Professor, physician, and New York Times best-selling author, Dr. Sayantani DasGupta, speaks with us to discuss her young adult debut novel, Debating Darcy. Her story is a retelling of Jane Austen’s classic, Pride and Prejudice, and her heroine is Leela Bose, a member of her high school’s speech and debate club, who has met her match in Firoze Darcy, a Read More
International best-selling author, Sabaa Tahir, talks to us about her seventh published book, All My Rage. “So All My Rage is a contemporary novel, as opposed to a fantasy. It is following the story of two characters, three characters, actually. The main two are Noor and Salahudin. They are two young kids growing up in the Mojave Desert, and the Read More
Tami Charles talks about her new young adult novel – Muted – and why she became a writer. “It was through my teaching that I rediscovered my love of writing and my continued passion for books ” “it was my students who said, because we were writing stories together, .., Miss Charles you should really think about becoming an author. Read More
Alan Gratz takes on 9/11 for young adult readers in his novel – Ground Zero. “I was getting requests from kids, ( they know I write about tough topics) – ‘ Write about 9/11! Write about 9/11!’. And I kept thinking, I don’t know if I can do that emotionally; if I’m ready to go back and face all the Read More
Writing team Maika and Maritza Moulite talk with us about their latest book – One of the Good Ones – and about what got them started wring in the first place. “We had grown up reading a ton of books… because our parents didn’t allow us to watch TV during the week. So we went to the library every weekend, Read More
Bill Konigsberg takes on teen suicide in his new novel for young adults, ‘The Bridge’. “I myself have a history of severe depression and I’ve had a suicide attempt in my life. Depression can be all encompassing and our brains begin to lie to us .I know that when I’ve been depressed my brain tells me that it would not Read More
Politics and the unreliability of the media in a scandal ridden race for class president. “Sources Say” is a young adult novel by Lori Goldstein and is a fun romp through high school politics and the modern problems of “fake News”. Lori got the idea for the novel talking to her nephew about social media ” It started to get Read More
“Matched” trilogy author, Ally Condie, (novels of young adult science fiction) speaks about the creation of dystopian fiction and the questions that her novels were created to explore.. “At the heart of it is the same question – What happens when we don’t get to choose who we love.” About the dystopian novel in general ” It’s always felt a Read More
This episode of Writers’ Voices focuses on government, politics, and activism. In the first half, Monica and Caroline speak with Jeff Foster, Parkland, FL advanced placement government teacher, about his new illustrated guide for young (and old) readers: “For Which We Stand: How Our Government Works and Why It Matters.” This was recorded a week after the 2020 Presidential election, Read More
“I think when you’re writing for middle school it’s easy to fall into stereo types…One of the fun things is to try and disrupt those and turn those things upside down.” Rob Harrell talks about his new novel – Wink – Surviving middle school with one eye open. “So much change happens between…the end of fifth grade and the beginning Read More
Julie Berry, her latest historical fiction novel – Lovely War ” We have this tendency to look at the past as though it’s not applicable to us; because they had weird hair styles and weird clothes and had outmoded technology; and even some goofy opinions and tastes, by our own measure. That therefore they weren’t really real, they weren’t really Read More
Monica talks with tech novel writer Marie Lu on her new novel – Wild Card. “…There’s both good and bad things that come with technology; allot of those questions went into Wild Card. …. In our real world, our tech giants, they tried to make things.. in the beginning, with very good intentions… but the best intentions can be warped Read More
Monica and Caroline talk with Ann Hood about the writing life and her new novel for young readers – She loves you Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. ” It was fun to remember my young self like that and how earnest I was about all these things….One of the things that was fun was recreating, for the readers of today, what it Read More
Our culture of misogyny is the topic as Writers Voices speaks with Brendan Kiely about his new novel for young adults – Tradition. “I think that men too often construct their masculinity in ways that are anti-woman and that’s part of the problem. They haven’t even taken the time to imagine the individual. If you’re making a blanket statement, “Oh Read More
“I don’t think anyone could imagine what would happen.” Veera Hiranandani talks to Writers Voices about her new book – The Night Diary – A young adult novel about the partitioning of India. ” My grandparents, basically one night said “We have to get out of here.” Packed bags, got on a train and made it to safety and they Read More
“I have long felt that it is more important to have well written, deep multifaceted female characters than it is to have strong roles. I think the strength is … often a by product of the depth.” Matt Killeen on writing -Orphan, Monster, Spy. ” She ( the main character) kind of talks to me a little bit and I Read More
