The profiles below demonstrate the breadth of interest and experience among the Regional Advisors, and the strengths they bring to the SCBWI outreach worldwide. Not all regional advisors have information listed below. For the name of the advisor in your area, visit the Chapters & Advisors listing. Thanks to Oregon Regional Advisor Robin Koontz and Taiwan Regional Advisor Kathleen Ahrens for keeping the information current!
| ADVISOR | BIOGRAPHY |
 Kathleen Ahrens TAIWAN member since 1998 RA 2001-2008 Int'l RA Coordinator 2008 |
Kathleen has publishing
credits in Skipping Stones, Wee Ones, and Highlights,
and she has also co-translated several picture books from Chinese
to English. In 2005, her teen novel manuscript Sisters-in-Half
was nominated for the SCBWI Sue Alexander Award, and this same novel
also received the SCBWI 2005 Work-in-Progress Runner-Up Grant for
a Contemporary Young Adult Novel. She joined SCBWI in 1998 and become
the regional advisor for Taiwan in 2001, when she attended her first
SCBWI conference in Los Angeles. In her role as regional advisor,
she plans events to help writers and illustrators develop and hone
their craft. In 2004, she became the International Regional Advisor
Assistant Coordinator as well as the editor for the International
News Column of the SCBWI Bulletin. SCBWI has opened many doors for her as a writer, and she hopes that her leadership role in this supportive organization will help other writers and illustrators achieve their professional goals as well. www.kathleenahrens.com |
 Peggy Archer INDIANA member since 1986 ARA since 2008 |
Peggy Archer is the author of fiction and poetry for children. Her picture books include FROM DAWN TO DREAMS: POEMS FOR BUSY BABIES, (Candlewick 2007) and TURKEY SURPRISE, which was a New York Times bestselling childrens paperback book in 2007 (Dial 2005). Her up-coming book, NAME THAT DOG!, will be published by Dial in Summer 2010. She has been published in childrens magazines such as Highlights for Children, Turtle, and BabyBug. She credits SCBWI for guiding her along the way to becoming a published childrens author. Peggy was born and raised in Gary, Indiana. She enjoyed writing as a child, but it was not until she had children of her own that she began to write with the thought of being published. Besides writing, Peggy works as a registered nurse. She lives with her husband in Valparaiso, Indiana. They have six grown children, five grandchildren, and a dog named Snickers. |
| Janet Arden NEW ENGLAND - NORTHERN member since 2000 RA since 2005 |
Janet Arden spent the
first 21 years of her life in New Jersey with a loving family and
wonderful friends, who have inspired and will continue to inspire
interesting characters in her books. She earned a BA in English Literature
from Rutgers College. Then she moved to New England and eventually
settled in southern New Hampshire within walking distance of mysterious
ancient ruins. After a management position at a global healthcare
company where she was given a "down-sizing" nudge, Janet decided it
was time to focus on her writing and spend more time with her children.
She enjoys volunteering at her children's schools, and for 4 years
she wrote a column about school news for her local newspaper. Janet
joined SCBWI in 2000, and became involved with the New England conference
committee in 2003. |
 Kimberly Baker WESTERN WASHINGTON member since 2005 ARA since 2009 |
In addition to being an indispensable member of the regional advisory triumvirate, Kim also collects information on events such as classes, contests, and bookstore events for our calendar of upcoming events. Let her know if you have something to add! She's currently working on a middle grade novel. She spends her days keeping up with two small kids, and saves most of the reading and writing for nights and weekends. Otherwise, you can find her exploring, crafting, or slowly renovating a creaky old house. She lives in Seattle with her family and a few furry creatures. www.kimberlycbaker.com |
 Tracy Barrett MIDSOUTH (TN/KY) member since 1994 RA since 1999 |
Tracy Barrett is the
author of fiction and nonfiction for young readers, including the
award-winning YA biographical novel, Anna of Byzantium (Delacorte,
1999). Her most recent publications are The 100-Year-Old Secret
(Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, 2008) and The Ancient
Chinese World (Oxford University Press, 2005). Some past publications
include: Growing Up in Colonial America (The Millbrook Press,
1995); Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky
in the series "Celebrate the States" (Benchmark Books, Marshall
Cavendish, 1997-1999); The Trail of Tears: An American Tragedy
(Perfection Learning Corporation, 2000); Cold in Summer (Henry
Holt BFYR, 2003); and The Ancient Greek World (Oxford University
Press, 2004), and On Etruscan Time (Henry Holt BFYR, 2005).
Tracy holds a B.A. from Brown University , and an M.A. and Ph.D. from
the University of California at Berkeley. She has been married since
1983 and has two grown children. She lives in Nashville, TN, and teaches
at Vanderbilt University. www.tracybarrett.com |
 Sheridan Becker BELGIUM member since 2001 RA since 2001 |
Sheridan Becker is the author of
two highly noted travel books in the Savvy in the City series:
New York and San Francisco (St. Martin's Press). This globetrotting
gal has previously lived and worked in New York, San Francisco, Hong
Kong, Brazil, and Moscow. Currently residing in Brussels, Belgium
she divides her time between being a full-time professional mom and
searching for suitable inspiration for her next travel book. Sheridan
holds a B.A. in Literature and Art History from New York University. |
 J.L. Bell NEW ENGLAND - Central member since 1992 RA from 2000-2006 ARA since 2006 |
John is the author
of Soap Science (Kids Can Press), a collection of very clean
science experiments, as well as articles in AppleSeeds magazine
and elsewhere. His short stories have appeared in such publications
as the Highlights anthology The Identical Dolls and Oz-Story,
and he won a Work-in-Progress Grant from the SCBWI in 2000 for a historical
novel. John has worked as a book editor for over fifteen years, first
in the trade division of Addison-Wesley and now as a freelancer. He's
thus learned more than hopeful authors should know about the slush
pile, publishing contracts, copyright issues, book production, and
marketing plans, and he tries to keep up with industry gossip. Living
outside Boston, John enjoys historical research, sits on the board
of the Friends of the Longfellow House, and has led teacher workshops
at the Old South Meeting-House and the Paul Revere House. He's unusually
fond of Chinese dumplings, the Oz books, and sideburns. |
 Pam Beres WISCONSIN member since 1993 RA since 2005 |
Pamela Beres decided at the age of ten that her
favorite author, Beverly Cleary, had the best job in the world and
that one day she, too, would have that job. After spending ten years
in a more practical profession (legal secretary), she walked away
and decided to pursue her dream. Her first story appeared in Pockets
in 1990 and publication in other magazines, including Children's
Digest, Jack & Jill, On the Line and My Friend soon followed.
In 2000, she was asked by Pockets editors to create a series
and that series, "Timber Lake Road" appeared monthly from 2001-2004.
Now an instructor for The Institute of Children's Literature, she
thrives on the insight gained by teaching others their craft. Her
writing for adults includes feature articles for Lutheran Parents
as well as articles for Children's Writer, Children's Writer Guide,
and Magazine Markets for Children's Writers. With her original
goal still in mind, she now focuses on writing novels for middle-grade
readers. |
 Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld FLORIDA member since 2000 RA since 2003 |
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld has worked
in radio, television, and newspapers. She is a past president of the
Greater Miami Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and
is currently a freelance writer. She is the author of The Great
Duck Rescue, The Great Peacock Rescue, Lissette's Journey to Guantanamo,
It's Just One of Those Days, and Rumors. The stories are
still unpublished but they are well-liked by Calusa Elementary students
where Linda often reads. Linda is married to Jerry Bernfeld and has
two boys, Brian, 12, and Kevin, 16. |
 Natascha Biebow BRITISH ISLES member since 1998 RA since 1999 |
Natascha Biebow is
the author of Elephants Never Forget (W. H. Freeman and ABC),
and editor of numerous picture books and early readers. She was born
in Johannesburg and grew up in Rio de Janeiro, where she attended
the American School. She has lived in London since 1993, where she
moved after completing her B.A. in Developmental Psychology from Smith
College, MA. She currently works full-time commissioning picture books
for a major British publisher, where her favourite job is crafting
books with new writers and illustrators. She writes in moments captured
on walks, train journeys, and holidays. The rest of her free time
she spends learning how to play the guitar, traveling to exciting
new places, and building the SCBWI British Isles chapter. |
 Paddy Bouma SOUTH AFRICA member since 2002 RA since 2002 |
Paddy Bouma was born in South Africa and graduated
in Fine Art from the University of Cape Town. She studied Lithography
at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, as a Bursary Student of the French
Government. She teaches Lithography and supervises the graduate program
in Illustration at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa.
