First Draft with Sarah Enni

The 100th episode of the First Draft podcast—wow!! Several of the amazing authors who attended the North Texas Teen Book Festival answer lightning-round questions from listeners! Continue to support the podcast and help it grow by subscribing on iTunes (and leaving a rating or review!), following it on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, signing up for the newsletter, and spreading the word about First Draft using the hashtag #TryPod! Thank you so, so, so much for listening

Get a hot weather beverage and relax on a porch with me and Sarah Nicole Lemon, whose debut novel DONE DIRT CHEAP (out now!) talks about being a 14-year-old high school junior, writing books in secret, motorcycle clubs, and Appalachian female revenge.

A special co-episode with Sara from Adventures in YA where we talk about the podcasting process. Sara and I discuss our equipment, software, workflow, and promo processes, and touch a bit on feeling like we’re shouting into the void, and also tips for moderating at book festivals and other events.

Lilliam Rivera (whose debut young adult novel THE EDUCATION OF MARGOT SANCHEZ, is out now!) shares her first memories of walking to the library, talks about interning at Rolling Stone, the theatricality of funerals, and who wear masks (and why).

The super-savvy, super-smart author Renée Watson (her most recent young adult novel, PIECING ME TOGETHER, is out now!) and founder of the I, Too Arts Collective, talks taking herself seriously as a writer from a young age, creative therapy for young people, and finding people who are about something.

Let’s break it down with Sarah Jae-Jones, debut author of WINTERSONG, podcaster at large with the PubCrawl Podcast, and former editor at St. Martin’s Press, as she talks about learning to write to avoid Korean school, the possible titles for her memoir on publishing, evil threshold magic, and the not-entirely-nice ways that publishing surprised her.

The delightful Rhoda Belleza, debut author of EMPRESS OF A THOUSAND SKIES, on being a slow reader, hating dress codes, working with teens to develop professional skills, and magical trolls who hide things in your house. 

Hello from Veronica Roth’s tour in support of her new book, Carve the Mark! Veronica invited me to go with her on tour as emcee, and we take a break after one of our shows to talk about entering an alternate dimension in the Atlanta airport, amazing bookstore dogs, and when we first learned the power of language.

Author of the DIVERGENT series Veronica Roth - whose new book, CARVE THE MARK, is out Jan. 17 - returns to the podcast to update me on what she’s been up to since her last episode, giving her story ideas code names, why she’s obsessed with iron grates over windows, and why she decided her next novel should be set in space.

Join me as I talk to D.J. MacHale, author of dozens of middle grade novels, including THE CURSE OF THE BOGGIN, first book in his new series THE LIBRARY, out now! DJ also created and wrote the Nickelodeon series ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? He talks about writing and starring in a 90-minute original Marx Brothers movie, outlining 10 books in a week, and taking critique from his mother.

Hear Sona Charaipotra, co-author of TINY PRETTY THINGS and SHINY BROKEN PIECES and co-founder of CAKE Literary, talks about her Halloween welcome to the U.S., being married to your greatest accountability partner, and fostering mentorship.

Hear Amie Kaufman, New York Times best-selling co-author of the STARBOUND trilogy and the ILLUMINAE series, talk shipwrecks and her favorite sound, how science fiction is fantasy for the real world, using "shenanigans ensue" as a plotting device, and my new favorite thing: the “shut up and take my money” list.

Some past and future First Draft interviewees share their stories about voting, how their characters would vote, love of stickers, and one story of a jujutsu-master suffragette!

Join me and Josephine Angelini, author of the STARCROSSED trilogy, and the WORLDWALKER series (the finale, WITCH’S PYRE, is out now!), as we talk about houses burning down, trading a diary for writing fiction, and how long you can avoid the reality that you are meant to write.

Join me and Ransom Riggs, New York Times best-selling author of MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN - which was recently released as a major motion picture - and the new selection of short stories, TALES OF THE PECULIAR, as we talk about living side by side with the past, making friends with the neighbor kids, and the freedom of having no expectations.