Write Or Die Podcast

Claribel & Kat discuss author responsibility as public figures with platforms, brought to you by Kat’s k-pop obsession with Stray Kids. Then they interview Shanna Miles about her hybrid journey, starting out with self-publishing, and then getting an agent and being traditionally published. Shanna gives some practical advice for anyone considering self-publishing, discusses diversity in publishing, and how YA “trends” are cyclical! BIO: Shanna Miles is an author, reviewer and librarian who lives in Georgia with her two daughters, and educator husband and advocates tirelessly for appropriate representation for marginalized people in children’s fiction. Her passion is Paranormal Romance, but she also has a deep affinity for diverse Science Fiction like that of Octavia Butler and Sherri L. Smith. “For All Time” is Shanna Miles’ latest work. FOLLOW SHANNA: website | Twitter | Instagram • BUY For All Time • BUY Willow Born MENTIONS: • Ingram Spark Self Publishing Tools • Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones FOLLOW CL

Claribel & Kat discuss burnout and some of the coping mechanisms they’ve found helpful to get them through. Then they interview debut author, Ayana Gray about the path it took to find the courage to write, how her path “crossed” Claribel & Kat’s along the way, and her highly anticipated debut novel, BEASTS OF PREY. CW: Discussions of death of a loved one and grief at 21:45 time point. Fast forward past that to 25:03 if this is triggering. Ayana BIO: Ayana Gray is an author of speculative works and lover of all things monsters, mythos, and #MelaninMagic. Originally from Atlanta, she now lives in Little Rock, Arkansas where she reads avidly, follows Formula 1 racing, and worries over her adopted baby black rhino, Apollo. Her highly anticipated young adult debut, BEASTS OF PREY, is coming out with Penguin Random House! • FOLLOW : website | Twitter | Instagram BUY Beasts of Prey MENTIONS: • Highlights Foundation • FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok • www.claribelortega.com • Check out

Claribel and Kat give updates on their upcoming books (Witchlings and Once Upon a K-Prom) and discuss comparison in publishing and how it disproportionately affects BIPOC. Then they interview bestselling author Graci Kim about her journey into publication and how she learned to embrace her Korean name and identity! CONTENT WARNING: Discussions of death of a child at 27:12 point. Skip to 28:54 to avoid that discussion. GRACI BIO: Graci Kim is a bestselling author of magic-infused middle grade books, who was vine-picked in Korea and sun-ripened in New Zealand. Her Korean mythology-inspired debut, The Last Fallen Star, published by Disney Hyperion (Rick Riordan Presents) and the first in the Gifted Clans trilogy, became an instant US bestseller. It was named by Indigo as a Best Book of 2021, was an Amazon Best Book Ages 9-12, and was selected by Publishers Lunch as a 2021 Buzz Book. Called a “sparkling yarn” by Entertainment Weekly, the book has been featured in TIME Magazine for Kids, Hypable, and Publishers We

Claribel & Kat answer a listener question about writing character voice and perspective. Then they interview Jason June about getting kicked in the face by Kylie Minogue and the journey from writing Picture Books to writing Young Adult! BIO: Jason June is a gay, genderqueer, list-making, Virgo Sun, Taurus Moon, Pokémon-playing writer living in Austin, TX. If he had a Gay Agenda, "marry the love of your life", "be mom to two extremely pampered Pomeranians," and "get accidentally kicked in the face by Kylie Minogue as an extra in her music video" would all be crossed off. • FOLLOW : website | Twitter | Instagram MENTIONS: • Buy Jay’s Gay Agenda • Buy Whobert Whover, Owl Detective • The Art of Character • The Emotional Craft of Fiction • Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto • Legendborn by Tracy Deonn • FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok • www.claribelortega.com • Check out all of Claribel’s books • PRE-ORDER Witchlings (Feb 2022, Scholastic) • FOLLOW KAT: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

We’re Back! In the season 4 premiere, Kat and Claribel share what they did over summer break and share big news about the future of Write or Die. Then they interview Misa Sugiura about her publishing journey, differences between releasing a book in 2021 vs before 2020, and creating boundaries between author identity and private personal life. BIO: Misa Sugiura’s ancestors include a poet, a priestess, a samurai, and a stowaway. Her first novel It’s Not Like It’s A Secret, won the Asian Pacific Islander American Librarians’ Association’s Award for Young Adult Literature; Her latest book, Love & Other Natural Disasters has been praised by the American Library Association as "hilariously awkward" and "honestly poignant." • FOLLOW : Website | Twitter | Instagram BUY Love and Other Natural Disasters BUY It’s Not Like It’s A Secret MENTIONS: • Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan • Becky Albertalli’s post about Queer Gatekeeping • FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok • www.cla

