Writing While the World Burns: Thoughts from Sabyasachi Roy. ~Christy Mihaly

That Burning World

Lately, it's been hard for me to get any writing done. Among other distractions, I have an aging parent who needs an increasing amount of my time and care. There's endless perpetual misery on my newsfeed. Oh, and book bans, funding cuts, and manuscript rejections. It gets heavy.

I'm writing this on Election Day. When it's posted, we’ll be confronting all manner of crises and distractions competing for our attention -- this week and going forward. So, why write? Or, how can we?

Writing While the World Burns

This title caught my eye: Writing While the World Burns, by Sabyasachi Roy. I finished it in one sitting. Below, I’ll share where I found it, because it’s a resource I recommend. But first, a bit about Roy's words.

In the introduction, he captures how I’ve been feeling:

            Somewhere, rent just went up again. Groceries cost more than last week. A job offer fell through. A visa was denied. A border closed. A headline clicked. A life unraveled.

And you’re sitting here, reading about writing.

            Seems stupid, right?

            Frivolous. Self-indulgent.

Things may seem grim

Exactly. Attention caught. But Roy hasn't written a “how-to” manual about productivity. He knows that a cute writing routine can't fix the noise of the world or the noise in our minds. But “there are ways to write anyway.” Some days maybe you can’t write. And that is okay. Don't let anyone say that to be a writer you must do it a certain way. But look for a little crack in the noise, when you can craft a sentence, or a paragraph or a page. And keep going.

Roy warns us not to wait for a “perfect writing day.” He turns it around to remind us that any day you manage to write is a good writing day. Forget about a magical routine or eight hours of peace. The world is erratic. So write erratically.

Sometimes it helps to write as a group! 
(And don't worry about perfection ...)

Roy says we can, and should, “write through the crisis (global or personal).” Writing in the face of the world’s ills can seem selfish, right? People are fighting for their lives, they're stuck in war zones, loved ones are sick, bills aren’t paid. “And here you are, tweaking a metaphor about crows. It feels absurd. Almost offensive.”

Writing doesn’t cure these ills. But if you’re called to write, your writing makes things better. Write your truth. The alternative is to allow the noise to silence us. So even though you don’t have all the answers, write what you can, when you can. When you write, you say, “I’m still here. I’m still paying attention. I still believe words matter, even now. Especially now.” Writing, Roy says, is “quiet defiance.” A voice in the dark. It matters.

Sometimes it helps to start small.

You can see why I wanted to pass Roy's wisdom along! It sure feels like we could all use this kind of encouragement and joy. Write on, friends.

Authors Publish

I downloaded this ebook from Authors Publish, a free digital magazine and resource for writers, based in Canada. They offer online courses and workshops and many free resources including author talks and lectures and e-books for writers of all stripes. I’ve found their poetry offerings particularly inspiring.

A recent Authors Publish email invited me to "view all of the free books in our library here.” And to share them. Please comment below to ask any questions, and do check out Authors Publish. And keep on writing.

❤ 

Christy

STEAMWORKS wth Jen Malia and JUNE'S SOLAR OVEN & Craft Chat with Jen & Kathy Halsey

June’s Solar Oven Book Review

I was lucky to meet Jen Malia at the 2023 NCTE National Convention In Columbus, Ohio, and have been reading her chapter books and following her career ever since. 

JUNE’S SOLAR OVEN, a STEAM picture book, features June and her science club who are exploring solar, energy, and engineering through trial and error. However, the science club has moved locations to a local park and June feels uncomfortable in new places. Yet, neurodivergent June wants to show up for her friends, and science is her superpower. After some encouragement from her big sister and with her trusty headphones that help her deal with sensory issues, June is ready to join Eli and Sofia, her partners, with five other teams to find the best method to layer pepperoni and cheese and create the most delicious pizza cracker.

Science teachers, librarians, and homeschooled students will appreciate the backmatter replete with a short glossary of science terms, simple directions to experiment with solar cooking, and extension activities to think, explore, and play with this topic. Illustrators Rachel and Phillippa Corcutt designed a sunny palette with engaging cartoon characters  that will attract young readers’ attention. 

