The Artsy Raven Podcast about Writing and Art with host JF Garrard

Diana Tso shares her journey from working in AccountsReceivable to becoming a storyteller, theatre artist, playwright, and artist in education, discusses why sharing stories about her culture and women matters, and reflects on the importance of finding joy in her work.

NOTE: This episode is in North American Cantonese (ie Cantonese with English in between the Chinese words)!

Diana Tso is a storyteller, theatre artist, playwright andartist in education. She’s a graduate of the University of Toronto in English Literature & of Ecole Internationale de Théâtre de Jacques Lecoq in France. She's performed internationally for over 25 years. As a playwright her storiesbring to light the resilience of women in war and re-imagine mythology from the female perspective. Her plays Red Snow, Comfort, Spring Moon, and Monkey Queen are available at the Canadian Play Outlet.

Details about the English-language world premiere of PuSongling: Strange Tales at https://www.crowstheatre.com/
https://www.crowstheatre.com/shows-events/pu-songling-strange-tales

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Harper Ross discusses magical realism, finding magic in theordinary, and learning the art of patience in writing.

HARPER ROSS has enjoyed a lifelong love affair with the dramatic story worlds in books and movies. After leaving herlegal practice to raise her kids, she discovered her own creative side and began writing novels that explore friendship, family, and forgiveness. Because she also appreciates the magic in everyday life—from the spark of attraction to those serendipitous moments we all experience—you’ll find a dash of that in her work too. When she’s not at the keyboard, she’s likely to be singing badly in her car, dancing in her kitchen, or walking her adorable dog, Mo. She’s also a lucky wife and mother to a very patient and supportive family.

Website: https://harperrossbooks.com/
Book link: https://www.amazon.com/Unwritten-Rules-Magic-Harper-Ross/dp/1250394554/

In this episode, Harper reads from The Unwritten Rules ofMagic.

Artsy Raven links:
For more about The Artsy Raven Podcast or to join ourexclusive Artsy Raven club to receive free books and other cool stuff, visit: https://artsyraven.com/

If you really like this show, please feel free to send us a digital tip https://ko-fi.com/jfgarrard

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James Ponti shares how his career in television led him towriting multiple bestselling middle grade series of books, the real-life inspirations behind the City Spies books, and why writing for yourself matters most.

James Ponti is the New York Times bestselling author offour middle grade book series: The Sherlock Society following a group of young detectives; City Spies, about an unlikely squad of five kids from around the world who form an elite MI6 Spy Team; the Edgar Award–winning Framed! series, about a pair of tweens who solve mysteries in Washington, DC; and the Dead City trilogy, about a secret society that polices the undead living beneath Manhattan.

His books have appeared on more than fifteen different stateaward lists, and he is the founder of a writers group known as the Renegades of Middle Grade. James is also an Emmy–nominated television writer and producer who has worked for many networks including Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, PBS, History, and Spike TV, as well as NBC Sports. He lives with his family in Orlando, Florida. His new book, Europa, goes on sale February 10, 2026 from Aladdin.

In this episode, James reads from Europa.
Author website: https://www.jamesponti.com/

Artsy Raven links:
For more about The Artsy Raven Podcast or to join ourexclusive Artsy Raven club to receive free books and other cool stuff, visit: https://artsyraven.com/

If you really like this show, please feel free to send us a digital tip https://ko-fi.com/jfgarrard

Patreon subscribers remember to access your bonus content for each episode: https://www.patreon.com/jfgarrard

James Cairns explores how crisis shapes our world, why hechose to write about it beyond academic constraints, and the creative risk of starting to write before feeling fully ready.

James Cairns lives with his family in Paris, Ontario, onterritory that the Haldimand HAULD a min Treaty of 1784 recognizes as belonging to the Six Nations of the Grand River in perpetuity. He is a professor in the Department of Indigenous Studies, Law and Social Justice at Wilfrid LaurierUniversity, where his courses and research focus on political theory and social movements.

James is a staff writer at the Hamilton Review of Books,and the community relations director for the Paris-based Riverside Reading Series. James has published three books with the University of Toronto Press, most recently, The Myth of the Age of Entitlement: Millennials, Austerity, and Hope (2017), as well as numerous essays in many periodicals.

In this episode, James reads from In Crisis, On Crisis:Essays in Troubled Times.

Book webpage: https://bookstore.wolsakandwynn.ca/products/in-crisis-on-crisis

Artsy Raven links:
For more about The Artsy Raven Podcast or to join ourexclusive Artsy Raven club to receive free books and other cool stuff, visit: https://artsyraven.com/

If you really like this show, please feel free to send us a digital tip https://ko-fi.com/jfgarrard

Patreon subscribers remember to access your bonus content for each episode: https://www.patreon.com/jfgarrard

Tracy Wolff shares how working with middle-grade students who hated reading inspired her to start writing, explains her process for choosing a myth for each new book, and talks about the joy she finds in worldbuilding.

Tracy Wolff is the #1 New York Times, #1 internationally, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY bestselling author of the Crave series as well as many other novels. A lover of mythology, vampires, and getting lost in a great book, she’s spent her whole life asking “what if” and “what happens next”—questions being a writer has helped her answer again and again. At six, she wrote her first short story—something with a rainbow, a unicorn, and a shapeshifting prince—and atseven, she forayed into the wonderful world of middle grade literature with her first Judy Blume novel. A one-time English professor, she now devotes all her time to writing fun, action-packed, romantic stories with fantastical worlds and characters who leap off the page. She has written all her seventy-plus novels from her home in Austin, Texas, which she shares with her partner, her sons, and their three adorable dogs.

In this episode, Tracy reads from The Aftermyth.
Author website: https://tracywolffauthor.com/

Artsy Raven links:
For more about The Artsy Raven Podcast or to join our exclusive Artsy Raven club to receive free books and other cool stuff, visit: https://artsyraven.com/

If you really like this show, please feel free to send us a digital tip https://ko-fi.com/jfgarrard
Patreon subscribers remember to access your bonuscontent for each episode: https://www.patreon.com/jfgarrard