Sydnie Suskind: Find Your People
KidLit Craft is back with another Snack-Sized Author Interview. In this series, we ask authors five quick questions that give us insight into their craft and process. Today we’re talking with author Sydnie Suskind.
I met Sydnie at a book launch for our mutual friend Sandra V. Feder (whose delightful Feelings series is an inspiration!). We got to talk craft and books and marketing–all the things writers talk about when they get together. Sydnie is kind, curious, and committed to bringing delight to children through her stories. I know you’ll enjoy getting to meet her here as much as I did. –Anne-Marie
Welcome, Sydnie!
Question 1: What's your writing superpower?
My years of working as a writer and development executive in television helped me hone many of my creative superpowers. The collaborative process of breaking down stories and scripts with writing partners and inside the writers' room—while also addressing notes from network and studio executives—taught me that falling in love with my words, characters, or storylines is a fast track to heartbreak. These experiences helped build one of my greatest superpowers: being able to interpret other people’s notes (i.e., understanding the note behind the note), being open to feedback, and having the confidence and passion to rewrite, cut, and reshape a story. I’m also able to pivot, even when everything feels complete.
For example, in my recently released chapter book, The Magical World of Rosie & Rainn: The ZooZoo Cookies, my illustrator was nearly finished with the internal illustrations when we started discussing the cover art.
After many iterations and much back-and-forth, I realized the ideal image for the cover was a minor character in the book: Niko, Rosie and Rainn’s pet dragon lizard. But with only a minor mention at the front of the book, putting Niko on the cover didn’t make sense.
So, I went back into what I thought was my final draft and expanded Niko’s presence, giving him more defined personality, traits, and interactions with the main characters. I then rewrote most of the final chapters, removing a dog that had an important role and weaving Niko into his place. It was far from a cut-and-paste job: Niko could fly and the dog could not; Niko was owned by the main characters, while the dog was not. The rewrite was extensive, and, unsurprisingly, each Niko change in one place would ripple into another page or even another chapter. But, once it was all done, I was thrilled—it took the story to the next level.
Question 2: What’s an element of craft you explored in your latest project and what tips can you share with other authors for growing in their use of that particular element?
In January, I released The ZooZoo Cookies, my first book in The Magical World of Rosie & Rainn chapter book series. I loved hearing from parents that, after reading the book, their children were turning sticks or pencils into wands and using them to ‘cast spells’ from the story. This made me wonder if I could write a book where the reader was the one who actually created the magic. And because one of my favorite characters from my chapter book was the mischievous Evie, a six-year-old Magical girl, I knew I wanted her to star in this new picture book.
This idea ultimately morphed into my next project, tentatively titled Don’t Let Evie Do Magic. I wanted this new book to explore the craft of interactive, 2nd-person writing where the reader felt like they were the one making magic. But how? I wrote a million (okay, like a dozen+) different outlines, breakdowns, and concepts. They were either meh, convoluted, or, well, just bad. Breaking this story was TOUGH! Was it even possible to create an interactive story like this? I was starting to have my doubts.
Here’s a general tip that allowed me to crack this challenge: if possible, remove yourself from your everyday world. I was lucky to have a weekend trip planned for my birthday—no kids, no responsibilities, no day job, just quiet. Filtering out the everyday noise was exactly what my brain needed. But you don’t need an extended getaway to make that happen. Some of my best breakthroughs have come on walks, trips to a coffee house, long drives, or even pushing a cart through the grocery aisles.
During my getaway, I had the luxury to reread picture books written in 2nd person, like Mo Willems’ Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus series and Ron Keres’ Finn the Frog series. I took the time to break down the stories and study the writing style. I also devoured blog articles on writing in 2nd person and how to engage the reader so they feel like they have a personal stake in the story and characters.
Tip number two is both a general tip and specific to writing interactive, 2nd-person stories: less is more! I realized from rereading the Pigeon and Finn books that I needed to balance the complexity of my interactive magic concept with a simple story where Evie was the only character on the page. This simplicity will also come across in the book’s illustrations.
While this evolution to having only Evie on the page helped hone the story, it created a new and bigger creative writing challenge: there was no one for Evie to dialogue with on the page. Now, she could only interact with and respond to someone whose words we would never read. During this process, Evie’s early dialogue felt stilted and more like a monologue. How do you write a call-and-response experience when the second character’s words are never seen? And how do you do this in a way that fully engages the reader as an active participant?
My third tip is to act out and write the dialogue between the character on the page and the reader. Then, keep editing and acting out this dialogue throughout the process. This technique was incredibly helpful in honing Evie’s side of the conversation.
Question 3: If you could travel back in time, what advice would you give yourself as a new author?
Find your people—the ones you trust as a sounding board, who will be constructive, supportive, and honest. Keep writing. Keep reading other people’s work. And most importantly, keep learning and challenging yourself.
Question 4: What inspires you as a writer?
When I write, my greatest inspirations often come from the real world: the people I meet and the experiences and objects I encounter. For example, in The Magical World of Rosie & Rainn: The ZooZoo Cookies, Rosie and Rainn’s core personalities are inspired by my two kids when they were younger.
In the book, there’s a giant store—think Target—filled with Magical items like tiny lightbulbs you eat to make your body glow for up to five hours, enchanted books you can jump into and become a character in, and enchanted animal crackers that turn you into the real-life version of the creature you just ate. (In the book, Rosie once turned into a half-tiger, half-bird because she ate two enchanted cookies at the same time!)
To help build out all the magical objects in the store, I actually walked around a Target for creative inspiration. Throughout this process, I kept a notebook on my ideas as I tried to imagine how real-world objects like a lightbulb, a notebook, or a piece of candy could be reimagined in a magical world.
Question 5: What’s one book you think every kidlit author should read?
As a writer, I fell in love with Natalie Lloyd’s debut kidlit novel, A Snicker of Magic. This middle-grade story is an exquisite blend of poetic prose, heart and soul, compelling broken characters, an enchanted (albeit fractured) world, and the relatable challenges of family and finding your meaning and place in the world. Vividly written, the story comes alive from page one.
Bonus Question: What can fans look forward to next?
Fans of The Magical World of Rosie & Rainn will love the new picture book Don’t Let Evie Do Magic, scheduled for release in Fall 2025. This interactive, immersive story invites readers to wave their wands and create magic. Plus, there’s a fun bonus experience at the end of the book!
I’m also working on the second chapter book in The Magical World of Rosie & Rainn series. And for those who haven’t seen it yet, there’s a Rosie & Rainn activity book filled with storytelling, puzzle-solving, and creative-thinking activities for kids ages 6–10. In one activity, kids are even guided to create their own magical gadget!
Sydnie Suskind has spent her career bringing stories to life-on television, in the corporate world, and now, on the pages of her debut chapter book series, The Magical World of Rosie & Rainn. As a writer and creative storyteller, Sydnie's worked with CBS Television, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros., and beyond. But nothing has been more creative and magical than the adventure of raising two kids alongside her husband of 25 years.
You can find her online on her website
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