Charlebridge’s STEAMWORKS books feature children of all backgrounds and abilities using scientific and mathematical thinking to solve everyday problems and answer questions that matter to them. STEAMWORKS picture books are available in Spanish, too. My mouth is watering for solar pizza crackers now!

Craft Chat with Jen Maila

Kathy: I know you best from your chapter book series, The Infinity Rainbow Club. Yet, your debut was a picture book, Too Sticky! Sensory issues with Autism. Share with our readers the difference between writing picture books and  chapter books. What do you think is the most important distinction for the two audiences?

Jen: With a chapter book, the illustrations provide visuals for the reader but aren't necessary to understanding the story. With a picture book, the illustrations tell a story alongside the text. As a picture book author who doesn't illustrate, I often think about how to leave room for the illustrator. I include illustration notes only when they're integral to the story. For example, June wears headphones, which isn't mentioned in the text, but it's important to the story because of her sensory differences. I included an illustration note to have her wear headphones in spreads throughout the book. 

Kathy: How did you get involved with the STEAMWORKS book series with Charlesbridge? Did your agent submit this book or was there an author call that Charlesbridge sent to a certain group of authors? Is this series in house now only or can other authors apply?

Jen: I saw a call for manuscripts for the STEAMWORKS series on social media and told my agent, Naomi Davis at BookEnds Literary Agency, who submitted two STEAM picture book manuscripts for me that I had already written. Neither of these manuscripts had STEAM experiments that fit exactly what Charlesbridge was looking for, but they liked my character June and asked if I could write another manuscript with a different focus.

My agent sent them a list of STEAM experiments that I proposed, including making a solar oven, which turned out to be the winner. I wrote the manuscript for June's Solar Oven in about a week or so. Then I went through a few rounds of revision with Charlesbridge before they made an offer. I don't know if the publisher is accepting any more submissions for the series.

Kathy: I love the sunny, fun pallet that Rachel and Phillippa Corcutt created for this book. It fits the topic and the title dealing with a solar oven. Very clever! What's your favorite spread in the book and why?

Jen: I absolutely love the illustrations. I couldn't have asked for better co-creators than Rachel and Phillippa on this book project. My favorite spread is the one where June asks her friends if she can use a blanket because she doesn't want her skin to touch the scratchy wood on the picnic table. She's also wearing her headphones because she's sensitive to noise. Rachel and Phillippa capture her accommodations so well in this spread. 

Kathy: In the back matter, you asked readers questions regarding what inventions could they create using the sun energy. Have you had any responses from readers or at school visits? I'm sure you did some real life experiments creating your own solar oven. How did that go?

Jen:I haven't had a chance to do any school visits for June's Solar Oven yet. But my book launch was at The Lynnhaven Mall Barnes & Noble in Virginia Beach earlier this month. It was so much fun to make solar ovens with kids. I plan to include this STEAM activity in future school and library visits. 

Kathy: Since this book just came out on October 13, what plans do you have for your launch year? 

Jen: I will be at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention in Philadelphia this November to present on two author panels and sign copies of June's Solar Oven in the Charlesbridge booth. I have a speaking agency, Authors Out Loud, that normally books my author visits.

More About Jen!

Jen Malia is the autistic author of the picture book June’s Solar Oven, the children’s chapter book series The Infinity Rainbow Club, and the picture book Too Sticky! Sensory Issues with Autism. After four years in the United Arab Emirates as an assistant professor of writing at the American University of Sharjah, she joined Norfolk State University, where she is now a full professor of English. She has a BA in English from Bowdoin College and an MS in TESOL and a PhD in English from the University of Southern California. As a freelance journalist, she covers autism and neurodiversity and has written for or appeared on the New York Times, the Washington Post, New York Magazine, NPR, Parents, Glamour, Woman’s Day, and others. Originally from Pittsburgh, she currently lives in Virginia Beach with her husband, three neurodivergent kids, and their Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier named Teddy. For more information, visit jenmalia.com.

Find Jen Here!

