Ali Standish and I discuss her writer’s journey, which included an MFA in children's writing from Hollins University and an MPhil in Children's Literature from the University of Cambridge, as well as working in the same building as her future literary agent (and sitting in her chair). We talk about Ali’s newest novel, THE MENDING SUMMER, writing and launching a book with a new baby during a pandemic, the significance of food descriptions, virtual school visits, discussing adult subjects such as alcoholism in books for children, second book syndrome, Matt Damon, a super-creepy haunted doll house, and so much more.

Ali Standish grew up in North Carolina and graduated from Pomona College before spending several years as an educator in the Washington, D.C. public school system. She has an MFA in children's writing from Hollins University and an MPhil in Children's Literature from the University of Cambridge. She lives with her Finnish husband and rescue dogs in Raleigh, NC.