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Author Spotlight: Megan E. Bryant

By on January 2, 2026   /   Articles, Author Interviews   /   Leave a comment

Photo credit: Kris Fulk Photography

Today, let’s give a warm Mixed-Up Files welcome to Megan E. Bryant, author of Abby in Between: Face Forward, the second installment in the Abby in Between series. Praised by Kirkus as “a winning sequel that sees the welcome return of a flawed yet big-hearted protagonist,” the novel is available now from Penguin Workshop.

But first…

Abby in Between: Face Forward – A Summary

Big things are heading Abby McAdams’ way: her eleventh birthday, fifth-grade graduation, and the end of elementary school. There’s also the end-of-year overnight camping trip, and she can’t wait to practice her science skills. Oh, and there’s another thing. Abby suspects she’s going to get her period any day now, but after a few false alarms she’s not quite sure. Can Abby navigate new emotions, friendship dynamics, and her changing body, all while figuring out what kind of person she wants to be?

Q&A with Megan E. Bryant

 MR: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Megan. Huge congratulations on the publication of Abby in Between: Face Forward!

 MEB: Thank you so much! I’m so excited to chat with you about Abby and all things middle grade!

MR: What was your inspiration behind Abby McAdams? I know she’s a lot like your daughter, Clara, and a lot like you when you were a preteen. Can you elaborate?

MEB: I always envisioned Abby as an “every girl” character, hoping to write about her early puberty experience in a way that would be relatable and reassuring for girls embarking on their own puberty journeys. One of the things I love most about Abby is how deeply she feels emotions. There’s an intensity to the way Abby experiences the world—from her excitement about big milestones in her life to her compassion for animals, the environment, and people in need—that has endeared her to me.

Abby McAdams vs. Margaret Simon

MR: Abby has a very distinctive voice, reminiscent of another preteen protagonist, Margaret Simon, in Judy Blume’s groundbreaking 1974 novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. How are the two girls similar? In which ways are they different?

MEB: I think both Abby and Margaret are curious about puberty and how their bodies are changing, and they express this curiosity in very natural and normal ways. Margaret is older than Abby—part of the inspiration for writing the Abby books is that puberty tends to start earlier now—and as a result, I think that Margaret grapples with more mature topics. I also think both characters’ puberty experiences are affected by the times in which they live and cultural norms.

 

That’s SOOOO (NOT) Awkward

MR: Speaking Judy Blume, you write about puberty in a similar, straightforward way, without shame or embarrassment (yay!). What’s the secret to handling potentially awkward topics, from pubic hair and body odor to vaginal discharge and periods, in such a no-nonsense way? I’m sure your readers are beyond grateful! (I know I would have been as a tween. 🙂)

MEB: From the start, I knew I needed to write these books with unflinching honesty—or I shouldn’t bother writing them at all. So anything that made me feel squeamish or cringey was something I needed to work through on my own. It became an opportunity to examine any negative messages I’d absorbed about girls’ and women’s bodies and overcome them, while remembering that the whole range of emotions and reactions to puberty are completely normal. I figured that if a topic were embarrassing for me, an adult woman, to write about, then there would probably be readers who were embarrassed to be experiencing it, and I owed it to them to face it with honesty and compassion.

Dear 11-year-old Megan…

MR: As a follow-up, what advice would you give to 11-year-old Megan?

MEB: While I was deep in the process of writing Face Forward, something remarkable happened: my husband developed an old roll of film from my childhood, and there was a picture of me at my 11th birthday on it—the same age as Abby. I looked at the image of my younger self with so much tenderness. Incredibly, I wasn’t nearly as ugly, awkward, or messy as I’d felt at the time. So I think I’d tell 11-year-old Megan, “Go easy on yourself. You’re doing just fine.”

Writing about Climate Change

MR: In addition to stressing over the onset of her period, Abby is concerned about the state of the environment, including climate change and global

warming. This is a topic on many middle graders’ minds. What’s your approach to making such a weighty, often confusing subject palatable for young readers?