In the Season Finale episode, Claribel and Kat answer some listener questions about drafting, querying, and submission. Then they interview debut author Liselle Sambury about her early writing, learning and growing from past mistakes, and how she uses YouTube to connect to the community LISELLE BIO: Liselle Sambury is a Trinidadian-Canadian author who grew up in Toronto, and her brand of writing can be described as “messy Black girls in fantasy situations.” In her free time, she shares helpful tips for upcoming writers and details of her publishing journey through a YouTube channel dedicated to helping demystify the sometimes complicated business of being an author. • FOLLOW Liselle: website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube BUY Blood Like Magic ADD Butcherbirds on Goodreads MENTIONS: • Kate from Paper Fury • Liselle’s Video about her learning experience with problematic narratives • FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok • www.claribelortega.com • Check out all of Claribel’s books • PRE-ORDER

Claribel and Kat talk about “parasocial relationships” and how it affects authors and their mental health. Then they talk to Anna Meriano about IP, MFA’s and her new book about fandom and fans reclaiming safe spaces for themselves! Bio: Anna Meriano grew up in Houston, Texas, with an older brother and a younger brother but (tragically) no sisters. She graduated from Rice University with a degree in English and earned her MFA in creative writing with an emphasis in writing for children from the New School in New York. She has taught creative writing and high school English and works as a writing tutor. Anna likes reading, knitting, playing full-contact quidditch, and translating English song lyrics into Spanish and vice-versa. Her favorite baked goods are the kind that don't fly away before you eat them. • Follow Anna Online: website | Twitter • BUY This is How We Fly • FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok • www.claribelortega.com • Check out all of Claribel’s books • PRE-ORDER Witchlings (F

Claribel and Kat discuss how they make promo that’s fun for them and which incorporates their personalities. Then they talk to hilarious bestselling author Rita Williams-Garcia about what it was like when she first got started in publishing, how she goes back and forth between Middle Grade & Adult, and some great advice for authors at all level! BIO: Rita Williams-Garcia is the New York Times bestselling author of novels for young adults and middle grade readers.  Her most recent novel, Gone Crazy in Alabama ends the saga of the Gaither Sisters, who appear in One Crazy Summer and PS Be Eleven.  Her novels have been recipients of numerous awards, including the Coretta Scott King Award, National Book Award Finalists, Newbery Honor Book, Junior Library Guild, and the Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical Fiction.  She served on faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children MFA Program and she resides in Queens, New York. • FOLLOW Rita: website | Twitter | Instagram BUY A Sitting

Kat and Claribel talk a little about their personal writing processes. And then they interview Shelly Romero an editor at Scholastic about what she looks for in submissions, how you can support BIPOC authors, and the realities of the day-to-day life of editors! SHELLY BIO: Shelly Romero is an assistant editor at Scholastic Press, where she is looking to build a list comprised of predominantly BIPOC and traditionally marginalized authors. She graduated from Stephens College with a bachelor’s degree in English and attended the 2017 NYU Summer Publishing Institute. She is a member of Latinx in Publishing, People of Color in Publishing, and a junior mentor for Representation Matters Mentorship Program. She was selected as Publishers Weekly Star Watch 2020 Honoree, which “shines a light on innovative, talented professionals from all parts of the industry.” Born and raised in Miami by Honduran parents, she now resides in New York City where is she is forever chasing the perfect café Cubano and pan tostado. • Follow

Kat & Claribel discuss some writing and productivity tools that have been helping them write lately. Then they talk to Sarah Dass about her debut romance WHERE THE RHYTHM TAKES YOU, doing a retelling, and what it felt like being in an auction for her debut book Bio: Sarah Dass was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. A graduate of the University of the West Indies and University College London, she works as an Office Administrator by day and writes stories about growing up in the Caribbean by night. When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing, or taking walks with her dachshund. The only thing she loves more than a lazy day at home is exploring new countries. Her debut novel, WHERE THE RHYTHM TAKES YOU, a YA contemporary retelling of Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, will be published by Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins in 2021. • Follow Sarah Online: website | Twitter | Instagram Order WHERE THE RHYTHM TAKES YOU Mentions: • Kingsley Nebechi’s Instagram • FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube |

Kat and Claribel discuss making friends and friend groups in publishing. And then they interview NYT Bestselling author, Victoria Aveyard about her writing process, starting a brand new series after spending so long in one world, how film school influences her writing process, and how she’s liking TikTok! VICTORIAS BIO: Victoria Aveyard is an author and screenwriter, born and raised in a small town in Western Massachusetts. Both her parents are public school teachers, as well as avid film, television, and literature fans. Victoria grew up on a steady diet The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and LOST. She pursued a degree in Writing for Film & Television at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. After graduating college in 2012, Victoria moved home from Los Angeles and began writing the manuscript that would become Red Queen. She has since published four #1 New York Times bestselling and USA Today bestselling books, two New York Times bestselling novellas, a New York

Claribel and Kat discuss the idea of looking back on your old writing and seeing how far you’ve come. Plus, they touch on the idea that the industry should shift to look at the story and not at the trends. Then they interview Heidi Heilig, author of the Shadow Players trilogy, about her journey with publishing, creating conscientious communities, and how the publishing community has changed since she first published 5 years ago. Plus some discussion about trilogies vs duologies and how real life events influence our writing. BIO: Heidi grew up in Hawaii where she rode horses and raised peacocks, and then she moved to New York City and grew up even more, as one tends to do. Her favorite thing, outside of writing, is travel, and she has haggled for rugs in Morocco, hiked the trails of the Ko’olau Valley, and huddled in a tent in Africa while lions roared in the dark. She holds an MFA from New York University in Musical Theatre Writing, of all things, and she’s written books and lyrics for shows including The Ti

Kat and Claribel discuss staying on track and Kat gets honest about her ADHD diagnosis and how it affects her author habits and life. Then they interview the beloved Becky Albertalli. Becky discusses her experiences with co-writing, what it was like watching her fandom grow, and the surreal experience of having her book adapted into film! Plus some down-to-earth advice on how authors experience doubt and connect with each other. BECKY BIO: Becky Albertalli is the author of William C. Morris Award winner and National Book Award longlist title, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (now a major motion picture, Love, Simon); the acclaimed The Upside of Unrequited; and the New York Times bestsellers Leah on the Offbeat, What If It’s Us (cowritten with Adam Silvera), Yes No Maybe So (cowritten with Aisha Saeed), and Love, Creekwood: A Simonverse Novella. Becky lives with her family in Atlanta. • FOLLOW BECKY ONLINE: Website | Twitter | Instagram • ORDER KATE IN WAITING • FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube

Claribel and Kat discuss the misperception that all authors need to be doing a lot of promotion for their own books and constantly be on social media. Then they interview N.G. Peltier about her decision to self-publish her debut romance but how their agent worked on their behalf to create a unique hybrid situation. N.G. PELTIER BIO: N.G. Peltier is an anime watching, book reading, video-game playing, story writing kinda girl. A devourer of words and books from a young age, she enjoys writing romance and creeping people out with the Caribbean folklore stories she grew up hearing. A Trinidadian born and raised, she currently lives in Trinidad with her mountain of ideas and characters battling each other for whose story gets told next. • FOLLOW N.G. ONLINE: website | Twitter | Instagram • Buy SWEETHAND by N.G. Peltier • Buy UK Paperback of SWEETHAND MENTIONS: • Kacen Callender Blog Post: Social Media Expectations • Kacen Callender: The Humanization of Authors • FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | Ti

Claribel and Kat discuss what “growing as a writer” means to them. Then they interview the hilarious and charming Preeti Chhibber about her time working on the other side of the table in publishing, go on a (long) tangent about the Titanic, what it was like writing IP for huge franchises like Spider-Man and Star Wars, and that one time she made Jake Gyllenhall laugh (twice!) BIO: Called “Spider-Man super fan and author” by Publishers Weekly, Preeti Chhibber is a YA author, speaker, and freelance writer. She worked as a publishing professional. She has written for SYFY, Polygon, BookRiot, BookRiot Comics, The Nerds of Color, and The Mary Sue, among others. Her debut original middle-grade, Orientation (Marvel’s Avenger’s Assembly #1) came out from Scholastic in August 2020 and her first picture book, A Jedi You Will Be was released by Disney this fall, she is also featured in the forthcoming YA and Adult anthologies Battle of the Bands (Candlewick, Fall 2021) and Stone Sword Table (Random House, 2022). • FOLLOW

