How did you decide you wanted to be a writer? I started to write—poems at first—in junior high, 7th or 8th grade. I had a series of teachers who taught poetry and encouraged writing, and I found that writing things down, and turning my daily experience and my emotions into stories or poems, was [...]

Here is a A conversation with Jessica Maria Tuccelli, author of Glow. You may also be interested in my review of her book. Glow is steeped in the geography and folklore of northeast Georgia and Southern Appalachia, yet you were raised in New York City. Why did you decide to set your novel in this [...]

In this essay, K. L. Glanville, author of 2108: Eyes Open,shares her thoughts on how science fiction can stimulate discussions about morals and beliefs that take place in the here and now. I’ve experienced this in book club meetings myself, as club members discussed the ethics of using imagined medical technologies to prolong human life. [...]

Yesterday I reviewed Joanne Rocklin’s great book for 8 to 12 year olds, The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook. I’m also offering a giveaway, which you can enter to win by commenting on the review post. Today, Rocklin talks about the healing power of stories and the role storytelling plays in our lives. Here’s [...]

Yesterday I featured a review of Cristina Alger’s book The Darlings. Today, Alger is here to talk about the influence her mom has been on her love of telling stories. My mother and I have been reading together for as long as I can remember. As a child, I had an endless appetite for stories, [...]

Yesterday I posted a review of Meredith Zeitlin’s new book, Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters. Today, she’s here to talk about the writing life and her spunky heroine, Kelsey Finkelstein. How did you know you wanted to be a writer? MZ: I’ve always just been one, really—since I was very little. I come from [...]

Yesterday, I featured a review of Pesi Dinnerstein’s book A Cluttered Life. Today, I’m featuring an essay she wrote about clutter and the need to create borders, something different from boundaries. Dinnerstein, also known as Paulette Plonchak, has also written selections for the best-selling series Small Miracles, by Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal, and has [...]

Michaela MacColl has written two novels for young readers that feature historical figures: Beryl Markham in Promise the Night and Queen Victoria in  Prisoners in the Palace: How Princess Victoria Became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel. Recently I had a chance to ask her a few questions about [...]