MEB: Many years ago, I attended a talk by Joyce Carol Oates, who was asked about writing for young people. She said, “You’ve got to give them hope,” which resonated deeply with me. It’s a message that imbues all of my writing. I found the global warming sections of this book to be perhaps even more challenging to write than the puberty ones, because the problem is grave, and young people will inherit a crisis worsened by the inactivity of prior generations. But there is hope, which can inspire us to work toward a solution.

MR: One more Abby question: Abby is desperate for a kitten, and she comes up with a detailed plan to get one. This is relatable to many preteens who ask for pets. Did you have a pet as a child? Do you allow your kids to have one (or maybe more than one 🙂)?

MEB: Goodness, yes! Growing up, I had pet rabbits and cats. We currently have four cats and two dogs. I always say our house is full, but my kids know that if they find an animal that needs a home, I’ll try to make it work—which is how we ended up with six pets, ha!

Advice for Writers

MR: Let’s move on to your writing career. It says in your bio that you’ve written 250 books for children. What is the secret to being so prolific? Also, what advice would you give to new writers? What about to more established ones?

MEB: I’m profoundly grateful for every writing opportunity I’ve had; for every idea that evolved from nebulous thought to printed book; and for every reader who has read my words. I’m not sure if there is a secret to being prolific besides making it a priority to write whenever you can. I often tell my writing students that they are the only ones who can prioritize their writing in a world that makes so many other demands on their time.

I’d tell new writers to persevere above all else—keep dreaming, keep plotting, keep reading, keep learning, keep writing, keep revising, and keep trying! For established writers, I’d encourage them to try mixing up their writing routine. Almost all of my books have been written linearly, but for a variety of reasons, I wrote Face Forward completely out of order, in much shorter writing sessions than I was used to. When it was time to read the manuscript from start to finish, I was really worried that it would be a jumbled mess of disconnected scenes. To my surprise, though, it flowed well, and I learned a good lesson about adapting my established writing process.

The Plot Thickens

MR: What is your writing process like, Megan? Do you have a specific routine or word-count goals? Any writing rituals? Also, are you a plotter or a pantser?

MEB: I am 100% a plotter! I’ll often spend months thinking about a new project before writing a single word. My outlines are usually 10-15 pages or more, and I use them like a roadmap to guide each writing session. As much as I love a detailed outline, though, I also have a notebook close at hand where I write all the new ideas and storylines that pop into my mind as I’m writing.

As for writing rituals, I keep a bottle of nail polish on my desk and when I get stuck on a sentence or paragraph, I’ll paint my nails. So if you see me wearing nail polish—especially if just a few of my nails are polished—chances are I’m working on a manuscript!

MR: What’s next on your writing agenda? More Abby books, I hope…

MEB: I’m always ready to revisit Abby and the McAdams family! Right now, I’m working on two projects—a family comedy focused on the misadventure of two brothers, and a futuristic trilogy. They couldn’t be more different, so no matter what mood I’m in, I have a project that suits it!

Lightning Round!

MR: Last thing: No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…

Preferred writing snack? Chocolate

Coffee or tea? Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon

MG authors that inspire you? Madeleine L’Engle, Dana Levy, C.S. Lewis, Raina Telgemeier, Lois Lowry, Katherine Applegate, Jason Reynolds—I could go on and on!

Most cringe-worthy tween moment? Running into my eighth-grade science teacher while I was buying pads—horrors!

Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay? Hard pass—you’ll find me hiding under the bed with my pets when it happens.

Superpower? Listmaking!

Favorite place on earth? Home is where my heart is.

You’re stranded on a desert island, with only three items in your possession. What are they? Practically: a solar-powered communication device, a water purification system, and sunblock. Whimsically: my knitting, a solar-powered fridge full of chocolate and coffee, and . . . sunblock!

