Write Or Die Podcast

Latest Episodes:

S4 E15: Deborah Falaye & Put Yourself Out There Feb 28, 2022

Show notes

Claribel & Kat discuss their thoughts on jumping back into promoting their new books! Then they interview their PitchWars mentee about her upcoming seering fantasy debut, BLOOD SCION!

ABOUT DEBORAH: Deborah Falaye is a Nigerian Canadian young adult author. She grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, where she spent her time devouring African Literature, pestering her grandma for folktales, and tricking her grandfather into watching Passions every night. When she’s not writing about fierce Black girls with bad-ass magic, she can be found obsessing over all things reality TV. Deborah currently lives in Toronto with her husband and their partner-in-crime yorkie, Major.

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• BUY Blood Scion

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• www.claribelortega.com

• Check out all of Claribel’s books

• PRE-ORDER Witchlings (April 5, 2022, Scholastic)

• FOLLOW KAT: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube| TikTok

• www.katchowrites.com

• PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 17, 2022, Disney)

• Check out Kat’s Books

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S4 E14: Malinda Lo & I Just Do Gay Things Feb 14, 2022

Show notes

Claribel & Kat discuss how they decide on what project to work on next. And then they interview Award Winning and NYT Bestselling author, Malinda Lo, about her experience in the industry, her advocacy for diversity in kidlit, and what it was like going back to a shelved project and revising it years later for publication.

ABOUT MALINDA: Malinda Lo is the National Book Award-winning, bestselling author of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, which which was named a Best Book of 2021 by NPR, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, BookPage, and was a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist. Her debut novel Ash, a Sapphic retelling of Cinderella, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and was a Kirkus Best Book for Children and Teens. She has been a three-time finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Malinda’s short fiction and nonfiction has been published by The New York Times, NPR, Autostraddle, The Horn Book, and multiple anthologies. She lives in Massachusetts with her partner and their dog.

• FOLLOW MALINDA: website | Twitter | Instagram

• Last Night At the Telegraph Club

• Add A Scatter of Light on Goodreads

• FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok

• www.claribelortega.com

• Check out all of Claribel’s books

• PRE-ORDER Witchlings (April 5, 2022, Scholastic)

• FOLLOW KAT: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube| TikTok

• www.katchowrites.com

• PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 17, 2022, Disney)

• Check out Kat’s Books

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S4 E13: Write or Die Live Feb 07, 2022

Show notes

This is a bonus episode of Write or Die! Originally recorded live as part of DVCon (a free virtual writing conference for diverse creators), Claribel & Kat read your anonymously submitted publishing stories and questions!

MENTIONS:

• DVCon

• Watch DVCon panels

• FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok

• www.claribelortega.com

• Check out all of Claribel’s books

• PRE-ORDER Witchlings (April 5, 2022, Scholastic)

• FOLLOW KAT: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube| TikTok

• www.katchowrites.com

• PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 17, 2022, Disney)

• Check out Kat’s Books

• FOLLOW WRITE OR DIE: Twitter | Instagram

• Write or Die Episodes

• Join our WorDie community!

• Learn more about Write or Die

S4 E12: Wendy Xu & Shut Up, Do Your Work, & Stay Off Goodreads Jan 31, 2022

Show notes

Claribel & Kat interview illustrator Wendy Xu about how she first got into illustrating comics, how her work in publishing prepared her for her publication journey, and advice on properly crediting artists for their work!

ABOUT WENDY: Wendy Xu is an award-nominated Brooklyn-based illustrator and comics artist with three upcoming graphic novels from Harper Collins. She is the co-creator of "Mooncakes", a young adult fantasy graphic novel published in 2019 from Lion Forge Comics/Oni Press. Her work has been featured on Catapult, Barnes & Noble Sci-fi/Fantasy Blog, and Tor.com, among other places.

