Morgan Matson, New York Times bestselling author of THE UNEXPECTED EVERYTHING, SINCE YOU’VE BEEN GONE, and her latest YA, SAVE THE DATE, talks about having the eleventh book be the hardest yet, “flashpoint” stories, the Morganverse, her unusual editing process, and writing a book in movies’ clothing.

Morgan Matson 2.0 Show Notes

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

For Better or For Worse (comic strip)

Noises Off by Michael Frayn

Morgan’s first First Draft episode

Katie Finn (Morgan’s alter ego)

Foxtrot (comic strip)

Calvin & Hobbes (comic strip)

Doonsebury (comic strip)

Justin Chanda, Vice President and Publisher at Simon and Schuster

Diya Mishra

Father of the Bride (movie)

Sixteen Candles (movie)

The Family Stone (movie)

Rachel Getting Married (movie)

Frasier (TV show)

Friends (TV show)

Noises Off (movie)

Susan Dennard

Francesca Lia Block, author of more than 25 books, including seminal YA novel Weetzie Bat, talks about her most recent book, THE THORN NECKLACE, a memoir-driven guide to healing through the craft of writing. Francesca talks about meshing her life with that of her most favorite character, shares some incredibly useful writing exercises, and talks about *when* to do research.

Francesca Lia Block Show Notes

Joni Mitchell

Harry Houdini

Linda Venis, former head of the UCLA extension Writers Program

H.D., “Sea Rose”

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Jill Alexander Essbaum

Fairies in the Kitchen: The Weetzie Bat Cookbook by Carmen Staton and Francesca Lia Block

The Midnight Disease by Alice W. Flaherty

Hypergraphia

Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives by Louise DeSalvo

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, soon-to-be-married couple and co-authors of debut, ALWAYS NEVER YOURS (out now!), talk about the joke that brought them together, having co-writing modeled for them by Emily’s parents, and the fact that “whom” will never be in a YA contemporary.

Austin Siegemund-Broka and Emily Wibberley Show Notes

Cormac and Marianne Wibberley, screenwriting couple who wrote films such as National Treasure

Why Won’t You Date Me (podcast) with Nicole Byer

21 Jump Street (movie)

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author of LEAH ON THE OFF BEAT, SIMON VERSUS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA, and co-author of WHAT IF IT’S US, with Adam Silvera, due out in October. Becky talks about how seeing Simon become a movie made her want to write more cinematically, how good AND bad news can be paralyzing while you are revising on deadline, her number one OTP, and retconning her own series and characters.

Becky Albertalli Show Notes

Margot Wood from Epic Reads

Greg Berlanti

Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger who wrote This is Us (TV show) and the script for Love, Simon

Isaac Klausner

Aminah Mae Safi

Adam Silvera (listen to his First Draft interview here)

Brooks Sherman

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

John Green

Victoria Aveyard, whose latest novel, WAR STORM, is the final volume in the New York Times best-selling RED QUEEN series, talks about how Harry Potter led her to value fat books, balancing fan expectations with the demands of story, promo vs. creative mode, and staying hydrated on planes.

Victoria Aveyard 2.0 Show Notes

Victoria Aveyard’s first First Draft podcast

Suzie Townsend (literary agent)

New Leaf Literary

Scrivener

Avengers: Infinity War (movie)

Empire podcast about Infinity War

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Mark Duplass interview on Pete Holmes’ You Made it Weird Podcast

Britta Lundin, whose debut novel SHIP IT, is out now, talks about being a TV writer (Riverdale), choosing to tell queer stories, and being shaped by her fandoms. 

Shane Pangburn and Tori Hill, producers of the YALLWEST book festival, on starting operations off a wedding budget, sending S.O.S. emails, and operating in good faith with festival organizers.

Tori Hill and Shane Pangburn, producers of YALLWEST, Show Notes

Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Creatures by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia

Pseudonymous Bosch

Lewis Peterson, co-author of Cats vs. Robots with Margaret Stohl

YALLFest

Blue Bicycle Books

Santa Monica Public Library

Teen ambassadors

Maret Orliss, Associate Director of Programming at the LA Times (listen to her First Draft interview here)

Writeopia Labs

Kirsten Hubbard, author of YA novels Like Mandarin and Wanderlove, as well as middle grade novels Watch the Sky, Race the Night, and most recently, Secrets of Topsea: A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always By the Ocean (as Kir Fox, co-written with Michelle Schusterman, as M. Shelley Coats), talks about the time both of our lives simultaneously blew up, and how we helped each other rebuild. Also: how having a twin means she’s always written for an audience, the pleasures of re-reading, and writing with ADHD.

Kirsten Hubbard Show Notes

Maurene Goo (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here)

Egmont USA closing

Kaitlin Ward (listen to her First Draft interview here)

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

Welcome to Night Vale (podcast)

New Leaf Literary, and agents Jo Volpe, Suzie Townsend, and Kirsten’s current agent, Jordan Hamessley

Sarah Davies at Greenhouse Literary

Roald Dahl

YA Highway

Maret Orliss, Associate Director of Events Programming for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, talks about how authors can stand out to festival programmers, what the L.A. Times is doing in response to sexual harassment accusations in the book world, and the best Margaret Atwood festival story.

Maret Orliss Show Notes

Cecil Castellucci

Lisa Yee

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

Reading Aloud, Nate Corddry’s books podcast

Brandy Colbert

Amy Spalding

John Scalzi

Roxane Gay

Jacqueline Woodson

Far From the Tree by Robin Benway

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo

Not the Girls You’re Looking For by Aminah Mae Safi

Grace and the Fever by Zan Romanoff

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

Patton Oswalt

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Her new book, The Proposal

Sophia of Silicon Valley by Anna Yen

Stealing the Show: How Women Are Revolutionizing Television by Joy Press

Murphy Brown (TV show)

You Play the Girl by Carina Chocano, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award

This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) Amerca by Morgan Jerkins

Queer Eye (TV show)

Sara Saedi, author of NEVER EVER and its sequel, THE LOST KIDS (out today!), as well as YA memoir AMERICANIZED: REBEL WITHOUT A GREEN CARD, talks about her earliest boy-meets-girl story, how being the child of immigrants made her write her first screenplay, soap operas as writing boot camp,the blessing of living in the time of email, and putting a narrative onto your own life.

Sara Saedi Show Notes

Cocktail (movie)

Rain Man (movie)

The Babysitter’s Club by Ann M. Martin

Brooke Bowman

She’s All That (movie)

M. Night Shyalaman

Tom Jacobson (producer)

The Goodwin Games (TV show)

How I Met Your Mother (TV show)

Carter Bays

Craig Thomas

Scott Foley

Jess Regel at Foundry Literary

"The Silicon Valley Suicides," by Hanna Rosin in The Atlantic

Perfect Strangers (TV show)

iZombie (TV show)

John August (listen to his First Draft interview here)

Launch, the podcast about John’s book

Rob Thomas (iZOmbie, Veronica Mars)