MR: Thank you for chatting with me, Megan—and congratulations on the publication of Abby in Between: Face Forward. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I know MUF readers will too.

MEB: Thank you so much for your kind words! I really enjoyed answering these thought-provoking questions.

All About Megan

Megan E. Bryant has written more than 250 children’s books for ages ranging from babies to teens. Her most recent books include the middle grade novel series, ABBY IN BETWEEN; the CITIZEN BABY board book series, co-authored with her husband, historian Daniel O. Prosterman; the four-book chapter book series THE TINY GENIUSES; and the Kirkus starred and Best Young Adult Book of the Year GLOW. She lives in Winston-Salem, NC with her family.

Melissa Roske is a writer of middle-grade fiction. Before spending her days with imaginary people, she interviewed real ones as a journalist in Europe. In London she landed a job as an advice columnist for Just Seventeen magazine. Upon returning to her native New York, Melissa contributed to several books and magazines and selected jokes for Reader’s Digest. In addition to her debut novel Kat Greene Comes Clean (Charlesbridge), Melissa’s short story “Grandma Merle’s Last Wish” appears in the Jewish middle-grade anthology, Coming of Age: 13 B’Nai Mitzvah Stories (Albert Whitman). Learn more about Melissa on her Website and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

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Interview with Simon Stephenson, Author of The Snowman Code

By on December 15, 2025   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

Today, let’s give an enthusiastic Mixed-Up Files welcome to writer and screenwriter Simon Stephenson, author of the debut MG novel, The Snowman Code. The novel, first published in the U.K. in 2024, and illustrated by Reggie Brown, has been praised by The Guardian as: “Sparkling, humorous, and poignant.” It’s out tomorrow (!!!), December 16, from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

THE SNOWMAN CODE: A Summary

It’s March, and London is experiencing its longest winter since 1773. The ground is covered in snow, and ten-and-a-half-year-old Blessing hasn’t gone to school in months. The horrible Driplet Triplets have made sure of that by bullying her mercilessly. If Blessing’s mom weren’t so sad all the time, she might be able to help; but Mom won’t get out of bed, or even go to work. And the longer the winter goes on, the more depressed she becomes. Blessing is scared that she’ll be separated from her mom—again.

Just as Blessing is about to lose hope, she meets an unexpected new friend: Albert Framlington, a six-hundred-year-old snowman. Albert holds the key to solving Blessing’s problems, but he has a problem of his own, and he needs a human’s help. Can this unlikely duo find a way to help each other, and to overcome the never-ending winter? Or is it too late?

Interview with Simon Stephenson

MR: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Simon, and huge congratulations on the U.S. publication of your debut MG novel!

SS: Thank you! We are now one day out from “Snow Day” and I am excited.

MR: Can you tell MUF readers a bit about The Snowman Code, as well as the inspiration behind it?

SS: I think you summarized it brilliantly in your introduction. The Snowman Code is the story of a ten-and-a-half year old girl, Blesssing, and the six-hundred-and-something-winters-old snowman, Albert Framlington, she befriends. The story takes place during the longest winter London has ever known and they must team up to try and end it.

The inspiration comes from a few places. In my previous job as a children’s doctor, I’d worked with kids like Blessing and since that time I’d always wanted to write something they might see themselves in. Likewise, growing up in Scotland, snowmen featured regularly in my childhood. Writing films for young people finally gave me the confidence to tell this story.

A Real Blessing

MR: Blessing is an incredibly likable character, with highly relatable problems—including getting bullied at school and dealing with her mom’s depression. What is the secret to writing such real, three-dimensional characters?

SS: I appreciate that. I think when you are writing something with fantastical elements – i.e., a talking snowman – it helps to keep everything else as plausible as possible.  I think for me, as much as anything that tends to involve mixing the light with the dark. There is a version of a snowman story where it is all happy-magical-fantastical-unicorn-land and there is a version of Blessing’s story where it is all sad and downbeat. In life I think the truth often lies somewhere in the middle, and that is where I try to land. The way Blessing encounters her problems is the way kids do: those problems are a part of their life, but not the whole story. At heart, all kids are just kids.

