Queries, Qualms, & Quirks

Young Adult Author Rosiee Thor joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss how failure is part of the process, teenage Marie Lu, Inkpop, signing with an agent who doesn’t represent her genre, feeling a bit stagnant, refusing to give up on publishing, and finding the groups that nourish instead of drain you.

Rosiee Thor began her career as a storyteller by demanding to tell her mother bedtime stories instead of the other way around. She spent her childhood reading by flashlight in the closet until she came out as queer. She lives in Oregon with a dog, two cats, and an abundance of plants. She is the author of Tarnished Are The Stars, Fire Becomes Her, The Meaning of Pride, and Life is Strange: Steph’s Story.

Middle Grade Author Sarah Allen joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss coming up in the time of author blogs, being over eager, hundreds of rejections, being scared to write the book you want, leaving an agent, learning to be bolder, and balancing the boldness with kindness.

Sarah Allen is a poet and author of books for young readers. Her upcoming middle grade horror, THE NIGHTMARE HOUSE, releases in August of 2023. Her first book, WHAT STARS ARE MADE OF, was an ALA Notable Book of 2020 and Whitney Award Winner, and her second, BREATHING UNDERWATER, was a Jr. Library Guild Selection for 2021. Born and raised in Utah, she received an MFA in creative writing from Brigham Young University, and now lives in the midwest. She spends her non-writing time watching David Attenborough documentaries and singing show-tunes too loudly, and she’s a lover of leather jackets, grizzly bears, and Colin Firth.

Fantasy Author R.R. Virdi joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the cover his mom designed, the difference between indie and trad, seeing the sign at Barnes and Noble, the importance of asking questions, how delays snowball, and how publishing is different for everybody.

R.R. Virdi is a usa today bestseller, two time dragon award-finalist and nebula award finalist. He is the author of urban fantasy series, The Grave Report, and the new South Asian Epic Fantasy series from TOR books, Tales of Tremaine

Middle Grade Author Esme Symes-Smith joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss genre labels, the two-glass-of-wine query, how NaNoWriMo prepared them for publishing, inspiration from Tamora Pierce, waiting for the other shoe to drop, the fanfiction gateway, making excuses for yourself,

Esme Symes-Smith grew up in the Southwest of England, got their degree in Literature and Creative Writing in Wales, and now lives in Missouri with their wife and furbabies. SIR CALLIE is their first novel.

Young Adult Author Laura Taylor Namey joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss learning to write a novel by writing one, the pitfall of comparison, longevity as an author, romanticizing publishing, and doing things backward.

Laura Taylor Namey is the New York Times and international bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club pick A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, The Library of Lost Things, When We Were Them, and two forthcoming titles. A proud Cuban-American, she can be found hunting for vintage treasures and wishing she was in London or Paris. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two children.