Her work, both an illustrator and printmaker, has been exhibited on
numerous occasions. Her illustrations for Louis Baum's Are We Nearly
There (Bodley Head, London; US title One More Time) were
shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1986. She also wrote and
illustrated the Bertie series for the Bodley Head. More recently
she has illustrated Carol Carrick's Valentine and Upside
down cake for Clarion Books in New York. Currently she has been
involved with writing alternative comics which have been published
in Bitterkomix, a South African satirical publication. Her
work was included in the anthology Best of Bitterkomix 2 in
2002. |
 Donna H. Bowman SOUTHERN BREEZE member since 1997 RA since 2006 |
Donna has canoed through alligator-infested swamps, tracked 800-pound bear in the Poconos, and even ventured through a few kids rooms (gasp!) in search of unusual stories.And now BIG CATS are on the prowl! (Intervisual Books, released 11/08) A journey through cat country reveals this secretive predators history and habits. But please, proceed with caution. They could be in the bushescrouchingwatchingwaiting! Donna loves sharing her adventures. She engages children in literary safaris, letting their imaginations run wild! During author visits to schools, bookstores, and museums, kids marvel at a huge Sabertooth cat skull fossil and crinkle their noses smelling the pungent sticky tar that trapped the extinct carnivores. Donna's next two books, DINOSAURS and SPACE (Picture Window Books, Fall 2009) are part of a nonfiction series: KIDS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Kids ask amazing questions which uncover surprising answers! Where will Donnas adventures lead next? Grab a flashlight and follow along! |
| Ellen Braaf MID-ATLANTIC member since 1986 RA since 2001 |
Ellen has published juvenile
and adult fiction, nonfiction, and humor in publications as diverse
as the Washington Post, the Times Newspapers, Woman's Day,
and Soap Opera Digest. She holds a B.S. in Bacteriology, an
M.S. in Biology, and is a columnist and feature writer for ASK
(Arts and Sciences for Kids), published by the Cricket Group and Smithsonian
Magazine. A former book reviewer for Children's Literature,
Ellen's reviews appear in print and on the Barnes & Noble and Borders
websites. She teaches for the Writer's Center in Bethesda, MD, and
serves on their Board of Directors. Ellen is also co-chair of Northern
Virginia Writers, a special committee of the Writer's Center that
sponsors programs for writers the first Friday of the month February
through November at the Leesburg Town Hall in Leesburg, VA. |
 Charlotte Anne Braden SCOTLAND member since 2006 RA since 2006 |
Charlotte
Anne Braden is a book lover and believes that just like with cats,
the more the merrier. Great delight is taken in dandelions, glass
beads, picture books, and, of course, fat cats. She is a member of
SCBWI, Smart Writers Pro, PB Critiques and several on-line writing
groups. Her publishing credits include articles in Holiday Crafts
4 Kids and Fandangle Magazine. She has lived in the US, Germany, Switzerland
and Scotland, where she currently lives with her husband, bookworm
daughter and four cats. |
Susan Bradley CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN OHIO member since 2004 RA since 2009 |
Susan Bradley spent her childhood in South Texas, about ten miles from the U.S.-Mexican border. As a child, she spent the summers in Mexico with her grandparents and extended family. During these vacations, she frequently created mysteries that her siblings and cousins could solve. These mysteries were her first attempts at writings. She graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Business
Administration and lived in Austin, Texas until the year 2005. She
is currently pursuing a Masters in Business Administration. Since relocating to Columbus, Ohio, she has become a tutor for the Columbus Reads program. She's also had an article published in the Columbus Dispatch and a short story published on suspensemagazine.com. |
 Judy Bryan WISCONSIN member since 1993 ARA since 2007 |
SCBWI rescued Judy from a dismal and quite boring career in the insurance industry by encouraging her love for childrens literature. She is passionate about writing for children and reviews childrens books by Wisconsin authors for Dane County Parent magazine. Her picture book, Friends For Dinner, won the SCBWI-WI Marsha Dunlap Scholarship award and an Honorable Mention in the Writers Digest Writing Competition. A busy mother of three teenagers, she is currently working on several picture books, a young adult novel and a spooky mid-grade ghost story.
|
Patricia Morris Buckley CALIFORNIA - SAN DIEGO member since 2000 ARA since 2008 |
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|
ITALY |
Dario Cesare Campanile has been involved with stories and storytelling ever since early youth. After completing his studies in the classics, he embarked on a critical survey of the entire narrative process, with the aim of developing a fresh and innovative approach to writing. Dario has written many stories for children as well as for other
levels and in recent years has dedicated full time to the editorial
development of the best among his subjects, old and new, with his
wife Claudia Paveri Minetti, an illustrator who is also a member
of SCBWI. |
Nancy Castaldo EASTERN NEW YORK member since 1995 ARA since 2007 |
Nancy Castaldo joins Barbara Wells as the Assistant Regional Advisor for the Eastern New York Region. She is the author of several award winning nonfiction books for children, including, River Wild, Oceans, and Winter Day Play, as well as the picture book, Pizza for the Queen. Nancy also co-chairs the Capital Region SCBWI Shoptalk and is a board member of the Historical Novel Society 2007 Conference. She is the 2007 recipient of the New York State Outdoor Education Association's Art and Literature Award. Nancy enjoys working with Barbara to bring a variety of programs to Eastern New York for both published and non-published authors and illustrators. |
 Christopher Cheng AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND member since 1999 RA since 2004 |
Christopher Cheng is the award winning author of over 20 children's books, across many genres including picture books, information books, short stories, and novels. He has also written stories for CD-ROMs and articles for kids’ magazines. In 2008 Chris wrote the libretto for the children’s musical Pa’s Christmas Star. He is an elementary/primary school teacher and even taught with “real” animals as the Taronga Zoo Education Officer in Sydney for 8 years. Chris was the Children’s Book Specialist for an Australia-wide retail book chain and he also spent four years as the Education and Web Consultant for CD-ROM programs at Purdue University (USA). He is a popular conference speaker and workshop presenter. Since 2004 Chris has been an Ambassador for the Australian government’s National Literacy and Numeracy week initiative, compiling book lists and reading-guides for parents, presenting at conferences, and featuring in television commercials. He is a passionate advocate for children’s literature. He reviews Australian kids’ books (and not just his own!) in magazines and on radio and is actively involved in the Sydney kids’ writing community. Besides the world of kids’ books Chris loves travelling overseas with his wife, feasting with the neighbourhood folks, cooking and music. Some of his popular titles include: One Child (picture book), the Eyespy Book of Party Animals (non-fiction), and New Gold Mountain, the Diary of Shu Cheong (novel). |
 Leora Cika ALBANIA member since 2005 RA since 2006 |
Leora has publishing credits in the Albanian literature
magazine Mer Licht where she has published several of her
adult short stories. This year she is planning to publish her first
middle grade novel "Nirupa and the Book of Shadows." She
is a translator/interpreter by profession and she is the translator
of a prestigious publication about the Albania cultural heritage and
history, Icons of Berat (2005). |
 Rosemarie Johnson Clarke CARIBBEAN - NORTH member since 2003 RA since 2005 |
Rosemarie is a former Features Editor for the Nassau
(Bahamas) Tribune. In her newspaper days, she co-founded
a magazine for high school students which won Pan American Health
Organization & Planned |
 Michele Corriel MONTANA member since 1996 RA since 2000 |
Michele Corriel is a freelance magazine writer whose work has appeared in Big Sky Journal, Western Art and Architecture, Montana Quarterly, Distinctly Montana, Montana Parent and about a dozen other magazines including US Kids and Jack and Jill Magazine. She also reviews books for young readers and garnered a Silver Award from the Parenting Publications of America for her book reviews. She is looking forward to two upcoming books, NABBED, A NEWSPAPER MYSTERY, (Tire Swing Press, an imprint of Blooming Tree Press) and WEIRD ROCKS, (Mountain Press). |
 Sue Cowing HAWAII member since 1997 Co-RA since 2003 |
Sue Cowing's first love was poetry, but she has been writing mostly children's fiction for the last fifteen years. Her stories and poems have appeared in Spider and Cricket, and her story “John-Boy’s Christmas Zoo” won the Honolulu Advertiser’s Christmas Fiction Contest in 2006. An anthology she edited for young adults and adults, Fire in the Sea: An Anthology of Poetry and Art (University of Hawaii Press, 1996), received the Ka Palapala Po'okela Award for Excellence in Literature from the Hawaii Book Publishers Association, as did her book of original poems My Dog Has Flies: Poems for Hawaii’s Kids (BeachHouse Publishing, 2005). Sue holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College. When not writing or RA-ing, she sketches and practices taiko drumming. |
 Sally Cutting SPAIN member since 2003 RA since 2007 |
Sally Cutting is an English
illustrator working from Spain, specializing in realistic watercolours,
but with a preference for children's books. She has published over
2000 illustrations worldwide.Her recent publications include illustrations
and die cut design for "El Parque" for the collection "Jugar
a Saber" published by the Club Internacional del Libro in 2006,
illustrations for "la oruga verde" published by ING Edicions,
2007, and illustrations for "Anne of Green Gables" for Penguin
Active Reading, level 2, Pearson Education Ltd, 2007. |
 Jean Daigneau OHIO - NORTHERN member since 2001 RA since 2005 |
Jean Daigneau has been published in the Record Courier
Newspaper, Clubhouse and My Friend magazines, and the Giant
Book of Kindergarten Activities, and has sold educational testing
material to CTB/McGraw Hill. Although she writes primarily picture
books, she is currently focusing on middle grade with two completed
novels and a third underway. Jean and her husband, Buzz, have been
married for 34 years and have three great children -- Tracy, Ben,
and Nick -- and five even greater grandsons -- Ty, Aaron, Eli, Simon,
and Christian. Jean works at St. Patrick School as a library aide,
tuition bookkeeper, and latchkey coordinator and supervisor. When
she is not writing, she and her husband enjoy cruising in their '51
Chevy (the car he drove on their first blind date) or relaxing at
their cottage on the Mahoning River. But whatever she's doing, she
almost always has a cross-stitch project in hand. |
|
ROMANIA |
Alina Darian is an author of children and adult stories and plays,
among which The Prince in the Glass Palace and The Dragon
Who Loved Tea. She has established The Sun and The Moon Publishing House and does storytelling workshops with children through
the performing arts association Alizee. She has worked for the past
ten years in journalism, advertising and publishing, and also runs
a consultancy company, PLAYFAIR, that works mainly on projects designed
to challenge the current parenting and education mentality in Romania. |
 Mio Debnam HONG KONG member since 2001 RA since 2006 |
Mio first discovered the thrill of
seeing her name in print when, aged 5, a story she had written appeared
in her school magazine. Since then, both her spelling and prose have
improved, but unfortunately the same cannot be said for her handwriting!
Although she remained interested in a writing career all the way through
university, where she sweated over articles in the college newspaper
office, on graduation she become distracted and spent a decade working
in the financial markets of London and Hong Kong. Luckily, she rediscovered
her love of writing in 1998, and has been a writer and editor since,
having articles and stories for both adults and children published,
as well as a middle grade fantasy novel and some educational readers.
Presently she is Editor-at-Large of two daily children's newspapers,
and regularly helps with creative writing classes in schools. She
lives in Hong Kong with her husband and two children. |
|
FRANCE |
Tioka
Tokedira recently joined SCBWI as a way to find kindred spirits. She
is putting the finishing touches on her first fiction project, a middle-grade
adventure story set in France. Her greatest hope is that her love
of words and world cultures will stir the imagination of young readers.
