Kidlit Happy Hour

Dan Santat joins Joanna and Caroline to celebrate the launch of their book The Day the Books Disappeared! They share an honest conversation around the impacts of book banning, challenges within the publishing industry at large, and the need for art that continues to push back. To snag swag and copies of The Day the Books Disappeared signed by both Joanna and Caroline, order from Linden Tree Books...

Here are some highlights from our episode with the #1 NYTimes bestselling, National Book Award-winning, former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jacqueline Woodson:   Starting stories with questions Writing "quiet" books that speak loudly The wisdom of young people, especially before that wisdom is silenced Deconstructing “show don’t tell” How to write about complicated topics with...

Highlights from our conversation with Founder and Publisher of Kokila, Namrata Tripathi:   The power of celebrating not just our communal work, but also ourselves Voice as an essential point of view with no illusion of neutrality How cheap workarounds subvert the hard work of uncovering our own voice  The power of words like “intuition” (despite how it may come off as fluffy or weak) Supporting wr...

They’re back!!! Here are some highlights from Joanna and Caroline’s first episode after their five-month KLHH hiatus: Joanna’s major recent life events! Caroline’s crisis of faith around her Enneagram number Book launches and Big Book Energy Where Caroline and Joanna have been finding hope recently What’s next for Kidlit Happy Hour Some links from today’s episode: Preorder BECOMING BOBA along with...

Here are some highlights from our conversation with the NYTimes bestselling, award-winning cartoonist and graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier:  Why hearing her teacher's name was the first time Raina ever considered "voice" One gripe with Judy Blume How her voice has (or hasn’t) changed since middle school Power and difficulty of putting yourself back in headspace of child self Forming three dimensi...

Our conversation with Aida Salazar is here! Aida shares about how one workshop radically changed her approach to voice, why writing is a spiritual practice, how she stays open to receiving stories from our ancestors, and so much more.   Aida Salazar is an award-winning author, arts activist, and translator whose writings explore issues of identity and social justice. Her critically acclaimed verse...

Here are some highlights from our conversation with NYTimes-bestselling, award-winning author Jasmine Warga!: Excavating not simply WHAT your characters want, but WHY they want it The necessity of internal contractions  Becoming a collector of ideas and moments throughout the drafting and revision process How images drive her plotting process The role of alchemy in storytelling The consistent them...

Here are a few highlights from our conversation with the award-winning Adib Khorram: How his notes app has come to be bursting with character ideas and peoples' idiosyncrasies Impact of theater school on character-building Operating as a subconsciously-driven artist How his starting place for creating character differs from other authors Prioritization of character vs plot vs world building Revisi...

Here are highlights from our conversation with award-winning, NYTimes-bestselling author Randy Ribay:   How characters explore the same internal questions he’s grappling with in his own life Writing towards ideas rather than adhering to a firm outline Doing the work of finding your own process What compels a reader to take off their own mask The genius of Succession’s character building Why Caroli...

Highlights from our episode with the bestselling, awards-winning, queen herself, Grace Lin: Picking a setting where you *want* to spend time Identifying as a storyteller vs. a writer Why she is the 1% of writers who do NOT start their story with character Her pals persistence and doggedness The role of faith in writing How publishing has shape-shifted over the past 30 years Grace Lin, a NY Times b...

Here are some highlights from our conversation with award-winning, bestselling author Liz Garton Scanlon:   📚 Why setting is not relevant only in hsitorical fiction or fantasy and how it impacts every single experience of ourselves and our characters 📚 Setting as context, and reverse engineering elements of craft   📚Honoring the rhythms of being a s l o w writer 📚 Stories emerging in a dreamsc...

Highlights from this episode include: Starting with a story and discovering theme along the way Propping up a story with telephone poles and burying the wires in between Leaving space for readers to lean in and discover things for themselves Minh Lê is the award-winning author of household favorites Drawn Together (winner of the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature), Real to Me, The Bl...