MR: Blessing forms a deep friendship with Albert, a six-hundred-year-old snowman.  On the surface, they have little in common, but their bond is strong. What were you trying to say about the pair’s unlikely friendship, and about the nature of friendship in general?

SS: I liked the idea of two headstrong characters – a kid who knows she is usually right, and a snowman who usually thinks he is right – teaming up on an adventure together. I never set out to talk about friendship in general, but it does always seem to come out in my work. I think perhaps it is just one of the most important parts of life as a human, and if you are going to write about humans – and even snowman – it is inevitably part of that.

The Impact of Climate Change

MR: Another overarching theme in the book is climate change. We see this in London’s “broken weather,” where the city is experiencing the longest winter since 1773. What sparked your interest in this topic, and what do you think the takeaway is for readers?

SS: Sadly, I think climate change is just a fundamental part of our lives now, and it’s part of the conversation about seasons. I remember every winter of my childhood as having at least one good snow, and now we are lucky in Scotland if we get one every couple of years. In the specific world of the book, I think this goes back to the idea that if you are writing about something magical, it helps if it has a dose of reality to it.

British vs. American Editions

MR: Setting is another important aspect of the book. What made you choose London? (I know you lived there, as did I.) Also, The Snowman Code was first published in the U.K., in 2024. Are there any notable differences between the British and American editions?

SS: I miss London! I worked with kids like Blessing when I lived and worked in East London, and so it seemed the natural place. Victoria Park, where Albert lives, was my local park and everything else in the book — the canal, the flower market, the hospital – is drawn from life.

The UK and American editions I think are the same except for some spelling changes. But after 12 years of living and working in America I did recently discover that we use the word “quite” in different ways. In British English, “quite” means somewhat, whereas in American English it means “very.” A phrase like “quite good” therefore means either “somewhat good: or “very good,” depending on which side of the Atlantic you are on. This seems important information and I think they should tell you it on the plane.

MR: I totally agree! 🙂 

The Leap to MG

MR: This is your first MG, but not your first book. You’ve written several for adults, including Set My Heart to Five (2020), which is being adapted into a movie and for which you’ve written the screenplay. What prompted your decision to take the leap from adult books to MG? 

SS: I’d always wanted to write for young people, and it just took me a while to get there. After working on the movies Luca and Paddington 2, I got sent a lot of children’s books as potential adaptations and it just seemed like it’d be fun to write my own.

Writing for the Silver Screen

MR: This brings us to your movie-writing career: As above, you’ve written for Pixar’s Luca, Paddington 2, and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. How does your job as a screenwriter influence your writing?

SS: I think one thing screenwriting teaches you is economy. A screenplay is only about fifteen or twenty thousand words, so every word has to count. I try to bring that to my prose and edit pretty ruthlessly. (F. Scott Fitzgerald cuts everything he writes by half, and that seems about right.)

MR: Speaking of movies, are there any plans to adapt The Snowman Code for the silver screen? I can see it as a gorgeous, animated feature. (I’m guessing you can too. 🙂)

SS: Yes! We are currently having some interesting conversations about this, so watch this space.

Simon’s Writing Routine

MR: What does your writing routine look like? Do you have any particular habits or rituals?

SS: Get up. Drink coffee. Bang head against desk. Repeat.

I do my best to eliminate distractions, so I block the internet on my computer and turn off my phone. I work best in a quiet coffee shop and luckily there is one right near where I live.

MR: What are you working on now, Simon? Enquiring Mixed-Up Files readers want to know…

SS: So, currently there are a few different things on the boil: adaptations of my two previous adult books, and then some screenwriting things besides. My ambition for 2026 is to write another book, so hopefully will be settling down to that in early January.

