Author Interviews

Author Interview: Julia DeVillers of Meet Me at Wonderland

By on May 22, 2025   /   Articles, Author Interviews, Upper MG  

A girl with a summer job at her family’s amusement park crushes on a coworker who’d rather be working anywhere else in this fun and flirty middle grade rom-com. Meet Me at Wonderland (Aladdin). For grades 5+

MUF: Welcome to MUF, Julia DeVillers! Thanks for dropping by to talk about your new middle-grade novel, Meet Me at Wonderland. Tell us what inspired you to write this story.

Cover of MEET ME AT WONDERLAND by Julia DeVillers

Julia DeVillers: Hi MUF! So the inspiration for my story came about when my fabulous editor, Alyson, and I were talking about embarrassing moments when I told her about the time at my high school job that I, dressed as Chuck E. Cheese (the New Jersey sewer rat),walked into the break room and saw a cute guy filling out a job application. I panicked, tried to sneak out, and bumped into my manager, who made me unmask. That mishap inspired Meet Me at Wonderland. While I swapped Chuck E. for a moose mascot, my real-life disaster became the book’s “moose-cute.” I LOVED writing this book so much, with its blend of rom and com.

MUF: Your protagonists are on the upper end of middle-grade characters. Can you talk about what made you choose to write MG instead of YA? What sorts of choices did you make to write a romance for the middle-grade readers?

JD: I’ve been writing middle grade for most of my career, only my nonfiction books are YA. Middle grades can range widely. What I’ve chosen to do for my upper middle grade romcom is focus on crushes–the ups and downs, the awkward, the excitement, the despair– and the (spoiler alert!) “ends with a kiss.’ In Meet Me at Wonderland, Coco and Henry are workplace rivals who start their relationship with banter with each other in a fun, funny way. Don’t get me wrong, the emotional stakes are still real. I think it makes the genre accessible to my readers who want to explore what it feels like to have a crush without diving into the more intense, complicated relationships you might find in older books.

MUF: There’s been plenty of talk about how it can be tricky for kids to find books when they’re not quite ready for YA but are aging out of younger middle grade. What age reader were you writing for when you wrote MMAW?

JD: Exactly, Meet Me at Wonderland fits right in between lower middle grade and YA space, as it’s for 10 and up. (And by up, I have to say I’m hearing from adult arc readers they’re loving the nostalgia read–first crushes! First jobs! – themselves!)

MUF: You have written quite a bit in the middle grade space. What is it about this age group that you’re drawn to?

JD: Personally, I started my middle grade years loving school, my friends, and life was good. Then friend drama and more serious issues hit, and I felt unrooted, emotional, and alone. I don’t want kids to have those feelings, so I write about them in the hopes that my books can help middle graders feel less alone. Plus that time is such an intense time of growth and discovery. Middle grade readers are developing a sense of independence but are still figuring out how to navigate relationships, whether it’s with friends, family, or those early romantic interests. I love capturing that excitement and awkwardness in my writing because it feels so relatable and real. Plus, there’s a wonderful balance of humor and heart in middle grade.

MUF: What was it like to write for the American Girl brand? How does that process work and is it quite different than other books you’ve worked on?

JD: It was SO FUN. I wrote the books for the 90s dolls with my twin sister, Jennifer Roy. I wrote as one twin character (Isabel) and she wrote as the other (Nicki). Along with books, we now have our “own” dolls. The process was different because AG chose the era, the names, and some of the backstory, which is to be expected since they’re developing iconic characters to fit their historical line. They were the experts and Jennifer and I brought their vision to life and put our own touches on it. That’s so special, knowing we contributed to this beloved line. Writing about the 90s was a vibe, and brought back so many memories we wanted to recreate for young readers.

MUF: Read any fun new or new-ish MG lately? 

Author Julia DeVillers

JD: This year so far: Isle of Ever by Jen Calonita, As You Wish by Nashae Jones, The Misfits series by Lisa Yee and Dan Santat, Secrets of Lovelace Academy by Marie Benedict and Courtney Sheinmel, The Liars Society by Alyson Gerber, On Thin Ice by Jessica Kim, J vs. K by Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft, the Penny series by Sara Shephard, Bree Boyd is a Legend by Leah Johnson. My favorite of last year was Not Nothing by Gayle Forman.

MUF: Have we forgotten to ask you something important?