You can find me on my author website, JenMalia.com. I'm also on Instagram @jenmaliabooks

Part Two: Behind the Screen of "Greetings from Kenosha"

If you stand on the corner of 56th Street and 6th Avenue in downtown Kenosha, the street signs only tell part of the story. Long before any code was written or pages were filled, I learned that for me, wandering was writing—that every step taken through the city's changing landscape was directly shaping my creative process.

To your left, the weathered industrial brick of a century-old factory town survives. To your right, the morning light hits the fresh steel of new construction. I walk these blocks every morning. I listen to the lake wind cut through the street grid and watch the colors shift against the shoreline. In my last post, I talked about how wandering these sidewalks with an iPhone turned into the starting point for a new project. Here's what happened when I sat down at the keyboard to actually build it.

A view through the window on the top floor of the Karrick in downtown Kenosha.

Making an interactive map was just like plotting a novel—mostly false starts and dead ends. I knew the stories I wanted to tell, but keeping them organized without the whole thing falling apart was exhausting. There were weeks I almost gave up. I had to teach myself just enough code to keep the interface from breaking.

Architectural scaffolding: I spent weeks locked inside the Antigravity development environment.

If you’ve ever been stuck in the middle of a messy manuscript, you know how unglamorous it is. It’s not romantic inspiration; it’s just brute-force organization. Instead of wrestling with physical binders, I was dealing with thousands of invisible files: vector graphics, archival research folders, and daily photos—all trapped inside one machine.

Digital anchor: I built the visual interactive map because I needed a way to harness and organize that digital chaos.

It looks pretty tidy, but click on any of those files, and a spiderweb of data will spew forth!

Antigravity forced me to engineer a rigid physical structure for my workspace. I anchored the master file directly on the desktop and nested the necessary subfolders securely beneath it. It looks perfectly tidy on the surface. Click that main folder, and the subfolders spill out. It works exactly like pulling open a heavy book cover to reveal the chaotic stories hiding inside.

This interface used to terrify me, sort of like the idea of writing my first novel. And now, when I look at it, I see the bones and the structure that supports something truly amazing!

I did not want a flat blog index where old essays decay under new timestamps. The map turned into a living table of contents that grew as I learned more about the town. Click a pin, and a vintage postcard pops up. Click the card, and it flips over with a sharp click to reveal field notes, audio clips, and history. It is a continuous loop of discovery. You pull the reader in, give them a piece of art, and then drop them directly into the history.

Living table of contents: The map became a dynamic visual spine that expands as my understanding of this footprint deepens.

When an explorer enters the map, they are presented with a collection of map pins that they can choose.

Here is the truth I want to leave with fellow writers. You do not need to write a line of code or build a custom web interface to steal this concept for your own work. The tool does not matter. Your visual table of contents might be an oversized corkboard pinned with index cards and thick yarn. It might be a dedicated sketchbook filled with hand-drawn floor plans or a nested digital folder of character dossiers.

What matters is the physical act of pinning your world down in space. When you build a dedicated container for your curiosity, you force your research, your setting, and your narrative arcs to talk to one another on the same plane. It gives your story a bedrock to stand on. It ensures you understand the world before you ask a reader to step inside.

What does your visual table of contents look like? How do you map the architecture of your stories when the draft gets messy?

If this project intrigues you, tap on the logo and explore the Greetings from Kenosha Project. Maybe it will inspire your next project!

Recipes in Back Matter by Tina Cho with Help from Melissa Stoller and Pooja Makhijani

My next picture book, The Kimchi Fridge, illustrated by Cindy Kang, just published from Little Bee Books on October 6^th. One commonality with most of my books is that they include back matter. However, this book has something my other books don’t—a recipe! And that got me thinking—I’ve never seen a blog post about recipes in back matter. Oh, I’ve seen plenty of recipes included in back matter, especially picture books, but how does one go about writing a recipe for publication? And do you submit it initially with your story?

So I consulted two other authors whose recent picture books included recipes—Melissa Stoller and her book Stella’s Special Recipe, illustrated by Valerya Milovanova and Pooja Makhijani’s Bread Is Love, illustrated by Lavanya Naidu. But first, book summaries:

The Kimchi Fridge is about a little girl who wants to eat kimchi stew, but when she looks in the kimchi fridge, it’s empty. So, the whole family does the tradition of kimjang, getting together to make big batches of kimchi to store for winter. “…A joyful, laugh-out-loud kimchi adventure filled with Korean food, k-pop dances, a great recipe, and a loving reminder that good things come to those who wait.” –blurb from Amazon  This book includes a traditional kimchi recipe.

