In this interview, Jon-Erik discusses how the uniqueness of each of his children helped inspire his new picture book, The Language of Birds, his advice for other writers, and more.

Name: Jon-Erik Lappano     
Literary agent: Emily Van Beek / Estelle Laure,  Folio Jr.
Book title: The Language of Birds
Publisher: Random House Studio
Release date: December 16, 2025
Genre/category: Picture Book
Previous titles: Tokyo Digs a Garden, Maggie’s Treasure, Song for the Snow, Martin and the River
Elevator pitch: The Language of Birds is a story about a quiet, socially anxious girl named Mira who has always had a special connection with birds, but who finds people to be a more confusing kind of animal. When a new boy named Jad comes to school, Mira notices that he connects with trees the way she does birds, and with a little help from her feathered friends, they begin to form a friendship.

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What prompted you to write this book?

The seed of the idea for this book came from observing the differences in our three children, in the unique and beautiful ways that each of them interact with the world around them, with other people, and with the natural world. There are so many ways of communication that we learn growing up—not all of them human—and there are forms of connection that transcend words. Some young hearts and minds develop as quieter, or more introspective, and perhaps more open to engaging in those hidden languages in nature that many of us haven’t attuned to, focused more on aligning to social norms as we grow. With this story, I wanted to speak to those people who might see and experience the world in a different sort of way. Mira is unabashedly herself, and by embracing her different nature, by watching and listening with care, creativity and attention, she finds a meaningful connection.

Birds have also always been fascinating to me, and watching the wild birds outside our window is a favorite family pastime. Birds are such beautiful indicators of a thriving and healthy ecosystem; they are guides and helpers and sources of inspiration. One of our daughters used to coo with surprising skill to the pigeons and doves in the city parks as a baby. Another was desperate to learn the language of birds, and spent hours sitting outside under our feeders, speaking in screeches and chirps to the starlings, hoping to befriend them. She once even caught a wild bluejay in her hands that had flown into our house, which inspired one of the scenes in the book.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

Going from the initial idea to the first draft happened in one exhilarating late-night writing session. However, from that first draft to pitching took about a month, going through a few rounds of early stage editing and revising. I have my wonderful literary agents, Emily Van Beek and Estelle Laure, to thank for taking that mess of a first draft and giving feedback that helped me find the heart of the story. Once we pitched it, we were thrilled to get an offer from Random House Studio, and from there it took about two and a half years to publish, which I have found to be the usual timeline for picture books. Illustrators need to take time, too, especially the talented ones. I was absolutely thrilled when we learned that Zach Manbeck would illustrate this story. His art is absolutely luminous and just perfect for the story. 

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

The publishing process for this book was seamless and smooth—it was a joy to work with Random House Studio and to collaborate with Zach on this title. No real surprises, just a supportive, imaginative team who has been lovely to engage with, from the editorial process, to publicity, to opening friendly emails of excitement and encouragement along the way!

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

I am learning more and more to trust in my voice as a writer, while embracing the feedback of early readers and editors I trust. This is my fifth published work, and by far it was the most collaborative. The initial draft wasn’t really working, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. Giving it over to my agents for feedback was a pivotal moment. Their insightful feedback helped me simplify the story while zeroing in on the relationship between Mira, Jad, and the birds, and everything just clicked into place.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope readers—young and old—will see themselves reflected in this story, and that they gain a reminder to embrace their differences. I also hope they let their gaze linger a little while longer on the birds outside their window, wondering what lessons they might have to teach them. 

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Here is a lesson I’m trying to share with myself these days. Persist. Be irrational in your persistence. Rejection, in its various forms, is a guaranteed companion along the writer’s journey. (A somewhat harsh companion I don’t remember inviting, by the way.) Drafts will dwindle in desktop purgatory. Manuscripts will melt into mediocrity. Ideas will hit the page and then hit a wall. But persist. Be stubborn in your persistence. Keep writing. And rewriting. And rewriting. Oh, and I guess, at some point, try to get a good night’s sleep.

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In this interview, Brigette discusses writing her nighttime picture book, Whooo Is Still Awake?, the added effort of simplistic writing, and more.

Name: Brigette Barrager
Literary agent: Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary
Book title: Whooo Is Still Awake?
Publisher: Random House Studio
Release date: December 9, 2025
Genre/category: Picture Book
Previous titles: Twelve Dancing Princesses, Vlad the Rad, Welcome Flower Child
Elevator pitch: Flip the script on bedtime and see who stays up all night! Two owls venture out into the moonlit sky to discover WHOOO else is still awake when the stars are out and we’re all in our beds. 

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What prompted you to write this book?

I had twins in 2021, and since then I’ve read innumerable books to them at bedtime. I noticed that the ones we returned to over and over were those that had a harmonious, soothing rhyme scheme and visual simplicity that was charming to both tired kid and tired parent. Titles like Goodnight Moon and Each Peach Pear Plum became our favorites. The page turns are quick, so no one loses focus. Reading the words aloud becomes like a lullaby. I wanted to create a story with that tranquil quality, that also made a nod to my twins (thus the two owls). 

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

I first had the idea to do a nighttime book in 2023, and luckily my editor at Random House Studio (the wonderful Maria Modugno) loved the idea as much as I did. 

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

This one came together quickly, in terms of the text and sketches. I revised the text several times to make sure it was easy to read aloud. You’d think because there are so few words that it would be easy—but really, when there’s less text you have to make sure that what is there is as clear and strong as it can be. Paradoxically, simplicity requires great effort! We also went through many, many, MANY rounds of proofs though. The dark colors are difficult to reproduce on paper! The first rounds were far too dark—you could barely see the characters. After much trial and error, we ended up with a beautiful result. I’m so happy with how it turned out.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

I was surprised to learn that many people don’t know much about possums! I’m familiar with them as they’re common in Southern California, and we used to see them in our yard and even in our garage snacking on cat food. They sometimes hang from their tails (not as often as in cartoons) and they DO really carry their babies on their backs! I don’t know of any other animal that does that. I received notes about whether these things were accurate or not. 

