Queries, Qualms, & Quirks

Middle Grade Author Payal Doshi joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss writing Captain Planet fanfic at eight years old, putting revisions on hold to have a baby, removing an entire POV, wanting to tell a story different from the dominant narrative, paying attention to the market, having to do your own marketing, the benefits and challenges of working with a small press, knowing which questions to ask, writing with a young child, paying attention to word count

Payal Doshi has a Master’s in Creative Writing from The New School, NY. Having lived in India, the UK, and US, she noticed a lack of Indian protagonists in global children’s fiction and one day wrote the opening paragraph to her debut middle grade novel, REA AND THE BLOOD OF THE NECTAR. Raised in Mumbai, India, she currently lives in Minneapolis, MN with her family and can be found daydreaming about fantasy realms to send her characters off into.

Payal: Query | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

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Middle Grade Author Meera Trehan joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss setting a contract with yourself for writing time, the ups and downs of writing conferences, finding friends through writing contests, harsh query rejections, leaving an agent, struggling with titles, how her greatest fear was her greatest strength, and using the waiting time to work on your craft.

Meera Trehan grew up in Virginia where she read as much as she could, memorized poems, and ate enough cookies to earn the nickname “Monster” after the Cookie Monster. After attending the University of Virginia and Stanford Law School, she practiced law for over a decade before turning to writing for children. Her debut, the MG novel THE VIEW FROM THE VERY BEST HOUSE IN TOWN came out from Walker US/Candlewick in February 2022.

Meera: Query | Website | Twitter | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | Libro FM

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Horror Author Cynthia Pelayo joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss breaking stereotypes, having an MFA but not knowing how to query, separating your person from your online persona, getting rejected by every major publisher, listening to your gut on edits, taking 4 years off writing, focusing on the writing instead of the drama, and avoiding the comparison game.

Cynthia Pelayo is a three-time Bram Stoker Award nominated author and poet. She lives in Chicago with her family.

Cynthia: Website | Twitter | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | Libro FM

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Fantasy Author David R. Slayton joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss leaving your first agent, canceling a book contract, R&R scars, writing in many genres, learning as you write the first couple of books, getting up at 5am to write, the expectation of marginalized authors to perform their trauma, the ritual of writing, and his advice for writers just starting out.

David R. Slayton grew up outside of Guthrie, Oklahoma, where finding fantasy novels was pretty challenging and finding fantasy novels with diverse characters was downright impossible. David’s debut, White Trash Warlock, was published in 2020 by Blackstone Publishing and was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award.

David: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | Libro FM

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Middle Grade Author Shakirah Bourne joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the benefit of saying yes to everything, getting distracted from pursuing publication, being 100% confident in a project that doesn't go anywhere, querying without knowing your genre, googling everything, publishing from outside the US, the unfairness of the publishing process, and how you will always have another dream project.

Shakirah Bourne is a Bajan author and filmmaker born and based in Barbados. She once shot a movie scene in a cave with bats during an earthquake, but is too scared to watch horror movies. Her middle grade fantasy, JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA was published by Scholastic in 2021, received starred reviews in Kirkus and Booklist, and was a School Library Journal Best Book of 2021.

Shakirah: Query | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | Libro FM

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Middle Grade Author Maria Frazer joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss Google and Twitter University, #dvpit, figuring out her category, meeting friends through pitch contests, the importance of calling yourself a writer, the purpose of language, working with an editor who rejected the book, waiting for a book deal to get announced, being rejected by your peers, writing on your phone to trick your brain, and learning about taxes.

Maria Frazer is a middle grade and young adult author with a heart of queso. She was born and raised in Texas, where she still spends her time turning every space into a reading nook. Her debut middle grade audiobook MARGARITA IN THE SPOTLIGHT is available now on Audible.

Maria: Query | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon

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Young Adult Author Derek Milman joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss going from acting to writing, how his brother's bachelor party launched his writing career, meeting agents for coffee, two atypical experiences at opposite ends of the spectrum, the last book tour before the pandemic, media mail, focusing on the work in the middle of the business, and being careful about choosing a publisher.

Derek Milman is the author of the YA novels SWIPE RIGHT FOR MURDER and SCREAM ALL NIGHT. A classically-trained actor, who worked for years in TV and film, Derek now lives in Brooklyn where he (tries) to write full time.

Derek: Query | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | Libro FM

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Sci-Fi Thriller Author Rob Hart joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss realizing what books could do, the protection the writing community can provide, having your book deal canceled, the benefit of a wide range of publishing experiences, Chuck Palahniuk, the domino effect of bad sales history, and we went on a tangent about writers getting paid for their time.

Rob Hart is the author of six novels, the short story collection Take-Out, Scott Free with James Patterson, and a Star Wars story. His last book, The Warehouse, sold in 22 countries and was optioned for film by Ron Howard. His next novel, The Paradox Hotel, is due Feb. 22.

Rob: Query | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | Libro FM

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Young Adult Author Heidi Heilig joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss throwing away 600+ pages, getting an offer while on bedrest, making your main character more active, the magic in rewrites, transitioning to writing solo after having a writing partner, how being a receptionist helps her writing, and writing depression accurately but keeping it active.

Heidi Heilig is the author of THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE, a historical fantasy series involving piracy, time travel, and 19th century Hawaii, and FOR A MUSE OF FIRE, a YA fantasy featuring a bipolar shadow player who can see the spirits of the dead. Heidi is bipolar herself, though when she travels through time, it is only in the usual “forward” direction.

Heidi: Query | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | Libro FM

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Disney Author Mari Mancusi joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss writing romance without yet understanding what it was, how she came to write Frozen books, not being afraid of the word no, the importance of reversion clauses, and the challenge with writing so many genres.

Mari Mancusi is an Emmy award winning former TV news producer who has written over 30 novels to kids, teens and adults. She currently writes for Disney animation tie-in novels for Disney Press and middle grade books for Little Brown Young Readers. She lives in Austin, TX with her husband, daughter, and two dogs. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, cosplay, playing video games and making TikToks.

Mari: Query | Website | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | Libro FM

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