It's the best time of year - HOLIDAY BOOK SHOPPING TIME! I'm joined by author and newly minted bookstore owner Lindsey Leavitt, whose gorgeous store Folklore Bookshop opened just this September. We talk a bit about what it is like to open a bookstore and the special things she and her co-owners are doing to help make their store stand out. More importantly, we give out book recommendations for EVERYONE on your shopping list!

If you want to know what it's like to live the dream of opening your own bookstore, start at the top. If you want to dive STRAIGHT into the gift guide, recommendations start around the 21:30 mark. <3

Please shop local -- your bookstores need you! But if you want to shop online, the links in the show notes go to Bookshop.Org, which gives a percentage of every sale to independent bookstores like Folklore.

* Find Lindsey online: lindseyleavitt.com/ 
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* Check out Folklore Bookshop in Midway, Utah -- be sure to check out their awesome events, too!: www.folklorebookshop.com/ 
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* Lindsey's most recent middle grade book is NORTH OF SUPERNOVA, and her forthcoming THE GARDEN JUST BEYOND is available for pre-order now! Click the book jackets for info or to order.

Our obsessions were v altruistic this episode:
* A great place for gift-buying is The Good Store. They have a super cool socks club, among other things -- but I personally have to give shout out to their coffee club subscription -- ethically sourced coffee and tea delivered to your house, it's DELICIOUS, and 100% of the profits go to charity. I also talked about how Good Store co-founder and author John Green is obsessed with Tuberculosis, and his obsession has become my obsession: Gift NYT link about John's obsession with Tuberculosis -- Link to pre-order a signed copy of John's book that comes out in March -- Link to highly informative Crash Course about Tuberculosis. 

* Lindsey's husband is the founder of the Water For Life charity, and Lindsey spoke about it passionately: Every two minutes, a child dies of a waterborne disease, but a donation of $50 can save TEN LIVES. (!!!!) waterforlifecharity.org/ 

The number of books being banned and challenged in schools and libraries has increased exponentially in the USA in recent years. These attacks on our freedom to read are not coming just from fringe zealots -- they are being embedded into legislation across the country, and that's a BIG problem for anyone who values public libraries, public schools, education, books, and, yanno... FREEDOM. Authors Against Book Bans is a coalition of authors who are fighting the good fight to help change that, and YOU can help! Authors David Levithan and Maggie Tokuda-Hall are two of the founding members of AABB, and they join me to discuss what book banning even is, why and where the problem is blowing up, and what readers and authors can do about it.

* The Literaticast has a Patreon - throw in a buck a month to help support the pod! 

* Maggie's Website  --  David's Website 

* Join the fight with Authors Against Book Bans!  

*Banned Books Week is from Sept 22-29th 2024

​* AABB in Publisher's Weekly -- AABB in People 

* Call your state reps the easy-peasy way using Five Calls -- let them know you want them to protect children from Book Bans! (A 3-minute task that makes a big difference) 

*Data about Book Bans from the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom.

* Kelly Jensen's Book Riot reportage will keep you up to date with the latest news about book banning, censorship and attacks on libraries.

* How will Project 2025 affect our Freedom to Read? (Spoiler: IT'S NOT GREAT)

* UNBanning Books - an SCBWI panel featuring Maggie, along with representatives from PEN/America, the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom and more 

* The Rediscovered Books "Read Freely" Project 
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* ALA's Unite Against Book Bans initiative  

* On another topic, have you been to the Jellicle Ball?  

Author Martha Brockenbrough joins me to discuss her new book FUTURE TENSE: HOW WE MADE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE -- AND HOW IT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING. We're tackling your burning AI-related questions, such as: Should authors and illustrators be worried about AI? HOW worried? Are there ethical ways to utilize AI technology? How can AI help us, and how can it hurt? If Aunt Gladys won't stop posting weird AI images of big-eyed baby peacocks on her Facebook page, should you un-invite her to Thanksgiving dinner? Should we all throw our phones into the ocean and move to an underground bunker? MAYBE! Tune in to find out!

* The Literaticast has a Patreon - throw in a buck a month to support the pod

* Martha's website - learn about ALL her books!

* Find me on BlueSky! Find the agency on BlueSky! Find Martha on BlueSky!

* Wait, what if I need tips about joining BlueSky and making the most of it?

* Meta is doing WHAT with Instagram posts? 

* Resources to help protect your artwork from AI scraping: Glaze and Nightshade. ArtShield.

* This photographer won an AI contest... with a real photo. LOL WHOOPS

​* What's Moravec's Paradox? 

* Wait, remind me what the Hero's Journey is? 

* OK, what's "Save the Cat"? 

* Professor Casey Fiesler is a good follow on TikTok if you are interested in AI ethics and related topics!