Lightning Round!

 

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

Preferred writing snack? Gummy bears. Not just my preferred writing snack, but also my preferred meal.

Superpower?  Flying would be pretty great, but I will happily take whatever is available.

Favorite season? I mean, I think I had better say winter. (I live in southern California, so it is no great hardship here.)

Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay? Absolutely. If we are going to have an apocalypse anyway, we might as well go all in, right? Here in LA, many people keep “earthquake kits” – grab bags containing water, flashlight, batteries etc. I have a joke with my friends that mine just contains zombie make-up, because that would be fun and a good way make sure nobody bothers you.

Favorite way to dress a snowman? I’d better cite Article 4 of the snowman code, which stipulates that a good disguise consists of a raincoat, waterproof trousers, sunglasses, a hat, a scarf and a pair of gloves. (Pictured here: Simon’s late brother, Dominic, the subject of Simon’s memoir, Let Not the Waves of the Sea.)

If you were stranded on a desert island with only three things, what would they be? My fiddle so I can finally get some practice in, a bicycle of some sort, and Moby Dick so I can finally find out what happens in the end.

Favorite place on earth? The west coast of Scotland in the summertime, which is three days in June and you can never predict the three days.

MR: Thank you for chatting with us, Simon. It was a pleasure to learn more about you and your books, and I’m sure MUF readers will agree!

Thank you for having me! I’m grateful for your support (and Albert and Blessing are too!)

All About Simon

SIMON STEPHENSON is a writer for adults and children, and is a screenwriter. Before he became a full-time writer, Simon was a physician. His latest novel, Sometimes People Die, was published in 2022.  Simon has written two other books, Set My Heart To Five (2020), and Let Not the Waves of the Sea (2012), a memoir about losing his brother. The book won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards and was serialized on BBC Radio 4. Simon has also worked as a writer on various films, including Pixar’s Luca, Paddington 2, and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. Like every other Hollywood screenwriter, he has a drawer full of unproduced scripts and forgotten promises. He lives in Los Angeles. Learn more about Simon on his website.

Melissa Roske is a writer of middle-grade fiction. Before spending her days with imaginary people, she interviewed real ones as a journalist in Europe. In London she landed a job as an advice columnist for Just Seventeen magazine. Upon returning to her native New York, Melissa contributed to several books and magazines and selected jokes for Reader’s Digest. In addition to her debut novel Kat Greene Comes Clean (Charlesbridge), Melissa’s short story “Grandma Merle’s Last Wish” appears in the Jewish middle-grade anthology, Coming of Age: 13 B’Nai Mitzvah Stories (Albert Whitman). Learn more about Melissa on her Website and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

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Author Spotlight: Ali Terese

By on December 11, 2025   /   Author Interviews  

In today’s Author Spotlight, Sydney Dunlap chats with author Ali Terese about her middle-grade novel, VOTE FOR THE G.O.A.T.

Ali Terese is a middle grade and YA author who writes funny and heartfelt stories including FREE PERIOD (Scholastic – 2024) and VOTE FOR THE G.O.A.T. (Aladdin / Simon & Schuster – 2025). Her work has received the National Book Award – Longlist honor, a School Library Journal starred review, an Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award, and a Kids’ Indie Next selection. FREE PERIOD is part of the Chicago Battle of the Books and Texas’s Lone Star Reading List. Visit Ali online for book bonuses, giveaways, and resources like discussion guides, recipes, craftivism projects, and more at aliterese.com.

All About the Book!

From the author of National Book Award-longlisted FREE PERIOD comes a new hijinks-fueled comedy about finding your voice, perfect for fans of Carrie Firestone and Lisa Yee!

Sporty Meg and fashionista Jo don’t have much in common besides being 7th graders at Somerset Middle School, where everyone is obsessed with being voted the Greatest of All Time and celebrated at the Harvest Ball. But when their mascot Somerset Babette (aka the world’s cutest goat) is kidnapped, Jo and Meg are wrongfully accused of being the culprits.