It’s Rosh Hashanah and Stella is finally old enough to make her family’s famous stuffed cabbage rolls. The recipe has been passed down from her Bubbe Sophie to her Nana to her Mama, with each adding their own special touch to the recipe. Now it’s Stella’s turn. What will she add? Pumpkins, peas, potatoes? What is to be her special touch? --blurb from Amazon  This book includes a Stuffed Cabbage recipe.

Bread is many things. Bread is simple. The dough can be made with just flour, salt, starter, and water. Bread is science. With the right ingredients, in the right amounts, the dough grows and changes. Bread can be unpredictable. Sometimes it rises, like a soft pillow. Sometimes it’s flat and crunchy. But bread is always delicious, especially when it is made with love. --blurb from Amazon  This book includes a bread recipe.

Pooja's Herby Fougasse

Now, onto the interviews.

1. Did you already have a recipe, or did you come up with one for this book?

Tina: I didn’t have one, so with my husband’s memories of his mother’s kimchi, plus my research online, I wrote a recipe that I’ve made numerous times with hubby’s stamp of approval.

Melissa: First, thank you for including STELLA’S SPECIAL RECIPE: A ROSH HASHANAH STORY in this post! I’m so happy this special story, illustrated by Valerya Milovanova, released from Kar-Ben Publishing on August 4, 2026. I love books that include recipes! With this project, I already had a treasured family recipe for stuffed cabbage rolls, and I built the story around sharing heritage, rituals, and family through the generations. The story is about a little girl who is finally able to help cook her family’s holiday meal using a recipe card passed down from her great-grandmother, to her nana, to her mother, and finally to her, and she wants to add her special touch and a little bit of love as she cooks. My own nana and mother shared their recipe with me, and I knew that I wanted to write a story that captures food, recipes, and love through the generations.

Pooja: I’d been a food writer and recipe developer for years, so I had a few recipes up my sleeve! Bread Is Love is a story about a family who bakes a sourdough loaf every week, using wild yeast. But a recipe for naturally leavened bread would have required so many pages, starting with instructions for growing, feeding, and maintaining a sourdough starter. It can take up to 10 days to make a starter from scratch. Instead, I suggested including a simple bread recipe made with commercial baker’s yeast. It takes far less time to make a loaf this way, the process is more predictable, and the flavor is milder. I wanted readers to fall in love with bread baking as much as I have, and a simpler recipe gives first-time bakers a much better chance of success. There’s plenty of time to tackle sourdough once you’re hooked.

 

Pooja's pumpkin-shaped boule

2. Did your recipe need lots of edits? Like what kind of edits?

Tina: Yes. Actually, one of my critique partners had written a recipe book for kids, so her knowledge was invaluable. And my copy editor at Little Bee Books was experienced in writing recipes. I had to include more headers and trim words.

Melissa: The recipe did need some edits to make sure all the measurements were written consistently. I love how the recipe is written out in the story and also in the back matter. Illustrator Valerya Milovanova’s brilliant artwork truly captures the garden where Stella finds many ingredients, as well as the whole cooking process, and the special love (including a heart necklace, an apron, hand squeezes, and hugs) that are passed down to Stella through this special recipe.

Pooja: After I had developed the “first draft” of the recipe, I had more than half a dozen friends test it for me, which was incredibly helpful. Their feedback gave me a lot of confidence that the recipe was clear, approachable, and—most importantly—worked! Macmillan’s copy editors had notes, and I’m grateful for their sharp edits.

Tina's traditional kimchi

3. Tips for authors wanting to include a recipe with their story

Tina:

       Add headers for each section

       State directions in as few words as possible

       Confirm amounts

       Be parallel in labeling

       Test recipe again and again

       Send recipe to your critique group(s). Does it make sense?

