The wonderful Rena Rossner joins us to talk about how she wrote her debut YA crossover novel, THE SISTERS OF THE WINTER WOOD (Orbit, 2018). Rena has so much wisdom to share about writing the book only you can write, why novels in verse are so powerful, and writing scenes out of order. We also go into her submission story -- which includes getting to acquisitions *twice* with no success -- and the struggle of writing her second book, THE LIGHT OF THE MIDNIGHT STARS (Orbit, 2021).

Rena Rossner hails from Miami Beach, Florida. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University's Writing Seminars program, Trinity College, Dublin, and she holds a MA in history from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her debut novel, The Sisters of the Winter Wood, was listed as "One of the 100 Best Books" of the year by Publisher's Weekly. She currently lives in Israel, where she works as a Literary Agent at The Deborah Harris Agency. Her grandparents and great grandparents immigrated to the USA from Hungary, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova - their stories, together with her love of Jewish mythology and fantasy, inspire her work.

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Rena is a literary agent at The Deborah Harris Agency. Her manuscript wish list page is here.