Q&A with Maryam Kia

  

 

 

Maryam Kia is the author of the new children's picture book A Suitcase Full. She is also a psychologist, and she lives in Southern California. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write A Suitcase Full, and how much is your character Kimia based on your own childhood?

 

A: I was inspired to write A Suitcase Full by my own experiences as a child, and my desire as an adult to help children who are new to a classroom, community, or country.

 

Even though the story is fictional, Kimia’s travels mirror my own journey from Iran, to England, France, and the United States. I delved back into my own memories to make sure A Suitcase Full speaks from a child’s perspective, and what a child would notice or feel about new experiences.

 

It is very meaningful to put this book out into the world because of how personally connected it is to my own story.

 

Q: How was the book's title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: The title came to me because I realized that Kimia’s suitcase represented so many things – change, loss, hope, home, belonging, experience, growth, and resilience!

 

The suitcase bookends the story. So, A Suitcase Full is the perfect title. It represent how Kimia starts with receiving a suitcase, giving her a beautiful tie to her origins and important relationship with her grandmother. It ends with her having filled the suitcase with treasures that represent her journey.

 

Her suitcase (and heart) is “full” with all she is learning and gaining along the way. It gives her a way to share her story, and because of the activity her teacher creates in her classroom, to hear other people’s stories too.

 

Q: What do you think Jaclyn Sinquett’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Jaclyn Sinquett made every bit of magic come alive with her beautiful illustrations. She included so many little fun details for readers to find. Look for the grumpy French cat and the sweet curled up kitty in Iran.

 

She also brought the story to life visually and emotionally, and talks about that process thoughtfully in her illustrator’s note at the end of the book.

 

She is so skilled, she even made things like the ground interesting – look out for the chalk art in France, the puddle with a rainbow in England! Kimia’s postcards are an incredible addition, where she incorporated hand-lettering and stamps from each country.  

 

Q: Especially given the current situation in Iran, what do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: It was important to me to add a Persian character to children’s literature, where they are scarce. When I was growing up, I never got to read about an Iranian-American character and I read a lot of books!

 

Kimia’s story isn’t meant to tell the whole story of Iran, but at least it helps some people gain insights about the experiences of leaving a country and trying to find a new home.

 

I have actually already heard from readers with diverse backgrounds, like those in military families who really relate with the experience of switching schools and how it feels. 

 

I hope that many readers resonate with the universal elements of the book – facing change, being new, wanting to belong, carrying home in your heart, and building empathy for yourself and others.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I love to write, create, and imagine! As a psychologist and educator, I work closely with children and adolescents, so I get inspiration from their energy, optimism, and ways they see the world. I am working on a few projects that continue to draw on themes of mindfulness and resilience.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I became a clinical psychologist to devote my life to children, families, and communities facing hardships and adversities, and provide them with the support they needed during those trying times.

 

And, now with A Suitcase Full, I’m so excited to be an author who I hope can reach more people through books that inspire and create compassion, empathy, and connection in the world! 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Ryan Cowan

  

 

 

Ryan Cowan is the author of the middle grade novel Mr. Moonbeam and the Halloween Crystal and an accompanying book, Mr. Moonbeam and the Halloween Crystal Activity Book. He is also a longtime educator. 

 

Q: Why did you decide to create an activity book to accompany your novel Mr. Moonbeam and the Halloween Crystal? 

 

A: I created the Mr. Moonbeam and the Halloween Crystal Activity Book during the pandemic. It started off as a few lessons that I would post on Facebook to help parents/readers teach their kids while reading the novel. 

 

The momentum kept going, and I decided to write a lesson for every chapter in the novel. Eventually I had an entire book. 

 

Q: The book is geared toward kids in grades 3-5--do you see them as the key audience for the novel as well? 

 

A: Yes and no. In some ways, I see the novel as a perfect escape for adults too. I don’t limit myself in terms of who should read my book. Anyone who wants to read a Halloween adventure and enjoy a simple book during the Halloween season would enjoy Mr. Moonbeam and the Halloween Crystal. 

 

However, I purposely edited the sentences into simple sentences to help any struggling fluent child reader fully comprehend the plot. 

 

Q: How has your background as a teacher affected the creation of your books? 

 

A: My background as a teacher influences the dialogue in my books, the characters’ wants and needs, Mr. Moonbeam’s personality, the classroom setting and so much more. I draw heavily from my work and try to write dialogue that is true to what it’s like to be an elementary teacher – based on my own experience. 

 

Additionally, Mr. Moonbeam’s patience, understanding, and charisma are all shaped by my teaching career. To me, he is the teacher every kid would want. He is also a teacher that every kid would respect because he is a role model. 

 

One of the best things about being an elementary teacher is celebrating holidays. Halloween is a wonderful holiday to celebrate as a teacher, so I wanted to capture the joy of the holiday and how it connects to schools and the teaching profession each year across the world. 