The burned-out soccer star and chronically-ill overachiever band together and assemble a rag-tag squad to steal the goat back. Banter, activism, self-care, double-crosses, big shenanigans, and even bigger feelings follow as the girls fight to change how animals are treated at their school and achieve true freedom for their four-legged, sweater-chewing friend in this laugh-out-loud middle-grade heist centering friendship and bodily autonomy.

Interview with Ali Terese!

Congratulations on your new book release! I absolutely adored it! Publisher’s Weekly gives VOTE FOR THE G.O.A.T. a starred review and writes, “Centering an intersectionally diverse cast across Meg and Jo’s alternating first-person POVs, Terese delivers a joyful slice-of-life romp about finding oneself and uplifting others.” I love this description of your book. What inspired this story?

I call this book Ted Lasso for tweens because it is full of hope, hilarity, and people who really care about each other and their goat! The book is set in a sports-crazed suburban town where the middle school mascot, Somerset Babette, has lost her little farm to yet another sports field and is now trapped in a parking lot. Well the kids are not going to let that happen to her! 7th grader Jo is already scheming to set the goat free when she and classmate Meg witness Babette getting kidnapped. Meg and Jo bring together a reverse heist crew to steal Babette back so they can truly change the way animals are treated on their campus. There are wild chases, double-crosses over disco fries, and an accounting fart joke for the ages. In standing up for Babette, the students find their voices in making decisions about their own bodies too, which is what inspired me to write this book in the first place.

When I was younger I had juvenile arthritis like Jo and a sports injury like Meg, but I didn’t know how to make my voice heard. So when the adults in my life said things like champions play through pain, you’re exaggerating, and limping will make it worse, I took all that to heart. I believed that my body existed in service to a game, teammates, a sport. When in reality, our precious bodies belong to us alone, and there isn’t some switch that flips when we turn 18 so that we know how to make decisions about ourselves. We need to learn as children when to rest, when to seek care, and build a society that allows those things to happen. I think kids deserve hilarious, affirming stories to remind them that they have a say over their own health and safety right now, and I feel so lucky that I get to write them.

Characters

Meg and Jo are such interesting main characters, and I enjoyed the rest of the cast as well. Who was your favorite character to write in this book, and why?

This is an impossible question! But I’ll say Meg because she is such an earnest goofball. When she’s injured at the beginning of the book and is forced to take a break from soccer, it gives her a chance to ask if playing this sport nonstop is how she wants to spend her life. Over the course of the story, she realizes she doesn’t actually know! Which I think is good for kids to see. She loves the game, but she isn’t willing to pay the price of her pain to play it at the level her dad and coaches expect. It is so hard to speak up for yourself in these situations, to see something different than the way you’ve always lived, and I loved spending time with Meg as she made her messy way through it. My hope is that young readers will reflect on her story and think about the decisions they’re making.

Craft

The plot has some great twists, and the heist element was fun and suspenseful. Was it difficult to craft? What were your biggest challenges in writing this?

I had so much fun with it! From a craft perspective, I had to keep reminding myself that even though there were mystery elements to figuring out who had taken Babette and why, the real focus was on the heist team. For me, heists are perfect for middle grade stories because they are natural team building exercises. Everyone has to recognize their own special skill and the special skills of the kids around them, figure out how they can all fit together to solve a problem, and then work with people who are different from them to create change. I also really enjoyed that Meg found her love of being part of a team in soccer translated to putting the squad together to save Babette. I hope sporty readers will think about how their creativity and leadership skills on the field can help them make a difference on issues they care about too.

Impact

As an animal lover, I really liked the concern for Babette and her well being. And the fact that the kids cared enough to do something. You are so good at writing stories that spur kids to positive action for their communities. Can you tell us a little about your 2023 debut novel, FREE PERIOD, and how it has spurred positive change in communities?