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope that readers will be engaged by the simplicity and easy reading of Whooo, and that they’ll return to it over and over at bedtime. It’s meant to be a fun, quick, melodious read. I hope other parents of twins will appreciate my twin-coded owls, too. 

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Take inspiration from your experiences. Pay attention to what grabs you, and what engages your audience. Let your taste guide your creative process. 

The post Brigette Barrager: Take Inspiration From Your Experiences appeared first on Writer's Digest.

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 Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita 

Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-First-Century Life

(Nonfiction, November, Avid Reader Press)

“ An infectiously edifying, not-so-saintly self-help book that dives into the wild, wise, and unconventional lives of 16th- and 17th-century nuns, offering advice for our modern age and proving one thing: no matter the century, nuns know best.”

Writes from: Halfway between Madrid (Spain) and New York.

Pre-Convent: We like to think that the seed of Convent Wisdom was planted the night we first met in August 2016. We weren’t the only prospective graduate students visiting Brown University that summer, but we were the only two ones matching our very specific freak: a passion for the lives and texts of 16^th– and 17^th-century nuns. That night, we knew that we would spend years of sleepless nights trying to reduce our fascination for nuns to the rigid formulas of academic writing.

What we didn’t know was that, four years later, in 2020, we’d decide to take our nuns out of dusty archives and aseptic academic journals and bring them to more playful realms. “Las hijas de Felipe,” our podcast devoted to unearthing hidden stories from the 16^th– and 17^th-century stories, confirmed what we already suspected: 16^th– and 17^th-century nuns were refreshingly relatable today. By the time we embarked on Convent Wisdom, we were used to spending most of our days writing—whether our PhD dissertations, academic papers, or podcast scripts—but this book demanded something new. It required us to craft a new voice—the two of us merged in one—and a new genre—rigorous academic research turned into a playful self-help guide.

Time frame: Once we started writing, we finished Convent Wisdom in about a year. But we had been researching, first separately and then together, for more than a decade.

Enter the agent: Our agent found us! She had been listening to our podcast for a while, and she had the feeling that we might have an idea for a book. In fact, when she approached us, we were already conceiving the general idea for the book with our Spanish editor.

Biggest surprise: When we received all the offers at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2023—nine countries plus an auction between seven U.S. publishing houses—we were shocked. It was both a huge surprise and a well-deserved confirmation that our intuition was right: in the crumbling 21^st century we live in, we all need a portable convent to find solace. It was comforting to see that, after all the years spent in libraries and archives, we had found a way to share the stories of those nuns who had captivated us and helped us survive throughout the most challenging moments of our lives.

What I did right: We were not in a hurry to publish, and that helped. Well before the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair, we were approached by a couple of publishers, but we decided not to go ahead with them. We felt it was hasty at that point, and that their aim was to make a hurried and shallow translation of our podcast into a book. Instead, we decided to wait until we had reached a more elaborate and nuanced idea of the book.

What I would have done differently: We had no idea how to navigate those situations, but somehow our intuition was right. However, we would happily erase all the anxiety and the self-doubt that we went through.

Platform: Our podcast and our social media are great platforms, but only for Spanish-speaking audiences. We’ll have to work on English content to try and gain new international readership

Advice for writers: You don’t have to write on your own. Sometimes, it can be so much better with friends. It worked for us, and it worked for many of our nuns.

Next up: We’re working on a historical audio fiction. We’d also love to launch some episodes of our podcast in English.

Website: LasHijasDeFelipe.com

Mia Jay Boulton and Laurel Boulton 

Of Swamp & Sea 

(Romantasy graphic novel, November, 23^rd Street)

“A woman possessed by a monster must embark on a dangerous and magical journey, accompanied by a monster hunter who could be friend, foe, or lover.”

Writes from: Gulf Shores, Ala.

Pre-Swamp: We’ve really been building the bones of this story since 2014 (the year we got married), and back then, it was almost unrecognizable aside from the characters’ names. It really evolved and transmuted throughout the decade as we worked on the story back and forth alongside our other projects. Of Swamp & Sea began in prose form, as all our work does, before making the leap to an illustrated comic in 2019. We finally wrapped up the art for it earlier this year, meaning it took us around six years to write, illustrate, and color close to 5,000 individual panels. But it only took us less than a year to format them into a five-novel series, the first of which is coming out this November.

Time frame: When we first went searching for an agent, there were still very few Webtoon properties that had made the leap to print—we think the industry was still really figuring out how that could work. We searched high and low through online databases like Manuscript Wish List, looking for someone with a mind for art, romance, and the supernatural. We were so happy when our agent, Lane Clarke, decided to hear us out.

Enter the agent: We were surprised by just how difficult it could be to take a vertical-scrolling comic and reimagine it for print format. Every new page felt like a puzzle to solve and an exercise in problem-solving. The goal was always to have the art look as natural as possible, like it was born for the printed page. We really do think we accomplished that goal, and we’re looking forward to current and new readers discovering the story of Mercy and Jonah in a whole new format.

Biggest surprise: Measured persistence has really been one of the keys to getting this far. Every step of the way from creating to publishing has felt like a new obstacle course to learn to navigate and overcome, but we never let a failure steep for too long before trying again. However, we also didn’t let an output goal control our lives, and we still made time for the things we love, for our hobbies, and for each other. It’s important to never give up, while never letting it burn your candle down entirely.

What I did right: I joined a writers’ group. I’ve been in my writers’ group now for over seven years, and I’ve learned so much and grown so much from being in that group. When we started, none of us had books published, and most of us didn’t have agents yet. Now, everyone has at least one book published. Seeing my friends in the group go through that process taught me a lot about what publishing is like and what to expect. So actually, not a lot of things were a surprise to me about the publishing process because I’d already seen how everything plays out through my writers’ group.