• FOLLOW : website | Twitter | Instagram

• Buy Mooncakes

• Buy Tidesong

• Add The Infinity Particle on Goodreads

MENTIONS:

• Lynda Barry

• FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok

• www.claribelortega.com

• Check out all of Claribel’s books

• PRE-ORDER Witchlings (March 2022, Scholastic)

• FOLLOW KAT: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube| TikTok

• www.katchowrites.com

• PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 2022, Disney)

• Check out Kat’s Books

• FOLLOW WRITE OR DIE: Twitter | Instagram

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S4 E11: Sarah Raughley & Even Heroes Aren’t Perfect Jan 17, 2022

Show notes

Claribel & Kat catch up with each other and talk about the emotional ups and downs of building an author career. (CW: brief discussion of trauma) Then they interview Sarah Raughley about what it was like to get published in the before-times, differences she’s felt releasing her newest series during the pandemic, and how she researched the lives of Black people in 19th century Britain for her book, THE BONES OF RUIN.

ABOUT SARAH: Sarah Raughley grew up in Southern Ontario writing stories about freakish little girls with powers because she secretly wanted to be one. She is a huge fangirl of anything from manga to scifi/fantasy TV to Japanese role-playing games, but she will swear up and down at book signings that she was inspired by Jane Austen. Sarah has been nominated for the Aurora Award for Best Young Adult novel and works in the community doing writing workshops for youths and adults. On top of being a YA writer, Sarah has a PhD in English, which makes her a doctor, so it turns out she didn’t have to go to medical school after all.

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BUY The Bones of Ruin (The Bones of Ruin #1)

BUY Fate Of Flames (The Effigies #1)

MENTIONS:

• Black Victorians, Black Victoriana by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina

• FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok

• www.claribelortega.com

• Check out all of Claribel’s books

• PRE-ORDER Witchlings (April 2022, Scholastic)

• FOLLOW KAT: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube| TikTok

• www.katchowrites.com

• PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 2022, Disney)

• Check out Kat’s Books

• FOLLOW WRITE OR DIE: Twitter | Instagram

• Write or Die Episodes

• Join our WorDie community!

• Learn more about Write or Die

S4 E10: Akshaya Raman & A Bed Full of Snakes Jan 03, 2022

Show notes

Happy New Year! Claribel & Kat discuss some fun news in their author careers and chat about new year and resolutions. Then they interview debut author, Akshaya Raman about her highly anticipated Fantasy, The Ivory Key. How she dealt with doubt during her query journey and how she made writing friends.

ABOUT AKSHAYA: Akshaya Raman fell in love with writing when she wrote her first story at the age of ten. Though she graduated from UC Davis with a degree in biology, she gave up pursuing a career in science to write books. She is a co-founder and contributor to Writer’s Block Party, a group blog about writing and publishing, and has served on the planning teams of several book festivals. She lives in the Bay Area with an actual scaredy cat, and in her free time, she enjoys baking, traveling, and watching too much reality TV.

FOLLOW AKSHAYA: website | Twitter | Instagram

• BUYThe Ivory Key

MENTIONS

Fave "untraditional" success stories:

• S4 E7 Emiko Jean & We Don't Need Permission to Write

• S2 E1: Susan Dennard & #UghJay!

• S1 E23: Karen M McManus & The Haunted Airbnb

• Halloween Bonus: Holly Black & Black Pond Revelations and Weird Stuff

FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok

• www.claribelortega.com

• Check out all of Claribel’s books

• PRE-ORDER Witchlings (April 2022, Scholastic)

• FOLLOW KAT: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube| TikTok

• www.katchowrites.com

• PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 2022, Disney)

• Check out Kat’s Books

• FOLLOW WRITE OR DIE: Twitter | Instagram

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• Join our WorDie community!

• Learn more about Write or Die

S4 E9: Claribel & Kat & WorD’s Last Holiday Episode! Dec 13, 2021

Show notes

This week, Claribel & Kat discuss what they learned about their writing and author journeys in 2021. Then they answer listener questions about how to survive querying, Self-publishing, how they first got into writing, when to change agents, and more. Plus bonus chat about K-Dramas and K-pop!

MENTIONS:

WRITING PODCASTS

• The Writing Show with Paula B.

• 88 Cups of Tea

• First Draft with Sarah Enni

• Minorities in Publishing

• Pub(lishing) Crawl Podcast (Archive)

MOVIE

• Authors Anonymous

K-DRAMAS

• Boys Over Flowers

• W: Two Worlds

• Winter Sonata

K-POP

• Claribel’s K-Pop suggestions: BTS, Twice, CL

• Kat’s K-Pop suggestions: Big Bang, SHINee, Stray Kids

• FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok

• www.claribelortega.com

• Check out all of Claribel’s books

• PRE-ORDER Witchlings (Feb 2022, Scholastic)

• FOLLOW KAT: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube| TikTok

• www.katchowrites.com

• PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 2022, Disney)

• Check out Kat’s Books

• FOLLOW WRITE OR DIE: Twitter | Instagram

• Write or Die Episodes

• Join our WorDie community!