JD: This is my first book since getting through cancer! The reason Chuck E Cheese was on my mind at always because when I was sick I was very nostalgic and remembering happy times (not that being in a rat costume is a happy time, ha!) So…it feels very special to be celebrating with you!

Find Julia at @juliadevillers on Instagram and TikTok and at juliadevillers.com. (Where you may find pictures of her dressed as Morty the Moose.)

 

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WNDMG Author Interview with Meg Eden Kuyatt

By on May 19, 2025   /   Author Interviews, Diversity  

WNDMG Author Interview with Meg Eden Kuyatt

When I fell in love with the prose in Meg Eden Kuyatt’s first novel, Good Different, then learned she was writing a ghost story of sorts, I. COULD. NOT. WAIT!
I had the esteemed pleasure of sitting down to interview Meg. Here’s the inside scoop on both the author and her book…

KATE: Our Mixed-Up-Files readers would love the inside scoop on your latest novel-in-verse, The Girl in the Walls. Can you tell us a bit about where the idea for this story came from?

MEG: I tend to start my stories in a feeling. This one started when I saw something very upsetting happen to someone I cared about. I tried to write about it directly, but when that didn’t work and felt a little too real, I knew I needed to try another angle (like Emily Dickinson, to tell it slant). I started asking what if questions, like: what if V could time travel? What if she met a ghost? The ghost helped bring this magic wonderland world of the walls, giving me distance. It also gave me an outlet for me to process all my feelings, giving an option for what I could be like if I held onto them forever and didn’t try to work through them. That warning made me really want to work through my feelings all the more and find healing on the other end.

KATE: I love that you write books which make me cry (I’m looking at you too, Good Different). And by this, I don’t mean you write emotional books, I mean you write books with big emotions. How easy is it for you to tap into a young character’s emotions while creating universal connections to your readers?

MEG: Thank you so much, Kate! That’s the part I feel like is my strength. As an autistic person, I feel things so big, and so channeling those feelings into my characters is easy. I just write what I’m feeling now, and what I felt at that age (often they’re very similar things, just maybe wearing different outfits). When I ask things like: what am I struggling with now? What did I struggle with then?, I try to be as specific as possible, and ironically, the more specific we are, the more universal we get because we’re tapping into the human experience.

KATE: In discussing some of those emotions just a bit further, I think many readers will be able to relate to Valeria, a girl who has been hurt by the actions and comments of others. Afterall, who hasn’t wished someone else a taste of their own medicine? How did you decide this would be her driving force?

MEG: I write what I’m feeling and struggling with in the moment. I knew I needed to write this book when, like V, I was hurt and angry at someone else. I knew I needed to try to see them with more empathy. But to get there, I knew I needed to be honest with where I was in my feelings and let that fuel the story.

KATE: You have two characters giving Valeria art guidance – one who says to draw art as you see it. Another who says to draw art as you feel it. When you write, which advice registers closest for you?

MEG: I think there’s truth to both, for V and for my writing. We need to be informed by what we feel, but also what is true. Sometimes these intersect, but sometimes feelings are unreliable narrators, so we need to open our eyes to get perspective and ask, what is true?

KATE: There’s a great parallel in your novel between ghosting someone and being a ghost oneself. Talk to us about how you wove in the concept of being seen.

MEG: I think as the story progresses, V realizes she’s been holding in feelings, but so has the house—to embody how the family has been holding in hurt from generational trauma and ableism. When we’re ghosted, it hurts, and if we don’t acknowledge those feelings, if we don’t move forward, we can become ghosts in a sense, trapped in a cul de sac of looping feelings. We can also give that as an inheritance to the next generation. And if we don’t acknowledge those feelings, they build and fester and get worse. They wound, and can create really malignant patterns for the generations to come. In a few ways, this becomes a literal threat V has to deal with, because as things escalate, they can become real obstacles. I wanted V to break those generational patterns and pave forward another option.

KATE: We often hear about family curses. How important was it for you to make this story generational?

MEG: That was the main thing I wanted to explore here: generations. What do we inherit from our families? The people who dig at us the most, is it in part because we see ourselves in them? What legacy do we want to leave forward? How can we take the good and oppose the evil in the legacies we inherit?

KATE: It’s often fun to read about the baddies of a book, and your baddie is certainly up there on that list! How fun was it for you to write this antagonist?

