Episode #216: Tyding Up with Maya Rock!
Grace and Alvina welcome special guest Maya Rock who talks about how her life was changed by following Marie Kondo's philosophy about decluttering and tidying up.
WELCOME MAYA!
Hi, I’m a writer/editor based in New York with a background in book publishing. I use my passion and curiosity to create delightful, informative, and engaging content that has a clear, strong flow.
I’ve done features for national magazines like Marie Claire and The Writer. Corporate clients include Colgate-Palmolive, Luxottica, OCM Advisory, and MP Design Consulting. You’ll find New York Times bestsellers and Eisner, Glyphy, Nautilus, and RITA award winners among my edited books. And Penguin Random House published my young adult novel, Scripted (German and audio rights sold; optioned for TV by Warner Brothers).
Gratefuls:
Maya is grateful that she’s feeling better after getting COVID. Grace has been busy working with a publicist for her new book Chinese Menu and she also bought a new suitcase for all of her travels! Alvina has been busy back to editing. Stephen and Alvina have been taking care of their niece Quinn and they brought her to Coney Island.
Tyding Up!
Maya talks about Marie Kondo and her journey with the Marie’s methods of de-cluttering and organization. After her parents died, she inherited family items and talks about the decluttering of those sentimental items.
Maya talks about how well this process worked for her and relates it to the feeling of editing books.
There were two YA books that she uses as an example. She loved them as a child. Did they spark joy?
Maya talks about throwing out her old journals. “Your real life begins after putting your house in order.” -Marie Kondo
Fortune Cookie Segment!
What is the hardest and easiest thing to write/edit?
Alvina: The hardest thing to edit is the voice, and the easiest thing to edit is the plot/believability issues
Maya: For writing, Maya thinks that writing authentically is the hardest AND the easiest at times. For editing, the hardest thing to edit is the plot . The easiest to edit is the character journeys and where they should end up emotionally.
Grace: For illustration, the hardest thing is drawing cars. Flowers and leaves are the easiest!
Gratefuls:
Alvina is so grateful that one of Little Brown’s books called Foxglove by Adalyn Grace became a NY Times #1 Bestseller!
Maya is grateful for a nice coffee barista that spread some sunshine and kindness in her!
Grace is so grateful that she got her author copies of Chinese Menu! Hazel starts school this week and she’s grateful that they had such a nice family summer.
THANK YOU!
Thank you to Hachette Audio, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, and Alex at Pacyworks Studio for producing and editing this podcast. Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and tell a friend about us. (Use the hashtag #bookfriendsforever.)
You can find Alvina @Planetalvina on Twitter and TikTok and @Alvinaling on Instagram and Threads
You can find Grace @Pacylin on Instagram and Threads, @authorgracelin on Facebook, @gracelinauthor on TikTok, and @authorgracelin on BlueSky Social!
You can find Maya at Mayarock.com and on Instagram @mayaalexrock
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