I was born in the middle of a snowstorm one New Year’s Eve in Kansas City.

When I was your age, I still lived there. Sure, my mama and daddy took me to Oklahoma sometimes to visit family and to Colorado on vacation. But most of the time, I was in the heartland of the USA with a book, my best friend Kathy, and a little dog named “Tramp.”

I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. But I did have many cousins, and I loved them very much. My cousin Stacy was a reader and writer like me, and she grew up to be a teacher.

When I didn’t have my nose stuck in a book, I played in a big woodsy field behind my back yard. A creek ran through it. The land was home to crawdads, turtles, rabbits and little green garden snakes. I even saw a deer or two. I loved playing make-believe games among the trees with my friends from the neighborhood.

I still play make-believe, only now I write the characters and their stories in books.

• What kind of student were you?

I was a hard-working student. I loved school, and I learned to read at a very early age. I remember standing in front of my kindergarten class and reciting rhyming words like: bunch, crunch, lunch, munch….

I also loved to write. When I was in second grade I wrote a story about going crawdad fishing, and it was read over the intercom to everyone in the whole school!

• What were your favorite things to do when you were young?

My favorite thing to do was go out to dinner with my Grandpa and Grandma Smith. We would meet up to celebrate birthdays and other family holidays. My favorite places to go were The Olive Garden, The Red Lobster, a local Chinese restaurant, and any of the great barbecue places in Martin City, Missouri.

I also loved to visit to the local strip mall and visit my Grandma Melba, who sold ladies dresses at J.C. Penney.

And almost every Saturday, my mama took me to the public library. I won the summer reading contest for kids from kindergarten to sixth grade when I was going into third grade.

• Did you have a nickname and if so what was it?  Is there a story behind your nickname?

I used to be called “Cindy” or “Cindy Lou,” which was kind of confusing because I have a cousin name “Wendy Sue” who’s just a little bit younger than me. We look alike, too.

• What did you want to be when you grew up?

A magician or a superhero. My favorite superheroes were Isis, who was an Egyptian goddess, and Wonder Woman.

• If you weren’t a writer, what would you like to be?

I would still like to be a magician or superhero.

• What advice do you have for aspiring young readers and writers?

Read, read, read. Write, write, write. And then find other people who love reading and writing and spend a lot of time with them. You can cheer each other on!

• Do you have a special place where you write your books?

I have a big blue denim chair in my reading room, and I like to write there on my laptop with a glass of iced tea at my side and a tabby cat on the armrest.

How long does it take you to write your books?

It depends on the book. It took me six years to get HOLLER LOUDLY just right. Along the way, I also wrote other stories.

Do you have any children or pets and have you ever used them in a book?

I have four cats—Mercury, Bashi, Blizzard, and Leo.

They’re all tabbies, except for Leo who is snow white. Bashi was the model for a cat character in one of my books, and I also named a character in another book after him.

• P & J or Mac and Cheese? Mac and Cheese

• Dog, Cat, Bird, or Fish? Cat

• Sourdough, whole wheat, white or rye? Whole wheat

• Love revision or hate it? Love it!

• Early Bird Writer or Night Owl? Night Owl.

Download a copy of “Cynthia’s Story” HERE.

Read, “Your Friend, Cynthia Leitich Smith (A LETTER TO READERS)” HERE.

For more about Cynthia, visit her website HERE.

I was an only child…with a really big family! The way I grew up, relatives who lived outside your house were just as much “family” as the ones who lived inside it. My family included many aunts and uncles, and lots of cousins to play with.

People always ask if I was spoiled as an only child. My answer is, “Yes.” Except I wasn’t spoiled with things; I was spoiled with lots of love and attention—the good kind of spoiling everyone can use.

The first book I remember owning as a very young child was a book of Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes. It had a black and white checkerboard pattern around the edge, and I knew every single word in it.  I wish I still had it today.

I also remember going to my cousins’ house and reading their beat-up copies of Dr. Seuss books. Every time I went over there, I would read those books. I didn’t even mind that some of the pages were missing; the stories were still enjoyable without them.

While we didn’t travel much when I was a kid, I do remember the few times we took the Greyhound bus to Alabama. My grandmother packed food for us to eat, like ham sandwiches with mustard, chicken, sweet potato pie, and cheese and saltine cracker stacks.

I remember a whole lot of things about my early years because I loved my childhood. That doesn’t mean things were always perfect—they weren’t—but I loved it just the same.

• What kind of student were you?

I was a very good student. I mostly made A’s. Doing well in school was important to me, partly because my mother expected me to do my very best, and partly because I was very competitive and liked to be number one. I was no good at sports, so getting A’s was my thing.

• Did you have any bad or funny habits as a child?

I had a habit of sitting around with my mouth open. Adults were always telling me to close it. I don’t know why I did that. Hmmm…maybe I had a problem breathing through my nose. Mom did say I always kept a cold…

• Did you play an instrument?  Which one(s)?

I never learned to play an instrument as a child—but I’ve always wished I had. So next year, I’m signing up for piano lessons.

• What one thing can you tell readers that nobody knows?

I used to think I could fly. Well, more like float through the air about 15 feet. I clearly remember doing it when I was about 5 years old.  I flew from one end of the living room to the other. I was twenty-something years old before I realized that it had all (probably) just been a dream.

Shhhh…let’s keep that a secret.

• Favorite pastime as a child?

My favorite thing to do was to sit quietly and listen to grownups talk. The more quiet I was, the more interesting thethings I heard.

