Guest Interview: Laura Sibson Talks to Katherine Locke About Approach to Craft

By Laura Sibson

When I first met Katherine Locke through a Philly author group, I was struck by the sheer number of ideas they have for stories and their ability to write across age groups. From picture books to middle grade anthologies to young adult novels with fantasy elements, Katherine can do it all.

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Guest Interview: Laura Sibson Talks to Christine Kendall About How She Uses Bookmapping

By Laura Sibson

Last fall, Christine Kendall and I kept running into one another at book festivals in and around the Philadelphia area. Finally, I decided I needed to learn more about this delightful West Philly author so I’ve invited her to take part in our exploration of the writing process.

Thank you so much for joining us today to talk about your writing process and the ways it’s evolved.

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Guest Post: Author Julie Lee on Remembering & Writing Forgotten History

By Julie Lee

Julie Lee is the author of the middle grade historical novel Brother’s Keeper (Holiday House, 2020), a story inspired by her mother’s escape from North Korea during the Korean War.

History has always eluded me. The longer it gets, the more there is to know, and so we distill it into digestible bits,

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Guest Interview: A. A. Prime on Translating Red Mantle

 

By Avery Fischer Udagawa

Spotlight image above: A.A. Prime accepts the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Translated YA Book Prize. See the entire presentation here.

Early in the pandemic, the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative named two winners of its 2020 Translated YA Book Prize: The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi,

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Guest Post: Charlotte Sullivan Wild on Creating Love (When Work Isn’t Enough)

By Charlotte Sullivan Wild

Hard work, persistence.
I’ve always believed in them.

It’s there in my first picture book The Amazing Idea of You, illustrated by Mary Lundquist (Bloomsbury, 2019), which celebrates the journey from potential to fruition, be it for seed, tadpole, child or idea:

Hidden in this apple
is the idea of a tree
wrapped tight
in this shiny seed.

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Guest Interview: Liz Garton Scanlon & Carol Kim on Finding the Story You’re Meant to Write

By Liz Garton Scanlon

The Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is particularly vibrant, and among its many offerings is a mentorship program named for Cynthia Leitich Smith!

I have been the program’s mentor twice, most recently working with the wonderful Carol Kim.

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Guest Post: Caroline Kusin Pritchard Reflects on the Influences of Gitty and Kvetch

By Caroline Kusin Pritchard

Stories are the work of a community, not a creator in isolation. I am struck by this truth every single time I hold my debut picture book, Gitty and Kvetch, illustrated by the phenomenal Ariel Landy (Atheneum, 2021), in my hands. Its pages carry the fingerprints of all the people who have poured into my life and this story.

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