I entered the program thinking I would focus on middle-grade fiction, but with a little encouragement from my advisors, I ended up exploring a range of genres and forms. What was your initial inspiration for writing this book?Īfter committing to focus on writing children’s books, I pursued an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults through the Vermont College of Fine Arts. I write about the things that I loved as a kid-animals, adventure, mysteries-and also the things I wish I had seen more of as a kid: boy characters who experience fear and sadness without repressing it in the name of masculinity realistic depictions of anxiety, depression, and neurodiversity all the messiness of life, and how to embrace it. On a day-to-day basis, I’m inspired when I think about the potential a good book has to change a kid’s life to help them see the world, or their self, in a new way. I was working at an art museum part-time in Los Angeles and reading Rebecca Stead’s Newberry-winning When You Reach Me (Wendy Lamb Books, 2009) when I decided that I wanted to write for kids, and I wanted to take it seriously. I began reading recently published children’s books, and found renewed inspiration in the works of many contemporary authors. My heart naturally turned back to children’s books. My undergraduate creative writing program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was wonderful, although stories for young readers-along with any kind of genre fiction-weren’t very welcome.Īfter graduation, free to write anything, I had to ask myself what stories I was most drawn to tell. I continued to explore writing through my teenage years. I started writing my own stories at a really young age, and I suppose they qualified as children’s literature-after all, they always starred characters who were my age!
Lewis to Susan Cooper to Lloyd Alexander.
As a fairly shy child, books were sources of delight and comfort, and they took up a lot of imaginative space in my mind-especially fantasy books, from C.S. The books I read as a kid were so formative for me. What first inspired you to write for young readers? Today I’m chatting with two debut Austin authors with very different books, but both feature strong female protagonists who were envisioned by creators dedicated to letting readers see themselves in stories.Įvan Griffith‘s picture book biography Secrets of the Sea: The Story of Jeanne Power, Revolutionary Marine Scientist, illustrated by Joanie Stone (Clarion, 2021) celebrates the inventor of aquariums, while Sanjni Patel‘s young adult novel, The Knockout (Flux, 2021) explores the world of a Muay Thai fighter aiming for the Olympics. Above image: downtown Austin from Lady Bird Lake, photo by Ron Rabakukk
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