When I heard my local author friend, Monica Acker, had not one but two books releasing this year, I knew it was time to bring The Backstory back from hiatus to share the scoop on these wonderful titles with all of you. AH: Welcome to The Backstory and thank you for joining us and sharing the inspiration behind not one, but two of your recent books. First off, please tell us a little bit about The Legend of Leo. MA: The Legend of Leo, brilliantly illustrated by Mikel Valverde,

Our very first trade review is in and it's a good one! Many thanks to Kirkus for their kind words and for taking the time to review IN THIS CLASSROOM written by me, illustrated by Arthur Lin, and published by Red Comet Press. Read the full review HERE . Sharing our words with the world is nerve wracking at every step of the writing process, but the closer I get to publication the more that judgement can weigh on me. Will my words be perceived in the way I intended? Will the m

The Backstory welcomes back my friend Amanda Davis with her author-illustrator debut, SOMETIMES STORMY. Amanda has a special talent for...