Ask a Librarian with Julie Chavez A Zcast Production

New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis has found her sweet spot writing historical fiction set in and around iconic New York City buildings. In a moment where she found herself without an idea for her next book, she received a perfectly timed email from a woman who offered to tell her all about Radio City Music Hall. Fiona joins Julie in this episode to share about The Spectacular, her research on the Rockettes, her decision to discuss Parkinson’s Disease within the novel, and the real-life inspiration for Marion, the main character of the book. Julie and Fiona also discuss one of the novel’s core questions that remains relevant for women today: What is the cost of suppressing your own individuality and creativity?


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Anissa Gray’s second novel, Life and Other Love Songs, is a braided novel, and Julie thinks it reads like three-part harmony. The journalist and writer joins Julie in this episode to discuss the process of writing a second book on a deadline, the personal challenges Anissa faced in the season of writing this novel, and the reason that this book presented more growing opportunities for her as a writer. Julie and Anissa also discuss the joys of menopause, including insomnia! 


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When she was a child in Colombia, Juana Medina’s mom gave her a boom box to record her stories. Combined with a family that prioritized and nurtured art, Juana grew up seeing drawing as another language. Juana joins Julie in this episode to talk about her winding journey to becoming a professional author and illustrator, the reason we need to deemphasize the importance of pedigree in art, and why we should be encouraging children to continue drawing even as they learn to read and write. Juana’s latest title, Elena Rides, is light, but it had its origins in a serious injury that Juana sustained that changed her perspective, slowed her down, and became a meditation on purpose. 
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Alan Barillaro has always been drawing, beginning with making flipbooks out of any textbook that found its way into his creative hands. His years as an animator and actor informed the creation of his first book, Where the Water Takes Us, a beautifully illustrated middle-grade novel for readers of any age who find themselves in an unexpected situation. He joins Julie on this episode to talk about the path from film director to author, the ways that his experience in animation and film support his writing, and the most important question a creator can ask after a mistake: Why didn’t it work? 


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When Caseen Gaines sat in a darkened theater to watch the final performance of Shuffle Along, he had no idea that experience would lead to a book. But as soon as he heard “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” he knew he’d be doing research to figure out why he knew the song, but not the show. When Broadway was Black: The Triumphant Story of the All-Black Musical that Changed the World is the exploration of the importance of Shuffle Along and how a show so popular it changed the traffic patterns in New York could be excised from America’s social and cultural memory. Caseen joins Julie to talk about the show’s lasting impact, the person who surprised and delighted him most in his research, and his love of fan culture. He designs his dream dinner party, and Julie confirms that the guests’ imaginary attendance is mandatory. 


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If you’d like advice on how to sustain a writing career, then ask Sarah Mlynowski. A writer is all she ever wanted to be (she has a rejection letter from the fourth grade to prove it), and she’s now been publishing books for over twenty years. Sarah is an engaging storyteller on the page and in person, and she joins Julie in this episode to talk about Best Wishes 2: The Sister Switch, the process she uses to write with co-authors, and riding the waves of publishing trends as a way of continuing to stay open and flexible in her career.


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