Podcast

Jennifer Sommersby started writing rom-coms (romantic comedies) under the pseudonym of Eliza Gordon as she was in the waiting game of edits/revisions/publication for a young adult novel. She has penned 8 books under that name, the latest a three-part series – Planet Lara. Welcome to Planet Lara is an enviromance – environmental romance – with […]

Mary Boone is the author of more than 60 non-fiction books for young readers. She has written about everything from boy bands, the Biebs and in her latest book, bugs. Bugs for Breakfast is an informative, engaging book, not just for middle grade readers, but for adults as well. It will open your eyes (and […]

When first-time author and full-time business owner Laura Ballerini sat down to write some stories, she didn’t anticipate the transformation that would take place inside her soul. From a very young age, Laura was introduced to art through her mother’s skill with crafting, fixing, and cooking. Now, as a graphic designer, Laura realizes just how […]

Kalena  Miller’s debut novel will take you back to everything that was horrible and awesome about high school. There’s junk food, fighting, texting, and prom night. You know what’s missing? Sex. The night that was carefully planned goes horribly wrong. You’ll laugh out loud, but also feel deeply connected to the characters in The Night […]

As the author of 3 bestselling dystopian novels with strong female characters, Christina Dalcher is often painted as a feminist. There are so many more layers to this linguist-now-author. While her first novel, Vox, brought the issue of silencing women to the table, her latest, Femlandia, examines life in broken-down world, where women are building […]

Sorry For Your Loss is a poignant, touching and sometimes funny story about Evie, a girl whose family runs a Jewish funeral home. In this episode, Joanne and I talk about how kids can learn about hard topics through reading, what some of the challenges are when writing for middle grade and why the feedback […]