Story of the Book

Here at Story of the Book, we've been taking an unplanned hiatus. (Sorry to have disappeared on you all!) BUT we have an incredible bonus episode for you today with Katherine Locke, author of WHAT ARE YOUR WORDS?: A BOOK ABOUT PRONOUNS. If you've ever wanted to write a picture book, Katherine shares so much wisdom in this interview about creating picture books that really shine. We adored this book and conversation, and we hope you will, too!

Buy WHAT ARE YOUR WORDS? A BOOK ABOUT PRONOUNS here.

Follow Katherine on Twitter and Instagram.

Katherine Locke lives and writes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with their feline overlords and their addiction to chai lattes. They are the author of the critically-acclaimed This Rebel Heart, The Girl with the Red Balloon, a 2018 Sydney Taylor Honor Book and 2018 Carolyn W. Field Honor Book, as well as The Spy with the Red Balloon. They are the co-editor and contributor to This is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them and Us, which had three starred reviews and made Kirkus Review’s Best Middle Grade of 2021 list, as well as It's A Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes and Other Jewish Stories. They also contributed to Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens and Out Now: Queer We Go Again. They are the author of picture books Bedtime for Superheroes, What Are Your Words? A Book About Pronouns, and Being Friends with Dragons. They can be found online at KatherineLockeBooks.com and @bibliogato on Twitter and Instagram.

In this final episode of Story of the Book Season 2, we're talking to the amazing Axie Oh, New York Times bestselling author of THE GIRL WHO FELL BENEATH THE SEA (Feiwel & Friends, 2022). We chatted to Axie about so many great topics, including her writing process, querying with a first draft, taking 8 years to publish a book, and the allure of fairy tale retellings. We loved this conversation, and we hope you do, too!

Axie Oh is a first generation Korean American, born in New York City and raised in New Jersey. She studied Korean history and creative writing as an undergrad at the University of California – San Diego and holds an MFA from Lesley University in Writing for Young People. Her passions include K-pop, anime, stationery supplies, and milk tea. She currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with her puppy, Toro. Axie is the NYT bestselling author of REBEL SEOUL (Tu Books, 2017), ROGUE HEART (Tu Books, 2019), XOXO (HarperTeen, 2021) and THE GIRL WHO FELL BENEATH THE SEA (Feiwel & Friends, 2022). 

Check out Axie's website!

Follow her on Twitter and Instagram!

The wonderful Rena Rossner joins us to talk about how she wrote her debut YA crossover novel, THE SISTERS OF THE WINTER WOOD (Orbit, 2018). Rena has so much wisdom to share about writing the book only you can write, why novels in verse are so powerful, and writing scenes out of order. We also go into her submission story -- which includes getting to acquisitions *twice* with no success -- and the struggle of writing her second book, THE LIGHT OF THE MIDNIGHT STARS (Orbit, 2021).

Rena Rossner hails from Miami Beach, Florida. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University's Writing Seminars program, Trinity College, Dublin, and she holds a MA in history from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her debut novel, The Sisters of the Winter Wood, was listed as "One of the 100 Best Books" of the year by Publisher's Weekly. She currently lives in Israel, where she works as a Literary Agent at The Deborah Harris Agency. Her grandparents and great grandparents immigrated to the USA from Hungary, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova - their stories, together with her love of Jewish mythology and fantasy, inspire her work.

Check out Rena's website.

Follow her on Twitter!

Rena is a literary agent at The Deborah Harris Agency. Her manuscript wish list page is here.

(Mild expletives in this episode)

We have a conversation with the brilliant Maggie Thrash about her graphic memoir, LOST SOUL BE AT PEACE. Maggie has tons to say about using pictures when words fall short, writing minor books of your heart while working on that one big hard project, and the pitfalls of believing you must be on social media to be a successful writer. 

Maggie Thrash is the author of the critically-acclaimed graphic memoirs Honor Girl (a Los Angeles Times Book Prize nominee) and Lost Soul, Be At Peace. Her fiction works include the noir-ish mysteries Strange Truth and Strange Lies, which are set at an oppressive Southern prep school. On her podcast Creep Daze, Thrash discusses Dawson’s Creek and the Twilight Saga. Her webcomic, The Cure for Desire, which is currently active, is a gossipy, funny and earnest exploration of the LGBTQ+ literary scene.

