A lifechanging moment for New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Sajidah “S. K.” Ali was when her middle school teacher told her she had a talent for writing. “I just remember a lot feeling like I wasn’t anything special or spectacular when I went out into the world,” she tells So Booking Cool. Although she grew up in a loving home (and one that encouraged her as a book … Read the rest
Interview With “Ty’s Travels” Author & Founding Member of The Brown Bookshelf Kelly Starling Lyons!
Among the first things award-winning author and founding member of the The Brown Bookshelf Kelly Starling Lyons did when she knew she wanted to write children’s books was study the craft, especially after realizing her seasoned background in print journalism was a different style of writing compared to children’s literature. “Though I was trained as a feature writer, and, though I had written poetry for fun and other kinds of … Read the rest
Interview With “Charming As A Verb” Author Ben Philippe!
When asked for advice about what authors should look for in agents, editors, and publishers, award-winning and Charming As A Verb (Balzer + Bray, October 13, 2020) author Ben Philippe, encourages finding industry professionals whose emails they are unafraid to receive. “I have friends who are also writers, they have that fear of their own editors and publishers,” he tells So Booking Cool. “They’re like ‘Oh, I made too … Read the rest
Interview With Author & Composer Jay Coles!
Many of us at some point have looked back on some of our early work and cringed (or simply uttered something along the lines of, “I’ve come a long way!”) Author of several novels including the starred-reviewed Tyler Johnson Was Here and critically acclaimed anthologies (Black Enough and Hungry Hearts), Jay Coles, explained why he thinks his first few books are bad. Instead of being authentic in … Read the rest
Interview With “The Ravine” Author and Filmmaker Robert Pascuzzi!
Author, entrepreneur, executive, speaker, and film producer, Robert Pascuzzi, has always been a student of personal development, and that has not changed in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic. “We’re gonna move out of this and the question is, what have you learned from this whole thing?” The Ravine novelist and filmmaker tells So Booking Cool. “Because hopefully this has been a time for everybody to do some … Read the rest
Interview With “My Rainy Day Rocket Ship” Author Markette Sheppard!
Children’s books will always be relevant. They provide various benefits for kids including literacy, opportunities to bond with family, friends, teachers, etc., knowledge, entertainment, imagination, and creativity, to name a few. A few years ago, Emmy award-winning television host, bestselling children’s book author, marketing executive, and entrepreneur, Markette Sheppard, wrote My Rainy Day Rocket Ship (May 5, 2020; Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), which … Read the rest