The Reader’s Heart | Guest: Erin Bow

Jennifer chats with author Erin Bow who shares a bit about her journey as a reader and writer, from her childhood love of books to her success as an author. She emphasizes the importance of reading widely and falling in love with reading as a child. Erin also shares her passion for trashy page-turning storytelling and the influence it has on her writing. But most of their conversation focuses on the role of children's literature in helping us to understand and navigate trauma. Erin discusses the inspiration behind Simon Sort of Says and why it was important to her that Simon's story be funny. 

Show notes and other information related to this episode (including a discount code from Bookelicious) can be found here.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Reader's Heart

04:21 Childhood Reading and Influences

06:06 Trashy Page-Turning Storytelling

10:05 Expanding Genre and Writing Goals

11:57 Pseudonyms and Success

13:54 The Journey to Success

20:55 The Variety of Erin Bow's Books

26:09 Discussion of Simon Sort of Says

36:00 Upcoming Work and the Importance of Stories