How do you deal with writer’s block? I find other projects to do. I believe that creative writing is such a powerful urge that nothing can truly block it. It will find an outlet, a way out. Just give yourself opportunities to be creative and the block will visit, but then it will go away.
What’s the best thing about being a writer? It's such a great feeling to get your stories out of your head and into the paper! You are literality setting your stories free.
What’s your advice for aspiring writers? BE COURAGEOUS! and also be realistic. No everyone is going to like your books and that is OK. Keep on writing and keep on reading!
What are you currently working on? I am finishing up a couple of new picture books and I am also finishing up a novel. I love this part of the process when a book is receiving its final details, being "fancy up" before it is sent out to the readers. It’s like when you give a friend a wrapped-up gift and stand by jittery waiting to see what they think.
How do you get inspired to write? Writing is a form of therapy for me. I am always writing, whether on paper or on my head. I write about things throughout the day. I carry post notes and notebooks with me and on me (my pockets!) and when I can't find paper, I write on the back of receipts or on grocery bags. I once woke up in the middle of the night with a thought and reached for the notebook that I keep on the night table. It was not there so I wrote my thought right on the pillowcase!
Where did you get the idea for your most recent book? I have been writing small personal narratives, poems, and thoughts for a long time, but didn't know the best way to share it with readers. It took a trip to the Amazon rain forest for the light bulb to go on. It was there that I came upon a memoir written by a famous Peruvian comedian. It was such a beautiful book. I came home at the end of that trip to give birth to Poquito Unpacking the Memory Jar.