Interview With Alechia Dow, author of The Sound of Stars

Today on the blog I am pleased to present an interview with Alechia Dow, author of The Sound of Stars, which releases February 25th!

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.

Would you please describe your book, The Sound of Stars, in seven words?

Rebel librarian and alien boy save world? HAHAHA that was so hard. 

Based on the summary for your book, it sounds like books and pop music are very important to Ellie and Morris. I’m not going to be cruel and ask you to list your favorite books, but what are some of your favorite pop songs? 

Music is everything to me and I tend to be ALL OVER THE PLACE but some of my current favorite pop songs (and forever) are: "Raspberry Beret," by Prince, "Killer Queen" by Queen, "Confetti" by Bien, "Changes" by H.E.R., Lizzo's "Worship", I legit know every word to most Stevie Wonder songs, I'm still in love with "All the Stars" by Kendrick Lamar feat. SZA, "You Ain't the Problem" by Michael Kiwanuka, "The Archer" by Taylor Swift, and I'm always in the mood for Beyoncé, Ingrid Michaelson, HAIM, Janelle Monae, ABBA... I don't think you asked for a novel so I'll leave it there. You can ALWAYS talk music with me!

I love so many of the songs you mentioned! :)

Random Question! What’s your favorite dessert to bake?

Oh man, this is so hard! But I'm a huge fan of making & baking pies. I feel a certain kind of peace when I'm making them; it really is a calming process of using your fingertips to crumble butter into flour, rolling out dough, making the filling, doing something pretty and intricate on top. With a bit of music on to keep you company, it's therapeutic and everyone should do it if they can :)) 

What’s one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

Keep writing. Rejection is discouraging, but we all experience it---believe me. The only thing you can control in this industry are the words that you put down on the page. If writing makes you happy, if you feel good doing it, keep writing. That, in itself, is a huge success.

That's excellent advice! :)

What are some books you’re looking forward to reading in 2020? And if you’ve already read some ‘20 books, would you like to mention them?

There are SO MANY books I'm looking forward to reading in 2020!! The ones I've read: I absolutely loved Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson, Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar is stunning, Glitch Kingdom by Sheena Boekweg was a hoot!, and Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin is intense, haunting, and so well written. I can't wait to read Legendborn by Tracy Deonn Walker, Namina Forna's The Gilded Ones, A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow, Where Dreams Descend by Janella Anngeles, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown, Rebelwing by Andrea Tang... I have so many more. But yeah, 2020 is going to be such a great year!

I completely agree with you, 2020 is going to be a great reading year! :)

Thank you to Alechia Dow for letting me interview her, and for participating in this event! :)

Author bio: Alechia Dow is a former pastry chef, food critic, culinary teacher, and Youth Services librarian. When not writing YA sci-fi featuring determined black girls (like herself), you can find her having epic dance parties with her daughter, baking, mentoring, or taking teeny adventures around Europe.

Here are a few links:

Her Website

Her Twitter

Her Instagram