Interview Tuesdays

After years of professional writing, private equity attorney Jeff Dorrill decided it was time to write something a little different. Switching gears from his experience writing law review articles, including over thirty-five pieces for publication in SMU Law Review, Baylor Law Review, and Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, Jeff wanted to write something that would be read for fun. Growin...

Haven Iverson is an author of children's literature living in Boulder, Colorado. She received her MFA as a fellow at the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Austin. Slow Down, Tumbleweed (Sounds True, 2021) was her first published children’s book, and her next book, Into the Wilderness, which received a Kirkus starred review, is forthcoming from Macmillan in March 2026. Lea...

Alexandra Diaz is the award winning children’s book author of The Only Road and its sequel, The Crossroads , and also Santiago’s Road Home and Farewell Cuba, mi isla . Along with her mother, she translated the four books into Spanish, El único destino , La encrucijada , La travesía de Santiago , and Hasta siempre Cuba, mi isla . The Only Road is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Pura...

Pooja Makhijani is the author of Mama’s Saris, Bread Is Love, Together For Mama, and Aunties. Her bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Real Simple, The Atlantic, WSJ.com, The Cut, Teen Vogue, Epicurious, Publishers Weekly, ELLE, Bon Appétit, The Kitchn, BuzzFeed, and Catapult among others. Learn more at: https://www.poojamakhijani.com/

Melissa Taylor is a mom of two girls, an education blogger & writer, a children’s book expert, a former award-winning bilingual teacher with an M.A. in Education, a former literacy trainer for teachers, and a passionate advocate for literacy, representation in children’s literature, and high-quality education. She has taught ESL, bilingual kindergarten, bilingual 4/5, 4th, and 5th grades, and...

Claudia Rueda is a Colombian author and a New York Times Best Seller illustrator of over thirty picture books. Rueda's books have been published in the United States, Mexico, and Spain and have been translated into seventeen different languages. She’s a 2016 Hans Christian Andersen and Astrid Lindgren Awards nominee. Claudia went to Law and Art school and worked as a political cartoonist in Co...

Olivia Abtahi is a proud Iranian Argentinian American. Her debut novel, Perfectly Parvin, was published in 2021, receiving the SCBWI Golden Kite Honor, YALSA Odyssey Honor, and numerous starred reviews. Her sophomore novel, Azar on Fire, was published in August 2022 and is a SLJ pick. Olivia's third novel, Twin Flames, is a New Visions Award winner and published in August 2024. The Interpreter...

Rebecca K. Morrison was born in Iran, immigrated to the United States in her teens, and now lives in the Washington, DC, area. In 2020, after practicing law for over two decades, Rebecca decided to pursue her dreams of becoming a writer. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Newsweek, The Independent and HuffPost, among others. Her debut novel, The Blue Dress,...

Amy Seto Forrester (she/her) is passionate about diverse, engaging books for developing readers. She draws on a decade of experience as a children’s librarian, a background in the performing arts, and a lifelong love of puzzles, mazes, and all forms of interactive learning. Amy served on the 2016 Geisel Award Committee. She has written pieces for Booklist, School Library Journal, and Calling Calde...

Nicholas Manning is an educator and writer passionate about nurturing emotional growth through literature. Drawing on twelve years of teaching middle school language arts and experience illustrating children's books, he now authors Angel Among Us. Inspired by his mother's passing and written for his twin sons, this book serves as a gentle, visually engaging resource to help children proces...

Dan Gemeinhart lives in a small town smack dab in the middle of Washington state with his wife and three young daughters. He was lucky and grateful to be a teacher-librarian in an elementary school for thirteen years, where he got to share awesome books with awesome kids. He loves camping, cooking and traveling. He also plays guitar (badly) and reads (constantly). His house is always a mess. He is...

Kathy Kacer is a multiple award-winning author whose books have sold in over twenty countries and have been translated into many languages. Her novels are stories of hope, courage, and humanity in the face of overwhelming adversity. These days, in addition to writing, she speaks to young people in schools and libraries around the world, about the importance of understanding the Holocaust and keepi...

