A Writer’s Creative Process (3:15)

What creative process does an author go through in writing a story? Do they write about something they know or on a specific topic? Rachel talks to middle grade author Matthew J. Kirby about how he sets his stories in a variety of times and places based on what piques his interest at the moment. For me, he says, I don’t write about what I know (the old axiom), but about what I don’t know and what I’m curious about. Kirby is an award-winning author of novels including The Clockwork Three, Icefall, the Dark Gravity Sequence series, and most recently, A Taste for Monsters. When he’s not writing books, Matt is also a school psychologist

The Joy of Poetry (15:27)

Next, Rachel visits with poet Janet Wong, co-compiler of The Poetry Friday Anthology. She shares how she got her start in poetry – not really liking it as a kid, then, later, as an adult, discovering its joys. She is now an award-winning children’s book author. Janet Wong is a former lawyer whose dramatic career change has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN’s Paula Zahn Show, and Radical Sabbatical. She is the author of 30 books for children and teens on a wide variety of subjects.   

Favorite Book (25:58)

And, some delightful storytelling from three children. They shared their stories with Makena Bauss, a team member of “The Apple Seed”, a program heard on BYU Radio. The audio you hear was recorded at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Orem, Utah.

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:03:15 - A Writer's Creative Process

00:15:27 - The Joy of Poetry

00:25:58 - Favorite Book