In the US, Tioka worked for PBS and the Discovery Channel on news and documentary programs and lived in just about every city on the east coast. Then a Frenchman knocked her off her feet, literally. Now Tioka, and her very charming husband, call a tiny, 6 th floor apartment in the middle of Paris home. She divides her non-writing time between leading communication seminars, editing scientific articles, traveling and sailing. She has a B.S. in Elementary Education from Boston University and a M.A. in Anthropology from Columbia. |
| Patricia
H. Easton PENNSYLVANIA - WESTERN member since 1988 RA since 1991 |
Pat
Easton has been the Regional Advisor for Western Pennsylvania since
the region began in 1991.She is the author of seven books, five of
them for children. Her latest book, Davey's Blue-Eyed Frog,
won the Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award given by the Oregon
Educational Media Association. She is a two-time winner of grants
in literature from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. With her husband
Richard, she teaches children's literature at Washington & Jefferson
College in Washington, PA, and mentors two weekly SCBWI critique groups.
She and Richard are the parents of three grown children. |
 Chris Eboch NEW MEXICO member since 1998 RA since 2003 |
Chris Eboch wrote The Well of Sacrifice (Clarion Books), a middle grade historical adventure set in ninth-century Guatemala. Kirkus Reviews says, "The novel shines not only for a faithful recreation of an unfamiliar, ancient world, but also for the introduction of a brave, likable and determined heroine." Chris's 2008 books include biographies of Olympic runner Jesse Owens and chocolate king Milton Hershey, focused on their inspiring childhoods, as part of Simon & Schuster's Childhood of Famous Americans series. Chris
has also written three nonfiction books for Junior High students,
Turkey and Yemen, for the Lucent Books' Modern
Nations of the World series, and Life Among the Maya,
plus Science Measurements and Science Tools for elementary
readers. She teaches for the Institute of Children's Literature
and has led dozens of workshops for children and adults. Besides
writing and reading, she loves rock climbing, swing dancing, critter
watching, cooking, and eating. |
 Darlina Eichman OKLAHOMA member since 2003 ARA since 2006 |
Darlina
Eichman spent most of her career teaching children, and managing NASA
funded graduate programs for K-12 teachers, showing them how to incorporate
space into their curricula. As senior editor on a project for Estes,
Industries, she led a team that designed and produced Ignite the Imagination,
a teacher resource guide and video tape, which provided instruction
to incorporate model rocketry into the middle school classroom. Darlina
shifted to the corporate environment in the late 1990's to develop
web-based learning materials. After moving to Oklahoma, she worked
for a company that developed online training materials for the Federal
Aviation Administration. Today she takes pleasure in writing fiction
about characters that have futuristic adventures. Blooming Tree Press
will publish her first short story in June 2006. Darlina shares her
life with husband Gregg and bouncy Bichon, Bailey. She frequently
travels to Colorado to visit grandchildren, Alec and Alyah. |
 Amy Emm WESTERN/CENTRAL UPSTATE NY member since 2005 RA since 2007 |
Amy was born and currently
resides in one of the snowiest US cities, Syracuse, NY. She has a
BS in Biology and MBA from LeMoyne College. She made good on her science
degree by spending ten years as a quality control chemical technician.
Even though she still loves analytical chemistry, she decided to change
paths and pursue writing. Today Amy lives the life every nine-year-old
envies, pedaling her bike around the neighborhood, reading constantly,
and writing Ð all in between baking cookies and playing in the
dirt behind her house. She lives with her infinitely patient and ever-indulgent
high school sweetheart turned husband, Chris. Western/Central Upstate
NY Member since 2005 RA since 2007. |
 Sheila Faichney SCOTLAND member since 2006 RA since 2006 |
Sheila
Faicheny trained as a painter and illustrator Edinburgh College of
Art and Newcastle Upon Tyne in the 1970s, and is qualified in marketing.
She has worked in illustration, journalism, social work, arts administration, careers advice, and marketing. Working through an agent, she illustrated childrens' fiction, educational literature, and newspaper articles from the mid 80s until 2001, also making and selling 3D papier mache work (including mermaid mirrors and Punch & Judy tableaux) from her gallery in the Orkney Islands. Now based on mainland Scotland, with one grown-up son at University, she collects Victorian toys, and is enjoying having more time for making pictures and stories. |
 Teresa Fannin CAROLINAS member since 1994 RA since 2009 |
Teresa Fannin now calls Western North Carolina home. She is a former corporate HR executive with a Liberal Arts BA from CalState Northridge and an MBA from Pepperdine University. After a downsizing event at a big New England bank she decided to focus on raising two daughters and trying to write something other than corporate memos. She writes mysteries and science fiction because that's what she likes to read. Those daughters are grown and Teresa and her husband consider themselves unsupervised, except for four rescued dogs that seem to be in charge of the household but do not have to be sent to college. In addition to SCBWI she is a member of Sisters in Crime and the SinC writer's group Guppies. |
|
Lizann
Flatt began writing by hand, copying her own neighborhood newsletter
on carbon paper. Fortunately the neighbours were nice and didn't squash
her early dreams. She went on to win a story contest in Owl magazine
and "A Tale of Two Hags" was published when she was 13. After earning an Honours BA in English Language and Literature, Lizann worked in the editorial department for Chickadee magazine, eventurally becoming Editor. A busy mother of three, she hasn't stopped writing. Her most recent titles include The Nature Treasury: A First Look at the Natural World (Maple Tree Press) and Let's Go!: The Story of Getting from There to Here, (Maple Tree Press, Fall 2007). Her writing has also appeared in Babybug, Highlights, Chicken Soup titles, and educational textbooks. She is an instructor for the Institute of Children's Literature. |
| Greg
R. Fishbone NEW ENGLAND member since 2001 ARA since 2002 |
Greg
R. Fishbone is the author of The Penguins of Doom (Blooming
Tree Press, 2007). Greg joined the SCBWI in 2001 and has served as
Webmaster and Assistant Regional Coordinator for the three New England
regions since. He also serves as Class President for the Class of
2k7 group of 2007 debut middle-grade and young adult authors. Greg
has published articles for the Children's Writers and Illustrators
Market including an article on writing humor (2002), a tribute
to Paula Danziger (2006), and a feature on collaborative marketing
(upcoming in 2008). |
 Sue Ford KANSAS member since 1993 RA since 2005 |
Sue Ford has told herself stories since
she was a child. Writing for children under her maiden name, Susan
Uhlig, Sue has two books out: Lindsey Hits the Club, a novel
for children 7 to 10, and Things Little Kids Need to Know,
a picture book. In addition, she has sold over 100 magazine pieces
for children and adults, including Highlights, Cricket, Brio,
and Child Life. Formerly from Washington state, where she was
RA for 3 years, Sue now lives in the Kansas City metro area. She and
her husband, Don, have two daughters, two sons-in-law, and two adorable
grandsons. Besides doing author visits in schools, Sue loves to speak
to adults about writing. The wisest thing she did in her writing career
was getting involved in a critique group with other children's writers.
www.susanuhlig.com |
 Janet S. Fox TEXAS - BRAZOS VALLEY member since 1999 RA since 2003 |
Janet S. Fox is a writer, former teacher, and ARA of the Brazos Valley, Texas, affiliate of SCBWI. Janet became a children’s author in the mid-90s. Her son’s learning differences led her to develop ideas described in her book for Free Spirit Publishing, Get Organized Without Losing It (2006). Her other published work for children includes fiction (Spider Magazine) and science non-fiction (Highlights for Children). Her novel, Faithful (Puffin/Penguin), debuts in spring 2010, followed by a sequel in 2011. She is currently a student in the MFA/Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Janet lives with her husband and their high-school age son in College Station, Texas. Website: www.janetsfox.com |
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Deby Fredericks has been part of SCBWI since 2002, when the Washington/North Idaho Region began sponsoring meetings in Spokane, WA. She started volunteering with the local network in 2004, and became membership coordinator when the Inland Empire Region formed late that year. Fredericks has sold poetry and short stories for children to Boys' Life, Ladybug Magazine, Spider Magazine, Wee Ones, and others. She has a short story in the Summer Shorts anthology from Blooming Tree Press. Her fantasy-mystery novel, The Magister's Mask, is currently available from Dragon Moon Press. It was a finalist for the 2005 Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPIE) in its category. A second fantasy novel, Too Many Princes was released in May of 2007. After writing from home and wrangling children for several years, she now works as a school crossing guard and wrangles children in a whole new way. |
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At a young age Alma Fullerton developed the drive to write – anything. After taking writing courses in college she published several short stories and articles in various magazines and books for writers. Her first novel In the Garage was published by RedDeer Press in 2006. Her second Walking on Glass was published by HarperCollins in 2007. Poet, author, freelance writer and public speaker Alma holds writing workshops for teens and adults both online and in person. She also posts writing articles and interviews with authors, editors and agents on her website and online journals. |
 Susanne Gervay AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND member since 1999 RA since 2006 |
Susanne Gervay is an award winning
Australian author who writes books filled with humor and warmth, while
tackling tough issues from bullying, blending families, burns, male
youth culture. Her much loved I Am Jack is becoming a classic
book on school bullying reaching adults and children, while Butterflies
is recognized as a defining book on youth disability. The Cave
confronts youth male culture today. Susanne's books are endorsed by
organizations including the Children's Hospital Sydney, the Cancer
Council, Life Education Australia, the National Coalition Against
Bullying. Her new book, set against the background of youth music,
is a unique combination of text and music. That's Why I Wrote
This Song is a collaboration with her daughter Tory, who wrote
the rock songs for the book. Susanne is widely published in literary journals. She is actively involved in the writing community as a mentor, speaker, facilitator. She leads the Sydney Children's Writers & Illustrators Network at the Hughenden, Sydney's literary and arts hotel. www.sgervay.com |
 Cathy Giordiano EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA member since 2000 ARA since 2008 |
Cathy Giordiano began writing after the birth of her first child. When she moved to Pennsylvania, she gave up her teaching career and dedicated herself to a writing career. After joining SCBWI, she volunteered to help with the conferences, finally organizing the Fall Conference in Philadelphia for 3 years, before stepping up to ARA last fall. She writes middle grade and young adult novels with the help of her on-line critique group. |
 Judy Goldman MEXICO member since 1997 RA since 2001 |
Judy is a bilingual writer and has
always lived in Mexico City. She has 17 books published in Spanish,
among them Los huesos sagrados, an Aztec legend published
by Ediciones SM which was also chosen by the Ministry of Education
in 2005 for its nationwide reading program, and ¿Te cuento?,
a book with four stories, by Editorial Norma. "Mouse Dream"
was published in 1994 in the The UNICEF Illustrated Christmas
Book, produced by Ravensburger Buchverlag and UNICEF. In 1999,
A Scream in the Dark and Other Spooky Tales from Colonial Mexico
received a Letter of Merit from the SCBWI for the Non-Fiction Grant.