MEG: Not fun! 😉 But very healing. Sometimes you have to write very real things, that aren’t necessarily fun, because they hit a little too close to home. But it’s really important. It was fun, in a sense, exploring the complexities of the antagonist: the yes, but what if…?

KATE: You and Valeria share many things in common, I’m sure, one in particular is being neurodivergent. Can you tell MUF readers about neurodivergence and how this connection to Valeria helped you in your story development?

MEG: I’m neurodivergent and I don’t know what it’s like to not be ND. I used to try to write neurotypical leads to satisfy a previous agent, but I learned I’m a bad actor, and don’t know what it’s like to be neurotypical! So I write what I know, and my best writing is what I know. For V, I particularly wanted to channel my insecurities as a neurodivergent person in a neurotypical world, how I have so much joy in who I was created to be until something happens and someone makes me doubt myself.

Especially because in Good Different, Selah grows to love her autism, I wanted to show the other end, because it’s not always that simple. Usually there’s a mix of joy and internalized ableism. I don’t want people to stop at Selah’s story and think we’ve “fixed ableism.” It’s still there, all the more obvious by RFK Jr’s recent disturbing comments. There is joy, but there’s also a lot of hurt, and for kids struggling with that, I wanted them to see themselves in V’s story, and see it doesn’t have to end there.

KATE: Can you describe your writing process and, can you give us an example of something you cut, changed, or reworked from draft to publication?

MEG: Goodness, so much changed. The basic bones of the emotional arc have always been there, but there were pranks that had to get cut, lots of conversations between the ghost and V, a lot of internal poems..I was really challenged by my editor to focus, to escalate, and keep things active, since I can get so lost in my head sometimes.

KATE: Thank you for taking the time to share the inside scoop on The Girl in the Walls. Is there something beyond Valeria’s world you can hint at? Perhaps a new project in the works?

MEG: I’m so excited to have a Good Different companion novel in the works currently called PERFECT ENOUGH, and a YA with two autistic leads (that I’ve been working on for over ten years now, so it’s such a joy to know it’s coming out into the world)! Being undiagnosed for most of my life, I’m really enjoying exploring what it means to be autistic and how to be a healthy autistic person in a neurotypical, often ableist world. So we’ll see where that leads me as I play with future ideas!

KATE: Where can readers best find you if they want to reach out?

MEG: megedenbooks.com! I love hearing from readers!

 

Lightning Round

 

And….no MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…

Favorite place to write? – patio, or Chick-fil-a

Dark chocolate or milk chocolate? – dark chocolate all the way

Superpower? – flying! or timetravel.

Rollerblades or bike? – bike!

Dream job when you were a kid? – being an artist or a manga-ka

House pet? – cat

Favorite piece of advice for writers? – persist!

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WNDMG Interview with Annie McCann, Debut Author of MY HARIMAU KING

By on May 14, 2025   /   Author Interviews, WNDMG  
Wndmg logo

wndmg logo

 

DEBUT MG NOVEL for AAPI Heritage Month

I had the pleasure of meeting Annie when she reached out to me after reading an ARC for SKYLIGHT, my own MG debut last summer. Over the past year, I’ve had several opportunities to chat with Annie and learn about the amazing writing community she’s created in Western Sydney. The moment I came across her debut announcement, I knew I had to support my fellow Southeast Asian author.

As if the stars aligned, I jumped at the chance to interview her for WNDMG! Check out the summary for her book:

 

 

MY HARIMAU KING

My Harimau King

My Harimau King

An ancient king, a modern-day kid, and a life-changing prophecy that binds them.

13-year-old Sumaiyah Jackson is living her best life in Parramatta until a family drama spirals out of control, mysterious events start happening, and loved ones begin to disappear.

Suddenly, Sumaiyah and her friends find themselves trapped in the ancient kingdom of Pajajaran, Indonesia, where Sumaiyah discovers she is “the chosen one” from descendants of ancient royalty. But this doesn’t mean fun and untold riches. Instead, she needs to break a mystifying curse and prevent a prophecy from destroying her family.

Now Sumaiyah’s in a race against time to discover her true purpose, combat terrifying creatures, and fulfil her destiny, or risk losing her family and friends forever!

I’m so proud to be a part of Annie’s debut tour and am delighted to be a part of this journey with her. So, enough fangirling ~ let’s hear from the author herself!

 

READER TO WRITER

Patchree: I know you are very involved with the writing community and serve as a moderator and advocate for so many different events and organizations! But, I’d love to hear more about your personal journey as a writer.

