Middle Grade Ninja

Xiran Jay Zhao and I discuss their new middle grade novel, ZACHARY YING AND THE DRAGON EMPEROR, and the phenomenon of their YouTube channel about Chinese history and media commentary which has more than 425,000 subscribers (as of this recording).We talk about their IRON WIDOW series and its movie possibilities, how they survived the midlist, how writing is suffering, the sometimes fickle nature of parental support, what to do when your agent leaves the industry, advanced AR videogames, graduating into the job market during the pandemic, and so much more.

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Buy ZACHARY YING AND THE DRAGON EMPEROR by Xiran Jay Zhao: https://amzn.to/3MPE0DF

Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2

Xiran Jay Zhao is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Widow series. A first-gen Hui Chinese immigrant from small-town China to Vancouver, Canada, they were raised by the internet and made the inexplicable decision to leave their biochem degree in the dust to write books and make educational content instead. You can find them @XiranJayZhao on Twitter for memes, Instagram for cosplays and fancy outfits, TikTok for fun short videos, and YouTube for long videos about Chinese history and culture. Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor is their first middle grade novel.

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/

http://xiranjayzhao.com/

Jenna Yoon and I discuss her journey to becoming an author and her debut middle grade novel, LIA PARK AND THE MISSING JEWEL. We talk about why representation matters, how the lack of it inspired her to create Lia Park for her daughters, a terrible experience with a teacher that stopped Jenna from writing a novel sooner, the importance of skin care, drafting a novel with a loose outline, writing while parenting during the pandemic, playing a trick on her sister that backfired, and so much more.

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Buy LIA PARK AND THE MISSING JEWEL by Jenna Yoon: https://amzn.to/3MRItWN

Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2

Jenna Yoon studied Art History at Wellesley College and received her master’s degree in Korean art history from Ewha Womans University. She’s lived about half her life in both Korea and the United States. When she’s not writing, Jenna loves to travel, find yummy eats, play board games, and take skin care very seriously. Currently, she lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two kids.

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/

https://linktr.ee/authorjennayoon

My friend Maurice Broaddus and I discuss his newest novels UNFADEABLE and SWEEP OF STARS. We also chat about some of the older ones, Afrofuturism, using writing to procrastinate from writing, worldbuilding through short stories, grants for writers, writing for video games, Black Panther, British cozy mysteries, running your own writers conference, Arthurian urban fantasy, doing your job as an author for younger readers, vampire communes, and so much more. 

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Buy UNFADEABLE by Maurice Broaddus: https://amzn.to/3kOHhXW 

Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2 

An accidental teacher (at the Oaks Academy Middle School), an accidental librarian (the School Library Manager which part of the IndyPL Shared System), and a purposeful community organizer (resident Afrofuturist at the Kheprw Institute), his work has appeared in Magazine of SF&F, Lightspeed Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Asimov’s, and Uncanny Magazine, with some of his stories having been collected in The Voices of Martyrs. His novels include the urban fantasy trilogy, The Knights of Breton Court, the steampunk novel, Pimp My Airship, and the middle grade detective novel series, The Usual Suspects. As an editor, he’s worked on Dark Faith, Fireside Magazine, and Apex Magazine. His gaming work includes writing for the Marvel Super-Heroes, Leverage, and Firefly role-playing games as well as working as a consultant on Watch Dogs 2.   

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/  

http://mauricebroaddus.com/

Mark Gottlieb and I chat about how he was born into the business of books and how Maxwell Perkins’ love of editing convinced him to become an agent with TRIDENT MEDIA GROUP. We discuss his strategies for finding clients and submitting their work, his passion for making their dreams come true, why it’s important to demystify literary agencies, positioning a book for success, dealing with the frustrations of the publishing industry, hypotheticals involving Ralph Ellison, and so much more.

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Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2  

Mark Gottlieb is a highly ranked literary agent, both in overall deals and other individual categories. Using that same initiative and insight for identifying talented writers, he is actively building his client list of authors. Mark Gottlieb is excited to work directly with authors, helping to manage and grow their careers with all of the unique resources that are available at book publishing’s leading literary agency, Trident Media Group. Through his work at Trident Media Group, Mark Gottlieb continues to represent numerous New York Times bestselling authors, as well as major award-winning authors, and has optioned and sold books to film and TV production companies. He previously ran the agency’s audiobook department, in addition to working in foreign rights. In his free time, Mark Gottlieb tutors free English language classes to adults from low-income immigrant families, via the Literacy Volunteers program at Family Centers, a nonprofit organization offering education, health and human services. He is actively seeking submissions in all categories and genres and looks forward to bringing new and established authors to the curious minds of their future readers. 

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/

https://www.tridentmediagroup.com/ 

https://literaryagentmarkgottlieb.com/ 

Jodi Lynn Anderson and I talk about her career as an editor for Harper Collins before becoming a bestselling author as well as her new middle grade series, THIRTEEN WITCHES. We discuss writing in a diary to help make sense of the world, gaining the confidence to write fiction through working in publishing, her lifelong fascination with ghosts, living with sequel possibilities and thinking of characters as old friends, the importance of being yourself, the importance of imagining a finished novel, hearing voices in your head, and so much more. 

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Buy THIRTEEN WITCHES by Jodi Lynn Anderson: https://amzn.to/37xWObT 

Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2  

Jodi Lynn Anderson is the bestselling author of several critically acclaimed books for young people, including the May Bird trilogy and My Diary from the Edge of the World. She lives with her husband, son, and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina, and holds an MFA in writing and literature from Bennington College.  

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/ 

http://jodilynnanderson.com/ 

James Riley and I have an in-depth discussion about his writing and plotting process for his new middle grade series, ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME. We talk about writing in fairy tale worlds and the way pop culture knowledge permeates our collective creativity. We also chat about Batman, Star Wars, Alan Moore, working for Disney, the darker side of capitalism, a letter from Piers Anthony, and so much more. 

Buy ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME by James Riley: https://amzn.to/37U0nZN 

Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2  

James Riley is the New York Times bestselling author of the HALF UPON A TIME series, the STORY THIEVES series, the REVENGE OF MAGIC series, and the new ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME series. Contrary to what previous biographies have stated, he is a) real and b) not the character Nobody from his STORY THIEVES books. Where would people even get that idea? (Spoiler: From him. He totally made it sound like he really was Nobody. He thought it’d be funny. We’re sorry.)  He was born in Connecticut, where he lived for only a short time before moving to … well, quite a few states. He currently lives in Northern Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C., because that’s where his cats are. He has three of them. Other people think that’s a bit much.  

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/  

https://jamesrileyauthor.com/