Melissa: I loved using my family recipe to anchor this story. My tip for authors is to mine your family history and research any special recipes that have been passed down in your family. Or, maybe you have created a new and special recipe that you want to share with your community or with future generations. Writers and young readers can also interview family members about any special recipes they cooked throughout their lives. Find a hook relating to the recipe that can make the story special and relatable to children everywhere. I hope readers will try our family’s stuffed cabbage roll recipe, and will be inspired to experiment with special recipes of their own.

Pooja: I’d encourage authors to be very realistic about the recipe’s audience. If you’re writing for children or families, a recipe with a long list of ingredients or complicated techniques may be intimidating. Think about what will make someone feel successful the first time they try it. And test, test, test. Have people with different levels of cooking experience make it, and pay attention to where they hesitate or have questions.

Melissa's Cabbage Rolls

4. Did you submit your story with the recipe initially, or did your editor ask for one? Or you mentioned you had one available?

Tina: I didn’t include one, but my editor asked for one. Panic! In fact, I had never made kimchi before!

Melissa: Yes, I did submit the recipe when I initially submitted the story. In fact, my mother and youngest daughter spent a full day with me cooking and making sure the recipe passed our taste test. What a fun and special day! My mother passed away almost two years ago, so she didn’t see the published book, but she did know that Kar-Ben Publishing acquired the manuscript. I am so grateful that she knew our family story would soon be out in the world! When submitting, I also included photos of the cooking process and back matter information about stuffed cabbage rolls around the world. These extra materials didn’t make it into the book, but they are on my website at www.MelissaStoller.com. I also offer a free curriculum guide on my website that educators and families can use – some of the enrichment materials focus on recipes and how they relate to family heritage. 

Pooja: Bread Is Love was created in partnership with my editor, who initially came to me with the idea of a “bread book” after following my work as a food writer and recipe developer. I think we both assumed from the outset that a recipe would be part of the book! I developed the recipe after the manuscript was acquired.

Here are some links to articles about writing recipes for publication & a list of picture books with recipes.

How to Write a Recipe by Melissa Drumm

How to Write a Recipe from VA State University

Good Reads list of picture books with recipes

Tina's jar of homemade kimchi

Where to find us:

Tina Cho is a kindergarten teacher and author of many books including Rice from Heaven, The Ocean Calls, (4 starred reviews, JLG, Freeman Honor Award), God’s Little Oceanographer, The Princess & the Grain of Rice, and The Kimchi Fridge. Her graphic novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow received five starred reviews, a JLG Gold Standard Selection, SLJ Best Graphic Novels List 2024, Kirkus Best Middle Grade 2024, Freeman Book Honor Award from NCTAsia, SCBWI Golden Kite Award, state lists, etc… 

Tina Cho https://www.tinamcho.com/
@tinamcho on Instagram, X, Facebook

Melissa Stoller writes to bring heartfelt connection and joy to her readers. Melissa’s newest picture book, Stella’s Special Recipe: A Rosh Hashanah Story, illustrated by Valerya Milovanova, released from Kar-Ben Publishing on August 4, 2026. Her recent picture books include: Hazel and Mabel: Two Hearts Apart, illustrated by Anita Bagdi (Gnome Road Publishing, 2025). Melissa is a Blogger for the Children’s Book Academy, a Rate Your Story Judge, a member of SCBWI, a Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center Trustee, and a former school and synagogue trustee. In other chapters of her life, Melissa has worked as a lawyer, legal writing instructor, freelance writer/editor, and early childhood educator. She lives in New York City with her family, and enjoys theatre, museums, and cooking special family recipes.  

https://www.MelissaStoller.com
https://www.MelissaStoller.com/blog 
http://www.facebook.com/MelissaStoller
www.instagram.com/Melissa_Stoller
www.pinterest.com/melissa_Stoller

Pooja Makhijani is the author of Mama’s Saris, Bread Is Love, Together For Mama, and Aunties. Her bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Real Simple, The Atlantic, WSJ.com, The Cut, Teen Vogue, Publishers Weekly, ELLE, and Bon Appétit among others. Pooja is a 2026 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellow in prose and a 2026-27 Baldwin For the Arts Fellow. Find her at poojamakhijani.com.