 

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the activity book? 

 

A: A deeper understanding of the plot and a better understanding and use of academic language. The questions in the activity book challenge kids to think critically about the book and make inferences, draw conclusions, make judgements and evaluate the characters actions, words, motivations, etc…

 

In this way, kids and parents can work together to build essential comprehension skills that will help their children develop higher-level thinking skills. 

 

Q: What are you working on now? 

 

A: In addition to my career as a school administrator, I am actively working with editors on the sequel, Mr. Moonbeam and the Legends of Moonstone. I am also promoting Mr. Moonbeam and the Halloween Crystal. 

 

The sequel has been a major puzzle and a difficult book to write. I can’t wait to release it. Mr. Moonbeam and the Halloween Crystal returns each Halloween, and for that, I am grateful. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know? 

 

A: I just want to thank everyone who reads my books. It means a lot to me that people take the time to read my stories. It means a lot to me that kids learn and acquire valuable skills from my books.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Ryan Cowan. This Q&A was conducted in partnership with Ryan Cowan. Readers who follow along on this virtual book tour will have the chance to win a signed Mr. Moonbeam and the Halloween Crystal book set! Ten winners will each receive a signed hardcover copy of the novel paired with its companion Activity Book. One grand-prize winner will receive an exclusive Mr. Moonbeam and the Halloween Crystal T-shirt, plus a signed, out-of-print copy of the original edition featuring its original cover design.  

Q&A with Beck Kubrick

  

 

 

Beck Kubrick is the author and illustrator of the new young adult graphic novel Dead Girls. They live in Manchester, UK. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Dead Girls, and how did you create your character Ash?

 

A: I’m inspired by lots of things: TV shows, films, other books, people on the street. It all makes its way into the story or the thought process. I love horror films and slashers and especially comedy-horrors, so I knew I wanted to make one.

 

There’s lots of interesting tropes and ways we handle things like death, murder, fighting, etc., in fiction. An action hero can kill 50 henchmen, but not the bad guy with a name; in The Walking Dead (2010) they’re still debating morality…in like season 10.

 

And the final girl can fight back…only after she’s been sufficiently traumatized for 90 minutes. What happens when a final girl fights back sooner? What if she’s good at it? What if she likes it?

 

Historically, who gets to live and die in horror and why? I wanted to play with all of that; the expectations and “rules” and how they reflect the world. So it’s sort of meta-slasher, like Scream (1996) but for my generation, because who answers the phone anymore? 

 

The story and Ash herself aren’t total negations of tropes, because that would just be boring and probably too wordy. I wanted Ash to feel, selfishly, like me and my friends and people I know and love.

 

I often engage with books, films etc. with a certain suspension of disbelief; it’s obvious certain characters, usually girls and women, aren’t written from a place of love. I wanted to see if we can still love a final girl (well, girls) who isn’t the way final girls tend to be.

 

Q: Did you work on the text first or the illustrations first--or both simultaneously?

 

A: As this is my debut as an author-illustrator, I was working with editors for the first time as a writer and they wanted a script first, which logically makes sense, but I couldn’t quite do it.

 

I’d do little thumbnails of the pages and moments I thought would be cool, or to plan reveals to be on page turns. I’d have pages of messy sketches only I could understand and then reverse engineer that into a script so an editor could actually give me notes. But in my mind they were always linked.

 

Q: The Kirkus Review of the book called it a “chilling slasher that effectively explores legacy, identity, confronting the past--and refusing to be defined by it.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I think it’s a very flattering description, especially from such a prestigious outlet. Especially on this book that is so painfully mine; there’s a unicorn and dry humor and so much angst.

 

I’ve been blown away by the support I’ve gotten on this book. I constantly expect to be misunderstood or deemed “too weird” or “weird in the wrong way” and yet people get it! They get me!

 

Everything I do is about identity, the past, and legacy to some extent. I think that’s how I view everyone and everything.

 

In fiction we often draw very neat lines between something in the past that leads to actions in the future, but real life is (unfortunately) messier and more nuanced than that. We all are who we are today because of who we were yesterday and who we are tomorrow is because of who we are today.

 

Obviously, I want to write a good and satisfying story so some of it is a little more black and white and obvious, but sometimes life is too.

 

Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: It’s named after a Penelope Scott song; her music circles some of the issues touched on in my book. She’s very online and dry and her song “Dead Girls” is about the commodification of girls and women and issues surrounding that. Her song “Lotta’ True Crime” is about true crime and how weird it is and the false mythology around it.

 

My title is also a nod to an anime, Angel Beats. The characters have many names for their group that are things like “Not Dead Yet Kids.”

