Interview With Mae Respicio!

Today on the blog I'm pleased to present an interview with Mae Respicio! Ms. Respicio is the author of the MG book, The House That Lou Built, which releases

Here's the interview!

The bold font are the questions I asked, the regular font are her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers.

1. Would you please describe your debut book, The House That Lou Built, in seven words?

#Stronggirl who discovers the meaning of home. 

2. In The House That Lou Built, Lou is building a tiny house of her own. Would you ever live in a tiny house?

Maybe one day, although I own way too many books so I’d probably need two tiny houses—one for me and another for the books! When I was researching my novel I visited some tiny houses; I love how the lifestyle enables people to focus on relationships and experiences instead of all the things. That’s something I always try to work toward, with or without a tiny house.

I think tiny houses are interesting, and I agree! :)

3. Random question! What's your favorite holiday?

Mother’s Day... because it’s the one day I get to sleep in!

4. What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

Read widely in your genre—you’ll learn so much that way about your craft and your audience. Whenever I read a middle grade story that I love, I try to figure out from a craft standpoint what worked about the book; I also try to analyze those that I’m not so into. Oftentimes I mark up pages as I read, and I keep a notebook handy to jot down observations. While I was figuring out THE HOUSE THAT LOU BUILT I read a ton of middle grade that I aspired to (basically, novels with heart!), which was inspiring and helped me to remember the kind of book I wanted to write.

Wonderful advice! :)

5. What are some books you're looking forward to reading in 2018? And if you've already read some '18 books, which books have you loved?

Oh my gosh, my TBR list for 2018 feels like it’s growing out of control! It’s going to be an amazing reading year because of all of the great kids lit coming out. I’m especially excited for EVERLASTING NORA by Marie Cruz; THE BOY, THE BOAT AND THE BEAST by Samantha Clark; WHERE THE WATERMELONS GROW by Cindy Baldwin; JUST UNDER THE CLOUDS by Melissa Sarno; TAKEDOWN by Laura Shovan; THE PROPHET CALLS by Melanie Sumrow; and THE THREE RULES OF EVERYDAY MAGIC by Amanda Rawson Hill. These are from a variety of genres and subject matter—but all of them stellar middle grade to look out for.

I totally agree, so many amazing looking books are releasing in 2018! :)

Thank you to Ms. Respicio for participating in this event! :)

Author bio: Mae Respicio's middle grade novel, THE HOUSE THAT LOU BUILT, debuts June 12, 2018 from Random House Kids. She lives with her family in the suburban wild of Northern California, not far from the ocean and the redwoods. Visit her online at maerespicio.com.

Here are a few links:

Her Website

Her Twitter

Her Goodreads

Her Instagram