​* Gimme that link to the Kid Nation deep dive podcast!

We're back from hiatus with special guest Brian LaRossa, who in addition to being an Executive Art Director at Scholastic, is an educator, pizza-maker, and all-around mensch. We tackle a variety of topics, like what IS an Art Director, how does the Art Department work with illustrators, what role do they play in the acquisitions process, how do typography and design affect the reading experience, and a whole lot more. It was a fun conversation, I learned a ton, and I hope you will also have fun listening to it!

* The Literaticast has a Patreon - throw in a buck a month to help support the pod!

* Follow Brian on BlueSky: @brianlarossa.com / Follow ME on BlueSky: l[email protected]

* Brian's website has a ton of great info on it!

* If you want to get deep on how to design for easy readers, check out Brian's informative essay on The Role of Letterforms in Reading Instruction and Leveled Typesetting Guidelines

* The short film Brian mentioned about the last day the NYT used Linotype machines

* Debbie Ridpath Ohi's website has tons of GREAT resources for authors and illustrators - including the picture book templates I mentioned, and a BlueSky Starter Guide!

* Two of the up-and-coming illustrators Brian mentioned finding via social media are Francesca Mahaney and Kalen Chock.

* I mentioned Mark Hoffmann as an example of an illustrator who does great "branding" across his website & socials

* We Need Diverse Books has a variety of grants, mentorship opportunities, and other great initiatives. Get involved!

* I'm obsessed with the HP Sprocket Photo Printer -- I have the 2x3 in pink, but it comes in other colors and size formats to. (At the time of this posting, they are all on sale!)

* Make pictures into magnets with adhesive magnetic sheets like this!

* Books with Sprayed Edges are another of my current obsessions -- take a look at this website that creates special custom editions of popular books -- aren't they GORGEOUS? 

* Brian is obsessed with making the perfect pizza, and he's been kind enough to share his recipe. Get into it, and send him a picture of your pie!

Is this the year you've promised yourself you'd finally finish that manuscript, or stop playing on your dang phone so much and get into a healthier writing routine? Author Jami Attenberg joins me to talk about her new book 1000 WORDS: A Writer's Guide to Staying Creative, Focused and Productive All Year Round, as well as lots of other stuff: The differences between writing fiction and memoir, finding your writing compass, getting motivated when the creative well seems to have run dry, how to start writing again if you've been away from it for a while, the importance of building writerly community, plus the #1000wordsofsummer project, cult documentaries, and more!

​* The Literaticast has a Patreon! Throw in a buck and help keep the show running.

* Check out Jami Attenberg's website, and follow her on Instagram. 

* Subscribe to Jami's newsletter to get craft talk and inspiration straight to your inbox weekly, and for updates about the #1000wordsofsummer project!

* My obsession this week is The Gilded Age on HBO -- Jami's obsession are cult documentaries like LOVE HAS WON and ESCAPING TWIN FLAMES (which I watched both after our conversation and now I'm obsessed too!)

Click the book jackets for links to purchase through bookshop.org!

Happy Holidays! In this episide, I give a bit of an End-of-the-Year rundown -- what sold this year, what good stuff happened, and what's the mood? Then Middle Grade author Alex Gino joins me to chat about their new book, GREEN, out now from Scholastic, and what it is like being a "mid-career" full-time author. From evolving editorial relationships, to finding a writing process that works, to building an author brand; how have things changed for Alex since their shiny debut era?

* The Literaticast has a Patreon! Throw in a buck to help support the show. :-) 

* Alex Gino's website

​* Follow Alex on Xtwitter

* Links to Alex discussing banned books in a lot of different forums

* My (non-bookish) obsession is the show Lupin on Netflix. (Yep, it's in French. Yep, it's worth reading subtitles for!)

* Alex's obsession is the show Taskmaster on YouTube (and I love it, too!)

It's the most wonderful time of the year -- BOOK GIFTING TIME! I'm joined by booksellers Nicole Brinkley from Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY, and Cathy Berner from Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, TX, and we give you 50+ great recommendations for all the readers in your life, or for your own To Be Read pile. 

Love these bookseller recs? Support your local independent bookstore! Or, visit Blue Willow Bookshop or Oblong Books! Or, click the links in the show notes below to purchase from Bookshop.org and a percentage of the sales goes straight to supporting indie bookstores! Thanks, and happy shopping. :-)

* The Literaticast has a Patreon! Throw in a buck and help support the pod.

* Visit Oblong Books online! Support the Book Angel program! Support the Beacon Prison Books Project!

* See what's up at Blue Willow Bookshop!

* Listen to Cathy's guest spot on Nicole's podcast Misshelved, in convo with Mac Barnett!

