New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis has found her sweet spot writing historical fiction set in and around iconic New York City buildings. In a moment where she found herself without an idea for her next book, she received a perfectly timed email from a woman who offered to tell her all about Radio City Music Hall. Fiona joins Julie in this episode to share about The Spectacular, her research on the Rockettes, her decision to discuss Parkinson’s Disease within the novel, and the real-li...
Jun 22, 2023•34 min•Season 3Ep. 19
Anissa Gray’s second novel, Life and Other Love Songs , is a braided novel, and Julie thinks it reads like three-part harmony. The journalist and writer joins Julie in this episode to discuss the process of writing a second book on a deadline, the personal challenges Anissa faced in the season of writing this novel, and the reason that this book presented more growing opportunities for her as a writer. Julie and Anissa also discuss the joys of menopause, including insomnia! Hosted on Acast. See ...
Jun 15, 2023•32 min•Season 3Ep. 18
When she was a child in Colombia, Juana Medina’s mom gave her a boom box to record her stories. Combined with a family that prioritized and nurtured art, Juana grew up seeing drawing as another language. Juana joins Julie in this episode to talk about her winding journey to becoming a professional author and illustrator, the reason we need to deemphasize the importance of pedigree in art, and why we should be encouraging children to continue drawing even as they learn to read and write. Juana’s ...
Jun 08, 2023•41 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Alan Barillaro has always been drawing, beginning with making flipbooks out of any textbook that found its way into his creative hands. His years as an animator and actor informed the creation of his first book, Where the Water Takes Us, a beautifully illustrated middle-grade novel for readers of any age who find themselves in an unexpected situation. He joins Julie on this episode to talk about the path from film director to author, the ways that his experience in animation and film support his...
Jun 01, 2023•41 min•Season 3Ep. 16
When Caseen Gaines sat in a darkened theater to watch the final performance of Shuffle Along , he had no idea that experience would lead to a book. But as soon as he heard “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” he knew he’d be doing research to figure out why he knew the song, but not the show. When Broadway was Black: The Triumphant Story of the All-Black Musical that Changed the World is the exploration of the importance of Shuffle Along and how a show so popular it changed the traffic patterns in New Y...
May 25, 2023•42 min•Season 3Ep. 15
If you’d like advice on how to sustain a writing career, then ask Sarah Mlynowski. A writer is all she ever wanted to be (she has a rejection letter from the fourth grade to prove it), and she’s now been publishing books for over twenty years. Sarah is an engaging storyteller on the page and in person, and she joins Julie in this episode to talk about Best Wishes 2: The Sister Switch, the process she uses to write with co-authors, and riding the waves of publishing trends as a way of continuing ...
May 18, 2023•35 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Author Leticia Ordaz may have a day job as an Emmy-nominated anchor/reporter at KCRA 3 in Sacramento, California, but that didn’t stop her from starting her own publishing company to get her award-winning bilingual children’s books into the world. Leticia joins Julie in this episode to talk about her career as a journalist, her experiences as a daughter of Mexican immigrants, and the origins of her first picture book, The Adventures of Mr. Macaw. Leticia also shares her vision for the future of ...
May 11, 2023•38 min•Season 3Ep. 13
John Schu has made a career out of advocating for the people and things he cares about most: kids, books, and the people that connect them. The librarian and author joins Julie to talk about his latest title, This is a Story , which is a beautiful tribute to the community of readers and the connection we find in books. In this episode, John shares about his early experiences as an elementary school teacher, the magic of relationships in a school, and the words from Amy Krouse Rosenthal that conv...
May 04, 2023•41 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Meg Fleming is the author of ten children’s books, and she joins Julie to celebrate the launch of her most recent title, I Live in a Tree Trunk. As a singer and former music teacher, Meg has an ear for rhythm over rhyme: even when she has a story, she waits to find the beat that goes with it. Meg talks with Julie about her path to publication, the important writing advice she received in seventh grade, and the honor and joy of working with illustrators and other book professionals who believe he...
Apr 27, 2023•43 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Christine Grillo and Julie share an agent, a friend, and an appreciation for growing older. After twenty years as a writer, Christine’s debut novel, Hestia Strikes a Match , is coming out at the perfect time. Christine joins Julie in this episode to share about her day job as a science writer, the experience of publishing her first novel at this point in her life and career, and the thrill and crush of waiting for reviews. Hestia is set in the midst of an American civil war and Julie speaks to C...
