What book are you recommending right now?

"Body Work" by Melissa Febos, "Heartstopper" by Alice Oseman, anything by Toni Morrison, anything by Alice Sola Kim.

If your story beast had a form, what would it be?

I think I'd say a mandrake. But, instead of its screams killing people in general, I think its howls are just painful (not deadly, lol), and they're only painful to me. And, at the same time, I'm capable of translating them, maybe? And that translation, though painful and difficult, is healing—like, once I've finished translating, I've learned something crucial that I couldn't have figured out without the mandrake screaming at me.

When you're writing the right story—which is, I think, a story that's honest and one that you feel like you HAVE to write—it can be, just, raw at times, like you're digging through yourself and turning up all sorts of thoughts and memories and sadnesses and triumphs and making sense of them in a way you haven't before. And that's really hard. But it's also really powerful. And, underneath all that, that translation of self, I think, is the hope that someone else might find it and glean something from it, too.

If you could meet one story character, who would it be and why?

This is a hard one! I think the grandmother in "The Summer Book," by Tove Jansson? She's really smart and frank, and I feel like she'd speak openly with me about life if I asked her questions that she found interesting.

Let's talk favorites! Tell us your...favourite book:

It's hard to pick a favorite! And, since I'm more of a short-story person, some of my favorite short stories are "All Will Be Well" by Yiyun Li; "Heirlooms" by Bryan Washington; "Omakase" by Weike Wang; "Featherweight" by Sterling Holywhitemountain; "Out There" by Kate Folk; and "Switzerland" by Nicole Krauss.

...favourite author:

I would say the most influential ones for me are Toni Morrison or Gabriel García Márquez.

...favourite trope:

I can't lie, I love a good enemies to lovers if it manages to not be horribly problematic.

...favourite snack right now:

Hot Fries. They're so good.

Where can our listeners find you?

IG: @mches_ley

Maya has kindly shared a craft handout they developed for their students. It is available to all listeners who sign up to the Storybeast mailing list.