In the return of SBC’s Author Spotlight, we welcome debut children’s book author Vanessa Rodriguez, who shares what led her to writing a book and her journey as an author thus far. Get comfy and read her piece below!
My name is Vanessa Rodriguez and I’m the author of the up-and-coming children’s book A Key to Home: Unlatch the Adventure, publishing on October 31, 2023.
The journey I’ve … Read the rest
Once upon a time, adult and young adult novelist Suzanne Park swore by the technique of writing every day. Now, after five published books and counting, The Christmas Clash (October 4, Sourcebooks Fire) author has an evolved take. “The idea at the time was if you write every day, if you write a page a day—it doesn’t have to be every single day—just means five days out of the seven … Read the rest
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
Recently, we caught up with Tõnya Lewis Taylor, New York-based Billboard chart-topping artist, co-founder, CEO and executive director of the award-winning Entertainers 4 Education Alliance – I WILL GRADUATE Youth Development Program, philanthropist, and author of the upcoming book, Be You, Not Her: Becoming the Woman You Were Created to Be. The former Roc-A-Fella Records executive discusses how the Coronavirus pandemic has affected her both professionally and personally, women … Read the rest
The adage: ‘if you love something let it go and if it comes back to you, it’s yours’ fits Stand Up, Yumi Chung! (March 17, 2020, Kokila) novelist, Jessica Kim. Before becoming a debut critically acclaimed published author, Kim had quit writing at one point. When she was a youth, in addition to comedy, she enjoyed writing, but didn’t foresee it as a profession, at least not as a … Read the rest
There has never been a more exciting time to be a science fiction and fantasy writer, and a Black writer in particular. In recent years speculative fiction centering Black characters has been getting more and more of the spotlight, and I absolutely love to see it. I’ve always been a huge SF geek, and growing up I was known to read a book in a day, the majority of them … Read the rest
After enjoying abundant success online via Wattpad including over a million reads and being a two-time Watty award winner including the 2018 Worldbuilders award, Given by Nandi Taylor is now gearing up for international release under Wattpad Books on January 21, 2020. Taylor discussed why her story ascending into trade publication is meaningful to her. “Posting the book online was kind of my way to keep myself accountable and … Read the rest
