Shannon Messenger, Rebecca Sheir, Joe Yogerst

The ALL NEW Big Wakeup Call with Ryan Gatenby

In this episode:
Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where she learned—among other things—that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She’s studied art, screenwriting, and film production, but she realized her real passion was writing stories for children. She’s the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the award-winning middle grade series, Keeper of the Lost Cities, as well as the Sky Fall series for young adults. Her books have been featured on multiple state reading lists, published in numerous countries, and translated into many different languages. She lives in Southern California with her family—and an embarrassing number of cats. We talked about her new book "Keeper of the Lost Cities: Stellarlune."
Rebecca Sheir is the author of the Circle Round books, and the host, writer, and producer of the Circle Round storytelling podcast. Sheir has also brought thousands of stories to life as a news reporter on public-radio shows like Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Here & Now, The Splendid Table, and Marketplace. She lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and son. The Latest From Storey Publishing The award-winning Circle Round storytelling podcast for modern kids shares some of their most popular folktales in the new Circle Round picture book series. Each interactive book is colorfully illustrated by an artist from where the folktale originates and is accompanied by storytelling prompts and activities. Her new book is "Circle Round: The Great Ball Game."
During more than three decades as an editor, writer, photographer, and speaker, Joe Yogerst has lived and worked in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. His writing has appeared in Conde Nast Traveler, CNN Travel, Islands magazine, International New York Times (Paris), Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and National Geographic Traveler. He has contributed to more than 40 National Geographic books, including the best-selling 50 States, 5,000 Ideas; the 2021 Lowell Thomas Award-winning 100 Drives, 5,000 Ideas; and 100 Parks, 5,000 Ideas. His first U.S. novel, a murder-mystery titled Nemesis, was published in 2018. His first children’s book, National Parks: Where the Wild Things Are! was recently published by Basher/Kingfisher in London. We discussed his newest book "100 Cities, 5000 Ideas: Where to Go, When to Go, What to See, What to do."