If you’ve read any Brandy Colbert novel, you know that she is an expert in creating characters that feel real and flawed and beautiful and messy and true. Let’s dive in and learn how she does it.

Brandy Colbert is the author of several critically acclaimed books for kids and teens, including Black Birds in the Sky, Pointe, The Only Black Girls in Town, and Stonewall Book Award winner Little & Lion. She is on faculty at Hamline University’s MFAC program and lives in Los Angeles.