Tell us a bit about your journey as a writer. Who were your primary influences?
I know it isn’t true of every writer, but my journey began as a reader. My earliest influence was my mother, who was an elementary school teacher and a voracious reader. As an only child we would often get our respective books and find a corner of the house and read together. I also loved Highlights magazine and mostly wrote poetry influenced by Maya Angelou and Nikki Giovanni.
A true turning point in my evolution as a reader and writer was when a family friend gifted me a copy of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor on my twelfth birthday. It was a revelation to see young characters who looked like me, and families who looked like mine, on the page.
In my early twenties and thirties, I completed two adult novels, several dozens of short stories, and one MFA, but I wasn’t making any progress on the agent or publishing front. I’d done everything I thought I was supposed to do—followed all the steps—and what began as a short break from writing became an unintended ten-year hiatus. It was a co-worker and my spouse who prompted me to return to writing because, quite honestly, I was miserable without my creative outlet.
In 2016, I slowly returned to writing an adult novel about a young woman who was reflecting on a pivotal life event during the summer when she was 12 years old. Yet, a number of life synchronicities convinced me it was actually a middle grade novel. That middle grade novel, Call Me Early, was my submission for the 2018 WNDB mentorship application!
Did you go on to apply for any other programs? Fellowships, workshops, even other mentorships? If so, are there any that you’d particularly recommend?
I work full time and have found it challenging to apply and make time for additional opportunities to date.
How many programs did you apply to before you were accepted for a WNDB mentorship? What kind of research did you do?
I only applied for the WNDB mentorship. And to be honest, I waited until the very last day with only hours to spare to meet the deadline. I was nervous to submit because one of the qualifications for consideration was having a completed first draft. I had about 70 percent of the draft completed when I hit submit, but I made a promise to myself to get to the end before December when I expected decisions would be made.
Read Kaija’s entire interview here. And be sure to check out Kaija’s new middle grade novel-in-verse The Order of Things, out now.
Kaija Langley was born in Northern New Jersey and raised on a healthy diet of library books, music and theater performances, and visits to the family farm in rural North Carolina. The author of the award-winning picture book, When Langston Dances, she loves long road trips, dancing wherever music moves her, and adventures near and far with her Beloved. She splits her time between Cambridge, MA and Los Angeles, CA.
WNDB earns a small affiliate payment if you purchase books via our bookshop.org link. Thank you for supporting WNDB!
