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Please welcome my guest today! Her name is Paula Yoo and she's a violinist and a children's and young adult author. In this interview, Paula talks about her musical background, her books, and the National Picture Book Writing Week, among other things.

Thanks for this interview, Paula. It's not often I get to interview a violinist who's also an author. Why don't you start by telling us a little about Paula, the violinist.

I have wanted to be a writer since I was a little girl. I was inspired after reading "Charlotte's Web" in the first grade - I started writing my own stories after reading that book. My first "novel" was a 75-page handwritten book entitled "The Girl Called Raindrop." (Hey, I was only seven years old at the time!) I actually mailed it in to Harper & Row because they published my favorite series, the "Little House on the Prairie" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. They wrote a very nice letter back saying I should try out for their children's writing contest. I remember being upset and tearing up the letter because I felt I was not a "child" writer - I was a "real" writer! So I think of that as my first rejection letter! LOL!

Fast forward many years - I was an English major in college, and then received my M.S. in journalism and an MFA in creative writing. I spent the first ten years after college working as a newspaper and magazine journalist. Journalism taught me how to write on deadline - it was a great experience. I then taught for a little bit before switching over to being a full-time TV screenwriter for dramas. During that time, I sold my first two picture books and first YA novel.

Tell us about your books. Are they violin related?

My first two children's picture books are not violin-related, but I still feel the lessons learned in these books are very similar to what a violinist learns. My first picture book was SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS: THE SAMMY LEE STORY (Lee & Low 2005). It was a biography of the Olympic gold medalist diver Dr. Sammy Lee. My second picture book, SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY (Lee & Low 2009), came out in July 2009. It is about the ground-breaking actress and first Asian American female movie star Anna May Wong. In both books, Dr. Lee and Anna May Wong worked hard at perfecting their art (for Dr. Lee, it was mastering difficult dives and for Anna May Wong, it was learning the craft of acting). They also struggled to come to terms with their own artistic dreams versus their parents' dreams for them to have secure lives. Often times, parents want their children to have "regular" jobs and financial security. Pursuing sports or the arts is a very risky dream. I identified with Dr. Lee and Anna May Wong for those same reasons.

My first YA novel, GOOD ENOUGH, was published in 2008 by HarperCollins. This book is based on my own life growing up as a "violin geek." I have often read books about violinists that come off as very "well-researched," but do not have the authenticity and "