First Draft With Sarah Enni

First Draft Episode #280: Sabaa Tahir   Sabaa Tahir is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling An Ember in the Ashes series, which comes to a much-anticipated conclusion with the release of A Sky Beyond the Storm on December 1st. Sips By is the only mutl-brand, personalized monthly tea subscription box, which makes discovering tea fun and affordable! Use the code “firstdraft” for 50% off your first Sips By box at www.sipsby.com. On the Remember Reading podcast, discover the tales behind these beloved children’s book classics. Hear from award-winning authors like Meg Cabot, Katherine Paterson, and Tiffany Jackson, and guests as they uncover the unique story behind each story. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Hear Sabaa’s first episode of First Draft here! My tweet about revising as ironing, which many people responded to with wonderful visual metaphors of their own! Washington Post reporter Emily Wax-Thibodeaux wrote the article that inspired Sabaa to write An Ember in the Ashes. The

First Draft Episode #279: Gretchen Rubin Gretchen Rubin is the New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and more, co-host of the Happier podcast, and creator of the Four Tendencies framework. Sips By is the only mutl-brand, personalized monthly tea subscription box, which makes discovering tea fun and affordable! Use the code “firstdraft” for 50% off your first Sips By box at www.sipsby.com. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky Sandra Day O’Connor Jonathan Burnham, President and Publisher of the Harper Division at HarperCollins Robert Caro Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert Julie and Julia by Julie Powell The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs William Hazlitt, esasyist, critic, painter, social commenter, and philosopher Samuel Johnson, poet, essayist, and one of Gretchen’s favorite provider of quotes On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety by Andrea Petersen Quiet: The Pow

First Draft Episode #278: Elizabeth Eulberg Elizabeth Eulberg, author of YA novels The Lonely Hearts Club and Better Off Friends, and the acclaimed Great Shelby Holmes middle-grade series. Her next MG, The Best Worst Summer, comes out in Spring 2021. Sips By is the only mutl-brand, personalized monthly tea subscription box, which makes discovering tea fun and affordable! Use the code “firstdraft” for 50% off your first Sips By box at www.sipsby.com. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode David Levithan, editor at Scholastic and author of Boy Meets Boy, Every Day, and more The Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace Debbie Gibson Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games series and the middle-grade Gregor the Overlander series Stephenie Meyer, author of Twilight Dav Pilkey, Captain Underpants, Dumb Bunnies, and Dog Man series David Shannon, author and illustrator of Caldecott Honor book No, David!, and illustrator of How I Became a Pirate Mark Teague, author and illustrator of Fly!, the

First Draft Episode #277: Leah Johnson Leah Johnson talks about her bestselling debut novel, You Should See Me In a Crown, and the forthcoming Rise to the Sun. This episode is brought to you by Everything I Thought I Knew, by Shannon Takoaka, out from Candlewick Press now. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Leah’s essay, “How Young Adult Literature Taught Me to Love Like a White Girl,” appeared in Electric Lit. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson Sarah Neal-Estes, director of PRX’s American Student Radio Radiolab podcast network The “24 Hours at the Golden Apple” episode of This American Life “Picture Day” on This American Life Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert (hear her First Draft episodes here, here, and here) Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan I reference the Marketing and Publicity (Part 2) where I discuss boundaries in promo   I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 53

First Draft Episode #276: Oliver Jeffers Oliver Jeffers is a visual artist, illustrator of The Day the Crayons Quit, and author and illustrator of How to Catch a Star, The Fate of Fausto, and Here We Are talks about his newest picture book, What We’ll Build. This episode is brought to you by Everything I Thought I Knew, by Shannon Takoaka, out from Candlewick Press October 13, 2020. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Sam Winston, who co-authored A Child of Books with Oliver, is a fine artist interested in language Artist Michael Sowa Artist Mark Tansey Colette, the “trendiest store in the world” The essay I couldn’t name was “It’s time to build,” a viral post written by venture capitalist Marc Andreesen Tom Rivett-Carnac’s TED Talk, “How to Shift Your Mindset and Change Your Future”     I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998 or send an email to mailbag @ firstdraftpod dot co

First Draft Episode #275: Carson Ellis Carson Ellis, author and illustrator of bestselling picture books Home and Caldecott Honor book Du Iz Tak?, talks about her newest picture book, In the Half Room. This episode is brought to you by Everything I Thought I Knew, by Shannon Takoaka, out from Candlewick Press October 13, 2020. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry and Wesley Dennis Black Beauty by Anna Sewell Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak The New Yorker Mac Barnett’s Children’s Book Proclamation (more context about that proclamation), signed by—among others—Carson Ellis, Jon Klassen (listen to his episode of First Draft here), Dan Santat (listen to his First Draft episode here) Ursula Nordstrom, legendary picture book editor at HarperCollins Shel Silverstein, author and illustrator of The Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and A Light in the Attic Ruth Krauss wrote and Maurice Sendak illustrated

