Husband and Wife Writing Team Suggests
Santa Alive and Well in 21st Century

Santa Knows
by Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith
(Dutton)
ISBN 0525477578
Buy this book
via Amazon.com.

When the husband and wife put their heads together, the result was Santa Knows (Dutton), a witty, Web-infused picture book that suggests Santa’s alive and well in the Information Age.

Published last month, Santa Knows was a departure for both award-winning authors.  He writes comic novels for ‘tweeners.  She’s known for her titles dealing with the Native American experience.  They both found working on a holiday picture book a challenging change of pace.

“The novel is more of a beast, riskier because it reveals so much of the author’s sensibility. Yet both picture books and novels rely on the elements of good storytelling: a compelling character and conflict, rising stakes, internal and external action, growth and change, and a resonant resolution. They’re related but distinct art forms.”

Greg found crafting a picture book easier than a novel, in that “once you have the idea and the story arc, the act of writing isn’t as vast – thirty-two pages as opposed to two hundred – and takes less time logistically. With a novel, there’s also the issue of intertwining the major and minor arcs and making sure they’re thematically related.

“Still, with a picture book,” he adds, “you’ve only got one [story arc] ..., so you’ve got to make it special.”

Literary agent Ginger Knowlton at Curtis Brown Ltd., who manages both of the Leitich Smith writing careers, landed the Dutton deal. She faced dual hurdles: a slow market for picture books, and the hard sell of the holiday manuscript. In order to acquire a seasonal title, the authors point out, a publisher must be convinced that the book will earn as much in the brief holiday sales period as it would if it had year-round appeal. The anti-hero personality of Santa Knows’ main character, plus the book’s humor and fresh, 21st century feel won Dutton over.

Greg Leitich Smith actually enjoys two careers; he’s also a lawyer. He finds both fields satisfying, and, surprisingly, sees similarities between them.

“Being a patent attorney means I get to – have to, really – keep on top of a lot of new technologies, and write and argue about them,” he tells. “To a large extent, good lawyering is storytelling, although nonfiction, typically. So they have that in common.”

It’s not always easy to turn off “lawyer mode,” though, he says, because “I tend to write humorous, comedic books. I have to be in a ‘funny’ mood to be able to write funny stories. If I as a writer don’t find something funny, no one else will. Also, I usually write in evenings or on weekends, so if I’ve had a particularly arduous ‘law’ day or week, I’m not necessarily in the mood to write.

“Both types of work, though, typically involve a logical approach. A legal argument has to make sense, or no one will buy it. Similarly, a novel or picture book has to have a consistent internal logic, or it won’t be believable.”

Though Cynthia Leitich Smith writes movingly about modern-day Native American life, the characters in her books are pure fiction, she says. She feels honored to share stories of Native life today, which she draws from her childhood as a “mid-to-southwestern, mixed blood girl from a large, extended family. That means writing stories of loving elders, connections at each generation, strong men and women, humor, daily life, growing kids, and honoring traditions in today’s world.

“I have much in common with those characters. For example, ‘The Story of Bat’ in Jingle Dancer (Morrow, 2000) is a traditional tale from my own Muscogee (Creek) tribe. The character Cousin Elizabeth, from that same book, and I share a background in law. I went to college in Douglas County, Kansas, which was the setting for Rain Is Not My Indian Name (HarperCollins, 2001), and like my protagonist, worked in small-town newsrooms. I also fished with my great-grandfather on Oklahoma lakes like Ray does with Grampa Halfmoon in Indian Shoes (HarperCollins, 2002).

“I tend to stick to characters from those Nations I’m descended from or know well and those regions where I’ve lived. But these heroes aren’t me, and the people in their lives don’t directly reflect anyone I know. There’s a lot of truth in them, respect, and real emotion, but they’re fictional folks.”

The Leitich Smiths met while they were both attending law school. She was studying to become a legal reporter, media lawyer or journalism professor. He’d come from engineering school.

“I’d never stopped reading comics, now called ‘graphic novels’, which are essentially picture books for older readers,” Cynthia remembers, “and returned to children’s/YA literature per se at about this time as an escape from legalese.”

Greg entertained dreams of one day becoming a fiction writer, he recalls, “but had never done anything about it. My last writing experience at that point had been my master’s thesis on modeling non-linear stochastic processes.”

So when Cynthia began writing for kids and teens, it was almost a joint effort. Greg read her drafts and accompanied her to writing and literary events. He steeped himself in youth literature, just as his wife did.

“I encouraged him to write and was wowed with the results,” Cynthia says proudly. “Right out of the chute, he had a two-book deal with Little, Brown for Ninjas, Piranhas and Galileo (2003, 2005) and Tofu and T. Rex (2005).”

The two swear they’re not competitive, but do admit to occasionally distracting each other. “It can be hard when one is deeply in a project and the other has just finished and wants to play,” Cynthia tells.

“That said, I do think our individual titles help build an audience for one another. Achieving name recognition in a crowded market can be tough, so the more lovingly crafted books with the ‘Leitich Smith’ byline, the better.”

Of course, the many benefits of a live-in critique partner are not lost on the couple.

“We are each other’s best sounding board at the initial stages of a project,” says Greg, “and each other’s core critiquer as the project gets rolling. We also understand generic ‘writer quirks,’ like the urge to suddenly find a piece of paper and write something down before we forget. We also don’t have the ‘unsympathetic spouse’ issue, which I understand can be a problem when trying to find time to write.”

Things can get a little odd around the Leitich Smith household, though, Greg confesses.

“We each like to listen to music appropriate to the work at hand. With Santa Knows, of course, it was Christmas carols. When I was writing Tofu and T.Rex, a comedy about a vegan girl who goes to live with her cousin’s family who own a German-Polish delicatessen and butcher shop, Cyn was working on Tantalize (Candlewick, spring 2007), a gothic fantasy involving shape-shifters and vampires. So I was listening to a CD called I Love To Dance The Polka! , while Cyn was listening to the soundtrack for Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

These days, Cynthia’s working on an original southwestern, tall-tale picture book and another gothic fantasy YA novel. Greg’s finishing another comic novel, this one set in Texas. And there’s another collaborative Leitich Smith picture book currently in revisions.

The dynamic duo’s best advice to aspiring authors?

“Realize that the craft of writing for children and the business of children’s publishing have two separate, though related, learning curves,” says Cynthia. “Too many beginners focus on the dream of publication, rather than the hard work of character building, story structure, compelling conflicts and so forth. They’re looking for the perfect agent or editor before they’re even well read in the field, let alone writing at a professional level.

“That said, it’s perilous, however talented one may be, to dive into actual publishing without some real idea of how the industry works. Craft is more important –first, last, and always –but you’ll need to be a savvy businessperson, too. “

Greg adds that “when writing children’s literature, the writer needs to focus first on story – character, arc, etcetera – and not about the lesson or agenda of the day. Children’s literature can teach, in the sense that any literature can teach. But if you go into it thinking that the lesson is the end all and be all, you’ll never produce anything that’s actually readable.”

Visit the Leitich Smiths at http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/ and http://www.gregleitichsmith.com.