It's Personal Podcast

Born the second of six cool kids. The South Bronx is where he first opened his eyelids. A land shrouded in bright-colored decay, the birthplace of graffiti and the hip-hop DJ! He paints fantasy worlds of elephants, and castles too! Accompanying this wonder is some whimsical truth. Charles has a voice that is seldom heard. A fusion of jazz, distorted guitars, and chirping birds. C.G chats never bei...

Ashley Franklin is a professional chaser—of ideas, dreams, and, most often, her kids. She is the author of Not Quite Snow White and a contributor to Once Upon an Eid, a collection of brilliant Muslim voices and stories. Ashley lives in Arkansas with her husband, Michael, and her children, Bilal and Mikhail. You can visit her online at www.ashleyfranklinwrites.com On the podcast, Ashley talks about...

Charlene has always loved writing. She grew up reading Dickens and Tolkien and Bronte. When she turned to contemporary books, too many were predictable, with characters that felt like paper doll cut-outs. It took time but, through the misses, she found books full of realistic characters, who messed up like the rest of us. Those were the books she was aching for, and are the type she aims to write....

Sarah Roughley talks about growing up in Southern Ontario writing stories about freakish little girls with powers because she secretly wanted to be one. Sarah is also an educator/professor , and has her PhD in English. She prides herself on wiring pieces on writing pieces about young girls that have super powers!. On ItsPersonal, Sarah talks what she does outside of writing, storytelling in the Bl...

Danielle Murrell Cox is from Montreal Quebec. She is a creator of all things. She graduated from Dawson College in 2011, and is now a graphic designer, illustrator, freelancer, and business owner. Danielle is best know for her self-published coloring books Black Queens and Black Kinds, which went viral on social media and gave her the opportunity to have a segment on NowThisHer, amongst many other...

Nadine Presley talks about her writing journey, her family, and her first book, The City of Jasmine (set for 2025). Nadine has lived in multiple places and has experienced a lot throughout her travels. During this podcast, Nadine talks specifically about how she started writing, and why it is important to create Syrian stories to represent herself and her family in today's world. Nadine takes a de...

Janae Marks is the author of critically acclaimed middle grade novels, From the Desk of Zoe Washington and A Soft Place to Land, as well as the forthcoming novel On Air with Zoe Washington. She has an MFA in Writing for Children from The New School, and lives in Connecticut with her husband, daughter and miniature schnauzer named Cookie. Janae chats about motherhood, writing/publishing during a pa...

Jyoti Rajan Gopal is a writer, mom and Kindergarten teacher. Growing up, she lived in Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, India and China. Twenty-eight years ago, she moved to New York and now lives in Yonkers in a quirky old Victorian, with her husband and two daughters. Her favorite place in the house is the wrap around porch where she loves to gather with family or friends, read, write and drink coff...

Jarrett has been a storyteller most his life, both on his own and in collaboration with Jerome. While their earliest work remains locked in a drawer—the key long lost for good measure—their first co-authored book, Creepy Things Are Scaring Me, was published by HarperCollins in 2003. Jerome is a designer, illustrator, and writer, originally from Houston, TX. He studied graphic design at the Art Ins...

Tracy Badua is a Filipino American author of books about young people with sunny hearts in a sometimes stormy world. According to her grandmother, Tracy inherited this love of the written word from her great-grandfather, a school teacher in the Philippines. To Tracy, this means writing is in her blood, and she continues this family tradition by telling stories with her own spin in an accessible, h...

Dane Liu believes in the power of stories to affirm, transport, and transform. Her debut for young readers FRIENDS ARE FRIENDS, FOREVER is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, an Indie Next Pick, and a Best Book of the Year from The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. Dane was born in China and moved to the US and Canada when she was a tween. On this podcast, we chat with Dane...

Julian Randall is a Living Queer Black poet from Chicago. He has received fellowships from Cave Canem, CantoMundo, Callaloo, BOAAT, and the Watering Hole. Julian is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. Julian is the winner of the 2019 Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award from the Publishing Triangle. On this podcast (part 2 of 2) Julian talks about The Dead Don't Need Reminding (Essay Collection), run...

