Interviews with Authors & Illustrators: LaFevers to Levine

In Their Own Words:

Interviews with Children's and YA
Authors & Illustrators

LaFevers - Levine

Sample these Author Profiles and Stories Behind the Stories, then follow the links to the full interviews.

R.L. LaFevers:

Werewolf Rising
"My own two boys had just gone through their own joyful puberty experience and I was struck by how these poor kids were basically flooded with testosterone and — pow! — found themselves no longer kids, something else entirely."

—on WEREWOLF RISING (MG)

Julie Lake:

Galveston's Summer of the Storm
“I felt as if I'd been sucked back in time and the hurricane became real."

— on GALVESTON’S SUMMER OF THE STORM (MG)

Lindsey Lane:

Snuggle Mountain
"Well, the very first thing, S&S wanted changed was to not make it so scary."

— on SNUGGLE MOUNTAIN (PB)

Francess Lantz:

“I sold this book from an outline, and my plan was to write the book from Megan's point of view, the Earthly view. Then when I got ready to write, I realized Megan couldn't tell the whole story.”

— on STEPSISTER FROM PLANET WEIRD (MG)

Justine Larbalestier:

How to Ditch Your Fairy
“It's amazing how much more enjoyable it is to write a novel without a big honking deadline. Also I enjoy the naughty feeling of working on something I'm not supposed to be working on.”

—on HOW TO DITCH YOUR FAIRY (YA)

Julie Larios:

Yellow Elephant
"She had an idea to put colors and animals together, but wasn't having much luck with the text. She knew my work and liked it, so she handed the text part of the project to me."

— YELLOW ELEPHANT: A BRIGHT BESTIARY (PB)

David LaRochelle:

Absolutely
"While this might seem a bit far-fetched, when I was in high school two guys took mannequins to their prom. Why couldn't someone take a golden retriever?"

—on ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NOT (YA)

Kathryn Lay:

Crown Me
"So, I got to wondering...what would a kid do if he was king of fifth grade for a couple of weeks and it went from there."

— on CROWN ME! (MG)

carolyn lehman:

Strong at Heart
"It took over a year to find Arturo. He's the only person in the book who expressed doubts about whether to go forward to publication. Then he saw a talk show interview with Carlos Santana, who had just won a stack of Grammies, and Santana disclosed that he'd been sexually abused as a boy. Arturo called me to say, 'If Carlos can do it, so can I.'"