author interviews

Could reading be classed as activism? Angie Thomas certainly thinks so. In 2017, Thomas, who is based in Jackson, Mississippi, shot to fame when her young adult novel The Hate U Give (THUG) gained a spot on the New York Times Bestseller list and was…

'Tis the season for rom-coms. The weather is warm, the sun is shining, and everyone is rocking the flirtiest items in their wardrobe. I don't know about you, but summer always takes me back to my teenage years — and that automatically makes me want…

Does it get any sweeter than a good old-fashioned YA contemporary rom-com? For the co-authors of Always Never Yours, Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, the answer is a resounding yes. Because not only are they a real-life couple who have…

When it was published in 2015, author Jessica Knoll's thriller Luckiest Girl Alive took the book world by storm. The best-selling debut of 2015, it spent four months dominating New York Times list, has been translated into several languages, and is…

Anybody who has listened to an audiobook knows that they have enormous power to transport you into a story in a way that reading in print doesn't quite do. Much of that feeling can be attributed to the narrator — and Robin Miles is among the best. A…

When I was six, just as I was learning to read, I asked my mom what "alien" meant. I was confused, because here was this word in all the paperwork that always seemed to trouble her, and there were no pictures of little green men in outer space…

Jan Redford often describes herself as afraid; or occasionally, in her words, “chicken sh*t.” In fact, she’s actually kind of a badass — at least, the story she tells in the page of her debut memoir leads me to believe as much. That memoir is End of…

Living in a mansion might sound like heaven, but it quickly turned into hell for Monsoon Mansion author Cinelle Barnes. She moved into "Mansion Royale" in the Philippines with her family at age three, but they lost their luxurious lifestyle and so…

Storytellers have been fascinated with sirens and mermaids since the beginning of time, and that infatuation hasn't waned — just look to the latest Academy Award winner for Best Picture for proof. But in her debut novel, The Pisces, poet and…

The educational system in the U.S., from elementary school to college, is undeniably shaped by systemic racism and discrimination. The history of U.S. slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and experiences of Black Americans are glossed over (or…

My bookshelves are filled with women: women writers and women’s stories; women who look and live and love like me, and women who don’t; fictional women and real women and women who fall somewhere in between. My bookshelves have always looked like…

No, Rachel Hawkins did not purposefully time the May 1 publication of her latest YA book, Royals, to coincide with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's May 19 royal wedding, but that doesn't mean she's not super excited about the fact. "God, I want to…

You might remember Circe as the beautiful enchantress from The Odyssey, famed for turning men into pigs. Or perhaps you only know her as a vague figure from hazy Greek antiquity, or as the namesake of the Game of Thrones character. But there is more…

When writer Meredith Goldstein pitched a relationship advice column to her Boston Globe editors in 2008, her life (and relationship) were sailing smoothly. By the time that column launched on the daily newspaper’s website in early 2009, not-so-much.…

In her debut graphic memoir Am I There Yet?, out now, Mari Andrew traces her winding path to adulthood through a series first person essays peppered with tiny revelations about life, heartbreaks, and travel. Her words sit side-by-side with heartfelt…

Being a teenager is hard. Being an LGBTQ teen is even harder, especially if you're a POC or another marginalization. Although LGBTQ teens (and the community at large) have more acceptance legally and socially than ever before, there is still a…

You may know Philadelphia for its cheesesteaks and historical sites, but right at the heart of the city is a buzzing, vibrant arts scene. Energized by a diverse array of neighborhoods and strong local identity, poetry is thriving in the City of…

When Chelsey Johnson sat down to write her debut novel, she knew she wanted to write a queer book that wasn't a coming out story. “For a long time, if you ever tried to rent a gay movie — especially in movies but also in books — we always got the…

In the introduction to her debut book Heart Talk, artist, poet, and speaker Cleo Wade invites readers to treat it “less like a book and more like a friend or companion,” and she means it. “I definitely write in service to other people, and I always…