Interview Tuesdays

Guojing is an award-winning author and illustrator of picture books and graphic novels. Her wordless picture book The Only Child was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year. Her second wordless picture book Stormy: A Story About Finding a Forever Home was an ALA Notable Children’s Book, hailed as “masterful” by The New York Times. Her graphic novels The Flamingo and Oasis received...

C.M. Cornwell is the author of whimsical stories with magic and heart including The Memory Spinner (Penguin Random House, 2025) and The Paper Ballerina (Penguin Random House, 2027). She has a degree in English Literature and lives in Pennsylvania with her family. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys traveling, hoarding cardigans, and tangling herself in fiber arts projects. Learn more at https://www...

Author Christy Mihaly loves history, nature, and books. She writes for kids because she believes that our best hope for the future is raising young people who love to read, and giving them the knowledge and skills to lead. Christy has written around 40 children's nonfiction titles on topics from hayfields to free speech to food. Her fall 2021 picture book with Barefoot Books, WATER: A Deep Div...

Tom was born and raised in Southern New Jersey. Growing up in rural America, Tom has a deep sense of community - when our families, neighbors, farmers, local businesses, and organizations all work in concert to support one another, it strengthens us individually and collectively. Tom relishes opportunities to develop meaningful relationships with his local community. ​​As a gay dad and a father of...

Alby C. Williams hails from the land of snow and salt potatoes. They are a storyteller, poet and artist of dubious skill but endless enthusiasm. If you catch them in their spare time, you might mistake them for a cat based on the amount of yarn in their immediate vicinity, but don't be fooled---they're actually several pigeons in a trench coat. Learn more at https://albycwilliams.com/

Lija Fisher is the author of funny adventure novels for kids that explore the world of cryptozoology, or the search for legendary animals that might be real. Her debut novel. THE CRYPTID CATCHER (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) received a starred review from Booklist and was a Junior Library Guild Selection. The sequel, THE CRYPTID KEEPER, was written while Lija was the Writer in Residence with Aspen...

Isabelle Knight is the middle-grade fantasy author of the Enchantria series, which she began writing at age ten and published during her middle school years. A lifelong book and cat lover, she now resides somewhere in a book-filled apartment, surrounded by an unimaginable number of stuffed pandas and enough books to start her own bookstore. When she’s not writing about creepy shadows, daring heroi...

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...