 

I considered “Not Dead Girls” or something but I like the tongue-in-cheek vibe of calling them just…“dead.” It’s like the phrase “dead man walking” but they’re girls.

 

Girlhood is a great and wonderful thing, but it is also a prison people can try to put you in. Teenagers are in this weird purgatory, when someone wants to talk down to you or dismiss you, you’re a girl, an innocent child, but when they want to hate you, punish you, sexualize you, then you’re a “young woman.”

 

I also like that it’s kind of blunt and a little tongue in cheek; no one wants to think about the reality of dead kids, dead girls, but they’re at the center of so many true crime stories…but they’re not the ones celebrated.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am currently deep in the comics mines working on a book I co-write and draw that isn’t announced yet. It's a rework of the story we made a while ago and it’s been painful but very rewarding to revisit and revamp some old ideas and artwork. I’m also pretty certain on what my next solo graphic novel will be so I’m solidifying that (editors, hit me up!).

 

I’m also always holding out hope of becoming the next great American novelist, which would be pretty shocking as I’m not American, but I am always working on prose in the background and hope one day to get some of that out into the world too.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I really meant it when I said I was blown away by the support I have received on my book in these early days; everything I do is for the weird kids and this book is no exception.

 

I really hope anyone who picks it up, first and foremost, enjoys it, but also feels seen by some of the characters or experiences (but probably/ hopefully with a lot less serial killers).

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Ellen Sherman

  

 

 

Ellen Sherman is the author of the new novel Bad Girls Go Everywhere. She is also an actor, screenwriter, filmmaker, and journalist, and she lives in New York City and Bridgehampton, N.Y. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Bad Girls Go Everywhere, and how did you create your character Rin?

 

A: The inspiration for my book came from the years I spent in London attending a quirky English acting school, which still exists today.

 

The experience of being a young person choosing to be thrust into a totally different world than the world one knows and the wildly disparate experiences I found myself immersed in were the inspiration for the novel. It was about choosing to take a chance and go outside your comfort zone.

 

The character of Rin is partially based on the person I was at that time. However, she comes from a background that was very different than mine in some ways. It was the “ vibe” of the time that created Rin. That time challenged young people to push the boundaries of what they could be and achieve.

 

Q: The writer Alan Zweibel called the novel a “lyrical combination of naivete and wisdom.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I think it is, as they say in England, “spot on.” Rin, the main character, is an innocent, naïve young woman but she has an insightful eye on the challenging circumstances in which she finds herself. 

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: The book’s title has “ provenance.” I first heard it as coming from Mae West, a bawdy, clever entertainer of Old ‘30s-‘40s Hollywood. The entire quote is “Good Girls Go to Heaven…Bad Girls Go Everywhere.” Which I love.

 

Decades later, the author of the autobiography of Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown borrowed the quote to title Brown’s story. And now I have chosen to use the phrase.

 

What it signifies? It just means that if you dare to go outside the boundaries of what’s expected…well, then the world is open to you!

 

Q: The novel is set in London in 1968--how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: The setting of London 1968 is pivotal. At that time, London was the “coolest” place on earth. No question. Today, due to social media, etc., we all know that there are lots of “cool” spots on the planet. In 1968, there was only London. It was the nexus of film, music, culture, fashion…nowhere else like it.

 

Bottom line. London is a major “character” in the book.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I just finished my second novel, a comic murder mystery called I Could Just Kill Him. I hope the world will love it as much as I do.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Courtney Psak

  

Photo by Carrie Bradburn

 

 

Courtney Psak is the author of the new novel The Aunt. Her other novels include The Tutor. She lives in Palm Beach, Florida.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Aunt, and how did you create your characters Amy and Lexi?

 

A: The inspiration for The Aunt came from my own experience. I grew up in New Jersey and moved to Palm Beach for my husband’s job. It was a such a different world than I had ever experienced before that I wanted to write a novel about what that sort of looked like through Amy’s eyes.

 

And as for Lexi, she had been on her own since she was 18, so when she fell in love with an older man who would take care of her, she trusted him and wound up putting herself in a situation she couldn’t get out of.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between the sisters?

 

A: Amy is the older sister by seven years, so when their mother died during childbirth with Lexi, Amy took on the role as mother for her baby sister. But Lexi didn’t want a pseudo mom, she wanted a sister, so she rebelled a lot.

 

This put them in the categories of Amy as the rule follower and Lexi as the perpetual screw up. But as life would have it, it’s Lexi that winds up coming out on top with a rich husband, gorgeous mansion and beautiful baby girl.

 

Meanwhile, Amy is separated from her husband on the verge of financial ruin after countless failed IVF treatments. It’s this bitterness and jealousy that Amy has towards her sister that leads to Amy breaking ties with her completely and leading to their estrangement.

 

However, it really isn’t until Amy learns of her sister’s death that she realizes how petty their issues were and had they only communicated with one another, Amy would’ve seen that Lexi really needed her big sister.

