I’m so excited to get to share the interview that I did with Claribel Ortega, author of the upcoming middle grade novel Ghost Squad! It’s a sweet story about family and friendship, as well as ghosts, witches, and cats! You should add it to your TBR pile, especially if you’re looking for something more on the light-hearted side to read while you sit at home.
Claribel, can you tell us a bit about yourself, and about Ghost Squad?
I’m a former reporter and Ghost Squad is my debut middle grade book! It was inspired by my Dominican heritage and my own family. In addition to writing, I also co-host the Write or Die podcast with my friend, fellow author Kat Cho and own a small graphic design and author consultation company Gif Grrl. On a personal note, I love hip hop, cheese and 80s movies!
Witches! Ghosts! Cats! If you could pick one to help you fight in the coming zombie apocalypse, which would you choose?
What a difficult choice. I think I would have to go with witches, because of their versatility and commitment to the dramatic which I can relate to.
I love the focus on friendship and family in this story, was this inspired by your own family dynamics and friendships?
Absolutely. I come from a big family and I pulled a lot from that including names haha. In terms of friendships it was the same idea, I’ve had a lot of incredible friendships I was able to take inspiration from but also, some not so great friendships too which helped me know what not to write when it comes to two bffs.
One of my favorite things about this story was the seamless integration of the Spanish language. Can you speak to the importance of doing this in our books for all languages, not just Spanish?
It’s interesting because the Spanish language words in Ghost Squad are either something people love or something they’ve complained about a lot. I wanted to write a story that was authentic to my experience growing up, without thinking of any particular gaze. Authentic representation of different cultures and experiences are so important in literature as it can foster both understanding and compassion in people reading outside their experience, and help bolster self confidence and provide validation for those reading about stories that mirror their own.
What drew you to writing to a middle grade audience?
My writing voice trends toward middle grade naturally and I also just love middle grade books! I love that age of kids as well because they still have so much hope for the world. Middle grade humor is my humor, it’s just fun for me to write and I feel like a lot of the obstacles we face at that age are things we continue to deal with throughout our lives. There are so many themes about being underestimated and misunderstood and just wanting to be seen and I think that’s such a universal human feeling.
You do a lot outside of your writing, can you give us some insight into what your usual day to day looks like?
It’s busy and tiring but almost always fun. Depending on the day I can be doing anything from writing (a normal writing day for me is around 2 to 3,000 words) recording interviews for my podcast Write or Die, making gifs for author’s books or just playing Stardew Valley for ten hours because I need a break. I contain multitudes.
What do you do when you want to de-stress or re-center when you’re feeling anxious?
Play video games, read physical books or listen to audiobooks while coloring. Taking walks through nature or petting my dog Pancho helps too.
Pancho is the CUTEST boi I have ever seen! How’s he doing?
He’s very happy since I’m home all day at the moment!
As of writing this, will you be live streaming your book launch? What/how can we support you and other authors that are being affected by the pandemic? Can we buy you a coffee?
I will be! My book launch will be livestreamed on my YouTube channel and I’ll be joined by Ryan La Sala and Zoraida Córdova! It’ll be happening at 6pm ET on April 7th 2020.and Books of Wonder will be the official bookseller of the event so people can order my book through them! The best way to support us right now is to buy our books and request them at your local library! Come to our virtual events, boost our posts on social media and send us dog and cat pics.
Are there any reads you would suggest for any readers who might be under quarantine at the moment? Or video games? Or podcasts?
Yes! I just started MAGIC FOR LIARS and it’s incredible so far. Also Howl’s Moving Castle, both the book and movie, are comfort reads/watches for me. For video games I suggest Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, Splatoon and The Sims! Podcasts I love include The Dollop (the earlier episodes are my favorites) I Hate it But I love It and of course the Write or Die podcast!