FREE PERIOD is a middle grade comedy where a couple of chaos monsters fight to get maxi-pads in all school bathrooms for all students who menstruate. It uses comedy, delightfully disgusting desserts including maxi-pad cupcakes and tampretzels, and wildly weird crafts like crochet utersuses to get kids laughing and having fun with an issue that can sometimes be different to talk about. My hope is that it is an entry point to the school period equity movement which is one of the greatest examples of student led action in our nation’s history. When I first started working on the book about a decade ago, no states required pads in schools. Now because of the work of students and their allies, about half the states in the country either require pads in some school bathrooms or provide funding for them. It has been so amazing to hear from young readers that they’ve gone to their principal after reading the book to advocate for period products and to partner with non-profits around the country doing this work. In the bigger picture, I hope kids see from Gracie and Helen’s story that you don’t need fancy or formal training to create change. Advocacy is for everyone, and they can use what they already love to do in life to make their voices heard.

Inspiration

Your new book also addresses the themes of sports burnout/bodily autonomy and a gradual return to playing after injury. These are so timely and relevant for today’s young athletes, and from what I can tell, rarely addressed. Did a personal experience motivate you to explore these areas in your book, or how did you decide to highlight these topics?

As I mentioned earlier, I was motivated by own experiences with sports injury and chronic illness as a young athlete. But when I started research for this book, it seemed so much had gotten worse rather than better in the decades since I played. Of course as a parent, I knew there were still overzealous parents and coaches, all the more complicated as children are pushed to specialize in a single sport and even play on more than one team per season. I was honestly shocked, though, to see the number of specialized children’s sports injury clinics popping up around the country for game nights. If there are so many injuries to justify a dedicated care center, how have the adults not stepped back to say, wait should we reevaluate what is causing all these injuries to children in the first place? That really informed the collective action aspect of the book. Children should be able to play and enjoy sports, but if their adults aren’t going to help them do it responsibly, teammates may have to work together to demand protections like a safe return-to-play plan that involves gradually returning after injury or burnout under the supervision of medical professionals. Also, grown-ups get it together.

Favorite Experiences

What have been some of your favorite experiences since becoming a published author?

If you go to my author website aliterese.com you’ll see a big part of my art is bringing the book world into the real world through craft. If there is a cuterus uterus cookie in the book you better believe I’m baking those in my kitchen. Same with the free bracelets, yarn crafts, t-shirts, games, and other resources on there. A few weeks ago, I heard from a young reader that picked up VOTE FOR THE G.O.A.T. at her local indie and saw the crochet Babette I’d dropped off at the store. And now she is crocheting her own Babette with her mom. My heart!! Can there be anything better than the art you put into the world bringing parents and kids together? I hope they make the cutest goat ever and talk about the intergenerational issues in the story while they do!

Advice

What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Please believe it when everyone says a bad agent is worse than no agent. I know it is so hard to hear when querying gets more challenging each year, but this isn’t gatekeeping. It is writers sharing their experiences which can range anywhere from wasted time to bad deals to dead books to not even wanting to participate in the industry anymore. You need and deserve to work with a professional who has the knowledge and experience to sell your book and advocate for you. Don’t settle for anything less!

Up Next

Can you give us some insights into what you’ll be working on next?

A laugh-out-loud feminist adventure where messy girls change the world.

And for the lightning round:

Coffee or tea?

All of the espresso please

Sunrise or sunset?

Sunrise

Favorite place to travel:

The Dolomites

Favorite dessert:

Whipped cream

Superpower:

Outlining

Favorite music:

Vitamin String Quartet – I actually got to see them in concert this year! They were so funny in addition to playing great music.

Favorite book from childhood:

THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin

PS Thank you so much to Sydney and From the Mixed Up Files blog for all you do to promote children’s literature!!!

Find Ali on Instagram at @alitereseauthor.
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