Do you listen to music while you write, or do you like silence?

I work best when it is silent.

Is it hard to write a book?

Some books are harder to write than others. Some books take a lot of figuring out, while other books just seem to flow out of your brain and on to the page. The longer the book is I’m trying to write, the more figuring out I have to do.

What’s the hardest part about writing a book?

The hardest part about writing a book is finding the words to express what you want to say, in an interesting way that makes kids want to read it.

Have you ever thrown a manuscript away?

Nope. They’re all on my computer somewhere. But there are some I’ll probably never go back and try to fix, because I’m not excited about them anymore.

Do you have any children or pets and have you ever used them in a book?

I do not have any pets, but I do have children. Sometimes I use things they have said or done in my stories, but I mostly use my own childhood memories. I try hard to remember how I felt about certain things, and then I try to find the perfect words to describe those feelings. Kids from the past and the present share the same kinds of feelings, and we always will.

• Are you famous?

No, and I do not want to be. I do hope my books become famous, though.

Quick Picks:

• Soup or salad? Salad, especially if it has strawberries, raisins, cranberries and mandarin oranges. (I am speaking of a green salad, although it sounds like I’m describing a fruit salad.)

• P & J or Mac and Cheese? Very tough call. I’ll say mac and cheese…but only if it’s homemade and VERY cheesy.

• Favorite or least favorite vegetable? Least favorite: Beets. Blech.

• Favorite or most hated subject? Favorite:  English and Spelling. Least Favorite:  Geography.

• Longhand or computer? Computer.

• Early Bird Writer or Night Owl? Neither. I’m too sleepy at those times. I’m a Mid-morning/Early Afternoon Writer.

Download a copy of Tameka’s story HERE.

Read “Your Friend, Tameka Fryer Brown (A Letter to Readers),” HERE.

For more about Tameka, visit her website HERE.

Dear Reader:

I hope you enjoy HOLLER LOUDLY! It’s a celebration of my love of public libraries, small towns, and the southwest.

When I was growing up, my mama took me to the public library every Saturday morning. First, I’d go the “new” section, so I could see what had come in. My goal was to read every single book in the whole building, so I had to keep up with those new ones.

I loved books about magic so much that my mama and daddy gave me a magic kit. I would read the directions in the book and then practice my tricks in the basement.

I also loved to play teacher. Next door lived a little girl named Kathy, who was a couple of years younger than me. We set up a pretend classroom, and I helped teach her to read using workbooks and library books. Back then, I loved her like a little sister, and I still feel the same way about her today.

My house was in a newer suburb, but most of my family lived in older houses in small towns that were slowly being swallowed up by Kansas City. I spent most of my holidays in places like Belton, Missouri; and Raytown, Missouri; at the homes of my grandparents and my Aunt Gail

What I love about small towns is that they have a strong sense of history. Everybody knows each other. And they pull together in hard times.

Now I live in the southwest. In Austin, Texas. It’s sunny, hot, and the people are really nice. The story of HOLLER LOUDLY takes place time ago.

Today fewer folks hereabouts wear hats and boots than they did in the old days. But I always keep my eyes out for cowboys.

Have fun with HOLLER LOUDLY! Read the quiet parts quietly, and the LOUD parts LOUDLY! That’s what Holler himself would do.

And then when you’re done, go to your public library and find another book to read!

Your Friend,

Cynthia Leitich Smith

Click HERE to download and share Cynthia’s letter with students and HERE to download Teacher’s Guides for HOLLER LOUDLY.

For more about Cynthia, visit her website HERE.

Dear Reader,

How are you? Fine I hope. As for me, I’m very excited these days because I have just published my first picture book called AROUND OUR WAY ON NEIGHBORS’ DAY.

AROUND OUR WAY is special to me because it was inspired by the place where I grew up: Miami, Florida.  Miami is a place that is full of so many different cultures. I remember having friends whose families were Haitian, Cuban, Chinese, Jamaican, Jewish, Italian, Dominican…and the list goes on and on. I am so thankful I grew up there, because I learned to appreciate that every group of people has something special and interesting about it, and how fantastic it is to share those things with others. Plus, Miami has all kinds of yummy foods. My favorite things to eat when I’m there are fried conch and conch fritters.

You know, it’s the little things that make our families, friends, and communities special to us.  Is there a friend you can always count on to play a certain game with? How about a particular place you like to go in your neighborhood? Can you think of a favorite activity you enjoy doing with a family member? If you give it some thought, I bet you’ll find that lots of things are special around your way. Maybe you can even write about them, and have a wonderful poem or story of your own to share.

Speaking of writing, guess how long it took me to get a book published? Almost five years, but it was worth the wait. I’m so glad I didn’t give up. Do you dream of doing something big…or interesting…or difficult? Then don’t you give up either! You never know what you can accomplish unless you give it a good try.

Well, I’d better be going. Thanks so much for reading AROUND OUR WAY ON NEIGHBORS’ DAY. I hope you like it.

Your Friend,

Tameka Fryer Brown

Download a copy of “Your Friend, Tameka (A Letter to Readers)” HERE.

Take a peek at Tameka’s Office HERE.

For more about Tameka, visit her website HERE.

Wherever my laptop computer is, that is my office. Sometimes I have a dining room office…

Sometimes I have a living room office…

And sometimes I have a bedroom office.

A traveling office works for me!

Read more about Tameka on her website HERE.