First Draft Episode: International Settings (Panel) A conversation between Randy Ribay, author of the National Book Award Finalist Patron Saints of Nothing; Kelly Yang, author of Parachutes; Laura Taylor Namey, author of A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow; Mayra Cuevas, author of Salty, Bitter, Sweet. This conversation was held as part of A Mighty Blaze’s YA Weekend, and many thanks to Joseph Moldover (author of Every Last Breath) and Jennifer de Leon (author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From) for all the help putting that entire celebration together. You can watch the Zoom video of this panel at A Mighty Blaze’s Facebook page, here. I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998 or send an email to mailbag @ firstdraftpod dot com! Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

First Draft Episode #274: Justin Reynolds Justin Reynolds, author of The Opposite of Always, talks about his new young adult contemporary novel, Early Departures. This episode is brought to you by Everything I Thought I Knew, by Shannon Takoaka, out from Candlewick Press October 13, 2020. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Hear Justin’s mailbag episode of First Draft here Hear Justin on the live episode recorded at YAhooFest 2019, along with Rick Yancey, New York Times bestselling author of the Fifth Wave series, the Monstrumologist series, and more; Cindy Pon, Want and its sequel Ruse, the Silver Phoenix series and more. John Grisham, author of The Firm, Camino Winds and many more Michael Crichton, author of Sphere, Jurassic Park, and many more How Should a Person Be by Sheila Heti I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998 or send an email to mailbag @ firstdraftpod dot com! Subsc

First Draft Episode: Queer Love Stories (A Mighty Blaze Panel) A conversation between Sam Maggs, author of The Unstoppable Wasp, Girl Squad: 20 Female Friendships That Changed History, and more; Lyla Lee, author of I’ll Be the One; Tobly McSmith, author of Stay Gold; Adiba Jaigirdar, author of The Henna Wars; and Leah Johnson, author of You Should See Me in a Crown. This conversation was held as part of A Mighty Blaze’s YA Weekend, and many thanks to Joseph Moldover (author of Every Last Breath) and Jennifer de Leon (author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From) for all the help putting that entire celebration together. You can watch the Zoom video of this panel at A Mighty Blaze’s Facebook page, here. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Hear Sam Magg’s episode of First Draft here The Cooperative Children’s Book Center 2019 numbers on diversity in KidLit Simon Vs the Homo Sapien’s Agenda by Becky Albertalli (listen to her FIrst Draft interviews here and here) Adam Silvera, author of More Happy Th

First Draft Episode #273: Arvin Ahmadi Arvin Ahmadi, author of Down and Across, Girl Gone Viral, and his latest, How it All Blew Up. This episode is brought to you by Everything I Thought I Knew, by Shannon Takoaka, out from Candlewick Press October 13, 2020. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode The Magic Treehouse nonfiction book series Cheryl Klein, editor at Lee & Low Angela Lee Duckworth’s TED Talk, Grit: The Power of Passion Call Me By Your Name (movie) Master of None (TV show) RuPaul’s Drag Race (TV show) The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998 or send an email to mailbag @ firstdraftpod dot com! Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds; Leigh Bardugo, author of Ninth House and t

First Draft Episode: Grief and Trauma in YA (A Mighty Blaze Panel) A conversation between Joseph Moldover, author of Every Last Breath; Alex Richards, author of Accidental; Liz Lawson, author of The Lucky Ones; Rocky Callen, author of A Breath Too Late; and Nina de Pass, author of The Year After You. This conversation was held as part of A Mighty Blaze’s YA Weekend, and many thanks to Joseph Moldover (author of Every Last Breath) and Jennifer de Leon (author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From) for all the help putting that entire celebration together. You can watch the Zoom video of this panel at A Mighty Blaze’s Facebook page, here. I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998 or send an email to mailbag @ firstdraftpod dot com! Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason R

First Draft Episode #272: Anne Helen Peterson Anne Helen Petersen, freelance journalist and cultural critic with her biweekly newsletter, and author of nonfiction books Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema and Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman, talks about her newest book, Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation.   Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Anne’s Facebook group, Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style Anne’s series on The Hairpin, Classic Scandals of Hollywood “Confidentially Yours: The Banality of the Celebrity Profile, and How It Got That Way,” for The Believer “The Rules of the Game: A Century of Hollywood Publicity,” for Virginia Quarterly “Jennifer Lawrence And The History Of Cool Girls,” for Buzzfeed “How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation,” for Buzzfeed “How Do You Rebuild Your Life After Leaving A Polygamous Sect?,” for Buzzfeed Temp: The Real Story of What