She has worked with Victory Productions on two titles (Sarape
y Paliacate and El telar) for Scott Foresman's Lectura
program and, in 2001, collaborated, writing in Spanish, in the Aprenda
3 project of Harcourt Educational Measurement. She has written articles
about children's books for two literary supplements of Mexico, and
Críticas (distributed by PW, SLJ, and LJ) published
an article of hers in the February 2002 issue. She lives with her
husband and has two grown sons, Daniel and Ilan. They also share their
home with Lucas, a very talkative Spanish-speaking parrot, and Becca,
a golden retriever who sometimes lets her write. |
 Stephanie Greene CAROLINAS member since 1993 RA since 2006 |
Stephanie Greene considers
herself an SCBWI "success story" because she sold her first book after
attending her first SCBWI conference and listening to Betsy Byars
speak. She's been on the Steering Committee for the Carolinas chapter
ever since, and has watched her chapter expand. She's the author of
a series of chapter books about a little boy named Owen Foote, as
well as several other chapter books, Early Readers, and middle grade
novels. She is presently earning her MFA in Writing for Children and
Young Adults at Vermont College. |
 Carrell Muller Gueringer LOUISIANA member since 1984 RA since 1990 |
Librarian, storyteller, teacher and writer,
Carrel Muller Gueringer has published in magazines for adults and
children. She has co-authored and illustrated three educational activity
books. She has taught Writing Children's Literature at the University
of New Orleans for ten years. She has been active in the local and
national Catholic Library Association, serving on the Regina Medal
Award Committee for six years. She has received the 2000 SCBWI Magazine
Merit Honor Award in fiction for her story "Thornbush" in
Cricket. She has been speaker at many conferences and has done
school presentations. Carrel loves doing storytelling with creative
dramatics. She does yoga often and bakes bread sometimes. She is learning
to paint with watercolors. And, she is the proud mother of one son,
who is a Rhodes Scholar. |
 Jo Hackl CAROLINAS member since 2003 ARA since 2008 |
Jo grew up in the middle of the Mississippi piney woods just outside a ghost town in a county where storytelling was a major form of entertainment. This tradition inspired her passion for writing.
Jo holds a BA from Millsaps College and a J.D. from Yale Law School, where she received the Israel Perez prize for the best student contribution to the Yale Law Journal. Jo is an award-winning attorney, a Liberty Fellow, a dedicated writer and an enthusiastic supporter of childrens writers and illustrators.
She is a founding member of the Upstate Childrens Writers Group and a regular columnist on writing topics for the Pen & Palette, published by SCBWI-Carolinas. She lives with her chef husband and three children in Greenville, South Carolina, where she practices corporate, securities and employment law, raises fruits, vegetables, flowers and many, many weeds, and tries to write every day. |
 Lucy Hampson NEW MEXICO member since 1986 ARA since 2007 |
After
30+ years in education, Lucy Hampson is delighted to be writing full
time. She has been an early childhood teacher, a reading teacher,
an instructional coach, and an educational consultant working with
Native American Head Start teachers throughout New Mexico. Her favorite
job was Writing Resource Teacher. Working daily in elementary classrooms
she developed Writers' Workshops with dual-language Spanish/English
first through fifth graders. Lucy brings to the ARA job her lifelong
study of children's literature and her passion for writing. Her first
published piece was a poem written in third grade, followed by the
production of her play in sixth grade. That being the extent of her
publishing prowess, Lucy has been an associate member of SCBWI since
1987. She has written two novels, picture books, and several easy-to-reads.
When not reading or writing, Lucy cooks, swims, walks along the Rio
Grande, or travels anywhere she is invited. |
 Claudia Harrington CALIFORNIA - LOS ANGELES member since 1993 Co-RA since 2000 |
Claudia began her writing career in kindergarten
with a poem called Scab On Her Head. Despite that auspicious
beginning, she somehow kept writing. Her latest poem, Coming Unscrewed,
can be found in Philomel's anthology I Invited A Dragon To Dinner
& Other Poems To Make You Laugh Out Loud (a CBC Best Pick). Claudia
writes by night, sells homes on L.A.'s west side by day...and night!
Before that, she could be seen in commercials, movies and television
(still can, if you watch enough late-night reruns). She lives with
a very understanding husband, three wonderfully wacky children, and
a standard poodle who eats underwear. |
 Lynn E. Hazen SAN FRANCISCO - SOUTH member since 1991 ARA since 2006 |
Lynn E. Hazen's first novel for middle grade readers, Mermaid Mary Margaret, was hailed "a winner" by Kirkus Reviews in 2004. She followed her success with a picture book, Buzz Bumble to the Rescue in 2005. Her young chapter books, Cinder Rabbit, and Seymour's Snail Trail, are forthcoming in 2008 and 2009, and her young adult novel, Shifty, will be published in 2008. Lynn earned an M.F.A in Writing For Children and Young Adults at Vermont College. Lynn enjoys visiting schools and libraries. She also enjoys speaking to adults at conferences and special events for preschool and elementary teachers, educators, librarians, and aspiring writers. Please see Lynn's websites and blog: www.LynnHazen.com
|
 Connie Heckert IOWA member since 1989 RA since 2000 |
Connie is the author
of 14 authored, co-authored and contributed books for children and
adults. Her children's books include Dribbles (Clarion Books)
and Miss Rochelle and the Lost Bell. The Swedish Connections
featured two Swedish exchange students, and was her M.A. essay
at the University of Iowa. To Keera With Love (Sheed and
Ward), one of two co-authored nonfiction projects, has been reprinted
four times. She has written more than 450 newspaper features and magazine
articles, including "The Ballad of the Prairie Blacksmith" in Cricket
and "8 Reasons I LOVE my writer's group" in The Writer.
A poem, "Rainy Day Walk," is forthcoming in Highlights. Connie
teaches writing for Augustana College and for the Institute of Children's
Literature and particularly enjoys teaching adult ed classes, "Current
Preschool Books" and "Writing Children's Books." She has taught at
the University of Iowa's Summer Writing Festival and serves on the
Board of Directors of the Moline Schools/David R. Collins Children's
Literature Festival. An RA since 2000, she is passionate about the
SCBWI and looks forward to more rainy day walks. |
 Genny Heikka CALIFORNIA - NORTH/CENTRAL member since 2003 ARA since 2004 |
Genny Heikka has been the Assistant Regional Advisor in Northern California since 2004. It wasn't until after Genny earned her MBA, worked at a global computer company for five years, then decided to stay home to raise children that she got back in touch with her passion for writing and for children's literature. Genny
has had poetry published in magazines. Three of her manuscripts
have received the following recognition: 1st Place, Children's Literature
Category, California Focus on Writers Contest (picture book, Feathers
and Fur, Sticky-Stuck, Greasy-Grimy); Honorary Mention, California
Focus on Writers Contest (Heart Harvest); and Honorary
Mention, Smartwriters.com WIN contest (middle grade novel, Give
and Take). In addition, she edits the "Good News" section
in the Northern California SCBWI newsletter, The Acorn. Genny enjoys
reading, writing, dancing, baking, being outdoors, and spending
time with her husband and two young children. |
George Hellstern NC/NE Texas member since 2006 RA since 2009 |
George
has been an Air Force officer, an adjunct faculty member, a project manager, an operations engineer and a software developer. He writes
science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction. Recently he has finished two young adult sci fi manuscripts and is halfway through a
historical fiction. Authors he looks up to are Jane Yolen, C.S. Lewis,
J.R.R. Tolkein, Piers Anthony and Robert Heinlein. He grew up in the 80's in the mid-west and now lives in Texas. After seven years he's almost past the culture shock and has even been told he's started on a south-western accent. George was born in Germany, the son of a Puerto-Rican Army officer and a Virginian Air Force brat. He'll be serving the North Central, North East Texas SCBWI region as the Advisor for 2009, 2010 and 2011. |
 Christine L. Henderson MINNESOTA member since 2005 RA since 2007 |
Christine L. Hendersons first publishing credits were in scientific journals. After receiving her M.S., she worked several years at a laboratory where she did quite a bit of technical writing. Her interest in childrens literature blossomed when she became a stay-at-home mom and received an honorable mention in a Writers Digest competition. Her work has appeared in two Chicken Soup for the Soul books, Highlights for Children, Young Rider, and Magazine Markets for Childrens Writers. Christine has completed a young adult mystery and is currently working on several other projects, including a middle grade novel. She makes time to write between her three kids schedules, walking her dogs, and handling Regional Advisor duties. |
 Esther Hershenhorn ILLINOIS member since 1978 RA since 1994 SCBWI Board of Advisors |
Esther Hershenhorn wears many
hats, including those of Author, Teacher, and Writing Coach. Esther's
titles include Chicken Soup By Heart, winner of the Sydney
Taylor Book Award, and the middle grade novel The Confe$$ion$
and $ecret$ of Howard J. Fingerhut. Esther teaches Writing for
Children classes at the University of Chicago's Writer's Studio and
Chicago's Newberry Library. She often introduces herself as the Susan
Lucci of Children's Books. Her writer's plot line was every bit as
long as that of the (eventual) Emmy-winning soap opera star, with
enough twists and turns to serve the plot lines of two writers! Like
most characters, Esther discovered she was different for her journey.
Her plot line's inevitable yet surprising satisfactory resolution
delivered something even more wonderful than what she first sought
(i.e. the knowledge that her Writer's Story was also worth sharing).