Apr 20, 2023•39 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Matt Tavares may harbor dreams of being an animator, but for, now he’s busying himself as the author-illustrator of a stack of acclaimed picture books (including one of Julie’s favorites, Red and Lulu ). He joins Julie in this episode to talk about the latest title he’s adding to the stack: his first graphic novel, Hoops . Matt and Julie talk about his love for sports and his belief that middle-grade readers would benefit from a story about the way young athletes used their voices to enact chang...
Apr 13, 2023•34 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Sally Hepworth knows how to write about dysfunctional families. Her books have sold over a million copies worldwide, and Sally’s latest title, THE SOULMATE , is a recent favorite of Julie’s. Sally joins Julie in this episode to share her path to becoming a writer (though Julie contends she has many other areas of expertise), “Hepworth workarounds,” Sally’s fun and funny presence on Instagram, and her unexpected turn as a wig-fluencer. Sally also weighs in on the burning question: do soulmates ex...
Apr 06, 2023•48 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Michelle Glogovac started her career in corporate aviation and after many successful years spent selling jet fuel, she decided she wanted to do more than save rich people more money. She was drawn to the podcast medium because of the intimacy and the possibility for reciprocal relationship, and that’s how she became The Podcast Matchmaker™. She joins Julie in this episode to talk about best practices for podcast guests and hosts, her own podcast and her upcoming book, and being in the business o...
Mar 30, 2023•50 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Award-winning author Rebecca Makkai joins Julie in this episode to talk about her latest book, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU . Rebecca shares about her new title, reverse engineering her characters, first and last lines, and her preoccupation with and exploration of the palimpsest of memory. As the artistic director of StoryStudio Chicago and MFA faculty member at multiple university programs, Rebecca also discusses how teaching contributes to her own writing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...
Mar 23, 2023•25 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Though it seems Rebecca Boggs Roberts has had every job under the sun, a connecting thread runs through them all: each one was a form of storytelling. The deputy director of events at the Library of Congress and author of Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson joins Julie in this episode to talk about finding the beauty and wonder of words, her job at the Library of Congress, and her dream dinner party (which would include plenty of hot goss). Words, his...
Mar 16, 2023•43 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Camille Pagán is the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of ten books and, as it happens, she’s also a delightful person and literary citizen. Camille joins Julie to talk about her latest title, Good for You , and her continued desire to write about real life––both its joy and pain. Camille is also a master certified coach and the founder of Even Better Co., and she shares about the head-down approach to writing that has allowed her to create a sustainable career in a mercurial industry. Hosted ...
Mar 09, 2023•38 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Tara Schuster is the friend we all need. She’s kind, supportive, genuine, and her latest book, Glow in the F*cking Dark, is a guidebook for deep soul healing (minus the annoying self-help language and unnecessarily complicated meditation terms). Tara joins Julie in this episode to talk about growing into herself, the life events that preempted her journey to get off the “Good Enough Plateau,” and celebrating that we are all–quite literally–made of stardust. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...
Mar 02, 2023•47 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Meghan Volchko is from Cleveland, which is the first and most important thing to know about her. But you may also be interested to hear about her day job as a digital content librarian at OverDrive. Meghan joins Julie in this episode to talk about the functionality and ease of using the Libby app, the rise of audiobooks, and the fun of reading books before they arrive on shelves (she read 200 books in 2022). But even though her job is to know what you should read in the upcoming months, she prov...
Feb 23, 2023•47 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Best-selling author Christie Tate’s latest book, B.F.F. , is a celebration of her friendships—the real-life, messy, hard-won sort. Julie and Christie discuss jealousy and the path forward from it, the work of finding tenderness for our past selves (foolish and imperfect though they were), and the power of the stories we tell—and believe—about ourselves. Julie also gets a chance to hear about Christie’s adjustment to life as a full-time writer after she left her career in law. Hosted on Acast. Se...
Feb 16, 2023•45 min•Season 3Ep. 1
For the authors of A Merry Little Meet-Cute , their own meet-cute was best friendship at first sight. Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy join Julie in this episode to discuss their book about “two horny dummies just trying to navigate Christmas,” but what will delight you in this episode is the depth and intelligence of these two authors and former librarians. They speak with Julie about the intention they bring to their co-authored title, covering topics from sex work and fetishization to the exper...
