For those who may not know Samantha Berger, you’re missing out on a real good and delightful person. It would be impossible for me to track down all EIGHTY-some of her children’s books to read, as some of them aren’t even published under her name proper, but the recent ones are really good and usually pretty close at hand at your local library or bookstore. It’s also impossible to track down all the rest of the TV, illustration, voiceover, and other miscellaneous – yet critical – writing threads that make up the Samantha Berger tapestry.

The more I read and learned about her as I prepared for our conversation, the more I felt intimidated by compressing all her writing experience – and otherwise! – into just one chat. We do manage to cover in this conversation the gamut from differences with your parents to zine publication to corporate culture to supporting peers to heavier backdrops informing more joyous works.

Samantha Berger’s words in an email she wrote to me, "Believe in yourself and your work. Get it to the place where YOU love it. All it takes is one person to believe in you back. Believe in someone else, as well," resonate throughout this conversation. What could have been a very self-focused trip through her incredibly prolific writing career thus far is peppered with support, recognition, acknowledgment, and love for those she looks up to and those who have helped get her to where she is.

#VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.