SCBWI's membership elected her to the Board of Advisors in 2002. www.estherhershenhorn.com |
 Ellen Hopkins SIERRA NEVADA member since 1998 ARA 2005-2007 Co-RA 2007 |
Ellen
Hopkins is an award-winning author, poet and freelance writer. After
publishing twenty nonfiction books for middle grade readers, Ellen
journeyed into the realm of young adult fiction. There, she says,
she found her true muse, who inspired her to experiment with novels
in verse. Ellen has written four NY Times bestselling YA verse novels,
and has three more awaiting their turn in her publisher’s queue.
www.ellenhopkins.com |
Jessie Huang TAIWAN member since 2008 RA since 2008 |
Jessie Huang has a special interest in children's literature and its influences on language and literacy development after her daughter was born. After receiving her doctoral degree, she has been teaching English Children's Literature at college and tries to introduce the magical power of English children's literature to adult learners. She is a frequent attendee and presenter of children's literature conferences, sharing her critiques and research on children's books. However, her dream of becoming a writer herself started to take shape in 2006 when she published her first book, Folktales from Taiwan. |
Sydney Salter Husseman |
Sydney Salter Husseman
writes middle-grade and young adult fiction. Her novels My Big
Nose & Other Natural Disasters and Jungle Crossing will be
published by Harcourt in 2009. Sydney lives in Layton, Utah with her
husband, two daughters, lazy cats, and giant, hairy Bernese Mountain
dogs. When not writing, Sydney likes to read, experiment with new
recipes, sample exotic chocolates, hike with her family and go to
movies and rock concerts with her husband. |
 Claira Jo SCOTLAND member since 2007 RA since 2008 |
Inspired by the look of anticipation on
her young listener's faces, when "Claira Jo" has her writer's
hat on, she makes sure each word is just as exciting as the next.
CJ, to her friends, was thrilled and honoured when asked to be advisor
for the Scottish region and looks forward to the great opportunities
that lie ahead. Armed with exciting ideas to pitch, this Edinburgh
lass will venture onward and upward as the advisor known for making
Scotland's SCBWI events a must to attend. www.clairajo.co.uk |
 Joanne Gail Johnson CARIBBEAN - SOUTH member since 2004 RA since 2005 |
Published by Macmillan, Joanne's
children's books are Go Barefoot, The Scottish-Island
Girl, Sally's Way, and Digger's Diner come
with read-along CDs sold exclusively through her website www.caribbeanchildren.com. Her fifth title, Ibis Stew?
Oh No!, about the illegally hunted national bird of Trinidad
and Tobago, was released in December 2005. Her story, "Racing
the Rain" will be published in the first of Macmillan Carbbean's
new anthology series: Treasure House. Joanne is editor of
a new Caribbean Sci-fi/ Fantasy series (also Macmillan), targeting
children ages 12 to 15. She has written, produced, directed and acted
for both stage and television. In 1996 she started her own production
company SUN TV LTD. She recently completed a 90 minute documentary,
“The Journey Now Start,” covering the two-year football
campaign that culminated in Trinidad and Tobago claiming its glorious
debut at the World Cup in Germany 2006 -- the smallest nation ever
to qualify! www.caribbeanchildren.com |
|
MD/DE/WV |
Mona Kerby is the author of a dozen fiction, nonfiction, and picture
books for children. Her newest title, Owney, the Mail Pouch Pooch,
is a 2008 title by Frances Foster of Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
She is a professor and coordinator of the School Library Media Program
at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. |
 Laurie Krauss Kiernan PENNSYLVANIA - EASTERN member since 2001 RA since 2002 |
Laurie Krauss Kiernan worked for Remediation
and Educational Support Systems for eight years. She began her career
as a teacher and worked her way up to Staff Development Coordinator,
creating curriculum materials and providing teacher training throughout
the Eastern United States. After the birth of her second child, she
felt it was best to devote more time to her children as a stay-at-home
mom. It was through reading to her children that she grew passionate
about children's literature and joined the SCBWI to learn more about
writing and publishing books. The first thing she learned was, "Don't
quit your day job." To make ends meet, while working on her middle-grade
and young adult novels, Laurie launched an in-home pet-care business.
She loves spending time with animals and looks forward to seeing her
stories published. Laurie lives in Landenberg, PA, with her husband,
two children, and two dogs. She enjoys camping, boating, gardening,
long walks with dogs, and working from the heart in all of her endeavors.
She directed her first SCBWI conference only four days after the September
11th attacks with a determined heart and a lot of help and encouragement
from SCBWI friends and volunteers. |
 Corinne King AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND member since 1997 ARA since 2006 |
Corinne
King, who writes under the pen-name of Corinne Fenton, has been writing
children's books for the last ten years. She completed a Diploma of
Arts (Professional Writing & Editing) in 1996 and since then has
been writing both children's books and poetry. Corinne's picture book
Queenie: One Elephant's Story was released in August 2006.
When not at her writing desk, Corinne also worked as the Office Manager/Secretary
for the Children's Book Council's Victorian Branch for 8½ years
prior to taking up her new role as SCBWI Assistant Regional Advisor
for Victoria, Australia. |
 Ken Kilback CANADA - WEST member since 2004 RA since 2008 |
Ken is a full-time Kindergarten teacher in Vancouver, and has been writing for children since 2002. Three of his picture book manuscripts have received Honorable Mention awards in the Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition (Children's Category): Benita Mah and the Biggest, Baddest, Meanest Teacher in the Whole World (2006), Pirates in the Classroom (2007), and The Day My Grandpa Went Fishing (2007). In 2006, The Piano Press published his poem There is Santa in the Sky as a song in its piano-music compilation, My Christmas Fun Book: Level One. Ken also writes reviews of children's books for Resource Links and Canadian Children's Book News. He lives in Burnaby, B.C. |
 Jo S. Kittinger SOUTHERN BREEZE member since 1992 RA since 2003 |
Jo has a BFA in Fine Arts, summa
cum laude, from the University of Montevallo with a minor in biology.
Jo's creative side, teamed with her love of nature, lead to a number
of nonfiction children's books including Dead Log Alive! and
A Look at Rocks with Franklin Watts, and Birds of North
America with DK, Inc/Smithsonian. Jo has also authored several
Rookie Readers with Children's Press. Her latest Rookies are biographies
of Jane Goodall and George Washington Carver. Her first
picture book, The House on Dirty-Third Street, is under contract
with Peachtree Publishers. "When my own children were learning to
read, I realized the importance of easy-readers," says Jo. "That is
why I love to write them." Jo is a frequent contributor of feature
articles for the "Just For Kids" page of the Birmingham News.
Her articles have appeared in Boy's Quest and Pockets,
and she sold a hidden picture illustration to Highlights. Photography
and pottery allow Jo to express additional aspects of her creative
side. Jo lives in Hoover, AL, with her husband, Rick. www.jokittinger.com |
| Shirley Klock SAN FRANCISCO - SOUTH member since 1998 ARA since 2006 |
When
Shirley was in fourth grade, she went around disguised as Harriet
the Spy, taking notes on her neighbors. Observing people turned out
to be a life-long interest, as she majored in Sociology at Pomona
College. A desire to create led to studio art classes and the Writing
Program at Brown University. After decades of teaching and working
in professional development, Shirley returned to crafting short stories.
Her most recent publications include stories in Cicada and
two anthologies from Kingfisher, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin. Shirley
began volunteering for the SCBWI as the registrar for the region's
Asilomar conference, and she continues to enjoy the many friends she's
met there over the years. Other interests include riding, sailing,
and elkhounds. |
 Robin Koontz OREGON member since 1986 RA since 1994 |
Robin began her shaky career as an
illustrator and production artist. She published her first picture
book the same year she joined the SCBWI and began volunteering for
the Oregon region shortly thereafter. Thanks to the SCBWI she learned
that writing was also a cool thing to do. Currently she is illustrator
and/or author of novelty books, early readers, picture books, nonfiction
books, magazine articles and curriculum texts. Upcoming titles for
2009 are Butterfly Spring and The Adventures of Furlock
and Muttson. Robin has one very patient husband of 31 years,
two dogs, one cat, and a variety of wild critters that inhabit their
Funny Farm in western Oregon. www.robinkoontz.com |
 Michelle Kuhonta GERMANY member since 2001 RA since 2006 |
Michelle Kuhonta is the author of a number
of picture books, including the We Love the Earth series (Cacho Publishing), a set of environmental stories that was originally published in English, sold worldwide, and translated into Japanese. She also contributes to IBBY-sponsored projects, such as Crossing Boundaries With Children's Books (Scarecrow Press), for which she annotated and selected international books for young readers. A former U.S.-based children's publishing professional, she left full-time publishing to write and travel. Currently, she lives in Munich, Germany. As RA for SCBWI Germany, Michelle organizes conferences and events where writers, illustrators, and other industry professionals share craft,critique, coffee, and kids' books. |
Margo Lemieux NEW ENGLAND - CENTRAL member since 1985 RA since 2005 |
Margo Lemieux is a professor at Lasell
College in Newton, MA, with degrees in education and fine arts. Her
published works include Full Worm Moon, The Fiddle Ribbon, Paul
and the Wolf, and Wolf Moon. Her illustrated works include
Lobsters & Crabs Oh My, I Like You to Make Jokes, Mean Words, and
Zachary's New Home. She has also worked as a book reviewer,
freelance newspaper correspondent, graphic designer, and aerobics
instructor. |
 Anna Levine ISRAEL member since 1992 RA since 2000 |
Anna Levine was born
in Halifax, Nova Scotia, lived most of her childhood in Montreal,
Quebec, and immigrated to a kibbutz in Israel when she was eighteen
years old. She now lives in a suburb of Jerusalem with her husband
and two children. Her first YA novel, Running on Eggs (Front
Street/ Cricket Books), made the New York Public Library's list of
best books for the teen age in the year 2000. Set in Israel, the novel
is about the friendship between two girls from two very different
religious and cultural backgrounds. Anna has also published in Spider
Magazine, Highlights for Children, Jack and Jill,
Boy's Life, and Children's Playmate. Anna says, "Though
I never planned for my novels to be set in Israel, I can't help but
keep coming back to life here, maybe as a way to make sense of it
all. My characters grapple with the same issues that I face everyday."
