You May Contribute A Verse

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster! This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey. I think we’re starting to establish that there’s no such thing as a normal kidlit publishing journey. Our guest today is author-illustrator Kaz Windness, out with her debut picture book, Swim, Jim! this May. Among Kaz’s claims to fame prior to this year’s debut with Swim, Jim!’s, are a book of goth nursery rhymes called Mother Goth, a semi-graphic sort-of graphic novel about a murderous and moody unicorn called If UR Stabby, and a viral picture of a thrift store leotard. We’ll let that one speak for itself. We caught up with Kaz late in 2021, just after Swim, Jim!’s cover reveal, about the time of Fred Koehler’s Quinn’s Monsters project, which Kaz was also participating in, and simultaneous with some regrettably missed Stabby the Unicorn painting auctions. Maybe next time. How things can change in just a few months – there’s a lot to talk about, and a lot more to come from Kaz. Find her absolutely gorgeous – and only occasionally creepy – art and words at windnessbooks.com. Chaos ensues with Kaz. Controlled chaos, delightful chaos, entertaining chaos! Here is Kaz Windness’s verse.

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster! This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey. Our guest this week is picture book storyteller Maddie Frost, who is the new illustrator emeritus of this very podcast! To get a sample of her work and sensibilities, simply look at your phone or computer screen. It’s Versey the Quokka! Do the work, put yourself out there, and good things will happen. That’s Brenna’s and my mindset and the mindset of our guest Maddie Frost, who has a bunch of work out in the world, namely for my household Wakey Birds, which is in regular bedtime rotation at the moment. Combining Maddie’s openness to new opportunity with her hunger for the next big fun thing has led to a very productive career so far. Including a number of illustrator and author-illustrator credits to her name, she’s got four books coming out this year alone, including Capybara is Friends with Everyone, Not Yet, Yeti, Iguana Be A Dragon, and Let’s Draw Fun Animals, a how-to book that, we’ve been promised, also contains funtivities. As of episode publication, Maddie’s just done a cover reveal for this one on her Twitter, @_maddiefrost. If you couldn’t already surmise, fun’s the name of the game today. Hope you enjoy! Find Maddie Frost on Twitter! Find Josh and Brenna on Twitter!

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster! Brenna and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. OUR guest for this conversation is author-illustrator Fred Koehler, responsible for a whole bunch of books you can find on his Goodreads page, among them Super Jumbo, How to Cheer Up Dad, and Garbage Island – which is getting a sequel in short order! Fred is also the mastermind behind Ready Chapter 1, a resource hub to help creators next-level their work on the path to being professional storytellers. The thing that drew Brenna and I to Fred, however, is an initiative he’s managing through the end of this month called Quinn’s Monsters, in partnership with the Make A Wish Foundation and a slew of super talented kidlit authors and illustrators. Quinn is a four-year-old in Florida whose wish is to have spooky stories feature her. And monsters! And so Fred’s put out a call to authors, illustrators, and author-illustrator combos to submit 50-100 word stories – with accompanying illustrations – about monsters that interact and go on adventures with Quinn. Quinn's Monsters, and by proxy Fred Koehler, is excepting submissions for her picture book project through October 25th, 2021 - find all guidelines (and the other amazing contributors to the project) at ilikefred.com/quinn. Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive at verse.show, and as always, let us know what you think via a rate, review, or comment!

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster! This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey. There are many times in the life of being a fan of things that you consume something, and then want nothing more than to pick the brain of the person who created it. Hot off consuming the picture book Calvin Gets the Last Word, Brenna and I got one of the primary benefits of doing this podcast, which is to get to pick the brain of one of the persons who created it, author Margo Sorenson (in partnership with illustrator Mike Deas). Margo is a prolific multi-genre author who has had a storied career thus far, and built her resilience and tenacity by choosing to have taught middle schoolers. Margo’s work is largely tinged with ohana, the Hawai’ian concept of family, seen through works like her picture book Little Calabash and woven into her identity as an author. I love Margo’s Hawai’ian name Leipua’ala, granted to her by a family friend, meaning ‘little gifts for children.’ What you’ll hear in this episode, aside from us deconstructing Calvin Gets the Last Word, is partial silence from me (especially toward the end), both because I had an internet outage during our conversation, but more importantly because I’m super jealous of Brenna and Margo’s newfound relationship as agency siblings, calabash cousins in the Dan Cramer of Page Turner Literary family. Such a pleasure to share this conversation. Here is Margo Sorenson’s verse.

