Ask a Librarian with Julie Chavez

Matt Tavares may harbor dreams of being an animator, but for, now he’s busying himself as the author-illustrator of a stack of acclaimed picture books (including one of Julie’s favorites, Red and Lulu). He joins Julie in this episode to talk about the latest title he’s adding to the stack: his first graphic novel, Hoops. Matt and Julie talk about his love for sports and his belief that middle-grade readers would benefit from a story about the way young athletes used their voices to enact change. He also shares the basics about creating a graphic novel (as opposed to a picture book), and the beauty of getting to the point (in writing and life).

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Sally Hepworth knows how to write about dysfunctional families. Her books have sold over a million copies worldwide, and Sally’s latest title, THE SOULMATE, is a recent favorite of Julie’s. Sally joins Julie in this episode to share her path to becoming a writer (though Julie contends she has many other areas of expertise), “Hepworth workarounds,” Sally’s fun and funny presence on Instagram, and her unexpected turn as a wig-fluencer. Sally also weighs in on the burning question: do soulmates exist? 

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Michelle Glogovac started her career in corporate aviation and after many successful years spent selling jet fuel, she decided she wanted to do more than save rich people more money. She was drawn to the podcast medium because of the intimacy and the possibility for reciprocal relationship, and that’s how she became The Podcast Matchmaker™. She joins Julie in this episode to talk about best practices for podcast guests and hosts, her own podcast and her upcoming book, and being in the business of connection.

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Award-winning author Rebecca Makkai joins Julie in this episode to talk about her latest book, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU. Rebecca shares about her new title, reverse engineering her characters, first and last lines, and her preoccupation with and exploration of the palimpsest of memory. As the artistic director of StoryStudio Chicago and MFA faculty member at multiple university programs, Rebecca also discusses how teaching contributes to her own writing. 

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Camille Pagán is the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of ten books and, as it happens, she’s also a delightful person and literary citizen. Camille joins Julie to talk about her latest title, Good for You, and her continued desire to write about real life––both its joy and pain. Camille is also a master certified coach and the founder of Even Better Co., and she shares about the head-down approach to writing that has allowed her to create a sustainable career in a mercurial industry.

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Tara Schuster is the friend we all need. She’s kind, supportive, genuine, and her latest book, Glow in the F*cking Dark, is a guidebook for deep soul healing (minus the annoying self-help language and unnecessarily complicated meditation terms). Tara joins Julie in this episode to talk about growing into herself, the life events that preempted her journey to get off the “Good Enough Plateau,” and celebrating that we are all–quite literally–made of stardust. 

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Meghan Volchko is from Cleveland, which is the first and most important thing to know about her. But you may also be interested to hear about her day job as a digital content librarian at OverDrive. Meghan joins Julie in this episode to talk about the functionality and ease of using the Libby app, the rise of audiobooks, and the fun of reading books before they arrive on shelves (she read 200 books in 2022). But even though her job is to know what you should read in the upcoming months, she provides a few book recommendations that are on shelves now. You know, to keep you busy in the meantime.   

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Best-selling author Christie Tate’s latest book, B.F.F., is a celebration of her friendships—the real-life, messy, hard-won sort. Julie and Christie discuss jealousy and the path forward from it, the work of finding tenderness for our past selves (foolish and imperfect though they were), and the power of the stories we tell—and believe—about ourselves. Julie also gets a chance to hear about Christie’s adjustment to life as a full-time writer after she left her career in law. 

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For the authors of A Merry Little Meet-Cute, their own meet-cute was best friendship at first sight. Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy join Julie in this episode to discuss their book about “two horny dummies just trying to navigate Christmas,” but what will delight you in this episode is the depth and intelligence of these two authors and former librarians. They speak with Julie about the intention they bring to their co-authored title, covering topics from sex work and fetishization to the experience of the neurodivergent in a capitalist world that pushes a narrow view of productivity. Oh, and lube, of course. Don’t miss this season finale of Season Three!

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