Nov 24, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Amy Lynn Green is a lifelong lover of books, history, and library cards. She joins Julie to talk about her new title, The Blackout Book Club , and shares her strategy for choosing unlikely characters for the story (like a woman who doesn't particularly like books who’s asked to serve as a librarian). Julie and Amy bond over their love of snail mail and stamps, and Amy also gets a chance to share what it was like to anonymously submit her first manuscript to the publisher she worked for at the ti...
Nov 17, 2022•35 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Meg Medina is the author of the popular middle-grade series about Mercedes Suarez, a character who came to her in a short story she originally penned for an anthology. But, as is so often the case, that’s merely the beginning of the story. In this episode, Meg and Julie are joined by Alexis Romay, a poet, author, and translator of the Merci Suarez series. Alexis, Meg, and Julie have a thoughtful discussion about the art of translation. Alexis begins with empathy, and speaks beautifully about tra...
Nov 10, 2022•58 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Neither Julie nor Addison Armstrong would be a value-add in the armed services; but, they’re good for fun conversation about books and writing! Addison, author of The Light of Luna Park and The War Librarian , joins Julie to talk about her path to publication, beginning with the writing of her first manuscript as a just-for-fun summer project with her mom and sister (here’s where Julie understood that Addison is an overachiever). Addison shares about writing historical fiction and how she approa...
Nov 03, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Middle-grade fiction is among Julie’s favorite categories because of its ability to explore heavy concepts through the forthright lens of a young main character, and Janae Marks knows how to capitalize on this potential in her writing. She joins Julie to share the inspiration for her first book, From the Desk of Zoe Washington , and how she later came to write the unexpected sequel, On Air with Zoe Washington (out February 14, 2023). Julie and Janae discuss the process of writing Zoe as an eight...
Oct 27, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Dr. Jeffrey Bennett is an astrophysicist, an author, and an inspiration. He joins Julie in this episode to share about his latest book, Totality! , which, along with his other titles for kids, will be read from the space station to the children of Earth. Julie and Dr. Bennett discuss mission statements and the ways they can aid in decision-making (and why everyone should write one), our status as the self-awareness of the universe and the resultant responsibility, and why it’s valid to be stress...
Oct 20, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Kristin O’Donnell Tubb is the first repeat guest on the podcast: she returns to talk about her latest title, The Decomposition of Jack . She talks about the fear of releasing a book so different from her previous titles and the hope it will find readers, and the way that certain books can come to life only when the timing and conditions are right. Julie and Kristin discuss some of the beautiful themes in Jack, including the idea that endings and beginnings are inextricably linked, and how smooth...
Oct 13, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Margaret Muirhead is a coffee-fueled, craft-making, cat-loving writer and children’s librarian who loves all things picture book. She joins Julie in this episode to share what she learned while studying creative writing in North Carolina (aside from developing an appreciation for BBQ), including the ways that poetry can inform children’s picture book writing. Margaret and Julie discuss the practice of being a writer versus the performative space of being an author before they geek out about the ...
Oct 06, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Kate Thompson is a journalist, ghostwriter, and the author of seven novels. Her most recent book, out in February in the US, is The Little Wartime Library which tells the story of an underground library established in a tube station in East London during WWII. Kate joins Julie to talk about the value and magic of interviews, the importance of listening and keeping the wisdom of our older generations, and the sanctuary that can be found in any library. Kate also gives Julie a new English expressi...
Sep 29, 2022•43 min•Season 2Ep. 12
In this episode, Julie celebrates Banned Books Week by speaking to Jonathan Friedman of PEN America about the concerning trends that are worthy of our attention and, more critically, our action. Jonathan is the Director of Free Expression and Education Programs, and in that role he oversees research, advocacy, and education related to academic freedom, educational gag orders, book bans, and general free expression in school, colleges, and universities. He joins Julie to talk about recent cases, ...
Sep 22, 2022•27 min•Season 2Ep. 11
A software engineer by day, author Josh Funk has published seventeen children’s books, three of which are arriving this fall: Sir Pancake and Lady French Toast: The Great Caper Caper , My Pet Feet, and It’s Not the Three Little Pigs. He joins Julie in this episode to pass on valuable perspective, including a piece of acquired wisdom that argues to be successful in publishing you need two out of these three elements: luck, talent, or hard work. If the writing doesn’t work out, Josh and Julie will...
Sep 15, 2022•36 min•Season 2Ep. 10