Annie: This was a wonderful learning experience in not only the craft of storytelling but the discipline in balancing a full-time job, home responsibilities, friends, emcee events all while meeting deadlines for my passion project. Having embarked on the writing journey, it feels like I finally got to see what’s behind the mystery door after all my years of reading and hearing from amazing authors. It’s not until you experience it yourself, you don’t fully understand an author’s journey – what a ride!

Muslim girl holding books

I founded a network of readers, Read3r’z Re-Vu 16 years ago, over the years it was all about reader friends getting together and enjoying books but, in that time, writers emerged including me and this journey gave me the opportunity to form what I like to call a Read3r’z Writers Subdivision where the writers came together from far and wide to support one another and even enjoy in person writing days.

I have learnt a lot but key takeaways are mastering the art of showing not telling and the responsibility with creative license, to ensure my stories are accessible and respectful.

My Harimau King was 5 years in the making, and in the meantime, I published 6 short stories. Writing is a marathon not a sprint and I didn’t realize I had so many stories inside I needed to get out to the world. This journey is one I hold close to my heart. Publication aside, I am proud of how much I learnt in creative writing and truly consider myself blessed with the wonderful friends I met along the way.

REAL LIFE AS INSPIRATION

Patchree: As a debut MG author, what was your main inspiration for MY HARIMAU KING?

Annie: I am an avid reader of fantasy fiction, particularly of books that infuse or are inspired by cultural legends and mythology from around the world. Having enjoyed a lot of these types of books, I spent years in search of fantasy fiction with representation of my own Indonesian culture. Despite being rich in myth and legend, I found none on the Western bookshelves. I saw this as an opportunity to not wait for someone else to write the story I want told – do it myself and it all started with one question I asked myself “why not me?”

While Indonesia is rich with mythology and legends the world needs to know, I had to start with what I knew – and that is the legend associated with my own West Javanese, Indonesian family. This was my chance to put West Java, Indonesia on the map – to tell the world that West Java is only one of many provinces in Indonesia that is rich with culture and intriguing stories to tell. It was also my opportunity to pay homage to my ancestors and family as well as leave a legacy.

Patchree: Besides sharing a biracial identity, how similar are you to your female lead Sumaiyah Jackson?

Annie McCann

Annie McCann

Annie: This goes back to starting with what you know. Yes, Sumaiyah is loosely based on me. We are both Indonesian-Australian, Muslim from Western Sydney. We are both born to a West Javanese, Indonesian and Australian father and are an only child. However, the key differences between Sumaiyah and I are the family dynamics and how much she does not know about her true heritage.

Growing up, I always knew about my mother’s heritage, identity and I have always been very connected with the West Javanese culture and language.  This was a gap in Sumaiyah’s life as her mother was not open about her true identity and Sumaiyah knew very little of her culture except the language. As for the family, Sumaiyah is very close with her cousin from her mum’s side, Alif. He goes to the same school and lives nearby – this was something I never had growing up with all Mamah’s family in Indonesia and Dad’s family in Central West, NSW or interstate, I never had relatives nearby and being an only child, I guess this was a dynamic I craved growing up.

When writing Sumaiyah and watching her develop and navigate as the chosen one, I felt we shared the same pressures that come with being an only child in a traditional family. Bound by expectation and to be the one to pay it forward for the sake of family. I also feel Sumaiyah and I relate in the ability to act/perform under pressure – when you only have one right choice to make without direction, you need to lead the way and still be the voice of reason in the time of calamity.

POWER OF CULTURE & LANGUAGE

Map of Southeast Asia

Map of Southeast Asia

Patchree: I loved discovering so many commonalities between Thai and Indonesian cultures while reading your book. What are some key cultural elements or traditions from Indonesia you knew you had to include in your story?

Annie: In addition to Indonesian mythology and legend, it was important to me to include strong cultural elements that were not just Indonesian but from the province of West Java. There are variations in culture and traditions across the provinces, so I wanted strong ties to the West Javanese culture. From West Javanese food to the batik designed fabrics found in a box or as worn by some of the characters. One piece that was also very important was the suling; the traditional West Javanese flute made of bamboo. Its sound is so distinct, and normally part of a Gamelan ensemble played at special occasions in West Java, I wanted a connection between the legend of my ancestor and the story itself. Lastly, I want to mention the culture of family. Many books feature early teens embarking on adventures without parents or family. However, traditionally in Indonesia, family is very important and stick together even through adulthood and having Sumaiyah’s parents and Uncles significantly involved in her story is a cultural norm so I wanted to present a story where the parents and Uncles were very much part of Sumaiyah’s adventure.