What I would have done differently: We do plan on doing it all again, because we want to keep creating forever. Next time, we’ll put more of a focus on future-proofing our projects, mainly through the way we’ll keep our files organized and prepared for both digital and print outcomes.

Platform: Our platform of readers on WEBTOON has followed us through the whole Of Swamp & Sea saga, and we’re endlessly grateful for their loyalty. We hope that many of them will pick up its first print installment for their shelves when it hits storefronts, as a print edition has been much requested since the very earliest days. Of course, we also want to bring the story to the eyes of a new audience, which we’re working on building via social media with the help of our publisher, 23^rd Street.

Advice for writers: Never stop loving what you do: people change, and it’s okay for their stories to change with them. You can’t let the fear of losing what you already have in a project stop you from exploring what it could be. In the end, your finished work is always going to look different than how it started, and that’s a good thing. You just have to see it through to find out what your story becomes.

Next up: After book one, we’ve got four more Of Swamp & Sea volumes on the way. After that? We want to write more adventures about love and magic, and continue telling stories through art. 

Website: Linktr.ee/ofswampandsea

Marco Anderson

This Book Is About Nothing

(Children’s picture book, November, Moon + Bird)

“A hilarious and colourful picture book about a child’s unique journey to making new friends.”

Writes from: London.

Pre-Book: I wrote this book coming out of COVID lockdown. I had not written a book before, so when I had the idea, I definitely did not think that it would get published. But, as the idea kept growing, I became more and more confident in this idea and the reality of it actually being published. 

Time frame: I originally wrote this in a PowerPoint, and we developed the story into what it is now over the next couple of years. I had this idea back in spring of 2021, and we just got the ideas out into a basic PowerPoint presentation. About a month or two later, I first met with the publishing team and showed them my concept. We continued working together over the next four years and turned the idea into a real book.

Enter the agent: I do not have an agent. After coming up with the concept, I was introduced to Etan and the team at Moon + Bird. They helped me do this, and I worked with my dad on this book as well.

Biggest surprise: One of the things that surprised me most was simply how long it takes to get a book published. I originally had the idea in 2021, and now four years later, it’s about to get published.

What I did right: I was really lucky because I didn’t know what I was doing and the team at Moon + Bird was really amazing at guiding me through the process.

What I would have done differently: I really don’t think that there’s anything that I would have done differently with this book, but there are a lot of skills that I learned over the process of creating this book, which I would apply to future books.

Platform: No, I don’t currently have a platform because I’m too busy with my middle school studies.

Advice for writers: The best piece of advice that I can give you is to just keep on going and trying to make what you want a reality.

Next up: Honestly, I have too much homework right now to think that far into the future.

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In this interview, Kayla discusses the lesson in compromise while writing her new middle-grade horror novel, The Tale of the Vanishing Circus, her advice for other writers, and more.

Name: Kayla Cottingham
Literary agent: Erica Bauman
Book title: The Tale of the Vanishing Circus (Are You Afraid of the Dark? #3)
Publisher: Abrams
Release date: November 25, 2025
Genre/category: Middle-grade horror
Previous titles: My Dearest Darkest, This Delicious Death, Practical Rules for Cursed Witches, Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches
Elevator pitch: After sneaking out to attend a mysterious circus in the woods behind their homes, two girls find themselves in a race against time to escape before they become trapped for eternity.

Bookshop | Amazon
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What prompted you to write this book?

The publisher approached me with a logline for a potential project and asked if it was something that I would be interested in writing. I connected with the concept immediately and signed on to the project a few days later.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

It was fast compared to some other projects I’ve worked on—I first signed on in July of 2024, so it was about 16 months. We spent the first five months of that pitching and outlining different versions of the story before settling on one that everyone agreed on. When I first pitched my expanded outline, the story involved a younger sister trying to free her older sibling from the circus after being kidnapped, but it later shifted to be about two best friends going to the circus and being recruited by a mysterious teenage ringleader. While certain elements were always present, like the main character being a high-achieving skeptic of the supernatural who was looking for a way to escape her humdrum hometown, a lot wound up changing at the behest of the publisher and Nickelodeon/Paramount.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

This was my first time writing a book that took place in a preexisting property’s universe, so it was a new challenge for me. Any time you write IP (intellectual property), half the challenge is making sure that everything fits in nicely with the preexisting canon of that universe. As I think would be the case for any artist, it can be a challenge to give up part of your creative control, so it was certainly a lesson in compromise for me.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

This was my first time writing a book where each step, from outlining to drafting to revision, required approval from multiple entities. There was the in-house editorial team and then a representative from Paramount who had to give the book their blessing before moving to the next steps. That meant that ideas being nixed, concepts being changed, and last-minute additions were very much in the realm of possibility. However, as a result, I think writing this book really helped me tighten up my own outlining/revision process. IP forces you to streamline your writing, and I found myself appreciating it more and more as the project went on.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

Circus, in a lot of ways, is a story about the transitional period between childhood and teenhood. That change can impact things like one’s identity, friendships, and future plans/goals. I hope that younger readers will be able to see their own experience in it and be comforted by the knowledge that they’re not alone in those feelings. For older readers, I hope it provides nostalgia—not only for that time in life, but for the kind of scares and surprises that defined the original Are You Afraid of the Dark? series.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

It’s important to know when to push back on editorial feedback and when to put your creative ego aside, so to speak. As writers, it can be hard to cut something in a story that you really enjoyed, but sometimes it’s necessary to make the manuscript better. That said, if you feel super strongly about something, make sure your voice is heard! You’ll regret it later if you don’t. 

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(Keeping Track of Your Story With Maps and Paper Dolls.)

