Alechia Dow is a former pastry chef, a librarian, and an award-winning author of acclaimed young adult sci-fi fantasies, several short anthology pieces, and magical (sometimes mysterious) middle grade stories. When not writing, you can find her having epic dance parties with her family, baking, reading, taking teeny adventures, and exploring her local food scene.

Tracy Badua is an award-winning Filipino American author of books about young people with sunny hearts in a sometimes stormy world. By day, she is an attorney who works in national housing policy, and by night, she squeezes in writing, family time, and bites of her secret candy stash. She lives in San Diego, California, with her family.

I had the opportunity to interview Alechia and Tracy, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself? 

Hi, and thanks for chatting with us! I’m Alechia Dow, author of several critically acclaimed young adult scifi-fantasies, and foodie (sometimes mysterious) middle grade stories!

And I’m Tracy Badua. I write books for middle grade and young adult readers (though technically anyone of any age can enjoy a good story!).

What can you tell us about your latest book, The Cookie Crumbles? What was the inspiration for this story? 

The Cookie Crumbles is a middle grade whodunnit, featuring two best friends––one a stellar baker, the other a budding journalist––as they navigate a high-stakes cookie competition and an attempted murder. It’s Knives Out meets Great British Bake-Off.

As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling, specifically middle grade fiction? 

Middle grade readers are wonderful! To get to write for that audience is an absolute blast too: we both enjoy exploring themes that children can relate to and that don’t always get enough love in young adult stories. Friendship, compassion, growing up, family, and learning to stand up in a world that sometimes makes you feel small… We want kids to read this and feel empowered. It also helps that we both write middle grade books. Tracy wrote Freddie vs. The Family Curse, The Takeout, and the upcoming Thea and the Mischief Makers (October 15, 2024). Alechia wrote Just a Pinch of Magic which has its paperback release on October 7, 2024.

How would you describe your writing process?

Alechia: Tracy and I have been writing buddies for eight years, so we understand each other’s style and how to work together to tell the best story possible. We have very similar styles of drafting and are very goal-oriented plotters with a pinch of pantsing. We did chapter by chapter summaries, spreadsheets, and stayed in constant communication. At the time of writing, I was in Germany, Tracy was in California, which meant a 9-hour time difference. So one of us would be writing while the other was asleep. We could get two chapters––and edit the other’s chapter––in a day because of the time difference.

Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?

Tracy: To be honest, it was hard to find books featuring characters who were like me growing up. Books by or about Filipino Americans were either widely unavailable or hard for me to access, so it wasn’t until recently, as an adult, that I was able to get my hands on stories that showed people like my family and me. A book that I loved recently is Zachary Sterling’s graphic novel Mabuhay! (not that my parents or older brother were magical in any way or had to dance in a pig costume…that I know of).

As a writer, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration in general? 

Alechia: Refilling my creative well tends to inspire me, and get me into the frame of mind to sit down and work on stories that I’m endlessly excited about. I watch a ton of scifi shows: Foundation, Severance, Silo, Dark Matter… I love everything by Brit Marling, I’m a huge Star Wars fan, especially Andor and The Mandalorian. I recently just finished Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn and Bloodmarked, which were phenomenal (I’m eagerly awaiting the next in the series), Jenny L. Howe’s On the Plus Side in the adult space was beautiful fat rep that I plan to carry with me into my next books. All said though, the biggest creative influence for me is Tracy: I’m constantly surprised by her turns of phrase, how she moves through a story in the most engaging ways, her ideas. Honestly, she has been making me a better writer for nearly a decade.

Tracy: Alechia is one of the most creative people I know! Writing with her has been a blast because BAM, out of nowhere, she’ll introduce a fun, chaotic element or have the characters do something unexpected. It keeps the process and the story from feeling stale or forced. My other sources of inspiration in general include the folks in my family who never stop learning and trying new things. Degrees, careers, hobbies, household moves: they’re always challenging themselves to be and do better, and it reminds me to be brave too.

What are some of your favorite elements of writing? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or challenging? 

Alechia: I love drafting and coming up with the story––and there are times when I really love revising to make a story tighter and more polished. When I get a challenging edit letter, I can have a panicky moment of not knowing what to do and thinking I failed miserably. That’s when I usually need Tracy to tell me it’s going to be fine, let’s find a new approach.

Tracy: It really is important to surround yourself with good writer friends! Alechia’s always up for brainstorming and is quick with encouraging words. As for the writing process itself, I love the revising stage right now. It’s when I get a chance to really polish the story and get to the heart of it. That said, I dislike when I realize I have to cut something big or completely rework a plotline, even when I’m certain it’ll be best for the story: sometimes I just want to relax and hope the story fixes itself!

Many authors would say one of the most challenging parts of writing a book is finishing one. What strategies would you say helped you accomplish this?

Keep yourself excited! Remember the joy that propelled you to write, the scenes you cannot wait to have down on the page, and hold those feelings close to you throughout the process. If you aren’t having fun, if it’s a slog and it loses its shine, reflect on what would make this more enjoyable for you. Then rework it. Writing can be a challenge––a worthy one when you know this story means not only the world to you, but the impact your stories will have on readers too :).

Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?

Alechia: So, okay, I’m a former classically trained pastry chef and I went to library school. My dream was to be a food librarian, but getting a very niche gig like that is next to impossible. I decided to go back to my love of writing––a career I never thought would be for someone like me. I’m really happy I did.

Tracy: I am not a pastry chef. In fact, I am not very good at baking or kitcheny stuff in general. That’s why partnering with Alechia on this book was so important! For my Filipino Indian food truck book, The Takeout, I relied on my parents’ and mother-in-law’s delicious home cooking to help craft the fusion dish ideas. 

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but that you wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)?

Alechia: No one ever asks me my favorite dessert! It’s strawberry shortcake 🙂

Tracy: I get asked who does the art on my book covers (I’m so lucky to have Alex Cabal, Diobelle Cerna, f.choo, and Alane Grace for that!), but I have not yet been asked to draw any of my characters myself– and that’s honestly for the better. 

What advice might you have to give for other aspiring writers?

Write what makes you happy. Write when it makes you happy. Write with the idea that this is for you and no one else. Don’t be afraid of the first draft or the rejections you might receive along the way. Just write and know that no one can write your story better than you.

Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?

We do! We have our second story in The Cookie Crumbles series, Their Just Desserts, coming out next year! Meanwhile, Tracy has Thea and the Mischief Makers this year, October 15th, and Alechia has a cozy, romantic fantasy, Until the Clock Strikes Midnight, out in early 2026.

Finally, what LGBTQ+ books/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT? 

Alechia: I will never not love stories from Adiba Jaigirdar, Kalynn Bayron, Jennifer Dugan, all who work within the MG & YA space. There are so many more too, how much time do we have?!

Tracy: Adding fellow middle grade writer Katryn Bury and her Drew LeClair middle grade series! It’d be a great next read for younger readers hungry for more mystery.