Kat and Claribel chat about Whisper Networks, what they are, why they exist, and how to use them. Then they interview the amazing Anna-Marie McLemore about their Magical Realism books, how they incorporate their heart and identity into their stories, and how they embrace their weird! Bio: Anna-Marie McLemore (they/them) is the author of THE WEIGHT OF FEATHERS, WHEN THE MOON WAS OURS, WILD BEAUTY, BLANCA & ROJA, DARK AND DEEPEST RED, MISS METEOR (co-authored with Tehlor Kay Mejia) and the forthcoming THE MIRROR SEASON. A lot of what they write could be called magical realism. Much of it is inspired by fairy tales. Almost all of their stories find their heart in the traditions they grew up in and the communities they belong to. • Follow Anna-Marie Online: website | Twitter • Buy The Mirror Season Mentions: • Celebrity Book Club • True Beauty • Busted • Follow Claribel Ortega online: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok • www.claribelortega.com • PRE-ORDER Witchlings (Feb 2022, Scholastic) • Follow Kat Cho

Kat and Claribel discuss the Book Twitter scandal that happened around the book HANDBOOK FOR MORTALS the NYT Bestseller’s List in 2017 Mentions: • Handbook for Mortals author fires back after publishing fiasco https://ew.com/books/2017/08/26/handbook-for-mortals-lani-sarem/ • An Anniversary of a Scandal: One Year After Lani Sarem https://bookriot.com/lani-sarem-scandal-anniversary/ • Jenny Trout Recaps of HANDBOOK: http://jennytrout.com/?p=11574 • Follow Claribel Ortega online: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok • www.claribelortega.com • Check out Claribel’s books • PRE-ORDER Witchlings (Feb 2022, Scholastic) • Follow Kat Cho online: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok • www.katchowrites.com • Check out Kat’s Books • PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 2022, Disney) • Follow Write or Die online: Twitter | Instagram  • Write or Die Podcast Website • Join our WorDie community! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/writeordiepodcast/support

Claribel & Kat discuss joining TikTok. Then they interview Kosoko Jackson about his debut sci-fi romance YESTERDAY IS HISTORY, how to push a trope to new limits, and writing in Adult romance after writing primarily in YA. Plus some advice from Kosoko's day job in Social Media marketing and content creation! KOSOKO BIO: Kosoko Jackson is a digital media specialist, focusing on digital storytelling, email, social and SMS marketing, and a freelance political journalist. Occasionally, his personal essays and short stories have been featured on Medium, Thought Catalog, The Advocate, and some literary magazines. When not writing YA novels that champion holistic representation of black queer youth across genres, he can be found obsessing over movies, drinking his (umpteenth) London Fog, or spending far too much time on Twitter. His YA debut, YESTERDAY IS HISTORY, is out now, published by SourceBooks Fire and his adult #OwnVoices queer Romcom, I’M SO (NOT) OVER YOU will come out in 2022, by Berkley Romance. • FOL

Claribel and Kat dive into some Book Twitter news and gossip for your entertainment and education.  Mentions: CP Punching Down Avoiding language used to target BIPOC Twitter Advice Expectations for how interact with readers/bloggers Remember, teens are our readers MSWL "I was hacked" "Please stop scrolling" Follow Claribel Ortega online: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube Order GHOST SQUAD Add FRIZZY on Goodreads www.claribelortega.com PRE-ORDER Witchlings (Feb 2022, Scholastic) Follow Kat Cho online: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Order WICKED FOX! Order VICIOUS SPIRITS (sequel to WICKED FOX) PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 2022, Disney) www.katchowrites.com Follow Write or Die online: Twitter | Instagram  Write or Die Podcast Website Join our WorDie community!  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/writeordiepodcast/support

Claribel & Kat look back on how far they’ve come since 2016 & how their goals for their author careers have changed in 5 years. Then they talk with NYT Bestselling authors & co-founders of FORESHADOW: A Serial YA Anthology, Emily XR Pan & Nova Ren Suma about how they became friends & advice about how to find your voice! Emily X.R. Pan is the New York Times bestselling author of THE ASTONISHING COLOR OF AFTER, which won the APALA Honor Award and the Walter Honor Award, received six starred reviews, was an L.A. Times Book Prize finalist, and was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. She co-created the FORESHADOW anthology and lives on Lenape land in Brooklyn, New York. Nova Ren Suma is the author of A Room Away from the Wolves and the #1 New York Times bestselling The Walls Around Us, both finalists for an Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel. She also wrote the novels Imaginary Girls, 17 & Gone, and Dani Noir and is co-editor of the story & writing craft anthology FORESHADOW: Stories