Afleveringen
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Episode 12
In our last episode of season 2, Erin and Anne-Marie take a closer look at THE END of Thieves’ Gambit, specifically, how Kayvion Lewis creates a satisfying ending for this novel and at the same time sets up the sequel.
Han Solo in carbonite
The Twilight series
Kurt Vonnegut–The Shape of Stories
How I Met Your Mother–Slap Bet
Upcoming KidLit Craft Events
“The Sticky Note Plot,” taught by award-winning YA and MG author David Macinnis Gill–May 10, 2025, noon-1:30pm Pacific/3-4:30pm EasternAsk the Author Book Club with Lindsay Lackey–NOTE: NEW DATE–May 13, 2025, 4:30-5:45pm Pacific/7:30-8:45 Eastern “Building a Novel with Touchstone Moments,” taught by award-winning middle grade author Lindsay Lackey–NOTE NEW DATE AND TIME: May 27, 2025, 9:30-11am Pacific/12:30-2pm EasternRegister for summer classes! More info here: kidlitcraft.com/classesGet your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast!
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Episode 11
We’re gathering the people with essential skills, making a plan, anticipating obstacles, doing reconnaissance, and pulling off a heist. Erin and Anne-Marie break down the elements needed for a heist and analyze how Kayvion Lewis designed and executed the (writing of the) sarcophagus heist in Thieves’ Gambit.
Things we talk about:
Ocean’s ElevenAsk the Author Book Club with Lindsay Lackey–NOTE: NEW DATE–May 13, 2025, 4:30-5:45pm Pacific/7:30-8:45 Eastern “Building a Novel with Touchstone Moments,” taught by award-winning middle grade author Lindsay Lackey–NOTE NEW DATE AND TIME: May 27, 2025, 9:30-11am Pacific/12:30-2pm EasternSummer Classes are now open for registration! kidlitcraft.com/classesGet your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast!
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Patreon
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Episode 10
Pacing scenes and chapters in an action/thriller might seem to be all about how to move through the story as fast as possible, but in this episode, Anne-Marie and Erin focus on controlling the pace, why you want slower moments, and how to move fast without sacrificing clarity or emotional resonance.
Things we talk about:
DopesickHenry JamesEthan Frome by Edith WhartonThe Golden Bowl by Henry JamesMission: Impossible 2Dangerous Play by Emma KressRegister for our Ask the Author Book Club at kidlitcraft.com/book-club
Register for our April 26 workshop, “Building a Novel with Touchstone Moments,” taught by award-winning middle grade author Lindsay Lackey
Summer Classes are now open for registration! kidlitcraft.com/classes
Get your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast!
Find more content like this at kidlitcraft.com
Patreon
Buy T-shirts and sweatshirts (click on “small logo” or “big logo” for a range of styles)
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The pacing of a story determines how a story feels to read, and writers get to control that pacing by placing story elements at certain moments in the book and by how they move from chapter to chapter or scene to scene. In this episode, Anne-Marie and Erin explore how Kayvion Lewis keeps the pace fast and the tension high.
Books we talk about:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Nina Lacour’s books (like We Are Okay and Watch Over Me)
The Davinci Code by Dan Brown
David Gill
Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (our blog post on how Christie keeps tension in the story)
Murder on the Orient Express film (trailer)
Erin’s percentages for overall structure and pacing:
Hook–1% pg 2 Gambit inviteInciting Incident–10% Mom kidnappedFirst Game of Gambit–13%Intro to Thieves–14%Romantic intro–16% pg 592nd Game–Museum–21% Character Reveal–27% unwilling to leave injured player even risking gambit loss3rd Game Train–42%Plan Heist 3rd Game—50%New Info–64% pg 249Big Obstacle-70% (pg256) handcuffed to balconyKiss–80%Mom’s 1st betrayal–Comes at 88%Double Cross the Gambit–89%Twist/ Devroe’s betrayal–94%Mom’s 2nd betrayal–comes at 98%Register for our Ask the Author Book Club at kidlitcraft.com/book-club
Register for our FREE March 29 workshop, “Making Emotions Concrete,” taught by Anne-Marie
Register for our April 26 workshop, “Building a Novel with Touchstone Moments,” taught by Lindsay Lackey
Get your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast!
