Children's Author Blog Hop

This week I am participating in the Children’s Author Blog Hop.  For this Blog Hop, participating authors were asked to answer four identical questions and then invite additional children’s authors to join in the “Hop.”  My invitees are Ansha Kotyk  and Laura Pauling.

I am so grateful that my dear friend, the picture book goddess, Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, was kind enough to reach out to me via social media and ask me join in the fun.

Joyce Shor Johnson & Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
The Meeting of two great minds
(2009 NESCBWI Conference)

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen writes across the spectrum. Her work includes picture books, fiction and non-fiction for both children and even adults. Her upcoming middle grade chapter book series, Spectacles of Destiny, and her latest picture book Duck, Duck, Moose! illustrated by Noah Z. Jones is coming out January 2014.  You can find Sudipta at these social media sites: Website, blog, which she shares with author Kami Kinard, Facebook, Twitter.

Blog Hop Interview of Joyce Shor Johnson

What are you working on right now? 
Over the last year, while Co-Directing the 2013 NESCBWI Conference, I had been toying with an idea for a contemporary young adult novel. Now that my two-year commitment to NESCBWI is complete, I have started writing again and I am two chapters into my WIP. This is the fun part, because I am still learning about my characters, which often leads to unexpected developments.
I’ve also been outlining and working on a number of non-fiction picture books, including one about the art of keeping secrets.

How does it differ from other works in the genre?
My first two books, THE CASTING and HOUSE OF GIRLS are historical fiction. My current work-in-progress is contemporary and focuses on how social media has become ruling factor in how we communicate. The two non-fiction picture books are experimental, and I’m waiting to see how they turn out.

Why do you write what you do?
I write for children because my characters always seem to be kids on the threshold of change. 

What is the hardest part about writing?
Finding the time to outline and then the time to write the first draft. Once I know where I’m going and have the time, the writing is easy.  

Here are the two talented writers that I’ve invited to the Blog Hop, (I wanted to invite everyone I knew, but there are limits).

Ansha Kotyk lives in Massachusetts where she writes upper middle grade stories full of adventure in the modern day with a twist of fantasy. What that fantastical twist is… well, it depends on what her cat whispers in her ear while she’s writing.

Her characters have strong family ties, and value their friendships. They also seem to get into a great deal of trouble and meet some seriously evil bad guys in their stories. You can find Natasha at these social media sites:

Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads

GANGSTERLAND, her first novel, spent 3 weeks in the top 10 of Hot New Releases in children’s books about bullies, is a story about a boy, a bully and a magical comic book that transports its readers to the gangster era of the 1920′s. Book #2 in the Ink Portal series follows the friends on a Geo-caching treasure hunt in a mysterious haunted mountain range, Apocalypse Junction will be out later this year.

Laura Pauling writes about spies, murder and mystery. She’s the author of the exciting Circle of Spies Series, and the time travel mystery, Heist. She’s a former elementary teacher and currently lives in New England. After spending time reading books to her kids and loving a good plot turn, she put her fingers to the keyboard. Don’t ask her about the unfinished quilts and scrapbooks. Stories are way more exciting. She writes to entertain and experience a great story…and to be able to work in her jammies and slippers. You can find Laura at these social media sites: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads

HEIST, One night Jack travels back in time to one of the world’s largest art thefts, known as the Gardner Heist. Why that one moment in time? And what does it mean for Jack?
When he returns, his world is different. His best friend is rougher, meaner. His dad hasn’t been around in years. And then there’s Jetta. The girl who took over his heart the moment she stepped into his life. No one is safe. Each time Jack goes back to the heist to fix his mistakes, he returns to face the fallout. Disaster strikes in the present until Jack must make a choice. His family and his own happiness. Or the girl he loves. Except, he learns that his sixth sense was right. Someone has been watching him and wants him dead.