Cicada Magazine will publish a short story of hers in their
upcoming issue. "I have been a member of SCBWI since 1992,"
Anna says, "which was one of the best moves I've ever made!"
|
 Nancy D. LewisNEW YORK - METRO member since 1987 RA since 1994 |
Nancy Lewis is pursuing
a career in children's book writing, mainly focusing on middle grade
fiction and nonfiction. She has been a writer since grade school;
however, as she saw nothing romantic about being a starving author,
she is also a computer programmer, currently concentrating on interactive
website programming. Her education -- B.A. in English and Computer
Science (College of William and Mary, 1981), M.A. in Liberal Studies
(New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 1996),
and M.P.S. in Interactive Telecommunications (NYU's Tisch School of
the Arts, 1998) -- reflects her keen interest in continuing to learn
about new and varied subjects. She's one of those "dangerous
people" who knows a little bit about a lot of things. Being a
Regional Advisor has furthered her education in children's book writing,
illustrating, and publishing, and her main goal as RA is to help facilitate
others on their own educational journey into the children's book world. www.prettysilly.com |
|
Amanda Materne graduated with an MA in American Literature from New Mexico State University. She edited for literary journals The MidAmerican Review and Puerto Del Sol before moving to New York City and becoming an associate agent. After selling one adult fiction novel The Root Worker by Rainelle Burton, told in a child's voice, no less it finally sunk in that she had more an editorial eye than an agent's eye, so she took a job as an editor. She has also been a college English instructor and a member of an internationally-touring classical saxophone quartet. She currently lives on the Peninsula with her husband, three cats, and a bunny, and is in the midst of revising her first middle grade novel. |
|
Alice loves to play with words. "Language is like music," she says. "When I write, I play with words and ideas, and put them together to
create something exciting and new."
The author of 40 children's books, fiction and nonfiction, Alice's most
recent picture books include: Thank You, World(illustrated by Wendy
Anderson Halperin, 2007, Dial Books) and Eliza's Kindergarten Surprise (illustrated by Nancy Speir, 2007, Marshall Cavendish). Her most recent nonfiction book, Darwin (picture book biography, illustrated by Mary Azarian, Houghton Mifflin) was published Spring, 2009. Alice teaches writing and presents to children and adults at schools, conferences, and workshops. She has been active with SCBWI-Illinois for almost 15 years, serving as Central Illinois Network Representative and Downstate Illinois Coordinator. Alice loves the feeling of community that SCBWI brings, and appreciates all of the opportunities SCBWI creates to learn and grow together. |
|
Stephanie McGregor, a Midwestern American, has lived in Glasgow, Scotland for over five years. She began to seriously pursue writing in 2001 after being given encouragement at her second Ohio State University Children's Literature Conference. Since then she has written several short stories and published poems, but her main focus is writing for middle grade and young adult audiences. Stephanie is currently revising her middle grade novel, From the Fog, and young adult novel, Being Ben, for possible publication. She is excited about the amount interest they have received in the past few months and will hopefully have good news soon. Looking ahead, she plans to finish work on the second book in the From the Fog series, and begin pursuing her other young adult novel ideas. |
|
Maeve
McMahon was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and graduated from St.Mary's
College of Education, Belfast, as an elementary school teacher. She
taught in Belfast for seven years. In New Orleans, Louisiana she taught
for ten years and was principal for eighteen years. There she was
recognized by the National Association of Elementary School Principals
as an outstanding Principal. The United States Department of Education
recognized her school as Exemplary. Now that she has retired
from administration in schools, she has time to devote to her long
love: children's books. She lives in Dublin, Ireland where she has
written short stories for radio and articles for magazines. She
is devoting full time to writing for children. |
|
|
 Susan K. Mitchell HOUSTON member since 2003 ARA since 2007 |
Susan K. Mitchell is the Assistant
Regional Advisor for the Houston Texas SCBWI chapter. She is a preschool
teacher and author of several books. Her picture book credits include
Stone Pizza (2007), The Rainforest Grew All Around
(2007), and Kersplatypus (2008). Susan also writes a great
deal of non-fiction for the educational market. She has written nine Hi/Lo chapter books. The topics of her non-fiction books range from entertainment superstars to architectural engineering. She lives just north of the Houston area with her husband and two beautiful daughters. |
 Lena Merhej LEBANON member since 2006 RA since 2007 |
Lena is an illustrator and an animator. She has freelanced
in various fields, doing independent short films, comic strips, children
books and awareness campaigns. She teaches and gives workshops in
animation, illustration and design for children, and comic books.
Her illustrations are distinguished by the line quality and the joyful colors that she puts in depicting figures and sceneries in her work. She loves details and ornamentation, and bases her work on henna and arabesque patterns. Her illustrations often take the narrative at a different level, as she is interested in adding another level of reading to her work. To see samples of her recently published illustrations, please visit www.lenamerhej.com/portfolio |
 Liz Mertz BRAZOS VALLEY (TX) member since 1993 RA since 2007 |
Liz Mertz wasn't born in Texas, but she got there as fast as she could. Moving was a regular event during her childhood, while her father explored for oil, but she has finally put down roots over 20 years in College Station. With her husband, Max, she has two grown daughters and two new sons-in-law. As a campus minister's wife, she leads Bible studies, speaks at retreats, cooks for crowds and tries to keep her sense of humor.
Liz is a copy-editor by nature and a journalist by training. She has written or edited material for newspapers, magazines, university catalogs and church newsletters. Liz polishes her writing for children through conferences (mostly SCBWI), classes, critiques and workshops. As yet unpublished in this field, she continues to write, submit, hope and try to keep her sense of humor. |
Heather Montgomery SOUTHERN BREEZE member since 2006 ARA since 2008 |
Heather Montgomery writes nature and science articles and books for children. He has served the Southern Breeze region since 2007 in multiple roles including organizing outings for nature writers, serving as a conference Angel, coordinating critique groups, and serving as the local area Contact Person. Heather is published in Highlights for Children, Science World, and Know: The Science Magazine for Curious Kids among other magazines. Her first book, How To Survive an Earthquake, was published by Capstone Press in January 2009. Heather has a B.S. in Biology and a M.S. in Environmental Education. She lives in northern Alabama with her husband, two dogs, two cats and loads of wildlife. |
 Anna Myers OKLAHOMA member since 1987 RA since 2000 |
Anna Myers was born in Texas, but has spent most of her life in Oklahoma. She graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma, and in 1998 she received that institution's Distinguished Former Student Award. For many years Anna taught English in high schools and junior highs. She and her late husband, Paul, are the parents of three grown children. She lives in Chandler, OK. Myers is the author of 18 books of historical fiction for young people, published in hardcover by Walker of New York and in paperback by Puffin and Yearling. Honors for her books include New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, Parents Choice Story Book Honor, American Bookseller Pick of the List, Independent Publishers Award for Best Children's Fiction, twice winner of the Oklahoma Book Award, inclusion on children's choice list of more than twenty-five states. She is a frequent speaker at teachers' conventions and writing conferences. |
 Alexis O'Neill CALIFORNIA - VENTURA/ SANTA BARBARA member since 1984 RA since 1995 |
Alexis O'Neill is the author of Loud Emily (Simon & Schuster), The Recess Queen (Scholastic), Estela's Swap (Lee & Low) and The Worst Best Friend (Scholastic). She also writes for children's magazines including Cricket, Cobblestone, Calliope, Faces, and Odyssey and teaches writing for the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. Alexis is a founding member of the Children's Authors Network (CAN!) and a museum education consultant. She has a Ph.D. in teacher education, an M.S. in instructional technology, and a lifetime of experience in the visual and performing arts. She writes a column for the SCBWI Bulletin called The Truth About School Visits and enjoys helping published authors shape their presentations for schools and other venues. She lives in Simi Valley, CA, with her computer wizard husband, David, and tries to negotiate world peace on playgrounds and among her three cats, Fudge, Ebony & Cookie. www.alexisoneill.com |
Jennifer O'Keefe CALIFORNIA - LOS ANGELES member since 1999 RA since 2001 |
Edie Pagliasotti is an aspiring author who
dreams of seeing her fiction and nonfiction stories published someday.
She feels her duties (and joy) of working as a regional advisor and
her involvement with the SCBWI have only deepened her education in
children's literature. She loves living alone, and knew from an early
age that she would opt for a career over family life. She wanted to
see the world and did. She shares her home with Cleo, the Calico,
a real Hollywood personality. It was Cleo who inspired her to write
her first picture book, which was well received at the local library.
On the road to publication, she hopes to emulate the many gifted authors
she has met along the way. |
 Edie Pagliasotti CALIFORNIA - LOS ANGELES member since 1999 RA since 2001 |
Edie Pagliasotti is an aspiring author who
dreams of seeing her fiction and nonfiction stories published someday.
She feels her duties (and joy) of working as a regional advisor and
her involvement with the SCBWI have only deepened her education in
children's literature. She loves living alone, and knew from an early
age that she would opt for a career over family life. She wanted to
see the world and did. She shares her home with Cleo, the Calico,
a real Hollywood personality. It was Cleo who inspired her to write
her first picture book, which was well received at the local library.
On the road to publication, she hopes to emulate the many gifted authors
she has met along the way. |
 Michelle Parker-Rock ARIZONA member since 1998 RA since 2002 |
Michelle Parker-Rock is the author of the Authors Kids Love
Series, nine biographies of contemporary multicultural children’s
authors including Bruce Coville, Jack Gantos, Bruce Hale, Sid Fleischman,
Alma Flor Ada, Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, Joseph Bruchac, Linda
Sue Park, and Christopher Paul Curtis (Enslow Publishers). She is
also the author of R. L. Stine - Creator of Creepy and Spooky
Stories (Enslow Publishers). Michelle teaches writing for the
Institute of Children’s Literature and is a Literacy Consultant
for various educational and trade publishers. She also writes articles
for the SCBWI Bulletin and writes and coordinates online Web reports
for the SCBWI conferences. Michelle is the Editor of The Journey
an online newszine for the children’s writing and illustrating
community, and she enjoys supporting both aspiring and published writers
and illustrators as they navigate their way through the world of children’s
publishing. Michelle has a Master’s Degree in Education and
is an award-winning educator. She was born and raised in New York
City. She now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her talented husband
and best friend, Larry Rock. |
 Jean Patrick DAKOTAS member since 1994 RA since 2003 |
When Jean Patrick was eight years old, she had two dreams.