Julian Randall is a Living Queer Black poet from Chicago. He has received fellowships from Cave Canem, CantoMundo, Callaloo, BOAAT, and the Watering Hole. Julian is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. Julian is the winner of the 2019 Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award from the Publishing Triangle. On this podcast (part 1 of 2) Julian talks in-depth about his first published book, accepting the idea...

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich was born in New York and later moved A LOT. She's spent a lot of time in many different countries, so she was a new kid in many different places (up until 8th grade). On this podcast, Olugbemisola shares childhood stories with her parents, the freedom to read, the feeling of being in different schools, and the impact of digital media. Instagram: https://www.instagram....

Erika Meza is a Mexican Migrant, who loves tacos and doodling! After studying graphic design (and moving houses nearly 30 times)She lived in a dungeon with a princess in Paris to attend the Illustration program at ENSAD, which got her addicted to chocolate éclairs and 2 am bike rides by the river. Erika now lives with a cat in the UK where she works with ink, gouaches, and watercolor pencils as an...

Ashley Woodfolk is the ultimate reader and writer. She graduated from Rutgers University and worked in children's book publishing for over a decade. She is now a full-time mom and writer and lives in Brooklyn her husband, dog, and the cutest baby in the world. Some of her books include The Beauty That Remains, When You Were Everything, Blackout and the Flyy Girls Series. On this podcast Ashley tal...

Derek Desierto is a Vancouver-based illustrator whose books with Eva Chen include the New York Times bestseller Juno Valentine and the Magical Shoes. Currently, he is living the dream as a freelance artist for animated TV shows and picture books. His ultimate goal in life is to meet Oprah and become one of her Favorite Things. On this podcast, Derek chats about his move from the Philippines to Can...

Anne Wynter has always loved to write; advertisements, poems, test questions, short stories, illegible grocery lists, press releases, white papers, and plays. But her love is with children's books. When she is not writing, she enjoys reading, running, and puzzling through an idea for a new book, or spending time with her husband, two sons, and cat at home in Austin, TX On this podcast, Anne chats...

Andrea Wang is an acclaimed author of children’s books. Her book Watercress was awarded the Caldecott Medal, a Newbery Honor, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, a New England Book Award, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor. Her other books, The Many Meanings of Meilan, Magic Ramen, and The Nian Monster, have also received awards and starred reviews. Her work explores culture, creative...

Jerry Craft is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid and Class Act. New Kid is the only book in history to win the John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature (2020); the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature (2019), and the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American w...

On this podcast, Gary talks with spoken word artist/author Andrew Fenton, from North End Halifax, Nova Scotia. This is a special podcast for Gary, for he speaks with someone from home who has been writing amazing books for some time now. Andre chats representation in text growing up in Nova Scotia at a young age. He also shares his writing journey, and how it started through poetry/spoken word. An...

What an honor to speak with the one and only Deesha Philyaw. Deesha's book Secret Lives of Church Ladies won the 2021 Pen/Faulkner Award, 2020/21 Story Prize, 2020 LA Times Book Prize and was a Finalist 2020 National Book For Fiction. On this podcast, Deesha speaks about her family in Jacksonville, and their influences on her upbringing. What it was like to write during a pandemic, and what strate...

Sarah Suk (pronounced like soup with a K) lives in Vancouver, Canada where she writes stories and admires mountains. When she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the water, taking film photos, or eating a bowl of bingsu. On this episode, listen to Sarah talk about her new book Made In Korea, along with the yummy treats she enjoys. Sarah also spends time talking about growing up in Canad...

Gail D. Villanueva is the author of Sugar and Spite, and debut novel, My Fate According to the Butterfly! She was born in the Philippines, in which she currently lives, and enjoys her many pets at home (dogs, ducks, turtles, cats and random birds) On this episode Gail shares her experience talking with kids about books, and the importance of representation in text. She shares some of the most inte...

Tami Charles is the New York Times bestselling author of All Because You Matter, and many other books for children and young adults. On this podcast she stops by to talk all things personal. She starts with live and times during the pandemic, new math, educational influences and writing during covid-19. Later Tami shares some important insights on raising a Black son, and her steps in how to make...