Find more content like this at kidlitcraft.com
Patreon
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Action scenes in a thriller novel need to be fast-paced, but fast-paced means more than lots of really quick actions in a row. Erin and Anne-Marie break down three different kinds of action scenes in Thieves’ Gambit to find tips and tricks for hitting the perfect sweet spot of pacing.
Books we talk about:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Register for our Ask the Author Book Club at kidlitcraft.com/book-club
Get your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast!
Find more content like this at kidlitcraft.com
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Like character arcs and story arcs, relationship arcs can span the course of the novel, explore themes, reveal and challenge the main character, and complicate plot lines. In Episode 7, Erin and Anne-Marie examine Ross’s friendship arc with Noelia and her romance arc with Devroe.
Things we mention in this episode
KLC’s Ask the Author Book Club, February 25 guest author is Michael Leali
Our episode on Romance in Buffalo Flats (Season 1, Episode 8)
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (the movie)Mr. and Mrs. Smith (the series)
The movie with sexy banter during fight scenes with Ryan Reynolds, the Rock, and Gal Gadot: Red Notice
Emma Kress and her YA novel Dangerous Play
Get your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast!
Find more content like this at kidlitcraft.com
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Introducing a lot of characters can lead to a muddle in readers’ minds. Erin and Anne-Marie explore why you may want to use a big cast, identify pitfalls to avoid, and break down how Kayvion Lewis introduces the nine teen thieves in Thieves’ Gambit in a way that draws readers in rather than confuses them.
Books we mention in this episode (affiliate links):
One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus
The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (also see Erin’s craft article on pacing and plot in Inheritance Games)
First Rule of Climate Club by Carrie Firestone
Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
How it Went Down by Kekla Magoon
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (also see Anne-Marie’s craft article on POV in The Penderwicks)
The Lovely War by Julie Berry
Get your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast!
Find more content like this at kidlitcraft.com
Patreon
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In Episode 5, Erin and Anne-Marie examine the complicated family relationships in Thieves’ Gambit and explore why to use them, how to introduce them for maximum effect, and how to leverage those relationships to create more tension without taking away the main character’s agency.
Things we mention in the podcast:
Our new website! kidlitcraft.com
Writing Middle Grade for Picture Book Authors class
Revise a Novel with Me! class
Ask the Author Book Club
Jan 18: Stacey Lee, KILL HER TWICE
Feb 25: Michael Leali, THE TRUTH ABOUT TRIANGLES
Mar 25, Randy Ribay, EVERYTHING WE NEVER HAD
April 22, Lindsay Lackey, FARTHER THAN THE MOON.
Get your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast!
Find more content like this at kidlitcraft.com
Patreon
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In Season 1, we talked about internal and external desire, but how does it work when the character wants one thing at the beginning and switches to wanting something else? In Season 2, Episode 4, Erin and Anne-Marie dive into Kayvion Lewis’s YA thriller, Thieves’ Gambit, and dig into why it the main character Ross's shifting desire line works, as she goes from wanting to making friends at a summer gymnastics camp to winning an international thieving competition.
Get your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast!
Find more content like this at kidlitcraft.com
Books we reference (affiliate links):
Buffalo Flats by Martine LeavittThe Hate U Give by Angie ThomasSupport KidLit Craft
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The opening of a book establishes The World As It Is, and Kayvion Lewis’s Thieves’ Gambit is no exception. Lewis masterfully establishes Ross Quest’s world of international thievery and how she relates to it, including her desire to escape into something more normal.
Get your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast
Find more content like this at kidlitcraft.com
Support KidLit Craft
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We’re starting with theme! Kayvion Lewis introduces the theme of TRUST in the very first sentence of Thieves’ Gambit. In this episode, Erin and Anne-Marie explore the different strategies Lewis uses to explore the theme through characters, situations, and plot twists that challenge the main character Ross’s view of the world.