I’ve always loved writing in the multi-POV format. I used dual, first-person point of view in my debut YA novel, Someday, Somewhere. So when my editor and I decided on rotating, first-person perspectives for my new middle-grade drama kid series, Cast vs. Crew, I was thrilled. In Setting the Stage, the first book in the trilogy, each chapter is narrated by one of four members of the Juniper Valley Middle School Drama Club’s stage crew.

At first, I had some concerns: Are four narrators way too many? Would the concept be too confusing for middle-grade readers? Would they lose track of who was talking?

But the more I thought about it, the more confident I felt that tween readers would be on board. My favorite Baby-Sitters Club Super Special, Starring the Babysitters Club, was written with each member of the club telling their side of the story in first person, and I read it countless times when I was 10. (I also spent hours trying to copy Stacey’s handwriting and mastering her perfectly angled lowercase “e.”)

There’s even some science to it: During adolescence, kids go through an “identify formation” cycle, which includes an exploration of identity alternatives, a 2021 article in the Journal of Research on Adolescence notes. In a nutshell, the study finds that kids develop their own identities most effectively by trying on a variety of personalities, passions, and values on for size. In the TikTok era, switching quickly between different points of view just makes sense.

As an author, multi-POV is also incredibly fun to write. If one character is having a great day, it’s more than likely another character is having the worst day of their life, and you get to write about both. You’ll get to explore the preconceived notions the characters have about one another, and their reactions when they’re proven wrong (or right!). You get to write about each character’s inner desires (and secret crushes), fears, and dreams, which then places the reader in the powerful position of knowing everything.

It’s also fun to play with the chronology of the story, letting the same scene play out multiple times from different characters’ points of view. In my YA novel Someday, Somewhere, I placed one short scene in the middle of the book that is told from the dual protagonists’ points of view at once, using a collective “we” to imply that both characters are on the exact same page.

Thanks to the early feedback of some enthusiastic tween readers, I’m able to have even more fun as I complete the revision process for the next two books in the Cast vs. Crew trilogy. A prank war is heating up, and the four protagonists form secret loyalties, betray their friends, and reveal their true feelings about the feud between the cast and the crew. Meanwhile, my middle-grade readers get to try on new, diverse personalities and ultimately strengthen their own evolving points of view.

3 Tips for Writing Multi-POV Books in Middle Grade

1. Separate Each POV With Clear, Easy-to-Understand Headers

In a book with only one point of view, there’s never any confusion about who is telling the story. For a book written in several points of view (especially more than two), you’ll need to make it abundantly clear who is narrating at any given point in the story. I typically start each chapter with a large header that includes the narrating character’s first and last name. In Cast vs. Crew, I also list their stage crew job (ie. Ella Amani: Stage Manager) to jog the reader’s memory.

2. Give Each Character Their Own Mini-Arc

When there’s only one first-person narrator, you’ll spend most of the time focused on their journey. When writing a book with more than one first-person narrator, you’ll need to make sure they have one collective journey, plus at least one other mini-journey with its own conflict and resolution.

For example, in Setting the Stage, while Ella is primarily focused on the goings-on of the drama club stage crew as they rehearse for the spring musical, she’s also struggling to set boundaries with her parents who expect her to watch her younger siblings after school, and also having conflicting feelings about her best friend Levi, who has been acting distant. Meanwhile, while Levi is dealing with the drama of drama club, he’s also unpacking his feelings about his birth mom being back in his life and his burgeoning crush on Rosa, the show’s star.

3. Do a Close “POV Read” During the Revision Process

In a multi-POV story, take extra care to establish each narrator’s distinct voice. From their favorite bands to their preferred slang, you’ll need to make specific choices about the way they speak and stick with them from chapter to chapter. Not only does this help each narrator feel more authentic, it will also allow the reader to quickly transition back to another narrator as you reintroduce them.

In Cast vs. Crew, I made sure “dope” was an expression that only Willow said, while sixth-grader Sebastian only begins to use popular slang, like “that’s fire,” after he hears some of his older friends saying it. When you revise, do at least one read by narrator instead of chronologically. I read all of Ella’s chapters, then all of Levi’s chapters, etc., to make sure the mini-arcs are streamlined and each narrator’s voice stays consistent.

The more time you can spend developing each narrator’s voice, the better!

Check out Lindsay Champion’s Cast vs. Crew: Setting the Stage here:

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(The Balancing Act of Fart Jokes and Difficult Topics.)

My dad was a psychology professor at a tiny University in the small town of Shippensburg Pennsylvania. He taught transcendental meditation and creativity and there were drum circles in the basement. One day my dad painted our faces in white grease paint and took me and a half dozen of his students to inflict upon an unsuspecting downtown Shippensburg the unwelcome art of mime. His ideas were too big for our very small town and it didn’t seem to occur to him that this was something he should worry about. It was 1981 and still a little bit 1979, and the intermittent smells of pot smoke and patchouli that permeated my childhood followed me to California, but my dad did not.

So what did Judy Blume’s Super Fudge have anything to do with me?

For the longest time I read mostly Marvel Comics. X-Men was about rejects and weirdos, and Spider-Man suffered the guilt and angst of never being fully understood. I could relate. In Marvel Comics it always seemed like there was a lot more going on than there was. There were hundreds of characters with storylines that were constantly intersecting, so much fog around the edges that you could only piece together just enough to get to the next issue, and half the fun was trying to make sense of it all. How much of Rogue’s memories were her own, and how much of them were Ms. Marvels? Who was the Hobgoblin and what did he have to do with the original Green Goblin? How could Judy Blume compete?

And then in sixth grade I discovered Daniel Pinkwater’s Alan Mendelsohn, The Boy From Mars. At first I was suspicious. I’d read books before that seemed promising from their titles but turned out to be great disappointments. When I read Marvel Comics I never felt as patronized as I did when I read books that were written for kids my age. Until Daniel Pinkwater’s Alan Mendelsohn, The Boy From Mars.