• Learn more about Write or Die

S4 E8: Maisie Chan & Danny Chung Has Two Titles Nov 22, 2021

Show notes

Claribel & Kat discuss mentorship programs, both formal and informal! Then they chat with Maisie Chan about her experience publishing her debut Middle Grade and the differences between the UK and US publishing market.

ABOUT MAISIE: Maisie Chan is a British Chinese children's author from Birmingham. She loves dim sum, yoga and travelling. She has written early readers for Hachette and Big Cat Collins, and has a collection of myths and legends out with Scholastic. She is the author of Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths (U.K.) also known as Danny Chung Sums It Up (U.S.), and the Tiger Warrior chapter book series (M Chan). She runs Bubble Tea Writers Network to support and encourage writers of East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) descent in the U.K. She has a dog called Miko, who has very big eyes and wakes up too early. She has a large old school hip hop collection. She lives in Glasgow with her family.

• FOLLOW MAISIE: website | Twitter | Instagram

Buy Danny Chung Sums It Up (US)

Buy Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths (UK)

MENTIONS:

• DVMentor

• DVDebut

• WNDB Mentorship

• Author Mentor Match

• PitchWars

• When Night Breaks by Janella Angeles

• FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok

• www.claribelortega.com

• Check out all of Claribel’s books

• PRE-ORDER Witchlings (Feb 2022, Scholastic)

• FOLLOW KAT: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube| TikTok

• www.katchowrites.com

• PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 2022, Disney)

• Check out Kat’s Books

• FOLLOW WRITE OR DIE: Twitter | Instagram

• Write or Die Episodes

• Join our WorDie community!

• Learn more about Write or Die

S4 E7: Emiko Jean & We Don’t Need Permission to Write Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

Claribel & Kat talk about how to prepare for panels & some quick tips on how to answer interview questions. Then they interview NYT Bestselling author Emiko Jean about her publishing journey, how publishing has changed since she first queried in 2011, and what it’s been like building an author career.

Emiko’s BIO: When Emiko is not writing, she is reading. Most of her friends are imaginary. Before she became a writer she was an entomologist (fancy name for bug catcher), a candle maker, a florist, and most recently a teacher. She lives in Washington with her husband and children (unruly twins). She loves the rain.

• FOLLOW : website | Instagram

MENTIONS:

• BUY Tokyo Ever After

• BUY Empress of All Seasons

• BUY We’ll Never Be Apart

• FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok

• www.claribelortega.com

• Check out all of Claribel’s books

• PRE-ORDER Witchlings (Feb 2022, Scholastic)

• FOLLOW KAT: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube| TikTok

• www.katchowrites.com

• PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 2022, Disney)

• Check out Kat’s Books

• FOLLOW WRITE OR DIE: Twitter | Instagram

• Write or Die Episodes

• Join our WorDie community!

• Learn more about Write or Die

S4 E6: Alex Aster & Cursed Islands Are My Brand Oct 18, 2021

Show notes

Claribel and Kat answer a listener's question about publishing events, what it’s like to organize events like DVPit/DVCon, and some tips about attending events. Then they chat with Alex Aster about her author journey, discuss going viral on TikTok and whether it’s worthwhile for authors to join. Plus Alex gives us some Authortok tips!

ALEX’S BIO: Alex Aster is an author and graduate of The University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing. The Emblem Island series is inspired by the Latin American myths her Colombian grandmother told her as a child before bedtime.

• FOLLOW : website | TikTok

• BUY Curse of the Night Witch

• ADD Lightlark on Goodreads

• FOLLOW CLARIBEL: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | TikTok

• www.claribelortega.com

• Check out all of Claribel’s books

• PRE-ORDER Witchlings (Feb 2022, Scholastic)

• FOLLOW KAT: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube| TikTok

• www.katchowrites.com

• PRE-ORDER Once Upon a K-Prom (May 2022, Disney)

• Check out Kat’s Books

• FOLLOW WRITE OR DIE: Twitter | Instagram