Category: interview

Author Interview: Anna Meriano

Posted on by Alison Doherty in interview

LoveSugarMagic

Hi friends and happy Monday! I am lucky enough to have *another* amazing author interview on the blog today. Anna Meriano’s first book: A Dash of Trouble is so charming, sweet, and important. It is about a Mexican American girl named Leo who finds out her family of bakers are actually brujas who use there magic in their cooking. Leo is the youngest and tired of being left out, so she tries to learn the magic of her ancestry on her own! Anna also was the year above me in The New Schools MFA program and was so kind to me in my first month living in NYC (and beyond). Get ready to learn from her brilliance! 
Continue reading “Author Interview: Anna Meriano” →

Author Interview: Gloria Chao

Posted on by Alison Doherty in interview

G.Chao--Author PhotoI first learned about Gloria Chao through one of my favorite podcasts, 88 Cups of Tea. I’m on the podcast community’s amazing facebook group and saw her commenting on the page as well. Then I listened to her interview with Yin Chang and knew I’d be reading (and loving) her debut YA novel, American Panda – a hilarious and romantic contemporary story about a Taiwanese-American teen who’s parents want her to become a doctor and marry another Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer despite her squeamishness and crush on a Japanese classmate. So much tension! So many potential swoons! And I was *very* intrigued about a YA set on a college campus.

A review post will appear in the next week or two, but in the meantime Gloria was generous to answer some of my questions for the blog.   Continue reading “Author Interview: Gloria Chao” →

Author Interview: Betsy Cornwell

Posted on by Alison Doherty in interview, Writing

VenturessBetsy and I met in college, but even though I had a big friend crush on her I was way too shy to talk to her much. Then I reached out about how much I loved her first book Tides and an online friendship sparked into being. In another life, we are roommates conquering the NYC publishing world together and drinking beers on the weekend at The Way Station. But since she lives with her dreamy family in Ireland, I have to settle for some of the kindest, most supportive emails a friend/aspiring writer could ever ask for. Betsy’s third book Venturess is out today. It is the sequel to the badass, feminist Cinderella retelling Mechanica and my very favorite thing that Betsy’s written so far.  Expect a (glowing!) review soon. But for now, Betsy was kind enough to answer some questions for me…  Continue reading “Author Interview: Betsy Cornwell” →

Author Interview: Lauren Karcz

Posted on by Alison Doherty in interview

Gallery of Unfinished GirlsHi friends! Sorry I haven’t been blogging as much. This is pretty much how well I’m balancing teaching, plus writing, plus trying to exercise, and have some kind of life. But I’m completely thrilled to have an interview with Lauren Karcz for you today. Her debut YA The Gallery of Unfinished Girls comes out tomorrow, and I can’t wait to read it.

When developing the story, did you begin with plot, character, or setting?

Characters, for sure. Three of the main characters in Gallery — protagonist Mercedes, her sister Angela, and her best friend Victoria — go way, way back with me. I started writing about them when I was in middle school, and they featured in all kinds of stories, from contemporary romances to mysteries to adventure stories. I carried those girls with me as I grew up, as I became their ages and then surpassed them. I think Mercedes and Victoria were aspirational characters for me at the beginning, but they’ve necessarily evolved over the years. I could always identify with parts of them, and aspire to parts of their personalities, while also acknowledging their flaws. And so I returned to them again and again. Continue reading “Author Interview: Lauren Karcz” →

Author Interview: Laura Silverman

Posted on by Alison Doherty in interview

Girl Out Of Water Cover

Hi friends! Happy summer and happy Friday! It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Laura Silverman and her debut Girl Out of Water. She kindly agreed to answer some questions about writing routines, grad school (we went to New School together), book recommendations, and more. Read on for her writerly wisdom!  

How long did it take for you to write Girl Out of Water and do you have a consistent writing routine?

First idea to querying for an agent took about six months! I was able to write drafts quickly because I was in graduate school for creative writing at the time. After that, the timeline gets murky because there’s a lot of waiting in between stages. Continue reading “Author Interview: Laura Silverman” →