It wasn’t anything like the title suggested. Alan Mendelsohn’s Martianness was not even close to the most interesting thing about him. Leonard Neeble had just moved away from his old neighborhood and extended family to attend a new school, Bat Masterson Junior High, and not even the rejects and weirdos wanted to be friends with him. Except for Alan Mendelsohn, who was confidently and unapologetically himself. He also didn’t take any shit. He kept the popular kids at Bat Masterson constantly on their toes, sometimes, literally. He had special methods of tripping them up, like the missile whistle, a high-pitched whistle that, if aimed at just the right moment, would make any kid fall on their face.

Mendelsohn collected comic books just like I did. Neeble had to go to a psychiatrist because of his poor school performance just like I did. By then I had been sent to more psychiatrists and psychotherapists than I could count, and been tested and tested again for what, no one seemed to able to tell me. Neeble’s psychiatrist seemed just as clueless.

Neeble and Mendelsohn went to Samuel Klugarsh’s Occult bookstore where the shelves were lined with books that sounded a lot like the books my dad had on his shelf, like Harold Platt, New Age Seer of Rochester, and Fred Watanabe—The Devine Inner Self.  Klugarsh, who was clearly a con artist, sold Neeble and Mendelsohn the Omega Meter, which was supposed to put them in state 26, a state that would allow them to control minds. And despite the dubiousness of this gadget that was clearly made out of a cheap transistor radio with alligator clips attached that they were supposed to pinch onto their ears, it worked. Sort of. They were able to make random strangers take off their hats and rub their bellies, and that was about it. It was the first of a series of fascinating but somewhat disappointing swindles that did something like, but not quite, what they were supposed to do.

But Alan Mendelsohn, The Boy From Mars wasn’t really about controlling minds or telekinesis or being able to cross over into that other plane known as Waka Waka. Or even Alan Mendelsohn being a Martian. It was more about the voyage than the destination. Which was a good thing, because Pinkwater was not always great at sticking the landing. The ending, and really, large portions of his books, especially The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, read like he was making it all up as he went along. Which in a way was the ultimate swindle. You weren’t going to get the satisfying conclusion you got in typical books for kids my age, where every loose end is tied up and our heroes prevail. And if you didn’t get why that didn’t matter, well, you didn’t get Daniel Pinkwater. His books had more in common with Thomas Pynchon than Judy Bloom.  

Pinkwater’s books existed in a world that was absurd, unpredictable, and unmoored. At the time, my best friend Ethan, who had recommended Pinkwater’s books in the first place, had just gone to live with his father at a Southern California cult called Rajneesh Puram led by an Indian guru.
My mother took occasional weekend trips to a hippy commune in Big Sur where she took workshops on things like primal screaming and “authentic movement.” And my dad was, well, my dad.

And so Pinkwater’s books: Alan Mendelsohn, The Boy From Mars, The Snarkout Boys and the Avacado of Death, The Great Guru, The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, Lizard Music, and so many others, all kind of made sense to me in a familiar sort of way.  Because my world was just as absurd, unpredictable, and unmoored. And Pinkwater wrote about kids who seemed to be able to navigate that world, and maybe not quite make sense of it, but they knew how to appreciate the scenery along the way.

And now that I’m writing my own books for kids, I wouldn’t even begin to try to write like Daniel Pinkwater. Of course he’s an inspiration. How could he not be? But I can’t seem to avoid the conventions of plot and story; the beginnings, middles, and endings; the inciting incident; and the denouement. While The Snarkout Boys and the Avacado of Death ends with the loosest of loose ends: Every Realtor in the country is a creature from outer space, to which Osgood Singerson, the world’s greatest detective concludes, “I guess we’re just going to have to deal with it.”  There’s no loose end I don’t feel compelled to address. I seem to be forever trapped within the conventions of the form. Though of course I will always write about weirdos and rejects. This is my tribe. This is who I’m writing for. Because I was that kid. I’m a weirdo and reject who writes for weirdos and rejects.

My book, The Black Market, has lots of fog around the edges, and that fog is thickest around the Black Market itself. The inciting incident behind the title, the real story that I probably shouldn’t tell my elementary school aged readers, is that when I was a kid I asked my mom where she got her pot from—the then very illegal marijuana that had followed me from Pennsylvania to California along with that implacable patchouli smell—and she said, “The Black Market.”  This instantly conjured up a market in some dark alley filled with tables with black velvet tablecloths where they sold everything forbidden and exotic. And this became the black market in my book.

The kids in The Black Market are obsessed with old horror movies, just like I was obsessed, because when I was a kid, an obsession with horror movies, comic books, Star Trek, Dr. Who, and Japanese animation meant you were a part a private club of obsessives and outsiders; a refuge from the oppression of everything normal and boring and popular. In recent years, this is no longer the private club it used to be. When I was a kid “geek” and “nerd” were insults. Now they’re badges of pride. And the modern kids in my book aren’t rejected for their obsessions. They’re confident and unapologetically themselves. Because now, with the internet, it’s so much easier to find your tribe.

So I don’t know if you can write a book like the Daniel Pinkwater books of my youth in the 21st century. The weirdos and rejects have taken over. There’s no special interest that doesn’t have a subculture or fanbase. The private clubs are no longer so private. I’m not sure who the Alan Mendelsohns and Leonard Neebles of today might be. But whoever they are, I hope they find in my book something that feels just a little familiar, and I hope they enjoy the scenery along the way.    

Check out Jed Alexander’s The Black Market here:

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(What Is an Objective Correlative?)

Overall, the first chapters were well-crafted with clear stakes and promising plot twists. Not a trope in sight. Likewise, the characters’ voices were distinct to individual personalities. That said, every writer relied on body parts to convey emotion. Hearts skipped a beat, indicating fear or joy.

