Eliza Wheeler grew up in northern Wisconsin in a family of artists, musicians, and teachers. Her picture book, Miss Maple’s Seeds (Penguin), debuted on the New York Times Best Seller list. She has also illustrated other children’s books including Wherever You Go (Little Brown) by Pat Zietlow Miller, the middle grade book Cody and the Fountain of Happiness by Tricia Springstubb (Candlewick), Holly Black’s Newbery Honor winning novel Doll Bones (Simon & Schuster), and Mara Rockliff’s picture book The Grudge Keeper (Peachtree). Most recently, Tell Me a Tattoo Story by Alison McGhee (Chronicle) and Cody and the Mysteries of the Universe by Tricia Springstubb (Candlewick) were published in April.… Read the rest
One of my favorite new middle-grade reads of 2015 was Moonpenny Island by Tricia Springstubb, so I was very excited to follow up with her since her last Creative Spaces interview.
Tricia Springstubb is the author of the middle-grade novels What Happened on Fox Street; Mo Wren, Lost and Found; Moonpenny Island; and Cody and the Fountain of Happiness. When she was last featured on Creative Spaces, her picture book Pheobe and the Digger had just been published. Her original Creative Spaces interview can be found here. Let’s see what she’s been up to since then . . .
What have you been working on since Phoebe and the Digger?… Read the rest
Angelica R. Jackson is a freelance writer with numerous articles published (many feature her photographs as well), and also writes fiction for young adults, middle grade readers, and picture book fans. She is the author of the young adult novel Crow’s Rest:
Avery Flynn arrives for a visit at her Uncle Tam’s, eager to rekindle her summertime romance with her crush-next-door, Daniel. But Daniel’s not the sweet, neurotic guy she remembers–and she wonders if this is her Daniel at all. Or if someone–or something–has taken his place. Her quest to find the real Daniel–and get him back–plunges Avery into a world of Fae and changelings, where creatures swap bodies like humans change their socks, and magic lives much closer to home than she ever imagined.… Read the rest
Any House Hunters fans out there? You know how they have the “Where Are They Now” series? It’s been five years since I started doing Creative Spaces interviews, and I thought it might be fun to take a cue from HGTV and check in on some of the authors and illustrators interviewed in the past and see what’s new with them, and if anything has changed in their workspace or creative process.
First up is Michelle Ray. When I first featured Michelle, her YA novel Falling for Hamlet had recently been published. You can read her Creative Spaces interview here. Falling for Hamlet was optioned to be a TV show–very exciting news for a writer–and that option turned into The Royals, which premiered on E!… Read the rest
Erin Entrada Kelly is the author of the middle-grade novel Blackbird Fly, recently published by Greenwillow Books:
Apple Yengko knows what it’s like to be different. She has a weird Filipino nickname, she’s the only Asian at her school, and she’s obsessed with the Beatles instead of boys. But her life doesn’t truly fall apart until she finds out she’s listed on the Dog Log—the list of the ugliest girls in school—and her friends abandon her. Suddenly she’s a social pariah. The boys bark at her in the halls and the girls turn the other way. Apple dreams of escape and resents everything about her culture, including her mother.… Read the rest