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster! This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey. Today is about being weird together. It’s the first recorded conversation between Brenna and me as we get to know each other better and embark on this quest to do a cool lil podcast about picture books. Every path trodden in this industry is different, and they all represent stories worth telling. Today’s with Brenna not only represents the traditional ‘How I Got My Agent’ story, which is unique and very-2021, but how we got to where we are now. It’s a story of partnership, putting yourself out there, embracing the weird, and finding ways that work for you. Brenna’s journey has been super productive, not only landing her an agent in Dan Cramer (of Page Turner Lit), but becoming part of our budding Totally Funny Critique Group and eventually us combining our podcasting powers into one. Each turn of the tale is about keeping eyes and ears open for opportunity, heart open to accept the uncertainty inherent in new paths, and… mouths open to podcast it out? Find Brenna at her website. Brenna is represented by Page Turner Literary Agency and Dan Cramer. Find more information about them - and Brenna's agency siblings - at the Page Turner site.

Katey Howes (@kateywrites), picture book – and maybe more? – author joins me for a chat today. Katey is author of the lately-published Rissy No Kissies, a picture book about a lovebird who doesn’t love kisses and the lessons her family learns about boundaries, consent, and bodily autonomy. Katey and I do a lot of discussing in this conversation about how to reach readers, from adjusting language in early reader books to making time for virtual visits to weaving theme into your books. Find Katey Howes' books on Goodreads! I really hope you enjoy our chat!

Today’s conversation launches year three of this podcast project, revisiting time spent last September with Ryan Van Loan, author of the Fall of the Gods series, including The Sin in the Steel, published in July 2020, and The Justice in Revenge, publishing July of this year. So happy to have the chance to speak with Ryan again. If you haven’t yet listened to the conversation we had last year (it's the episode next to this one!), do so now and get to know his earnest goodwill, his fandom, his discipline, and his immense drive. Ryan and I cover a lot of ground again, discussing contracts, critique groups, complications, characters, and changes. What happens when you begin to get the thing you seek? As it turns out, Ryan’s watching that play out along with his scrappy protagonists Buc and Eld, though they’re having super different experiences with that achievement. Read The Sin in the Steel, available everywhere in hardcover now, in paperback June 29!  Get The Justice in Revenge, out in hardback and ebook July 13!  

Our guest this episode is author, activist, and awesome advocate Claire Rudy Foster. They have a short story collection that came out in November 2019, titled Shine of the Ever, based in grunge-era Portland, Oregon. It’s a radical, joy-filled book of linked vignettes, characters intertwining in intimate ways, hurtling toward evolution, with no sad endings. It was named by O: The Oprah Magazine as one of the best LGBTQ books of 2019. Foster’s also a radically transparent and joy-filled freelance author, with pieces appearing all over the place: the Washington Post, New York Times, McSweeney’s – the list goes on. I became aware of Foster’s very personal voice and encouraging perspective for the first time in late 2017 and early 2018, as emotions… began to run a bit higher for many folks. Foster’s quite active on social media, and I have been fortunate to witness their evolution as a writer and of their identity as a queer, nonbinary trans person. Foster is on social media as @crf_pdx – buy their book and learn more at clairerudyfoster.com. #VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

Ausma Zehanat Khan is the author of two series that we talk about in our conversation today. She’s got an incredibly storied and qualified history as a former professor and current Ph.D in International Human Rights. Her debut, the first in her mystery series starring Toronto detectives Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak, was released in 2015 and deals with the aftermath of the 1995 Bosnian Srebrenica massacre as the central investigation, with a lot more to it that we’ll get into during our chat. Khan also has a fantasy series wrapping up this year. It’s a quartet of novels, originally planned at three but expanded in the style of George RR Martin, set in a fantastical version of the Muslim world. The Khorasan archives, incredibly, are an epic fantasy series that have come out one per year, starting with 2017’s Bloodprint and concluding with this year’s Bladebone. The books, starring Arian, Sinnia, and Daniyar, on a quest to right wrongs, depict an all too familiarly adjacent anti-intellectual setting, with the heroes trying to preserve knowledge and heritage in the face of ignorance. Speaking of things concluding. We talked, appropriately, on the eve of Ramadan’s end, in a unique year where our collective situation is ripe for month-long reflection, but at least in my case really challenging when it comes to fasting, if the snacks we keep in the house are any indication. This conversation is one that’s been a long time coming, and I’m really happy to have had a chance to do this chat. #VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

Carlin Trammel and I have been planning on having a chat about his long running podcast, Nerd Lunch, put together by both carlin as well as his two buddies, Jeeg and Pax, for many moons now   Nine years this podcast has run, and the occasion of my conversation with Carlin – or CT as he’s known on the podcast – was the end of that podcast. We talk a lot in our conversation about transition, finality, and the passion it takes to keep something going so consistently for so long. By comparison, I made the first season of verse show run from April to September, then took a break for as long as the show ran. Much love and many props to Pax, Jeeg, and CT, who have weathered a lot of changes to their personal life, as well as to how the internet works, over those nine years. #VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

