Friday, February 22, 2019

Fun Freetime: Story Pirates

Gimlet Media’s The Story Pirates Podcast, consistently voted as one of the top podcasts for kids, launched a season of 20 new episodes on January 31 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever podcasts are streaming.

I had a chance to interview the author of the new book, Digging Up Danger.

How did you get started writing?
Like lots of authors, I started trying to write poems and stories as a kid, but they never turned out quite the way I wanted them to…so I mostly kept them hidden underneath the clothes in my dresser drawers.
But I kept on trying. In college, I began publishing some of my poetry. I also started to work on a book that (almost eight years later!) would become The Shadows, volume one of my bestselling series The Books of Elsewhere. 

What do you think is essential for a good children's book?
The same things that are essential for any good story: believable characters, a world that feels real (even if it's full of wild magic), and writing that keeps readers turning the pages. 

How did you decide to write this book, which is based on a young girl's story idea?
I was already familiar with the Story Pirates, so when they asked if I’d be interested in collaborating on a project, I jumped up and down in my writing room, shouting YES! Later, we all read through the many amazing ideas that kids had submitted to the Story Pirates' contest, and together we selected one that was so fun and unique and full of mystery potential that we all wanted to see where it would lead.

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