You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2026.
by Sophia Gholz
Thanks for having me on the blog, Tara! I’m so happy to be here and excited to reveal the cover for my new book, TRUCK IN THE MUCK.
You asked me to share how the idea for this book formed and the truth is…it’s complicated.
The first book in this series, BUG ON THE RUG, developed after a bout of writer’s block, a self-inflicted writing challenge, and a late-night phone call with my little brother, whom I call BUG. The second book, BEAR AT THE FAIR, flowed easily after a family trip to the nearby annual county fair. Truthfully, I never planned to write more stories in this animal world. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I’ve found chasing ideas counterintuitive to the creative process. Instead, I have to sort of allow things to form organically. If it comes, it comes, and if not. Well then, there you go. But life, as it often does, had other plans.
Both BUG and BEAR were drafted before the pandemic and released after its peak. During those years, I often struggled with inspiration. Finding a silver lining when things are tough isn’t always easy and it’s something I thought about a lot. While I was stuck in the muck of my bubble at home, I spent many hours scrolling online. Then one day, I happened upon a beautiful image of a family traveling in their camper van…and then another picture…and another. I watched online as others explored the world with little more than a vehicle and roadmap, and I found it to be such a freeing idea. I especially loved the thought of traveling with friends, except my inner child turned the mental imagery into a van full of animals with a feathered duck at the wheel! Turns out, it was an image I just couldn’t let go of.
I’m so thankful to have found Duck and his easy-going personality in the silver lining of that time period. TRUCK IN THE MUCK was a much-needed reminder for me that even in muck, we can sometimes find luck…and a whole lot of fun! I fell even more in love with this story when I saw the brilliant way illustrator Susan Batori designed Duck’s truck and brought all of his buddies together. *Spoiler: keep an eye on the pages for familiar faces from BUG and BEAR.
Thanks again for having me and Duck on the blog! I hope everyone enjoys navigating muck with Duck, his sweet group of friends, and his quirky old truck.
TRUCK IN THE MUCK releases July 15th from Sleeping Bear Press!
Sophia Gholz is a children’s book author, music lover, magic seeker, and avid reader. She enjoys writing fiction with humor and heart. When writing nonfiction, she pulls on her love of science and her strong family background in ecology. Previously, Sophia worked as an advertising copywriter and made a career managing visual artists in New York City. Sophia is the author of The Boy Who Grew a Forest, a NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book and Florida State Book Award gold medalist. This is Your World: The Story of Bob Ross, Bug on the Rug, ARLO and more. When she’s not writing from her home base in Florida, you can find Sophia reading, visiting schools or exploring the great outdoors with her family. For more, visit SophiaGholz.com.
Susan Batori is a Hungarian illustrator, graphic designer and a character design addict. She studied graphic design at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary. As an art director at DDB Advertising Agency, Susan designed many print ads, websites, posters, and packages. That’s how she discovered drawing hilarious characters was much more fun. She also loves creating new digital textures, reading, watching great movies, drinking coffee, walking in a forest or pampering herself with a good salted caramel ice cream. Since 2012, Susan has been working as a freelance children’s book illustrator. For more, visit Susanbatori.myportfolio.com.
Congratulations!
These winners are each paired with an agent to provide feedback on their best five Storystorm ideas.
Drumroll, please!
AMY BOWER (Ammi-Joan Paquette)
ANDREE SANTINI (Sean McCarthy)
BETH ELLIOT (Stephen Fraser)
ANNIE YOUNG (Kathleen Rushall)
SHEREEN VILLAGOMEZ (Ginger Harris-Dontzin)
I will be emailing you in the coming week to introduce you to your agent and to set ground rules.
Congratulations again!
Congratulations to all who completed the 30-story-ideas challenge!
These are the literary agents who have agreed to review the best five ideas from those of you who registered for Storystorm 2026 and signed the Storystorm Pledge.
I will be selecting the FIVE Grand Prize winners tomorrow, March 6th! Each will be paired with one of these agents.
Ammi-Joan Paquette, Aevitas Creative
Ammi-Joan Paquette represents a wide range of children’s and young adult authors and illustrators, and a select list of authors writing for adults. Her clients’ books include New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, winners and finalists for the National Book Award, the Carnegie medal, the Kirkus Prize, the LA Times Book Award, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Printz Award, the Pura Belpre Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, the Walter Award, Ireland’s Great Reads Award, and many more. She represented Jeanne Ryan’s NYT bestselling YA novel Nerve, which was made into a major motion picture starring Emma Roberts and Dave Franco; and Michelle Ray’s Falling for Hamlet, which was made into the TV series “The Royals,” starring Elizabeth Hurley.
As an author herself, Joan has published twenty books for young readers, which have been translated into nine languages and have received numerous accolades, including a nomination for the Massachusetts Book Award and a PEN-New England Discovery Award honor. Her adult short fiction debut, Stories I Told My Dead Lover, was published in 2024. She brings this unique dual perspective on the publishing industry to her agenting career.
Joan accepts queries only by referral, or from creators who attend events where she is presenting. She is most excited by strongly voiced, bold stories that take risks and have depth and resonance. Tight pacing and rich, evocative language especially catch her eye. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Sean McCarthy, Sean McCarthy Literary Agency
Sean McCarthy founded his own full-service literary agency in 2013 after working at Overlook Press and Sheldon Fogelman Agency, and represents authors and illustrators across all age ranges in children’s publishing. His clients include Hyewon Yum, Heather Ayris Burnell, Dana Wulfekotte, Ariel Bernstein, Margaret Chiu Greanias, and Junghwa Park, among others. Sean graduated from Macalester College with a degree in English-Creative Writing, and is grateful that he no longer has to spend his winters in Minnesota. He currently lives in Westchester County with his wife and two pet rabbits (who aren’t much help when it comes to reading manuscripts, though they are excellent at shredding them).
Stephen Fraser, The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
Stephen Fraser has been a literary agent with The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency for 21 years, after working for more than twenty-five years at seven major publishers including HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Scholastic. His clients have won the Newbery Honor, both the Edgar and PEN awards, and received multiple starred reviews.
He is graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont with a degree in English Literature and Master’s Degree in Children’s Literature from Simmons College in Boston. Stephen is a popular speaker at writer’s conferences throughout the country.
Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary Agency
Kathleen represents NYT bestselling and award-winning authors for picture books, chapter books, middle grade, YA, and adult novels. When it comes to novels, Kathleen loves both contemporary and fantasy as well as the spooky and unexpected. She loves multi-generational stories, matrilineal magic, and is always happy to see high-concept contemporary romance. She also enjoys darker suspenseful reads and loves atmospheric settings that feel like a character.
For picture books, she works on both fiction and nonfiction. For nonfiction, she’s drawn to environmental and STEM themes and would love to find something fresh and funny that can entice even reluctant readers. She loves animals and books about their welfare and science. She’s always interested in picture books that inspire emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and empathy. She loves to laugh, and sweet younger stories and board books are also of interest. After reading many, many vehicle books with her toddler, she’d love to find something for the youngest car and construction lovers.
Ginger Harris-Dontzin, Liza Royce Associates Literary Agency
Ginger Harris-Dontzin, with her business partner Liza Fleissig, opened the Liza Royce Associates (LRA) in early 2011. A cross-platform company providing development and strategic career management for clients in all media, their goal is to represent clients in every stage of their careers, from the most established to those honing their craft. Both former partners in NYC based litigation law firms, Liza and Ginger bring a combined 50 years of negotiating experience to the field. This background, along with connections rooted in film, television, and publishing, allow them to focus and build on a referral-based clientele, providing bespoke services on a multi-dimensional level.
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 