Get your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast
Find more content like this at kidlitcraft.com
Support KidLit Craft
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Introducing Season 2! We're taking a deep dive into Kavyion Lewis's YA thriller THIEVES’ GAMBIT. Find out why we chose it and what we have in store for this season.
Get your copy of THIEVES’ GAMBIT from Bookshop.org and support the podcast
Find more content like this at kidlitcraft.com
Support KidLit Craft
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In this second part of our interview with Martine Leavitt, the author of Buffalo Flats, she tells us about the mountains that inspire her, how to put emotion on the page, what the heck an objective correlative is, and much more, including what she’s working on now.
Links:
KidLit Craft websiteMartine Leavitt’s Buffalo FlatsThe KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.
Support KidLit Craft
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Episode 13: Martine Interview, Part 1
In this episode, we interview Martine Leavitt herself! She talks to us about her inspiration for Buffalo Flats, the painful process of writing it, and her secret to sticking with writing when it's hard. Martine had so much wisdom to share that we split the interview into two episodes. Watch for Part 2 next week.
Links:
KidLit Craft websiteMartine Leavitt’s Buffalo FlatsMy Book of Life by Angel by Martine LeavittCalvin by Martine LeavittKeturah and Lord Death by Martine LeavittA KidLit Craft article on CalvinThe KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.
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Find out what's next for the KidLit Craft podcast, and exciting upcoming offerings from KidLit Craft.
Links:
Sign up for the KidLit Craft NewsletterFor information on the Writing MG for PB Authors class, email Anne-Marie at [email protected]. Or find out more here: INFO SHEET.KidLit Craft websiteMartine Leavitt’s Buffalo FlatsOur next podcast book: THIEVES’ GAMBIT by Kayvion LewisThe KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.
Support KidLit Craft
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Throughout Buffalo Flats, Martine Leavitt uses rich language and evocative metaphors. We break down how and why she uses specific language and metaphors, and to what effect. We also talk about how to decide what language and metaphors to use in your own work.
Links:
KidLit Craft websiteMartine Leavitt’s Buffalo FlatsLolo’s Light by Liz Garton ScanlonKidLit Craft post on language and metaphor in Full Cicada Moon by Marilyn HiltonKidLit Craft post on metaphors in Partly Cloudy by Tanita S. DavisThe KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.
Support KidLit Craft
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In Buffalo Flats, Rebecca belongs to a religious community that exists within the larger community in the Northwest Territories of Canada. In this episode we look at how Martine makes this community recognizable to those in it and accessible to those not, and we share our personal experiences reading about the community. The craft techniques we discuss apply not just to religious communities, but to any smaller group within a larger culture.
Links:
KidLit Craft websiteMartine Leavitt’s Buffalo FlatsMy Name is Asher Lev by Chaim PotokCinder by Marissa MeyerAfter the Shot Drops by Randy RibayThe Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine ArdenThe KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.
Support KidLit Craft
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We explore how Martine incorporates feminism into historical fiction in a way that respects history and characters, by finding friction points between the character’s desires and their experience of the world. Also, Erin emotes about corsets.
Links:
KidLit Craft websiteMartine Leavitt’s Buffalo FlatsThe book Erin references set in 15th-Century China is Lisa See’s Lady Tan’s Circle of Women.The story of EstherThe KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.
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At risk of making Martine’s humor less funny, we take apart the humor in Buffalo Flats, from set-ups and punchlines to adding a funny twist, from individual sentences to full subplots.
Links:
KidLit Craft websiteMartine Leavitt’s Buffalo FlatsLaurel & Hardy, “Chickens Come Home”Pizza PirateThis is UsThe KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.
Support KidLit Craft
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In this episode, we’re talking ROMANCE! We look at how Martine Leavitt sets up the balance between physical intimacy and emotional intimacy, uses contrast in secondary romances, and manages a perfectly balanced love triangle for the main character, Rebecca, in her YA novel Buffalo Flats. We also talk about how to write a perfect romantic kiss.
Links:
KidLit Craft websiteMartine Leavitt’s Buffalo FlatsA KidLit Craft post on playing with tropes in romanceThe KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.
Support KidLit Craft
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