Writing Spooky Stories for Junior Fiction Readers With Jeanette Stampone

Jeanette Stampone was born in a spooky three-hundred-year-old house in the English countryside. She grew up with stories of local legends, pixies, ghosts, and fairies. These childhood experiences inspire Jeanette to write fun, imaginative and quirky stories. A country girl at heart, Jeanette now lives in regional Western Australia with her husband and two boys.   In 2022, Jeanette’s debut picture book, 'Shadow and the Girl' was released by Red Paper Kite. Her second book, 'The Dragon Guest Handbook' was published by Wombat Books in 2024. This year, Jeanette was thrilled to release her new junior fiction book 'Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost', published by About Kids Books. Jeanette is an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is passionate about sharing and creating books for kids of all ages. In episode 180 of The HYBRID Author Podcast host Joanne Zara Ellen Morrell, author of young adult fiction, women's fiction and short non-fiction for authors, chats to Jeanette about: the inspiration for her new junior fiction book Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost balancing creating a sense of mystery and fun without making the story too scary or dark for young audiences paranormal themes and what Jeanette hopes readers will take away from Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost, especially about fear, courage and imagination from character development to pacing, what storytelling techniques Jeanette found most effective when crafting ghostly adventures that keep kids hooked from start to finish her advice to aspiring junior fiction authors and much more.