In the Spotlight — Past Interviewees

Do you enjoy watching those “where are they now” shows on TV? I do, especially when they feature people who were once the kids on TV programs I used to enjoy. It’s interesting to see how their lives have changed, and what interesting projects they might be involved in now.

In previous years on this blog, I’ve done interviews of some very interesting people. I hope to get back to doing interviews at some point. I got thinking that it might be fun to do a “where are they now” post about a few of the people I’ve interviewed on By Word of Beth. You’re likely aware of what some of them are doing now, but even so, I hope you’ll find it interesting to revisit some of those old interviews, and get a bit of an update.

All the interviews I’ve done on this blog are linked in the sidebar, in alphabetical order. You’re welcome to click on them at any time. I’m not going to feature everyone in this post, but may do this again to catch up on the others.

Bev Brenna — I’ve featured my cousin, author Bev Brenna, in three separate interviews. Since the latest one, when we celebrated the fact that her book The White Bicycle had been named a Printz Honor Book for 2013, she has had another book published. This one is very different from her other books. It’s entitled The Bug House Family Restaurant, and is a collection of funny poems for middle grade kids. I am waiting impatiently for The Prince Who Would be King, a time slip novel.

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Brian Sibley — Brian is an author, journalist, dramatist, broadcaster, raconteur extraordinaire, as I said in the lead-up to my interview with him, “the list goes ever on and on.” I interviewed him in June of 2012.

His current project, which I’m looking forward to listening to via BBC’s online service this fall, is a six-part radio dramatization of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. This is, of course, the series of books upon which the musical Camelot was based. I am eager to hear Brian’s version. Watch my Facebook for news about when the episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer!

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Emma Walton Hamilton — Emma has had a lot of airtime (blog space?) on By Word of Beth as well, as I have interviewed her twice for the blog (Emma is interviewed on her own in Interview 1 and with her mom in  Interview 2) and she also gave me permission to serialize the transcript of a long spoken interview I did with her for the Children’s Book Hub (many links in the sidebar).

Besides writing and editing, her latest venture has been to expand on her Just Write for Kids course in writing picture books, with two more online/self-directed home study courses, Just Write for Middle Grade and Just Write for Young Adults. You can read about all three courses at this link. I’m currently taking Just Write for Middle Grade — watch for a post about it in the fall!

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Erik, the Kid Who Reviews Books — I interviewed Erik and his sister, Josie, back in May of 2012. Since then, Erik has independently published his first middle grade novel, The Adventures of Tomato and Pea. And how cool is this? On a new website, Kids are Writers, that offers writing encouragement and prompts for kids aged 10 to 18, Erik is a Kid Coach! Besides blogging his book reviews regularly, and exceeding his goal for Accelerated Reader points (yep, he did it again this year!), and writing a monthly book review column for his local newspaper, AND being a fantastic student, Erik was recently featured in an interview by writing friend and colleague Carrie Charley Brown, helping kick off her online Summer Reading Club for kids.

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Susan Verde — One of my most recent interviews was with Susan, when her debut picture book The Museum (illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds) came out in March 2013. Susan has let me know that her second book illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, You and Me, will be available in 2015!

AND Susan and Peter are in the process of creating what promises to be an amazing picture book, The Water Princess, working with model Georgie Badiel of Burkina Faso. This will tell the story of the need for clean drinking water in Burkina Faso, through the eyes of a young girl.

The book is due in 2016, by which time a well will have been dug in Burkina Faso, through a partnership with the charity Ryan’s Well. What an amazing book and project! Read more at this link.

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Susanna Leonard Hill — I interviewed Susanna on the occasion of the first anniversary of her wonderful ongoing Perfect Picture Book Friday. A new Susanna Leonard Hill picture book, Alphabedtime! will be out in the fall of 2015. Besides writing, and blogging, and supporting writers in more ways than anyone can count, Susanna now offers an online course in picture book writing called Making Picture Book Magic. From all reports, it is fantastic!

 

That was fun! Hope you enjoyed this “Where are they now?” episode as much as I did!