And on it went—a profusion of eye rolls (disgust) and gritting teeth (anxiety or frustration). Head shaking expressed everything from amusement to disbelief. Clichés aside, my concerns were more about the lack of specific details connecting the emotion to a particular person.

What a character feels is the core of a story. We want them to think of a time, I remember feeling the same way. This won’t happen if emotions are generic.

According to VeryWell Mind, the five basic emotions are: 1. Happiness; 2. Sadness; 3. Fear; 4. Anger; and 5. Surprise. I would add embarrassment, frustration, and confusion—especially for hormonal adolescents. Shame and guilt are often underutilized.

Focus on Emotional Inheritance

As an exercise, I asked mentees to recast their clichés, focusing on the protagonist’s emotional inheritance, such as their culture, socioeconomic conditions, and family dynamics. Upbringing influences how characters express themselves—especially when under pressure.

Have they grown up sheltered? Does their family encourage dialogue? Are they good students, slackers, or somewhere in between? How fresh are their wounds? Dig deeper!

TIP: Don’t use a Thesaurus to simply find a synonym for ‘slam’ as in ‘slamming a door’ to show anger. One writer replaced his generic phrase with a character specific, ‘He grew silent, like a hungry shark.’ Instead of ‘spine tingled’ to indicate fear, another wrote, ‘He slid a rock in his pocket, just in case.’

Highlight the Most Prominent Emotion

I then asked them to highlight the most prominent emotion in each scene of their first chapter. Many had repeated the same emotion in consecutive scenes. Anger and happiness won out, perhaps due to the age makeup of their characters. Yet, the repetition of moods and feelings can drain readers’ curiosity and dilute page-turning tension.

TIP: Look for consecutive scenes with the same emotion. Try replacing a raging outburst or jumping with joy with an underused emotion. Experiment with one that’s more subtle and nuanced, like embarrassment or frustration. Give space to quiet, internal moments.

Consider Unique Way of Thinking

Ellen Brock, a YouTuber and former editor at a middle-grade imprint, makes this point: Most kids try to hide their emotions because they don’t want to have a meltdown in front of their friends. She suggests—instead of relying solely on ‘showing’ and/or ‘telling’ to convey emotions—writers consider what is special about the way their characters ‘think.’

TIP: Write about an emotion using an internal process, either contemplation or introspection. The following example conveys unease triggered when a protagonist willingly puts herself in a risky situation. It appears early in my middle-grade novel Frozen Stiff. ‘How could she sneak off in a stolen truck when he (her cousin) was so noisy? Well, Cody thought wistfully, it wasn’t really stolen. Just on temporary loan without permission.’

The passage conveys Cody’s anxiety, as well as lets readers know she’s a risk-taker.

In sum, there is more than one way to communicate what characters are feeling. Present them with a versatile emotional wardrobe and see what fits.

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(Find more Killer Writers conversations here.)

“Lauren, you’ve written everything from picture books to edgy young adult novels to stories for adults. How do you mentally shift gears between those audiences without losing your creative center?”

“Only one book for adults so far, though I’m working on another. Plays Well with Others was my first. That book took forever, but I loved it. Writing for kids comes naturally. Part of it is that I remember my childhood so vividly. My husband doesn’t remember his at all, but I can name every teacher I had, every friend’s last name, even the small humiliations and kindnesses. That makes it easy for me to slip into a child’s head. When I write for kids, that’s the gift. I can still be nine or 11 without much effort. The challenge is plot and structure. I’m strong on character, voice, and emotions. With adults, the big hurdle was pacing. The joy was that with adults, I could finally write the ugly thoughts in a character’s head without censoring myself. With kids, you don’t want to crush their souls. But with adults, I could push into darkness. That was liberating.”

“When you sit down to begin a project, what tells you it’s a middle-grade story, a teen story, or an adult story?”

“Honestly, when I first started, I didn’t know. I was so naïve about publishing categories. I didn’t understand aspirational reading, that if your audience is nine, your protagonist should probably be 11, acting slightly younger but aspirational. I just wrote age-true characters. Now I realize it depends on whose story it is. If the central concern is a 10-year-old worried about fifth grade, that’s a children’s book. If the focus is on the mother trying to manage her child’s disability, that’s an adult book. The perspective of the character with the most at stake tells you who the audience is.”

“Writers are often told to stick to one lane and build a brand. How have you resisted that pressure?”

“People always asked, ‘What’s your brand?’ And I’d say, ‘I’m not a brand. I’m a human.’ The truth is, I’ve never been a savvy marketer. I’m just a storyteller. I write the stories that call to me. That’s not always the smartest career choice. If you want to build a reliable income, sticking to one lane probably helps. But I couldn’t. And maybe it’s stubbornness. When I was young, I was told over and over that I wasn’t good enough. In college, I wasn’t chosen for the advanced classes. In grad school, same story. Back then, we mailed physical manuscripts. I’d spend hours in the library with the publisher database, typing up query letters. Over the course of five years, I sent 148 queries for five different novels that will never see the light of day. Finally, I got one ‘nice’ rejection letter. That rejection led to my first publication. So, when people started telling me, ‘Pick a lane,’ I thought, ‘I’ve been told no all my life. Why would I start listening now?’”

“That’s interesting. My career’s been eclectic too. I’ve bounced between film, television, books, and teaching. People ask, ‘Why so many jumps?’ Honestly, it’s because I love stories. I grew up in Appalachia, Eastern Tennessee. We weren’t wealthy, but we had stories to tell. That was what kept us going. My relatives didn’t have running water or electricity. We slept in feather beds made from our own chickens. But everyone could tell a story, and that oral storytelling culture shaped me.”

“My dad grew up that way too: Brevard, North Carolina, then Milan, Tennessee, the son of cotton farmers. No electricity, no plumbing. He’s a wonderful storyteller, gentle and thoughtful, who taught me to love books and nature and to have the courage to write. I think those Southern roots matter. They make us storytellers first.”