I (@JoshMonkwords) got a chance to catch up this time around with animator, artist, and parent Joanna Davidovich (@JoTheZette). You can lately find Joanna livestreaming her animation commissions, personal projects, and requests on social channels when she’s not balancing client work and two small kids. There’s a cloud over everything we do right now - 2020 is a doozy. We couldn’t have had a better timed opportunity to talk about the realities we’re all facing as we navigate family and work dynamics, and how both the pandemic and the natural progression of years have changed things for us. Joanna and I talk business too – she’s has been a working animator for well over a decade now, and uses her public persona as a live-streaming animator both to serve as inspiration, education, and entertainment to her audience, and to give herself company while she works. Here’s a good entry point to look up on Youtube if you’re not familiar with her work: Joanna finished a classic style cartoon called Monkey Rag a number of years ago – we don’t talk about it in great detail but you ought to check it out. I choose to believe it’s about the issues we create for ourselves getting the better of us despite our best intentions. Joanna’s got a joyful soul and it was a pleasure to be able to chat not so much about education and business and how she came up, but other types of creative work life realities equally important to analyze.

Children’s board books seem simple, right? In a sense they are. A handful of page turns to make sure you don’t lose the smallest of attention spans from the smallest among us. Simple illustrations and not a lot of words so kids can grasp broad concepts and explore pictures at a pace that suits them. If you’re not in the children’s publishing (#kidlit) world, you might also think a discussion related to books aimed at an audience of babies might not interest you. Joyce Wan is here to tell you that’s absolutely not the case. Our conversation today focuses on her path from architecture student through her entrepreneurship and ownership of her greeting card company and on to children’s book authorship and illustration. Joyce has, at time of recording, two dozen children’s books to her name. Over the course of her ten-year career in publishing, she’s picked up a lot of universal advice to share not just within this industry, but in any industry whatsoever. She’s learned that you have to find your strengths and your passion and play to them while remaining flexible and adaptable. She’s learned how to be a creative person while managing herself with a business mindset, talking about those strengths and what sets her apart, not being afraid to be her own champion. #VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

Jeff Miller and I go way back – back to the days before cell phones, when MTV played music videos, before the Matrix, before YouTube and the internet as we know them were invented. Back in OUR day, all we had were trumpets and trombones and marching band trips. And we liked them! The best way I can introduce you to Jeff Miller and his work is, I think, through the lens of how I re-introduced myself to him over the years as lots of high school friends do, by liking precisely one facebook photo of the other person per year, just enough for it to not be creepy. I’ve seen for the better part of the past two decades what Jeff is as a singer-songwriter – touring, putting in the work, playing for intimate crowds, releasing albums steadily. What I didn’t understand before our conversation I do now, or at least I think I do a bit better. Jeff is a multi-instrumentalist primarily playing looping guitar, which will make more sense as a concept once you’ve listened to our chat. I am an unbiased journalist when I say he’s quite good at what he does. He’s Nashville-based and hits the road seasonally across the eastern US as he books, tours, plays, and loops. What follows is a refreshing and super fun conversation – yes – between two old high school buddies who are playing catch up after decades, but it’s a lot more than that. Jeff Miller has really put in the work and through a lot of exploration and tenacity has found a version of success that’s on his terms, by his own hand, grown-up workable, and allows him to keep producing the art he’s passionate about. Stay tuned at the end of the episode for a sample of Jeff’s music as we outro to a song from Jeff’s 2016 album Loops, titled Cinquantuno. I got a lot of encouragement and wisdom from this conversation and am glad to share Jeff Miller’s verse. #VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

Paige Walden-Johnson is a dancer, an Ohio native who has made St. Louis her home. She’s the founder and director of the local St. Louis arts, education, violence remediation, and community unification nonprofit appropriately titled CommUNITY Arts St. Louis. The third annual CommUNITY Arts Festival and Concert are happening on September 7th and 8th, 2019! As we enter a discussion of what CommUNITY is and what Paige and her team are hoping to do with the festival, some level-setting and history is necessary. We start our chat talking about a woman named Rain Stippec. Rain is a St. Louis dancer and was the victim of a random act of gun violence in February of 2017. She was shot eight times. Rain has since made a great recovery and I don’t want to spoil any of the conversation, but I think I need to in order to give context to who and what Paige and I talk about. The CommUNITY Arts Festival was set up to support Rain in her recovery in the festival’s first year, occurring over two weekends in late Summer 2017. The planning for this festival started before Rain had even become conscious. The story Paige has to tell about the evolution of the St. Louis arts community’s support for Rain’s recovery is one of love and dedication, but it’s also about recognizing opportunity when it presents itself. There are lessons in there too about being open to change, to evolve as a situation evolves. Since the success of the first festival, the CommUNITY Arts infrastructure has grown into something bigger. The coming festival is in its third year in 2019 and looks quite different. Under the roof of St. Louis’s Intersect Arts Center, there are local art performances, but there are also arts workshops, the Midwest premiere of a documentary on endemic violence called The Sweetest Land, and a Voices Against Violence panel discussion, again intended to connect CommUNITY and its partner resources to the community it seeks to serve. CommUNITY Arts St. Louis focuses on proper communication, education, and healing through the arts – the effort came from tragedy and flourished into a community celebration. #VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

