It’s the flipside of the golden ticket this week with one from the archives: author-illustrator Kelly Light!

Way back in 2019 I started a podcast called What It Takes to Make. I thought at the time that my life wasn’t going to have space for the kind of creativity I wanted. I figured I’d use my journalism background to live vicariously through creators of different stripes, from filmmakers to dancers to kidlit authors.

Little did I know, a couple of things transpired as a result of those early efforts. The name changed pretty early, first of all, when I got a takedown notice from another podcast – that was wild.

Second, I couldn’t have anticipated what doing the podcast would do to me. As I was approaching 40 at the time, speaking to other creators around the same age, it lit a fire under me and helped define and focus what I wanted to do with myself. Three years later, here we are, a co-hosted, well-oiled machine, laser-focused on understanding and navigating the complicated kidlit world.

There are some parallels between my experience and Kelly Light’s – some trying things out, some opportunity, some rolling with the punches and adapting. Kelly is a giver and opened a lot of doors for other guests and – to some degree – cemented my interest in more seriously pursuing picture book writing.

We're happy to share today’s conversation – enjoy Kelly Light’s verse from May 2019!