* Check out Phoebe Wahl's online shop for gorgeous goodies!

* Nicole is obsessed with the Mom Can't Cook podcast!

​* Cathy is obsessed with the Hannah Waddingham Home For Christmas special!

Kid-lit power couple Raúl the Third and Elaine Bay are collaborators in both life and in books. They met in high school, grew into underground artists and zinesters, and in recent years, have become an award-winning and New York Times Bestselling creative powerhouse team. We talk about how they got started, how they work together, and the many (MANY) projects they have out and cooking!

* Like the Pod? Chip in a buck a month on Patreon and help keep it going! 

* Follow Raúl on Instagram to see the latest art, books and other updates! 

* Raúl wanted to work forHighwater Books  (before he realized it was like, two dudes in an apartment who made books at kinkos)

* The artwork for the LOWRIDERS series was inspired by, of course, Lowrider Magazine, as well as the Chicano art of drawing on handkerchiefs, known as paños. 

* A little about Raúl and Elaine's forthcoming co-created graphic novel series, THE SNIPS! (LittleBrown, 2024)

* About the Pura Belpré Award, including a list of past winners. VAMOS, LET'S CROSS THE BRIDGE was a gold medal winner for illustration in 2022. VAMOS, LET'S GO EAT was a gold medal winner in 2021. VAMOS, LET'S GO TO THE MARKET was a silver medal winner in 2020. LOWRIDERS TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH was a gold medal winner in 2017.

* The character of "Mr Posada" from VAMOS, LET'S GO READ, who teaches the kids to make comics, is based on the real life José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913), an artist, lithographer and political cartoonist whose images of Calaveras have become synonymous with Mexican folk art and Day of the Dead imagery, and who was a major influence on Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, among others.

* My gnome book obsession reminded Raúl of David the Gnome, a cartoon from our childhood, based on the book!

* Elaine is obsessed with exercise, in particular Tai Chi practices - her daily regimen includes the Eighth Brocade and Cat-Cow pose.

* Raúl is obsessed by the IDW Artisan Editions

The multi-talented Phoebe Wahl joins me to talk about how she got her start in publishing, as well as how she manages to run the cutest online shop in history, do brand collaborations, make films, thrive on social media, raise a toddler and more in addition to her busy career as an author-illustrator of picture books. And Phoebe will tell us all about her latest book - a debut YA novel called PHOEBE'S DIARY, based on her own teenage diaries and fully illustrated. ​We'll also discuss topics like Fat Representation, Shipwrecks, Taxes and Weird Shoes! 

* Like the podcast? Chip in a dollar a month on Patreon to keep it going!

* Check out Phoebe's personal Instagram for art and book news, and the Phoebe Wahl Shop instagram for new product drops!

* Shop for all the goodies at the Phoebe Wahl shop!

* Phoebe got her start doing illustrations for Taproot Magazine -- the vibes are immaculate

* You can watch TULIP, the short stop-motion animation film Phoebe co-created, here

* Phoebe also co-created a totally adorable music video for Ingrid Michaelson and Zooey Deschanel 

* Listen to the playlist for PHOEBE'S DIARY

* Get all the Pacific North West feels with Rainymood.com

* The legendary Crockenstocks

Click the book jackets for links to Bookshop.org -- a portion of proceeds from books purchased here go toward supporting indie bookstores, and the podcast! But these books are also available wherever fine books are sold. :-) 

Librarian, author, blogger, podcaster -- our guest Betsy Bird wears a lot of hats. She is not only a bona fide children's book expert but also has a great knack for predicting ALA Awards! As the awards are being given out at the end of this month, Betsy's going to take us behind the scenes and talk about the mysterious process of how the awards are even chosen, and what books MIGHT take home some hardware this year! (Will we be right? WHO KNOWS!  But it will be fun to find out!) She also answers some listener questions about library etiquette, book banning, what she'd like to see more of in the picture book space, and more. 

* The Literaticast has a Patreon! Throw in a buck and help keep the podcast going.
* Visit Betsy on the web.
* Follow Betsy Bird's blog Fuse #8 - This is her final award prediction post for the year, but she also does tons of book reviews, talks about bookish news, fun random kid lit stuff and more! It's a MUST READ blog for kids book creators.
* Betsy also has a podcast where she and her (non-kid-lit-world) sister discuss picture book classics hilariously.
* This article set off "scrotumgate" - the controversy surrounding the Newbery winner the year Betsy was on the committee.
* Will the winners of the Walter Dean Myers award this year be any indication of what wins at ALA?

WATCH THE ALA AWARD ANNOUNCEMENTS LIVESTREAM
​AT 8am CENTRAL TIME ON JANUARY 30th, 2023