HONOR GIRL by Maggie Thrash

Maggie's webcomics

Sara Zarr's podcast for creatives

Snail illuminations

Part TWO of our conversation with the generous and brilliant Kaylan Adair! As an executive editor at Candlewick Press, Kaylan is brimming with information about the acquisitions process, P&Rs, revisions, the importance of authorial voice, editor burnout, and more! She walks us through what it was like to find HOUR OF THE BEES in her inbox, and what it takes for an editor to bring a book all the way to publication. Since this is such a meaty conversation, we’ve split it into TWO PARTS. (This is Part 2.) Both parts are out now! 

The brilliant Kaylan Adair joins us to talk about life on the other side of the desk! As an executive editor at Candlewick Press, Kaylan is brimming with information about the acquisitions process, P&Rs, revisions, the importance of authorial voice, editor burnout, and more! She walks us through what it was like to find HOUR OF THE BEES in her inbox, and what it takes for an editor to bring a book all the way to publication. Since this is such a meaty conversation, we’ve split it into TWO PARTS. Part One is up now, Part Two will be out next week!

Kaylan Adair is an Executive Editor at Candlewick Press, where she’s worked for the past fifteen years. She acquires and edits everything from board book originals to YA novels. She is drawn to characters first and plots second, and loves nothing more than to be caught up in the stories of characters who seem so real, she aches when she finally has to say goodbye.

Candlewick Press

Check out HOUR OF THE BEES by Lindsay Eagar

The incredible Caroline Starr Rose joins us to talk about how she wrote her nonfiction picture book, A RACE AROUND THE WORLD: THE TRUE STORY OF NELLIE BLY AND ELIZABETH BISLAND (illustrated by Alexandra Bye). Caroline has so much wisdom to share about the different levels of historical fiction, thinking of yourself as a storyteller rather than an authority, and allowing curiosity to shape your projects. We had so much fun recording this conversation and we hope you love it! 

Caroline Starr Rose is a middle grade and picture book author whose books have been ALA-ALSC Notable, Junior Library Guild, ABA New Voices, Kids’ Indie Next, Amazon’s Best Books of the Month for Kids, and Bank Street College of Education Best Books selections. In addition, her books have been nominated for almost two dozen state award lists. Caroline was named a Publisher’s Weekly Flying Start Author for her debut novel, May B. She spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico and taught social studies and English in four different states. Caroline now lives with her husband and two sons in New Mexico.

Sign up for her wonderful newsletter!

Follow her on Twitter!

Books that Caroline mentions in this episode: 

THREADS OF PEACE: HOW MOHANDAS GANDHI AND MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CHANGED THE WORLD by Uma Krishnaswami 

MAUD: A NOVEL INSPIRED BY THE LIFE OF L.M. MONTGOMERY by Melanie J. Fishbane 

EIGHTY DAYS: NELLIE BLY AND ELIZABETH BISLAND'S HISTORY-MAKING RACE AROUND THE WORLD by Matthew Goodman

BAD NEWS FOR OUTLAWS: THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF BASS REEVES, DEPUTY U.S. MARSHAL by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie 

Confetti time! We're back for Season 2 of Story of the Book! 

In this episode, K.A. Reynolds joins us to talk about how she wrote her debut novel, THE LAND OF YESTERDAY (HarperCollins, 2018). We chat about the magic of writing without a plan, doing TWO revise and resubmits for her agent, and getting up at 2.00 a.m. to write. (No, that wasn't a typo!) We hope you love this conversation as much as we do.

K. A. Reynolds's first two novels, THE LAND OF YESTERDAY and THE SPINNER OF DREAMS, are out with HarperCollins now. Her third, IZZY AT THE END OF THE WORLD, is slated for 2023, also with HarperCollins. Her debut picture book, THE BIG WORRY DAY (illustrated by Chloe Dominique) releases with Viking Children's on August 23rd, 2022. She is represented by Thao Le at The Sandra Dijkstra Agency.

Her gorgeous website is here. 

Follow her on Twitter. (Her Twitter is awesome.) 

Hayley and Lindsay discuss how they've learned to take care of themselves after creative failures. 

Hayley and Lindsay talk about living a creative life outside of writing, and why it's imperative to do things just for your soul. This is a bonus holiday episode. We'll be back in February 2022 with a new season of full length episodes.