Write Or Die Podcast

THANK YOU to all of our WorDies! We love you!

Kat & Claribel say goodbye to Write or Die by listening to snippets from past episodes and discussing the advice they’ve received along the way from amazing past guests including S.Jae Jones, Alex Aster, Victoria Aveyard, Tiffany Jackson, Phil Stamper and More! Then they read listener comments and answer some last “Ask Us Anything” questions! Thank you to all the WorDies who’ve joined us on this journey! Our hope is that you keep this community going even after the podcast is done!

Topics discussed include:

• Separating “author” from “writer”
• Fake it til you make it mindset
• Social media and mental health
• Envy and jealousy in publishing
• Switching agents
• Focusing on your craft

MENTIONS:

• THIS IS WHY THEY HATE US by Aaron H. Aceves

• LIGHTLARK by Alex Aster

Kat & Claribel say goodbye to Write or Die by listening to snippets from past episodes and discussing the advice they’ve received along the way from amazing past guests including Daniel Jose Older, Leigh Bardugo, Holly Black, Ayana Gray, Mark Oshiro, and More! Topics discussed include:

• Messy first draft.
• How to get into drafting mode.
• Being wary of generalized advice.
• Finding community.
• Being a BIPOC author.
• Parasocial relationships in publishing.

Claribel & Kat discuss what "success" means in publishing (and what it definitely does not mean). Then they interview Vita Ayala about their journey into writing comics, how the Metropolitan Museum of Art is super haunted, being inspired by Octavia Butler as a kid, and the difference between comics and prose writing. 

ABOUT VITA: Vita Ayala (they/them) is a trans non-binary Afro-Puerto Rican writer born and bred in New York City, where they grew up dreaming dreams of dancing on far away worlds, fighting monsters on the block, and racing fish along the bottom of the ocean. Before Vita began freelancing as a writer, they worked in book retail, event coordination, building management, baking, and museum security (day and graveyard shift). They’ve broken at least one of every bone in their body, which means they can feel the rain coming. Vita writes both comics and prose fiction, and has written for publishers such as: Black Mask Studios, DC (comics), Dynamite, IDW, Image Comics, Macmillan, Marvel Comics, Realm, Valiant, and Vault Comics. Vita currently resides in New York City with their wife and cat sons.

Claribel interviews Kat about her young adult k-pop romcom, Once Upon a K-Prom. They chat all things k-pop (including Kat’s first k-pop loves), what inspired the book, whether Kat included BTS in K-Prom, and more!

Claribel & Kat talk about pressures on authors every time a new book comes out & how publishing relationships naturally change over time. Then they interview Traci Chee about her path to publication, behind-the-scenes of finding out her book was a Printz Award Honor, and her newest Fantasy, A Thousand Steps into Night!

BIO: Traci Chee is a best-selling and award-winning author of books for young people, including the instant New York Times best seller and Kirkus Prize Finalist The Reader and Printz Honor Book, Walter Award Honoree, and National Book Award Finalist We Are Not Free. Her newest book is A Thousand Steps into Night, a Japanese-influenced young adult fantasy. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys hiking, egg painting, gardening, and hosting game nights for family and friends. She lives in California with her fast dog.