ICYMI: The 9th Annual #TWTBlog Author Spotlight Series

I’m grateful to the authors who agreed to participate in this year’s 9th Annual Author Spotlight Series. Many thanks to their publishers for donating book giveaways for each book.

Here’s a recap of this year’s series:

• First up was Ruth Behar, who explained how her immigrant family’s memories and experiences drove her to write and bear witness to their losses. Writing allowed Behar to remember those who shaped her life, honor the past and the present, and understand history through imagination and research.
• On Tuesday, Dawnavyn James grappled with the challenge of condensing her experience teaching Black history as an elementary educator into a single book. It was a difficult decision, but she carefully selected the most powerful, impactful, practical examples and conversations to ensure readers heard her voice and felt connected to her experiences.
• Last Wednesday, Richard Ho stated that writing a children’s book may seem simple, as everyone was a child once, but capturing the essence of childhood and reclaiming the magic requires delving into the layers of accumulated life experiences. For Ho, this meant remembering the “wow” factor that inspired awe in his childhood and framing the story through the eyes of Asian-American children who witnessed Jeremy Lin’s incredible rise.
• On Thursday, Natasha Tripplett wrote about her treehouse writing studio. But even without a treehouse, she asserted that inspiration can be found in the everyday world if one stays observant and prepared to capture those fleeting moments of brilliance.
• Last Friday, Lisa Eickholdt and Lola M. Schaefer are former elementary school teachers passionate about teaching kids to write. In their post, they reflected on creating their forthcoming picture book and shared valuable lessons for students.
• Finally, Craig Barr-Green asserted that authors are masterful liars, weaving tales that captivate readers and make them believe in their fictional worlds. Yet, amidst the fabrication, there is honesty and truth, as stories are born from a lifetime of experiences and influences, reshaped into intricate nests of ideas that couldn’t be created in any other way. 

Each author would love to hear your thoughts! There is a book giveaway (and one 20-minute virtual author visit) for people who leave comments on each author’s post by 4/27/24. Details below.

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