them. It’s subjective. It can be the book itself, but it could also be my mood, what’s in the current zeitgeist, what’s on my mind, and even how tired I am.

I think subjectivity is especially applicable in children’s books. What appeals to parents, teachers and librarians may not appeal to readers.

All of these byproducts of my reluctant readership �� pickiness, my 50-Page Rule, and subjectivity �� have influenced my personal writing style, which has evolved over the course of my career. To me, writing is a muscle. I work out to become a faster runner, swimmer, and biker. The more I train, the stronger I get (I’m still painfully slow, btw). Writing is the same way, and I like to believe I continue to improve. My most recent books,��Saltwater Secrets,��The Girl Who Ruined Christmas,��and��My Big Heart-Shaped Fail��best demonstrate my desired style. And my style, I think, is particularly appealing to reluctant readers.

I missed out on so much by not reading as a kid and teen, and because of that I want to deliver a product that would have appealed to me, and I hope, may convert a non-reader. If I can do that, I’ll consider myself successful.

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I’m a neat-nick. There, I said it.

So, the day circa 2003 when I saw my daughter and her two friends baking in my kitchen, I twitched a little. Eggshell here�� flour there�� but, I saw how much fun they were having and thought it would be great if these girls had some kind of cooking club (at someone else’s house…jk). And that thought �� “a cooking club�� �� was like a match scratched against a rough surface ��

**spark**

Like most writers, I suspect, once there’s a spark the mind goes and goes and goes��

Here’s how mine went:

Cooking Club?��

No, I can do better than that: A Secret Cooking Club! Yeah, that’s it. Anything secret is better.

Why is it secret? Hmmm��

Who’s in the club? A girl named Kelly Quinn—yeah, that’s a cute name. And she has two friends, partners in crime. What are their names? Darby. That’s a cute name too, and not very common. And Hannah. Darby and Hannah are in Kelly Quinn’s Secret Cooking Club.

And there you have it�� I was going to write a tween book called Kelly Quinn’s Secret Cooking Club.

I wrote the first draft quickly, in a few weeks. Then I rewrote it for a year. I thought it was good. But then again, I’d thought The Untitled Vegetable Book and my big pharma thriller were good too, (). For the first time I queried a long strategic list of literary agents and one responded. I was both surprised and hurt when she asked me to rewrite my manuscript. But, after hearing her out, her advice made sense and I rewrote the book, mostly the ending, according to her specifications. She signed me as a client and sold the book to Simon & Schuster.

So, maybe books are better written in a dirty kitchen. (The imperfect rhyme in that sentence was unintentional, but catchy.)

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