Patchree: Language is a big draw for me, and I was captivated with infusion of various Indonesian dialects throughout the book. What was your research process like and are you fluent in these dialects?

Annie: Thank you, this was one of my learnings when writing the book, to retain authenticity in language without over translating but also making the story accessible to a non-Indonesian, non-West Javanese reader. I am fluent in Bahasa Indonesian as I speak with my family in Indonesian though my Bahasa Sunda dialect could be better. I owe this to Mamah, my patient translator who I bugged constantly while writing the book with Bahasa Indonesian phrases I needed translated to Bahasa Sunda then reviewed in English to ensure we didn’t lose something in translation when providing context. To help improve my Bahasa Sunda, I also acquired a Bahasa Sunda to English dictionary from Bandung, Indonesia during my last visit! It was an unexpected find as I thought I would only find dialect to national language type dictionaries but after searching high and low with my cousins, we managed to find that gem at I place I refer to as ‘Book Road’ – a road full of book stalls.

SPOILER ALERT FOR READERS

Top Secret

(AVERT YOUR EYES IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW!)

 

Patchree: After reading your Author’s Note, you mention being a direct descendant of an actual Indonesian King! How did you discover this direct ancestry to Indonesian royalty?

Prabu Raja Siliwangi

Prabu Raja Siliwangi

Annie: Yes, that is true, I am one of the last living descendants of the ancient king: Prabu Raja Siliwangi who was the king of Pajajaran (ancient West Java, Indonesia). The connection is through my mother and her father. This was something I knew since I was a child, as my mum was always very open about her identity and culture and shared stories of Prabu Raja Siliwangi and his affiliation with the harimau: native West Javanese tiger. I was also shown our official family tree that’s certified by the Province Government of West Java which goes all the way back to Prabu Raja Siliwangi himself. It was fascinating to read through. Growing up, my Uncles also shared stories of Prabu Raja Siliwangi and how the golok and kujang once belonging to the king is now safeguarded by a relative in West Java.

My last visit to Indonesia was quite significant as my cousins took me to the very place where Prabu Raja Siliwangi’s palace was in Pura Parahyangan. I also got to touch the remains of his throne in a place now called Batu Tulis which houses a stone tablet chiseled in Sanskrit by Prabu Raja Siliwangi’s son honouring his father who was crowned twice.

WORDS OF ADVICE

Patchree: What advice would you give to aspiring authors of middle grade fantasy?

Annie: I’d like to share the advice I was given when I started writing my book – shout out to my friend, author Jeremy Lachlan, author of the Jane Doe Chronicles who told me to focus on the story you want told, don’t worry who will read it or where it ends up, tell the story you want told and be true to yourself as a writer.

I also want to add that writing is key as you can’t edit a blank page. If you have a story to tell, do not be afraid to share it, the world will always be ready for something new and exciting.

Patchree: Can you tell me about your upcoming projects?

Annie: Next to my book launch this June and subsequent signing events, my newest short story The Moon Shadow Secret will be published in an anthology called Brave New Girls: Tales of Girls who Invent and Imagine. I am honoured to have my story featured in this anthology as the anthology focuses short stories featuring a STEM-savvy teen heroine. My story captures the ancient West Javanese legend of Nyai Anteh, infusing it into an original story of an Indonesian teen who is savvy with Coding. Proceeds from sales for this anthology are donated to the Society of Women Engineers Scholarship Fund which encourage young girls to get into the STEM industry. Keep an eye out for this in July 2025!

 

WOW! What an amazing journey!

Be sure to preorder MY HARIMAU KING and follow Annie on Instagram @nenganniemenulis!

 

Annie McCann

Annie McCann

AUTHOR BIO

Annie McCann is an Indonesian-Australian emcee and author, from Western Sydney. She has written multiple short stories and is the founder of several literary networks. Annie is passionate about diversity and representation in books, media and pop culture, and aims to ‘bridge the gap’ in the creative space. On her limited days off, Annie is either jamming to Michael Jackson’s greatest hits or cheering on her NRL Football team, Parramatta Eels.

https://linktr.ee/nenganniemenulis

 

 

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