We're thrilled to introduce our first guest of Season 2, the brilliant author Laurel Snyder. Highlights in this episode include: Theme bumping against character, setting, plot and more in order to find its path Writing from the heart in a capitalist system Writing like a cook, not a baker Why the outline changes the minute she starts writing The realities of loving, and envying!, authors like Kate...

In which we share ways we've taken our KLHH guests' advice to live life as inspiration for craft, and attempt to buckle down for this upcoming year - because the year actually follows the academic calendar, right? We've got things cooking for you this season, and we hope we can find ways to connect with our listeners more. One way you can do that is by dropping your questions for upcoming guests o...

It’s our final episode of the inaugural season of Kidlit Happy Hour!!! Join us as we surprise one another with favorite moments from each episode, reflect on the season, and talk through where we’re going from here.   We will officially be back in August with our second season that is PACKED TO THE BRIM with brilliant minds across kidlit. In the meantime, be sure to follow the podcast on Apple, Sp...

Highlights from our conversation with NYTimes bestselling and award-winning author Claribel A. Ortega: The #1 way to connect to your audience Claribel's tried and true mantra in publishing Risks and benefits of sharing your writing journey online Why writing your interests into your stories is a smart bet The joys of trolling (not the kind you may be thinking) and why she loves receiving "hate mai...

Some highlights from our conversation with marketing guru Emily Lyman:   Reframing self-promotion as a celebration with your community Individuals understand their “brand” Good marketing IS storytelling Why sharing your values, even if controversial, generates more loyal connections and community Empathetic marketing   Emily spent nearly a decade working in-house with global publishers such as Pen...

Here are select highlights from our conversation with NYtimes bestselling, award-winning author Cynthia Leitich Smith:   Story as a circle, gathering, and communal effort Figuring out where your voice can best serve and where your heart beats with hope Building on “and” instead of “vs” Inviting people into the conversation AND being a part of the conversation Social media dynamics as both tricky a...

Highlights from our conversation with football coach Tavita Pritchard:   Centering relationships over x’s and o’s How who you are shows up on the tape How embracing his family history guides his coaching style Believing in your process instead of over-indexing on an individual result Connections between coaching and the writing process   Pritchard played quarterback at Stanford University from 200...

Highlights from our conversation with Andrea Davis Pinkney:   - Why riding the Coney Island cyclone is one of the earliest steps to polishing a manuscript - Relying on an inner circle that we trust with our unpolished work - Physically dIsmatling a piece and then stitching it back together - Making homemade audio book read alouds as part of the revision process - The "page one pact" and “hook, pul...

Highlights from this episode with Lil Miss Hot Mess include: Why nail polish is like writing a book Writing for kids through the lens of performance arts Why theater kids run the world Lil Miss Hot Mess is a drag queen , activist, and children’s book author, known for her work with the #MyNameIs campaign and  Drag Queen Story Hour . She has appeared on Saturday Night Live as a backup dancer for Ka...

Here are a few highlights from our conversation with Erin Entrada Kelly:   Building stories grounded in a single character The gift of writing in your head  Why all roads lead back to one word: “organic” The power of writing in longhand Why novels should be like a blanket, not a quilt Feeding your creative soul, and why it counts as writing time Emotional tension vs. external tension Remembering t...

Here are a few highlights from our conversation with Angel Barreto, one of the most creative and celebrated chefs in the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond:   Staying true to the traditional values of a dish while adding your own voice How working within constraints can bring out innovation and creativity How his family history as sharecroppers influenced his passion for food Why being the first perso...

Highlights from this episode with Jerry Craft include:   Why building a story is like building a house How eavesdropping enriches characterization… and body odor Evolution of attending book conferences as a fan to becoming a headline author Tricks to building a series that continues to feel fresh and relevant Resistance to writing stories with horrific events, especially while centering Black char...

Highlights from this episode with Nic Stone include:   Nic’s famous mnemonic for the writing process, including a behind the scenes sneak peek to her third book in the Dear Martin series The two questions to ask when working on a new story The experience of having FUN while writing and how each book is a form of self-exploration Reading (rather than avoiding) comp titles during the drafting proces...