Meet Troupe 21’s Diana López

Meet Troupe member Diana López! Diana spent ten years teaching middle school where her students’ humor and unique insights continue to inspire her writing. Her debut picture book, SING WITH ME: THE STORY OF SELENA QUINTANILLA, illustrated by Teresa Martinez (Dial), publishes July 6, 2021.

Diana’s story SING WITH ME: THE STORY OF SELENA QUINTANILLA is a biography of the famous singer and her journey to learn Spanish and break into the Tejano music world. Here’s the gorgeous cover in English and Spanish!

An accomplished novelist, Diana’s middle grade books include CONFETTI GIRL and most recently, LUCKY LUNA. On the film side, her novel CHOKE was adapted as THE CHOKING GAME for the Lifetime Movie Network, and Disney Press invited her to write COCO, A STORY ABOUT MUSIC, SHOES, AND FAMILY, a novelization of the award-winning Disney/Pixar film. Want to learn more about Diana and her authorial journey? Check out the Q&A below!

Get to know Diana!

What is your earliest picture book memory?

When I was four years old, my madrina Gracie gave me a Mother Goose book, the edition with a cover of an old witch-like lady riding a goose. It also had a black-and-white checkered border. This is where I learned to read, the rhymes showing me the patterns. I have a very complicated relationship with this book because I love that it taught me to read but hate how it gave me the idea that my world and experience were not worthy enough for books. I thought stories and poems had to take place in England and that I had to write about girls who wore petticoats and bonnets. I was long past childhood when I started to see people like me in the stories I read.

Name three picture books that you adore.

Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match by Monica Brown, illustrated by Sara Palacios

Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal

A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin

What are your favorite writing snacks?

I go for the salty snacks like popcorn or Chex, but I usually do not eat while writing. I like to have a glass of water or wine, or if I’m sleepy, something with caffeine. But the real snacks aren’t edible. They’re actually short writing breaks—a walk around the block, a game of Solitaire, or a play session with my cat. Of course, when I was writing SING WITH ME: THE STORY OF SELENA QUINTANILLA, my favorite “snack” was listening to her music.

What themes and ideas will readers find in your stories?

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Family is the theme I keep returning to. I find family relationships to be both challenging and fulfilling. We don’t get to choose our parents and siblings. Much of growing up is learning how to negotiate, how to manage the balance of conforming to family expectations while discovering and maintaining our own interests and identities, and how to accept and forgive. Another theme running through my stories is the need for some sort of creative outlet like writing Top 5 lists, finding interesting uses for socks, or performing close-up magic tricks.

What advice can you share with pre-published writers and illustrators?

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Find your writing community. It can be something formal like a critique or book club group that meets on a regular basis. But it can also be a group of fellow writers who are just friends and who you hang out with because you like them. Sometimes you talk shop, but most times, you talk about families and politics and pets. Writing is primarily a solitary activity, and the responsibility to meet deadlines, to sit in that chair and write, falls on your shoulders, but I have discovered that nothing motivates me more than a writing friend.

Want to support Diana and her debut picture book? Let us count the ways…