Kelly Light’s primary works, the ones for which she’s know the best, are two picture books for young kids called Louise Loves Art and Louise and Andie and the Art of Friendship, about an earnest girl named Louise who can’t put her pencil down for love of drawing. The art in these two books is expressive, animated, and dynamic. Like Kelly, Louise is at her best and happiest when she’s making art. The story we tell through our conversation touches on Kelly’s quick ascent to something some might call fame and glory, but also what’s more important about that mountain peak: the work it took to get to the top, and also a realistic look at what it takes to stay there, as well as what happens when you stumble from your peak. #VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

Darrin MacLeod (of Mrs. and Mr. MacLeod!) is here. We explore their collaboration, how The Grunions came to be, and Darrin's history as a traveling, writing vagabond who used to run a surf school.   Mrs. and Mr. MacLeod wrote HOW TO EAT A BOOK and THE DOOR THAT HAD NEVER BEEN OPENED BEFORE (whew, long title) and the forthcoming BIRTHDAY BEAR.    --------   This episode’s book reviews:   I COME FROM ANOTHER GALAXY by James Kwan TEENY TINY TOADY by Jill Esbaum, illustrated by Keika Yamaguchi  UP UP EVER UP by Anita Yasuda, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com    Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com     Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!    Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

It's Steena Hernandez day! Show up and do the thing, claim your agency, and bring your A-game. Steena's debut book Lupita's Brown Ballet Slippers is available today! What's pancaking? How do you plan a school visit? What's Josh's favorite shape? All these answers and more await you.   --------   This episode’s book reviews:   I HATE EVERYTHING by Sophy Henn VALLEY: THE WIGGLE-BUTT PUP by Jae Lynn, illustrated by Juliette Miron CHURRO STAND by Karina N. Gonzalez, illustrated by Krystal Quiles   The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com    Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com     Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!    Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Since we first recorded this episode, our guest Jyoti Rajan Gopal has had two books published, and that should tell you a great deal about her hustle and her dedication.  Desert Queen is one we talked about most in this conversation, but 2025 has also seen Love is Here with You: A Lullaby of Blessings and The Power of Your Name as well! Congrats, Jyoti! Jyoti has also started a podcast called In the Picture, which you should check out here!   --------   This episode’s book reviews:   INVESTIGATORS by John Patrick Green FEELING BOO by Alex Boniello and April Lavalle, illustrated by Olivia Chin Mueller KAFKA AND THE DOLL by Larissa Theule, illustrated by Rebecca Green   The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com    Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com     Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!    Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where's the fire? Cedar Pruitt is here and it's been a long time coming! Her book FIRE FLIGHT: A WILDFIRE ESCAPE was out in early 2024 and we are sandwiched right in between that delight and her 2026 book WHAT MARCEL FOUND: THE INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY OF THE LASCAUX CAVE PAINTINGS.   -------- This episode’s book reviews: WHISPERS FROM MOTHER EARTH by Maryam Khalifah   TINY HIKER by Natasha Zimmers, illustrated by Jaimie MacGibbon   OSCAR'S AMERICAN DREAM by Barry Wittenstein, illustrated by Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell   The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com    Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com   Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!    Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Today’s guest is Meg Auchenbach, author illustrator of If You Are An Artist! We talk about what it actually looks like when an editor asks for more work, an inside look at what it  takes to be an author/illustrator in today’s market, joining a debut group and the mystery of all mysteries: how do you manage your writing time with other commitments and life!    Make sure to listen until the end for Meg’s Dead Manuscript and my impersonation of Kip from Napoleon Dynamite!   Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, and Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, and science communicator. This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press Our guest for this conversation was Meg Auchenbach. You can find Meg here.  This episode’s book reviews: OLIVIA by Ian Falconer   VERA LA VALIENTE IS SCARED by Ana Siqueria illustrated by Teresa Martinez   TO CATCH A GHOST by Rachel Michelle Wilson    The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com  Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com   Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!  Find us on IG @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment! Thanks and see ya next time.  You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.