Author of Alex and Eliza – a love story – Melissa de la Cruz talks about writing for young adults “It’s all kind of about youthful optimism and idealism. I think that’s why the young adult market has grown so much now…..Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen year olds, they are really about, you know, the novelty of life … when all the Read More
MWD – Military Working Dog – a graphic novel – a collaborative effort by Brian David Johnson and Jan Egleson. Writers Voices talks with Brian about the theme of the novel – PTSD and dogs in the military; ” There were sometimes when we were writing this, when I was like – well it seems like some of the best Read More
“When I’m writing younger characters I almost always have the central conflict with their siblings.” Kayla Cagen talks about her young adult novel – Piper Perish. “They (siblings) are the other story tellers in our lives…I’ve always found that very fascinating…we are the storyteller of their (lives) and we may have a very different story than what they have of Read More
Ellen Hopkins The You I’ve Never Known
Ellen Hopkins on writing for young adults “I write about those things because…those kids want to see themselves in books..they want to know people care enough to write about those things.” About her verse novel -The You I’ve Never Known. “I wanna create stories and characters that resonate with all kinds of readers, including kids that are struggling with their Read More
Richelle Mead author of Vampire Academy discusses her new book – The Glittering Court – whiteboards – and her writing process. “I often start with the big idea… the plot points, those little idea clouds and then it turns into bullet points, and sometimes it will become a chapter by chapter sort of grid….Those things eventually coalesce…into a Word document…that Read More
Marie Lu is a hot commodity in the world of Young Adult fantasy fiction. She published book 1 of the very successful Legend trilogy in 2013. Like all 5 of her books so far, it was a New York Times bestseller. Born in China, Lu didn’t really understand that books had authors as a child. But once she did, and Read More
Ellen Hopkins always wanted to be a writer. In her 30’s, she began her writing career as a freelance journalist. From there she branched out to children’s nonfiction., publishing 20 books such as “Orcas: High Seas Supermen.” As a teen and young adult, Ellen’s daughter struggled with drug addiction, and out of this sorrow came Ellen’s first novel, written in Read More
D.J. MacHale is the New York Times best-selling author of the “Pendragon” and “Morpheus Road” science fiction adventure series for young adults. MacHale was also co-creator and producer of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?,” a Twilight Zone-inspired series for kids that ran on Nickelodeon for 7 seasons in the 1990’s. This summer, book 1 of MacHale’s new trilogy, “Sylo” Read More
Suzanne Young is a high school teacher whose first five books went straight to the “novel graveyard.” But she kept writing, and perfecting her craft, and with her sixth effort she broke through to publishing success, in 2010. Since then she has published six young adult and crossover books, with three more on the way. In this interview we learn Read More
Join us for this lively interview with Anne Greenwood Brown. Ann grew up sailing the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior, leaning over the bow, and wondering what amazing thing might flash by. In her book, “Lies Beneath,” she answers that question. “Lies Beneath” is a Young Adult fantasy about three scary mermaids and their more compassionate brother. Anne lives in Read More
For 10 years, Deborah Halverson edited children’s books before starting to write herself. She is the author of teen novels “Honk If You Hate Me” and “Big Mouth”. Her most recent book, “Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies”, gives aspiring writers for young adults writing exercises, tips, and more. She has also written three books in a forthcoming series for Read More
Listen to a conversation with Young Adult book author, Delia Ray. Her most recent book, “Here Lies Linc”, a Junior Library Guild Selection, describes what happens when young Lincoln Crenshaw Jr. investigates a curse connected with an ominous statue in a nearby cemetery. A graduate of the Radcliffe Publishing Course, Delia Ray wrote two nonfiction books while working as an Read More
This Writers’ Voices features an interview with local Fairfield author, Andrew Edlin. Andrew Edlin was born in Brighton, U.K. and currently lives in Fairfield, Iowa. Andrew has written the fantasy novel “Inaccessible: Dragon Retreat”, which was self-published and is being released through e-book applications. Taking place in 1961, when the few solitary dragons are threatened as their invisibility begins to Read More
Cheryl Fusco Johnson takes the hosting reins once again. Cheryl will be speaking with author Jan Blazanin of Des Moines. Jan’s newest book, “A & L Do Summer”, follows the adventures of two teenage girls in rural Iowa during the summer before their senior year. A former middle school teacher, Jan currently lives on eleven acres, presents writers workshops, teaches Read More
On this Writers’ Voices, Cheryl Fusco Johnson talks with author Wendy Delsol. After studying at UCLA Writers’ Extension Program and at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, she sold a young adult novel, “Stork”, to Candlewick Press. That book was released last October. “Stork” tells of Kat Leblanc, a fashion minded 16-year-old who moves from L.A. to a small town in Read More