Donna Galanti wanted to be a writer ever since she attended an English school, housed in a magical castle, where her wild imagination was held back only by her itchy uniform (bowler hat and tie included!). She is the author of middle-grade books with the Unicorn Island series, Joshua and the Lightning Road series, and Loon Cove Summer . She’s also the author of the paranormal suspense Element Tril...

Mari Mancusi  is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty sci-fi/fantasy books for kids, teens and adults and an Emmy award winning former TV news producer. Her series have been selected for major state reading lists as well as the Scholastic Book Fairs and have been honored by the American Library Association as “Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers." In addition to writ...

Kathy Akopov Guillory  grew up in the USSR and immigrated to the United States with her family when she was nine years old. She struggled to make friends at a new school in an entirely new country and leaned on her grandma, Baba Emma, for support, which inspired her book  The Adventures of Belle Bear . By day, she is a marketing consultant who lives in Maine with her husband, Chris; daughters, Emm...

Shugri Salh  is the author of the memoir  The Last Nomad  (Algonquin, 2021) and a supporting actor in the Apple TV+ “Little America” episode set in an immigrant Somali community. She was born in the desert of Somalia in 1974 and spent her early years living with her grandmother in the desert as a nomad. In 1992, after the civil war broke out in her home country, she emigrated to North America. She...

Lancelot Schaubert authored Bell Hammers, which Publisher’s Weekly called “a hoot.” He is a full voting member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. He edits anthologies and journals; produces albums, films, graphic novels, picture books, and photo novels; raises funds, friends, and minds for artists.  Learn more at: https://lanceschaubert.org/

Want an e-book copy of one of Mahtab's books? Fill out this Google Form! The first five responses will receive an e-book for free, curtesy of Mahtab Narsimhan: https://forms.gle/HRny4JvCbLMoZPrh9Mahtab Narsimhan is an award-winning author with numerous critically acclaimed books. She is inspired by life, love, and the desire to make sense of the world through stories. Learn more at: https://www.ma...

Traci Sorell  is a best-selling author of inclusive, award-winning historical and contemporary fiction and nonfiction in a variety of formats for young people.  She is a two-time Sibert Medal and Orbis Pictus honoree and award-winning audiobook narrator and producer. Eight of her books have received awards from the American Indian Library Association. Other accolades include Charlotte Huck Honor A...

Rebecca E. F. Barone  is an engineer who has worked on a diverse array of projects: injury analysis for the National Football League, knee mechanics during car crashes, development of gait biometrics, and engine calibration of hybrid cars. Realizing her love for books in addition to numbers, she now describes the world with words rather than equations. Her first book,  Race to the Bottom of the Ea...

Lance Rubin  is the NY Times best-selling author of young adult and middle grade novels, including  Denton Little’s Deathdate, Crying Laughing,  and  The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek  (co-written with Rhett and Link of  Good Mythical Morning ). He was an ABA Indies Introduce pick for  Denton Little’s Deathdate,  which was the  ILA YA book of the year in 2016.   His books have also been Junior Librar...

Jed Alexander  is the author and illustrator of The Fairy-Tale Color Collection, a series of wordless retellings of classic fairytales for children—including Red and Gold, which have garnered starred reviews from  Kirkus Reviews  and P ublishers Weekly  and praise from the  New York Times.  He has also written and illustrated for  SpongeBob Comics  and  Cricket  magazine. Jed lives in California w...

Two-time Nebula Award-winner Fran Wilde has (so far) published nine novels, a poetry collection,  and over 70 short stories for adults, teens, and kids. Her stories have been finalists for six Nebula Awards, a World Fantasy Award, four Hugo Awards, four Locus Awards, and a Lodestar. They include her Nebula- and Compton Crook-winning debut novel Updraft , and her Nebula-winning, Best of NPR 2019, d...

Jeff Gottesfeld is an acclaimed writer for page, stage, and screen. His work has won awards from the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America, and the National Council for the Social Studies. He is based in Los Angeles, California.  Visit him at jeffgottesfeldwrites.com.

Nate Moeller  lives in Freeland, Michigan, with his amazing wife, Jennifer, and their two beautiful children, Sadie and Sam. The inspiration for his book  Twinkling Wings and Toothy Things  came from his daughter Sadie losing one of her teeth. When he isn’t working, Nate enjoys spending time with his family and enjoying the outdoors.