Congratulations to Melanie Crowder on her new young adult novel, Jumper (Viking, June 2022)! It received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. Melanie recently joined the faculty of Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children and Young Adults program.
Take a look back at Melanie’s thoughts on her debut novel,
Continue Reading Throwback Thursday: Melanie Crowder on Parched »
By Laura Sibson
Hello! I am thrilled to be here as a guest reporter chatting with you about the writing process and how it changes for each book. I wondered if this was only true for me, but it turns out that lots of other authors experience the same phenomenon. In this post, I’ll share with you the distinctions in drafting my manuscripts and over the next few days,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Laura Sibson on Finding a Writing Process That Fits Each Book »
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,
Continue Reading Guest Interview: A. A. Prime on Translating Red Mantle »
Above image: downtown Austin from Lady Bird Lake, photo by Ron Rabakukk
Today I’m chatting with two debut Austin authors with very different books, but both feature strong female protagonists who were envisioned by creators dedicated to letting readers see themselves in stories.
Evan Griffith‘s picture book biography Secrets of the Sea: The Story of Jeanne Power,
Continue Reading New Voices: Evan Griffith & Sajni Patel on Reflecting Strength in Stories »
By Tirzah Price
The biggest question I’ve received from readers when they hear that I’ve written a murder mystery retelling of Pride and Prejudice is why? I don’t know if they ask this because they think that Austen is somehow sacred, or if the mash up seems so incongruous, but I always think,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Tirzah Price on Retelling Jane Austen with Murderous Intent »
By Kim Rogers
Eric Gansworth (Onondaga) is a visual artist and a professor and Lowery Writer-in-Residence at Canisius College. (Photo credit on image above: Larry Plant.)
Eric’s young adult novel-in-verse Apple (Skin to the Core) (Levine Querido, 2020) has won many awards and accolades, including TIME’s 10 Best YA and Children’s Books of 2020,
Continue Reading Author Interview: Eric Gansworth on Apple (Skin to the Core) & Writing Insights »
By Kelly Jensen
It was mid-2014 when I got a rush of frantic messages on Twitter from a number of authors telling me to be in touch with Elise Howard at Algonquin Young Readers (AYR). She really wanted to talk with me.
One talk quickly led to a group call with Krestyna Lypen,
By Kim Rogers
Today, I’m happy to chat with award-winning Choctaw and Cherokee author Gary Robinson. He is also a film maker and digital artist. His young adult book Standing Strong (7th Generation Books, 2019) is part of the Pathfinder series and won the 2019 Moonbeam Children’s Book Gold Award.
By Gayleen Rabakukk, photo above Cameron Kelly Rosenblum, flanked by her Writers House co-agents Bri Johnston and Allie Levick and foreign rights agents Aless Birch and Cecilia de la Campa.
K.T. Mather
What was your initial inspiration for writing this book?
So my character,
Alex Sanchez is a successful tween-YA author with a long, distinguished career.
In children’s-YA writing, maintaining an active publishing career is arguably an even bigger challenge than breaking into the field.
Reflecting on your personal journey (creatively, career-wise, and your writer-artist’s heart), what bumps did you encounter and how have you managed to defy the odds to achieve continued success?