Check out Lauren Myracle’s Plays Well With Others here:

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“They do. And sometimes that means breaking rules.”

“Absolutely. Speaking of chickens, did your family chop or swing?”

“We chopped. Quick and clean. Then you throw them away from you because they run. You don’t want them running back at you, spurting blood.”

“My mom did the swing-around thing. I never killed a chicken myself. But see? Already we’ve got blood, hatchets, corpses running amok. That’s what makes us Southern Gothic storytellers.”

“Next thing, we’ll be quoting Flannery O’Connor.”

“And I’d be fine with that.”

“Don’t you think readers are more intelligent than the industry gives them credit for? That they don’t always want the same predictable thing?”

“Yes, but we have to be careful not to be snobby. Some readers want the Olive Garden of books. They want the breadsticks. They want the comfort of knowing exactly what’s coming. That’s valid. But for me, I’d rather surprise people. I want to write something unexpected. Stephen King has done that brilliantly. He writes across genres, and readers follow him. That’s what I admire, the freedom to go wherever the story leads.”

“You mentioned challenges with plotting. How do you think about craft when you move between audiences?”

“For me, it’s like method acting. I’m not an actor, but I try to become that person. When I write for kids, I slip easily into an 11-year-old’s head. The difficulty is plot. With adults, structure is everything. But the joy was that I could go darker. I could show thoughts that kids’ books can’t hold. That felt like being given full rein, no speed limit.”

“I think you’ve got a little bit of Napoleon in you. ‘I am the brand.’”

“I wish. I didn’t succeed. I didn’t conquer. And I didn’t have an elephant. But yes, I suppose that spirit is in there.”

“What about editors?”

“Editors make the world go round. I’m a terrible first drafter and a strong reviser. For years, I had one editor who trusted me completely. I’d hand her a messy manuscript with a seed of something good, and together we’d make it flourish. That gave me the courage to write freely. Now that I’m writing adult fiction, I have to think more strategically about reader expectations, about market realities. That feels strange. But I still protect the messy, playful first draft space.”

“And you’ve had your books banned and challenged. How did that affect you?”

“The first time I got an email saying ttyl was the third most banned book in the country, my stomach dropped. I was a good Southern girl. I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been bad.’ Then my editor and publicist said, ‘This is great news.’ Since then, I’ve been the number one most-banned author in the country. Weekly, I get a notice: ‘Brownsville, Tennessee, is really on your case.’ It’s almost always about female sexuality or LGBTQ themes. Because my teenage characters, guess what, talk about sex. And apparently, that’s dangerous.”

“From a publicity perspective, scandal sells.”

“Exactly. It hurt, but it also raised my profile. That’s the paradox.”

“What’s your sweet spot as a writer?”

“Nine to 11. I adore that age. They’re curious, open, not yet swallowed by phones. Technology complicates teen fiction. TikTok and Snapchat are fertile ground, but I don’t know that landscape as well as teens do. But the life of a nine-year-old today isn’t that different from mine at nine. Adult fiction feels like a game. You know your readers are experienced. They’ve read a thousand books. My job is to surprise them, delight them, maybe even make them cry, but never bore them.”

“You’ve resisted rules your whole career. Have you paid a price for that?”

“I’ve been slapped on the wrist plenty of times. But I’d rather take the heat than follow rules that don’t serve the story.”

“That’s the rebellion, then.”

“Persistence. You can’t give up. Writing isn’t waiting for the muse. It’s a profession. You improve with practice. You show up. You don’t burn bridges. And sometimes the riskiest project is the one readers are most eager for. Take Legends & Lattes. People thought it would never succeed. It exploded. Readers want freshness. They want to be surprised.”

“Do you see a through line in your work?”

“Maybe resilience. Maybe quirky, irreverent characters who are secretly Anne of Green Gables, wanting to be good, but forced to deal with creepy, messy worlds. Flannery O’Connor is an influence, too. I love Southern Gothic. When I got my MFA, they told us that every children’s book had to have a happy ending. I thought, ‘Why? That’s not life.’ My work doesn’t always end happily, but it ends with resilience. That’s my through line.”

“Woody Allen was once the only person at Universal who could turn in a project without even telling them what it was. That kind of freedom is rare.”

“And enviable. That’s the dream: to earn the freedom to write whatever story comes.”

“For writers who want to cross genres, what’s your parting advice?”

“Be aware of your choices. If you want stability, it may be harder if you jump around. Some authors publish under different names to cater to different audiences. That’s a smart strategy. But at the end of the day, if you write what you truly want, you’re more likely to create something amazing. Writing isn’t just about strategy. It’s about joy. If you’re enjoying yourself, that joy is evident in your work.”

“Then let’s call it what it is: a rebellion.”

“Let’s start it right now.”

_____________________________________________

Lauren Myracle is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband and three cats, who may or may not be plotting to frame her for their next act of mischief. https://www.laurenmyracle.com/books-for-adults

The post A Conversation With Lauren Myracle on Breaking the Rules by Writing Across Ages and Genres (Killer Writers) appeared first on Writer's Digest.

(5 Tips for Writing Social-Emotional Picture Books for Kids.)

I remember the first time I saw a tree spirit. It was in the front park along the road leading up to my primary school in Twickenham, Chase Bridge, a neighborhood south of the River Thames near London. I remember we were still allowed then to play with what we called conkers on a string, a simple game of tying chestnuts on a piece of old yarn. I remember quite vividly looking up at this huge, old oak tree and seeing my first tree spirit. This one was, or felt to me, to be a grand lion watching from its branches. 

In London and subsequently in Pasadena where we moved when I was eight years old, there were many many trees in our neighborhood. To me, those old trees each had personalities of their own. I was captivated by how each one was individual. In the art room at school or using coloring pencils at home, I first began by drawing organic patterns and shapes. Writing for me came later.