First Draft Episode #281: Opening the Mailbag with Lilliam Rivera This week is a new mailbag episode, where I--along with a very special guest--will answer listener questions! Joining me today is Lilliam Rivera, author of The Education of Margot Sanchez, Dealing in Dreams, Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit, and her newest YA novel, Never Look Back, a retelling of the Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice set in the Bronx (out now)! Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Meg Medina is the New York Times bestselling and Newberry Medalist author of Merci Suárez Changes Gears, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, and most recently, Evelyn del Rey is Moving Away. Matt de la Peña, New York Times bestselling and Newberry Medalist author of Last Stop on Market Street, Love, and Mexican Whiteboy. Track Changes, the podcast miniseries that explains how your book goes from the laptop to the bookshelf Lilliam is contributing a story to From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back The Clarion Science Fic

First Draft Episode #270: Tiffany D. Jackson Tiffany D. Jackson, author of Allegedly, Monday’s Not Coming, and Let Me Hear A Rhyme, talks about her new book, Grown. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Don’t miss Tiffany’s first episode of First Draft here 2020–2021 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Jason Reynolds, whose many books include All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely [listen to his First Draft interview here]), As Brave as You, For Every One, the Track series, Look Both Ways, Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You and Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. (Listen to his First Draft interviews here and here) Laurie Halse Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of Speak and Chains, both of which were National Book Award finalists, as well as memoir in verse Shout. Elizabeth Acevedo, New York Times bestselling author of The Poet X, winner of the 2018 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature,

A conversation between Jennifer de Leon, author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From; Sarah Watson, author if Most Likely; Kim Johnson, author of This is My America; Christina Hammonds-Reed, author of The Black Kids; and Natalia Sylvester, author of Running. This conversation was held as part of A Mighty Blaze’s YA Weekend, and many thanks to Joseph Moldover (author of Every Last Breath) and Jennifer de Leon (author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From) for all the help putting that entire celebration together.

First Draft Episode #269: Martha Brockenbrough Martha Brockenbrough, faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts and author of nonfiction for young adults, including Unpresidented, Alexander Hamilton: Revolutionary, and novels like The Game of Love and Death and her newest picture book, This Old Dog. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Laurel Snyder, author of Orphan Island, My Jasper June, and more Jonah Lehrer‘s partially discredited book was Imagine: How Creativity Works (and a New York Times article about the scandal around him) Maureen Johnson, author of the Truly Devious series and many more (listen to her First Draft interview here) The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak, Chains, and memoir-in-verse Shout Cornelia Funke, author of the Inkheart series Andrea Davis Pinkney, author of With the Might of Angels, Sit In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down, and MANY more Jean Feiwel, Feiwel & Friends I want to hear fr

First Draft Episode #268: Katharine McGee Katharine McGee is the New York Times bestselling author of The Thousandth Floor series, as well as American Royals and its sequel, Majesty. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode In her fanfiction, Katharine would correct existing books to have happier endings, like the His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman (she got so attached to her new ending that she hasn’t yet gotten the courage to read The Secret Commonwealth, sequel to The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage) and the Redwall series by Brian Jacques Katharine wishes she knew about National Novel Writing Month when she was drafting her thesis Katharine has a soft spot for works that reclaim the stories of women who, to this point, have mostly been known for being adjacent to men as the men make history. Novels like The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley; Margaret George’s Helen of Troy: A Novel Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston Katharine edited Pretty Little Liars books 9-16 by

Track Changes Bonus Episode: Panel Conversation With Abigail Hing Wen, author of Loveboat Taipei; Literary Agent Joanna Volpe of New Leaf Literary & Media; and Alvina Ling, VP and Editor in Chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers A conversation between an author, agent, and editor to cover the ins and outs of the publishing process. The panel features Abigail Hing Wen, debut author of Loveboat Taipei; agent Joanna Volpe, president and literary agent at New Leaf Literary & Media; and Alvina Ling, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief at Little Brown Books for Young Readers (and co-host of the Book Friends Forever podcast). This conversation was held as part of A Mighty Blaze’s YA Weekend, and many thanks to Joseph Moldover (author of Every Last Breath) and Jennifer de Leon (author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From) for all the help putting that entire celebration together. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode This is My Brain In Love by I. W. Gregorio Stephen Barbara, literary agent at

First Draft Episode #267: Jill Twiss Jill Twiss, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and Emmy winning comedy writer on Last Week Tonight, talks about her latest picture book, Everyone Gets a Say, with illustrator EG Keller. Today’s episode is brought to you by Caveda, which leads group focus sessions for a worldwide community everyday on Zoom. First Draft listeners can try a free, three hour cave with promo code "FIRSTDRAFT" at caveday.org/firstdraft This episode is sponsored by Revision Season, a seven-week, virtual master class in revising your novel, led by Elana K. Arnold, author of Printz honor winner Damsel and National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and more. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Laurie Kilmartin, comedian and writer for Conan Nell Scovell, writer, producer, director, and author of Just the Funny Parts and co-writer for Lean In with Sheryl Sandberg, writer for The Simpsons and creator of Sabrina: The Teenage Witch Marlon Bun