 

Q: Did you need to do any research to write the novel, and if so, did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

 

A: Most of my research was really what I was seeing in my everyday life.

 

But when I needed to go deeper on Special Agent Sullivan with the FBI, I was fortunate enough to know a woman who had retired from the FBI. She had been located in the Palm Beach area and was very helpful in making sure that my procedural was correct.

 

At one point I worried that my story could seem too far-fetched, and I was surprised at how her reaction was; it was nothing compared to some of the crazier experiences that she had and that my story was all too common.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: I hope that they realize that material things are not as important as the relationships we have. Amy steps into this world that seemingly has everything she’s ever wanted, but she soon realizes she’d give it all up, just to have her sister back. That the real secret to happiness is surrounding ourselves with the people we love.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m in negotiations with my publisher at the moment, so unfortunately, I don’t think I can say too much, but hopefully I can talk about it soon.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: In addition to The Aunt, out in paperback on September 22, I’ve also written two other novels, The Tutor and The Hostess, that are out now if you like fast-paced psychological thrillers.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Courtney Psak. 

Q&A with Elizabeth Urso

  

 

 

Elizabeth Urso is the author of the new novel Hail Mary. She lives in Petawawa, Ontario.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Hail Mary, and how did you create your character Mary Foreman?

 

A: The “coming home” trope is one of my favourites in fiction. If someone’s returning to the insular hometown they fled under mysterious/inopportune circumstances, I’m there.

 

In late 2020, I was struck by an idea: a woman teaching at her alma mater (a Catholic school for girls) digs up a time capsule and finds a rosary with teeth strung up like prayer beads inside. I didn’t know who the woman was, why she’d taken that teaching job, or how (if at all) she was connected to the time capsule.

 

But, when I was developing the concept, I was navigating my father’s cancer diagnosis and “coming home” in the wake of that. I was overwhelmed by grief and anger, and spent a lot of time reflecting on family, legacy, and inheritance.

 

Mary came from that (when life gives you lemons, I suppose). I named her after my own alma mater, Marymount Academy, in Sudbury, Ontario (Canada). It was a privilege to attend that school, and I write today because the teachers there convinced me that I could. I will carry that with me forever.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Mary and her family?

 

A: I love this question! Short answer: vexed. Long answer: it depends on what side of the family line we’re talking.

 

The Foremans’ matrilineal line is cursed. All Foreman women can see the dead, and Mary’s relationship with the women in her family (particularly her mother, who she’s estranged from) is complicated because of it. Her relationship with Foreman men? Well, they’re the ones infusing the family line with criminality and corruption (allegedly).

 

North Shore Township doesn’t know whether to revere the Foremans or to fear them. The dynamic makes for an interesting municipal election.

 

That’s where we find Mary at the beginning of the novel: she’s returned home to assist her uncle, Peter, with his mayoral campaign. Her mother’s appearance on a popular true crime podcast has reignited the local rumor mill, and Peter has summoned Mary to assist with damage control.

 

She has ulterior motives for returning, of course, and it doesn’t take long for things to go off the rails.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: Yes, I knew how the novel would end before I started writing it. How we got there changed along the way. That happens with all my books. I go in knowing the beginning and the end with a vague sense of the middle. It keeps drafting the perfect combination of frustrating and fun.

 

I outline as much as possible before diving into a first draft, though. I admire pantsers (writers who fly by the seat of their pants). I could never. I need the scaffolding.

 

Q: The novel is set along the shore of Lake Huron--how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: So important! I like to think of setting as a character into itself in all my projects. Hail Mary takes place in a fictionalized version of the North Shore of Lake Huron.

 

I needed to take some liberties with the locales (particularly the populations and the architecture), but readers can think of my “fictional” North Shore Township (comprised of Providence, Houghton, and Clarksville) as occupying the same physical space as Blind River and the Township of the North Shore in Northern Ontario.

 

I chose to keep the names of surrounding cities the same as “real life” though (Toronto, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, etc.). I hope it feels grounded in the Ontario that Canadians know and love. And for readers outside Canada? I hope it makes them curious.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am working on a new novel, but it’s been slow going with edits to sophomore novel (see below!) and promotion for Hail Mary. It’s set in Petawawa, Ontario, which is where I live now. It’s inspired by Stephen King’s Battleground, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: My sophomore novel, Confession, is also set in North Shore Township. Readers can catch an excerpt in the back of Hail Mary (which releases on September 22). You’ll see some familiar faces! I’d love to keep writing in this setting/with these characters. I feel at home with them.

 

Make sure to follow me on Instagram (@eeurso) or keep an eye out on my website (elizabethurso.com) for more information.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Sept. 22

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Sept. 22, 1908: Esphyr Slobodkina born.