When we moved to Altadena, California, everything felt strange but my imagination remained a comfort to me and I used it to spend hours, often with my younger brother, wandering and noticing  and observing. As I looked at things around me, things in nature, trees especially, I can’t really explain why but their spirits began taking shape.

As an adult, I started seriously taking photos when I was on break, taking a pause between building new business ventures. I had recently met my second husband and I had decided to take the kids for a proper holiday one last time. We decided on visiting the Galapagos. I bought a new digital camera for the experience, we packed our bags, and away we went.

I was completely captivated by The Galapagos. I felt as if all of nature’s energy and vibrancy was palpable, true spirits coming to life. So began my journey of photographing trees around the world. 

Stepping behind the lens sharpened my attention to every knot and gnarled edge of the trees—the twists and turns of their branches. And then, almost magically, the spirit of the tree would reveal itself. Those subtle details would come alive, transforming the tree into something far more than just an old trunk—it became a character, a story, something entirely new. Doesn’t it look like a lonely lion? Or how about this one that looks like a happy giraffe? That same attentiveness sparked a desire in me to tell stories that extend beyond the frame.

Photography became a gateway to creating photographic books for children, where the patterns of the tree bark and limbs and branches transform within our imagination and come alive as animal characters, each one expressing a unique emotion. It’s my way of connecting with nature, engaging with future generations, and reminding them of the beauty of imagination, the joy of storytelling, and the wonder that lives in both. 

Check out Louise Wannier’s Tree Spirits Around the World here:

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(3 Tools to Help You Write From a Child’s POV.)

Before being published, I was writing poetry—little lyrical slices of life from a kid’s perspective. I thought I was using my own children and the ones I had taught as inspiration. The poems were about trips to the grocery store, listening to night noises outside a window, museum visits, or hanging out on a stoop watching the world. Each poem was a snapshot of an ordinary moment that somehow felt extraordinary because of the way it stirred a child’s inner world.

As my collection grew and I began to pay closer attention to how I was feeling inside, I realized something surprising. The “kid” who was inspiring me was me. These vignettes were actually expressions of how I felt in those different situations—the curiosity, the worry, the wonder, the joy. They were reminders of the emotions I carried from my own childhood and how I struggled with processing, describing, or even recognizing those feelings in the moment. I was writing what I had wanted to share, what I needed help with, and what I wish I had been told. That realization became a doorway. I wasn’t just writing about kids having experiences; I was writing about the feelings that live inside those experiences. Without even planning it, I was writing social-emotional books for children.

Looking back, it makes perfect sense. Children’s literature has always been about more than just plot or characters—it’s about connection. When a child sees their own big feelings reflected in a story, they feel understood, and that understanding becomes a tool for growth. As I leaned into this, I discovered how deeply children need books that give language to their emotions, offer strategies for handling them, and reassure them that they are not alone.

If you are drawn to this kind of work—writing stories that speak to children’s hearts as well as their imaginations—here are five tips that I’ve found helpful for writing social-emotional picture books.

1. Start With a Feeling

Every story begins with an emotional seed. Instead of focusing so much on story plot or arc, try asking, what is the feeling or internal experience I want to share? Maybe tap into your own inner child and think about something you have felt too.

Feelings are universal. Kids experience emotions like worry, excitement, fear, sadness, every day. Choose one and build your story around it. Give that feeling a concrete presence. Build the arc around it. For example, perhaps fear is the feeling you want to talk about, and the arc is how a child is not alone in this feeling and can help themselves when fearful and as a result consider, what does courage mean?

2. Show, Don’t Lecture

Children learn best through stories, not lectures. Rather than writing lines that tell them how they should feel, let your character model it. A child who is upset about losing a game doesn’t need an adult voice swooping in to fix the “problem” (as adults are wont to do).

Instead, the child can move through the feeling himself through the story. It is best when kids come to the realizations themselves or with other kids. It’s their own voice they need to hear and their own acceptance of an emotion without judgment and how to get through it. The story itself becomes the teaching tool.

3. Keep Language Simple, but Resonant

The words in a picture book need to be both accessible and poetic. Children respond to rhythm, repetition, and imagery. The challenge of picture books is the limited text meant to show and not tell. Kids are savvy and can relate to big concepts if they are supported with relatable story and images.

When choosing your words don’t try to focus on “dumbing them down” instead use that more sophisticated word such as “empathy” or “compassion” and let the story define it with simpler text. Using these terms and books as conversation starters or tools for tackling topics is a wonderful way for kids to learn new concepts and vocabulary.

4. Offer Gentle Strategies Within the Story

One of the most valuable things a social-emotional book can do is model coping strategies. These don’t need to be heavy-handed—often they’re subtle and woven into the character’s journey. A character might pause to take three deep breaths, count slowly to five, or whisper an encouraging phrase like, “I can try again.”

In my most recent picture book, Body Beautiful, characters use positive affirmations as a strategic tool to speak directly to the reader about the power of their own body. These little moments not only move the story forward but also give young readers tools they can use in their own lives.

5. End With Hope and Connection

Children’s stories need resolution, and in social-emotional books, that often means reassurance. Show that feelings change, that hard moments pass, and that there are always ways to find support. Endings don’t always need to tie everything up neatly, but they should leave the reader with a sense that they are not alone in what they feel, and they have options and tools to help.

As humans of all ages, we continue to have feelings that challenge us. We are on a continuous journey to be kinder to ourselves as we navigate these feelings. If you approach your writing in a way that is honest and can reflect the validity of these emotions and offer understanding, empathy, and tools through story then you are creating books to help kids with their social emotional intelligence and given them a great foundation to learn to have compassion for themselves and each other.

Check out Susan Verde’s Body Beautiful here:

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