The week is winding down but we are ending with a bang (of course!) Here are the interviews scheduled for today and don't forget to check out the Master Schedule for all the links and quotes about diversity and writing schedules and vampire pigs and Phoebe Cates and Lauren Bacall and the Sweet Valley Twins and the Manson family. Really, we've got it all.....

Genevieve Valentine at Shaken & Stirred: "I guess the seed of this novel was the cumulative effect of being a film nerd since ever; the circus really lends itself to film, in any form, from the Penguin's circus cadre in Batman Returns to the trapeze bits in Buster Keaton's Allez Oop."

Stacy Whitman at TheHappyNappyBookseller: "And hey, young writers of color: Keep writing! We need your stories! As I read the other day--and I'm sorry I don't have an attribution for it--there have been societies who got along without the wheel, but there have never been societies who didn't have stories. What are your stories?"

Alyssa B. Sheinmel at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy: "I'm a little superstitious about talking what I'm working on. When I began writing, I wouldn't even admit that I was working on anything at all! (My husband used to see me working at the computer, and I'd insist I was just shopping online.)"

Matthew Cody and Aaron Starmer at MotherReader: "When DWEEB came out, I'd tell non-publishing people it was "middle-grade" and I'd get blank stares. Ages nine to twelve seemed a bit arbitrary, so I'd say, "It's for people who've never kissed someone, but might want to kiss someone someday." I guess that can cover a wide age range, but I kind of like it as a definition. Innocent but curious. Not quite ready. Whatever the age."