A Chat with Witchlings Author Claribel A. Ortega

Claribel A. Ortega is a bestselling author known for her books, including ‘The Witchlings’ series and Frizzy. She recently released Witchlings: The House of Elephants, the third book in the series. One of the most difficult parts of writing a book, she believes, is revision. After completing the first draft, she revises the copy, adding or removing chapters as needed.

When she was younger, Ortega enjoyed singing and performing. Her three big dreams were being a writer or poet, Broadway performer, or a singer. “So, I did one them which isn’t bad, I think,” she said. As a child, she loved writing her own short stories, riding her bike, and watching semi-scary movies. She especially enjoyed black-and-white films with dancing.

Outside the world of being an author, she plays video games. She can be found playing Animal Crossing, Kingdom of Hearts, and Star Doom Valley. She also spends time at the gym and watching K-dramas. As a child, she enjoyed reading Goosebumps and The Baby-Sitters Club.

Life Is Writing

The process of making a book has several steps. First, Ortega’s editor, Emily Sit, brainstorms a few ideas for the book’s cover.  Then, the author and editorial teams give feedback. Before receiving the cover, the illustrator, Lissy Marlin, creates a few variations of the cover before handing it over to Ortega for final approval. 

Ortega often draws upon real-life situations to inspire her books. In the Witchlings and The Golden Frog Games, Thorn uses a pair of socks to impress the judges and uses it in the Games. “I thought it was funny and I wanted to pick something practical that we all use almost every day,” she says. The Twelve Towns got inspiration from Hudson Valley in New York.

In Frizzy, the story line was inspired by what happened in her real life. When she was younger, her mother was a hairdresser, and she grew up surrounded by people getting their hair done. She explained, “I wanted to talk about where the idea that curly hair is ‘bad hair’ comes from and to write a book to show kids that all hair is good hair.”

She was excited to mention that there is going to be more ‘Witchlings’ books in the future. Ortega gave some advice: read a good amount of books, even those outside the genre you want to write in. She says, “Don’t worry about anyone else seeing what you’re writing, just write it for yourself and have fun.”