Most of all, she wanted to play major league baseball for the Chicago
Cubs. She also wanted to write books for children. Unfortunately,
Jean never made it to the big leagues. However, her other dream did
come true. Jean is the author of a number of children's books, including
The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth, If I Had a Snowplow, and
Cows, Cats, and Kids: A Veterinarian's Family at Work. Her
newest book is Who Carved the Mountain? The Story of Mount Rushmore.
Jean enjoys speaking at schools, libraries, and conferences. Her home
is in South Dakota where she lives with her husband, three children,
and more animals than she can count. www.jeanpatrick.com |
| Q.L. Pearce
CALIFORNIA - ORANGE COUNTY/ LONG BEACH/ RIVERSIDE/ SAN BERNARDINO member since 1995 ARA since 1999 SCBWI Board of Advisors |
Q.L. Pearce has written more than one hundred fiction, trade
nonfiction, and classroom resource books, as well as two volumes of
plays, and three film tie-ins for the Fox animated sci-fi film Titan
AE (Putnam) and the Universal animated series, Land Before
Time (Lowell House). She loves scary tales, fantasy, and mysteries.
Her fiction includes Scary Stories for Sleep-Overs (Price/Stern/Sloan)
and Scary Stories for Stormy Nights (Lowell House). Q has written
mysteries for the classroom in Reading Comprehension Mysteries (McGraw-Hill)
and High Interest/Low Readability Mysteries (Frank Schaffer). Her
latest books for teachers include, Getting Ready to Teach Math
for the New Teacher (McGraw-Hill), Activities for Science Centers
(McGraw-Hill), andWriting: Total Solutions for Teachers (Frank
Schaffer). She is currently serving as a member of the SCBWI Board
of Advisors. Q lives in Claremont, CA, with her husband, daughter,
three amazing dogs, Buddy the cockatiel and a host of fish. |
 Heather Powers TEXAS - SOUTHWEST member since 2002 RA since 2006 |
Heather
Powers graduated with a B.F.A. from Kendall College of Art & Design
where she studied painting, drawing and printmaking. She served as
the Illustrator Coordinator for her local SCBWI chapter before taking
on the position of RA in the Spring of 2006. Heather has illustrated
for the children's market for 4 years working with educational publishers
and magazines. Heather is currently working on writing picture books
to accompany her unique printmaking style. |
 Linda Powley TEXAS: NORTH CENTRAL/NORTHEAST member since 1992 RA since 2006 |
Linda is the author of a YA novel, Happenings (HarperCollins,
2002, under the pseudonym Katei Cobb), as well as an educational text,
How to Prepare for the TAKS, ELA Edition (Barron's Educational
Series, 2004). Evenings and early mornings finds her at the keyboard
lost in imaginary worlds of characters and conflict. Seven-to-five
finds her hard at work teaching British lit to reluctant teenagers
more tuned in to rap and rock than reading the literary greats. Overall
her teaching career has provided the perfect combination of inspiration
and desperation that keeps her writing. Outside the classroom her
interest are simple. She reads, of course, cereal boxes, billboards,
Steven King novels, email, anything and everything. And she loves
to walk with her furry companion Miss Rose, a rescued Australian Cattle
Dog. Fall weekends find her under stadium lights, and in the spring
she is often out at a local Renaissance fair. Overall she is a quite,
friendly soul who loves simple celebrations -- tea parties and harvest
dinners -- and small joys, like giggly kids. They are the best! |
Francine Puckly NEW ENGLAND member since 2004 RA since 2009 |
Francine Puckly joined SCBWI and the Holliston, MA critique group in 2005 after a long and frustrating search for her people. Grateful for finding a supportive writing community, she immediately jumped into co-directing the 2007 and 2008 SCBWI New England conferences and joined on as ARA at the beginning of 2009. When not experiencing writers butt, Francine enjoys taking long walks on rural roads, gardening, baking cakes, playing various musical instruments, and racing to finish her monthly book club selections. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, two children and 16-year-old writing companion, her cat Frau Blcher. Her publishing credits include more than 50 humor essays which have appeared in numerous regional magazines and newspapers. She is currently at work on her second YA novel.
|
 Elaine Ridge SOUTH AFRICA member since 2007 ARA since 2008 |
Dr Elaine Ridge has taught at schools and universities for over 40 years. Her interest in children’s literature has been a consistent feature of her career. Over many years at the University of Stellenbosch she taught courses on children’s literature at undergraduate and postgraduate level. She also lectured on children’s literature as a visiting professor at the University of Linköping in Sweden. Her publications include chapters in books on children’s literature, educational books and translations of children’s books. She has also edited children’s books and has spoken on children’s literature at a number of conferences and symposia. |
 Sally Riley NEW ENGLAND - SOUTHERN member since 2001 RA since 2004 |
Sally Riley lives in Rhode Island with her kitty, Penny, and has
been writing all her life (journals, Christmas letters, poems). But
she had never consciously thought about writing books for children.
Then, in 1999, a friend observed that she was less excited about teaching
computer software programs than she had been. He asked her what she'd
do if she weren't teaching computers. Her answer came from somewhere
in her subconscious, "I'd try to write a children's book."
She decided to pursue that dream. In January 2001, she enrolled in
Vermont College, and in January 2003, she received an MFA in "Writing
for Children and Young Adults," giving her life a whole new direction.
She has received much encouragement from her two daughters and their
husbands. And her writing is inspired by her three granddaughters.
She first became involved with the SCBWI in 2001 and feels she receives
much more than she gives -- from conferences, retreats, workshops,
networking with other writers, and especially from the critique group
she found through the SCBWI. |
| Francesca Rusackas CALIFORNIA - ORANGE COUNTY/ LONG BEACH/ RIVERSIDE/ SAN BERNARDINO member since 1992 RA since 1998 |
Francesca Rusackas
is an award winning author of both fiction and non-fiction books.
Her latest picture books are: I Love You All Day Long and Daddy
All Day Long, both published by HarperCollins. Her friendship
craft book Girls just Wanna Have Fun! was selected as Outstanding
by Parent Counsel 2000. Francesca is a Regional Advisor for SCBWI
since 1999. She is the co-founder of an annual children's writing
contest as well as the founder of, "Teen Writers of America", a weekly
program that mentors teens with a focus on writing. Francesca is an
educational contributor to the Los Angeles County Fair, a member of
Cal State Fullerton Advisory Board and a frequent guest of southland
schools, libraries, bookstores and author's festivals as well. She
lives in So. Cal with her husband, twin sons, puppy, cats, bird, frogs
and a runaway hamster. |
 Marilyn Salerno NEW ENGLAND member since 1987 RA since 1996 |
Marilyn Salerno lives
in a southwestern suburb of Boston, near the start of the Boston Marathon.
She has thirty years of teaching experience in kindergarten, first
and second grade, and has a M.A. in Social Studies. Marilyn became
Massachusetts Regional Advisor in 1996. She soon assumed the Regional
Coordinator position and assists three New England Regional Advisors
in planning an annual conference, workshops and retreats, and a database
for writers and illustrators who visit schools. She belongs to two
SCBWI critique groups and enjoys being an active participant in both
groups. Marilyn enjoys writing articles on science and social studies
and has published magazine stories with Odyssey, Cobblestones,
Family Earth, and Pass It Along. She recently sold her
first piece of fiction to Hopscotch for Girls and is working
on several picture books and Big Books. Marilyn's husband is also
a teacher and they have two sons, David and Michael. When Marilyn
has free time, look for her on the tennis court, the ski slopes or
jogging down the block. She is an avid gardener, an accomplished musician
and an NCAA soccer official. |
 Daniel Sekarski SWITZERLAND member since 2004 RA since 2006 |
Daniel Sekarski was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1951.
He has a creative writing degree from the University of Missouri in
Columbia. Daniel moved to Switzerland in 1992. He is a stay-at-home
dad for three children and works for the United Nations Environmental
Program as a creative writer, writing children's literature teaching
about the environment as well as a freelance creative writer of adult
and children's instructional fiction. |
 Joni Sensel WESTERN WASHINGTON member since 2000 Co-RA since 2009 |
Joni is the author of a silly middle-grade novel, REALITY LEAK, and an historical fantasy called THE HUMMING OF NUMBERS, both from Holt. Her third fantasy, THE FARWALKERS QUEST, will be published by Bloomsbury in February 2009. Shes also the author of two picture books and loads of business propaganda. Joni lives in the woods near Mt. Rainier, where she tries to keep up with her new dog as he chases elk and climbs trees after squirrels. |
 Carla D. Shank JAPAN - OKINAWA member since 1996 RA since 1995 |
Carla Shank is an American
Children's Librarian, DODDs Overseas Schools, a writer, and has been
the RA for Japan since 1995. She says, "I have lived in Germany,
Spain, Italy and now, Japan. I enjoyed all the cultures, but I truly
enjoy the serenity, beauty and peacefulness of the Japanese culture."
