First Draft Episode #234: Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed

Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Leah on the Offbeat, and co-author of What if it’s Us, and Aisha Saeed, New York Times bestselling author of Written in the Stars and Amal Unbound, teamed up to write Yes No Maybe So.

This episode of First Draft is brought to you by Steven Sater’s Alice By Heart, a debut young adult novel in which the Tony Award-winning co-creator of Spring Awakening tells the story of a young girl who takes refuge in a London Tube station during WWII and confronts grief, loss, and first love with the help of her favorite book, Alice in Wonderland. Alice By Heart is out from Penguin Random House now.

Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode

• Becky’s previous episode of First Draft

• Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples

• Aisha Saeed was a co-founding member of We Need Diverse Books

• Jon Ossoff, the politcian whose run for a U.S. House seat brought Becky and Aisha together and inspired Yes No Maybe So, is running for Senate. Learn more about him and donate to his campaign here!

• Becky co-wrote another book, What if it’s Us, with Adam Silvera (listen to his First Draft interview here)

• Long Shot (movie)

• Nancy Paulsen of Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, is Aisha’s long-time editor

• Donna Bray at Balzer + Bray has been Becky’s editor for her entire career, and she edited YES NO MAYBE SO

• Love, Simon (movie based on Becky’s debut novel, Simon vs. the Homo Sapien’s Agenda)

I want to hear from you!

Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998.

Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni

Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too;  Michael Dante  DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works.

Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free!

Rate, Review, and Recommend

How do you like the show?

Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you!

Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post!

Thanks again!