She is interested in children's books of all countries. In the Children's
Literature class she teaches at the University of Maryland, Carla
is expanding the focus from American children's literature to books
from around the world. Her goal? "When I retire (when Hell is
frozen), I want to have a painted bookmobile, travel around communities
and tell stories from many, many countries. If I sell a book or two
along the way (mine or those of others) or meet and encourage developing
writers, I will feel that I have accomplished something worthwhile." |
 Annette Sheldon NORTHERN OHIO member since 2003 ARA in 2006 RA since 2007 |
After nearly 20 years as a storyteller and preschool specialist in public libraries, Annette retired to pursue writing full time. Her first book, Big Sister Now, was released by Magination Press in 2005, and won an iParenting Media Award for 2006. Big Brother Now, also by Magination Press, is due out in October 2008. Annette does author visits for schools and libraries, and offers workshops in storytelling and puppetry.She lives on Blossom Farm in Northeast Ohio with her husband Harry. |
Alan F. Stacy NE/NC TEXAS member since 1997 ARA since 2009 |
Alan Stacy is a self-taught artist who has worked in broadcast televisionas a computer graphic artist and animator, as well as storyboarding, propsand original collectible miniatures, costume design, art direction and makeup artistry for music videos, corporate videos, plays, theatrical films. He alsohas taughtcartooning and comic book art to kids andto adults, storytelling, drawing,advertising art and commercial illustration. He is a sculptor, photographer,a fantasy writer, history buff and a musician. Illustrated books in print from Sleeping Bear Press: "L is for Lone Star, A Texas Alphabet", "Round Up Numbers, A Texas Counting Book","P is for Passport, A World Alphabet", "G is for Galaxy, An Out of This World Alphabet"; for Pelican Publishing "Texas Zeke and the Longhorn", "Pennsylvania Dutch Alphabet" and "Alaskan Night Before Christmas". www.alanfstacy.com |
 Chérie Stihler ALASKA member since 2001 RA since 2004 |
Safety fears from a television show prompted
Chérie to bury all of her mother's storage containers in the
backyard until the bomb disposal squad could arrive. As a result,
Chérie experienced her first byline in the second grade penning
a report on the composition of plastic explosives. Still on a quest
to learn "absolutely everything," Chérie writes in
a variety of genres; however, the muse usually strikes when only a
crayon or used envelope is nearby. Her essays, nonfiction, poetry,
recipes, and folktales appear in online and print publications. Always
with many projects on the go (including future picture books), Chérie
lives, travels, and writes from Fairbanks, Alaska, where she is a
"wild mannered" Kindergarten teacher by day. Chérie
and husband Scott love to travel throughout Alaska. They make their
home with an amazing assortment of critters. Look for them in the
audience sometime. Oh, and if you see her wearing Post-It notes, please
take them off for her. Thank you! www.cheriestihler.com |
 Bridget Strevens-Marzo member since 1996 Int'l Illus. Coord. since 2002 SCBWI Board of Advisors |
Of Anglo-Catalan extraction, Bridget
Strevens-Marzo, International SCBWI Illustrator Coordinator, is happy
to share her experience of working for children's publishers internationally.
Among other books, her illustrations to Margaret Wild's Kiss,
Kiss! reaped awards in France and Australia, several US reprints
and foreign co-editions. A childhood fascination with characters like
Rupert Bear and the Saggy Baggy Elephant was followed by an MA in
Chinese and Art History at King's College, Cambridge. After copying
at the Louvre and translating art books, she wrote and illustrated
her first published books in 1990. Three years in children's multimedia
then added a computer to her paintbrushes. Alongside illustrating
for books and magazines, Bridget makes time to explore books with
kindergarteners as well as with students at Parsons Paris School of
Design. On the SCBWI Board of Advisors, Bridget has hosted international
SCBWI conferences and exhibitions and gives talks on children's book
illustration. www.bridgetstrevens.com |
 Beaulah P. Taguiwalo PHILIPPINES/ASIA PACIFIC member since 2001 RA since 2001 |
Beaulah has been a freelance illustrator and book
designer since 1989. Her work is in more than 30 published titles,
including books by three National Artists: Nick Joaquin’s Culture
and History (Anvil, 2004), Leonor Orosa Goquinco’s The Dances
of the Emerald Isles, and Salvador Bernal’s Patterns for the
Filipino Dress. She has illustrated and designed several children’s
books, including five Philippine language editions of Alice McLerran’s
The Mountain That Loved A Bird. Beaulah has also conceptualized, art-directed
and produced an anthology of prize-winning nature stories written
by children, and a collection of fifteen stories for children by children
told in languages spoken in the West Visayan island of Panay.
A former Chairman and sectoral representative for illustrators in the Philippine Board on Books for Young People, Beaulah helped found Ang InK, the first children’s illustrators group in the Philippines. Aside from creating books, Beaulah edits Expression OnLine, the SBCWI international online newsletter reaching almost 4,000 subscribers worldwide, and translates illustrated antique children’s books into Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a for Children’s Books Online: The Rosetta Project. She lives in Manila, Philippines with her husband and two sons. |
|
WESTERN
WASHINGTON |
Jaime Temairik is a children's book illustrator and media escort. Last year she illustrated her first children's book, Lights, Camera, Fashion! (becker&mayer!/Chronicle Books, 2007.) The book/activity kit, written by Western Washington Co-RA Sara Easterly, won an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award and a 2007 Parents' Choice Silver Honor. Jaime's spot illustrations for an adult grammar book, Things That Make Us [Sic], written by SCBWI member Martha Brockenbrough, will be out in Fall 2008 from St. Martin's Press. Jaime is also pleased to announce her new media escort business, First Edition Media Services. First Edition provides publicists help in securing local opportunities with expert knowledge of the Western Washington bookstore and media market. Specializing in children’s book tours and events. |
 Linda Tan PHILIPPINES/ASIA PACIFIC member since 2008 RA since 2008 |
Linda has been a voracious reader ever since she was a child. Her first job after graduating from university was at a printing company where the smell of ink and paper and the sound of offset printing machines filled her daily work life and made her very happy. She decided to learn as much as she could and has worked in both editorial and production roles, for magazines, books and journals for the past 15 years. Her work has taken her to Hong Kong, Indonesia and Vietnam. Currently, she runs a small independent bookshop that includes a children's lending library. She is passionate about children's books and in 2007 she set up a publishing company to publish children's books. She believes there is a lot of talent in Malaysia and hopes, with the help of SCBWI, to develop and encourage talented writers and artists to produce books that will enrich the lives of children everywhere. |
 Kathy Temean NEW JERSEY member since 2002 RA since 2004 |
Kathy Temean is a writer, illustrator,
and owner of Temean Consulting Website Design Company. She has used
her writing/illustration skills and love for children's books to
create fun websites for authors like Jerry Spinelli, Eileen Spinelli,
Jen Bryant, Kathye Fetsko Petrie, and Kat Lindsey to name a few
well-known authors. Kathy has published stories and artwork for
Highlights for Children, Fun For Kidz, Guidepost
for Kids, Boys' Quest, Hullabaloo, plus other
children's magazines. Outside of the children's industry, she has
written and illustrated for Mademoiselle, Kraft Foods,
United Airlines, Knight Ridder, and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Her illustrations are being featured with a local poet this Fall
in Ocean County Magazine. She is a certified art
teacher with a degree in Education, Fine Arts, Graphic Arts, and
holds an M.B.A. degree. Kathy uses her graphic arts experience to
teach Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Web Design at an adult
school in her area and she also conducts art classes for children
at various libraries in the state and workshops on illustration
at local schools. She has developed a fun site for children where
children can learn to draw, play, and think: www.artandstorybooks.com.
www.kathytemean.com |
 Amy Thomas MOSCOW member since 2000 RA since 2007 |
During her last semester at university, Amy took two classes she really enjoyed: public relations and childrens literature. She then moved to Washington, DC, where she worked in public relations and wrote many letters, speeches, articles, and reports. A local SCBWI event inspired her to try writing for children, too. Shes now the author of Burning Money, the Cost of Smoking (Mason Crest 2009), which she wrote while living in South Carolina and Virginia. Today, Amy lives in Moscow, Russia, with her adventuresome spouse and twin boys. |
 Holly Thompson JAPAN-TOKYO member since 2004 RA since 2005 |
Holly Thompson has an MA in fiction writing from New York
University and currently teaches creative writing and EFL at Yokohama
City University. Her novel Ash (Stone Bridge Press), set
in Kagoshima and Kyoto, was recommended in Education About Asia
as a teaching tool for high school and university classes studying
Asia and intercultural issues. Her short stories have been published
in various magazines, as well as the anthology The Broken Bridge:
Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan. Raised in New England,
Thompson first lived in Japan in the early 1980s and has made it her
home since 1998. She is hard at work on a second novel as well as
several children's books and stories, all set in Japan, and many focusing
on biculturalism. |
Laurie Thompson WESTERN WASHINGTON member since 2005 Co-RA since 2009 |
Motherhood transformed this mild-mannered, dissatisfied software engineer into a passionate, fulfilled writer. While raising two young children, she strives to create nonfiction and fiction stories that will educate, entertain, and inspire. Lauries articles have appeared in ParentMap, KNOW, Faces, WeeOnes, and KONO, and she is currently working on a teen nonfiction book for would-be social entrepreneurs. Read more about her work at lauriethompson.com. |
 Seta Toroyan NEW YORK - METRO member since 1998 RA since 2006 |
Seta is half Armenian-Lebanese and half English,
otherwise known as a "halfsie." She writes picture books, middle grade
novels, and non fiction. Now settled in Brooklyn, Seta is working
on a middle grade book set in Lebanon, one of the places she grew
up. Seta loves reading, painting, hiking, and traveling overseas whenever
possible. She is very excited to be a part of SCBWI, and still can't
get over the fact that homework now means reading Junie B. Jones! |
 Dominique Garde Torres (Nikki) PHILIPPINES/ASIA PACIFIC member since 2002 ARA since 2007 |
Dominique Garde Torres (Nikki) is a mother,
a wife, a writer and a cultural worker - in that order. As a mother,
she and her daughter Ruth have a little two person book club where
they share newly discovered titles. As a wife, she is her writer-husband’s
critic and book editor. As a writer, her work is comprised mostly
of scripts for special events, blogs and press releases. Her one and
only screenplay “Tukso” won the award for Best Screenplay
at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ 2007 Independent
Film Festival. As a cultural worker/government employee of the Cultural
Center of the Philippines Nikki is in charge of coordinating theater
workshops and performances within and outside of Manila. While continuing
to write and dreaming of the day her first children's or young adults
book will be published, she brings her expertise in events planning
and management to the table and has been instrumental in organizing,
along with her RA, most of the SCBWI activities in her region. |
 Peggy Tromblay WISCONSIN member since 1995 ARA since 2001 |
Peggy
Tromblay's writing has appeared in various children's magazines, the
New England SCBWI website, Writer's Digest, as well as The
Institute of Children's Literature's First Time Authors anthology.
Her writing has earned first place in the 2005 Writer's Digest
Writing Competition, Juvenile Fiction category, as well as the
2002 Wisconsin Regional Writers Association Jade Ring Contest, Juvenile
Story category, and claimed top-ten recognition in the 2000 Pocket
Fiction Contest. Her work has been cited in the Children's Writer
Newsletter as a "great example of humor." On occasion,
Peggy can be found behind a podium giving talks to adults and young
adults on the craft of writing or hanging around with her own two
young adults and their friends, gleaning stories. |
 Marjorie van Heerden SOUTH AFRICA member since 2001 RA since 2002 |
Marjorie was born
and grew up on a farm near Cape Town in South Africa. From an early
age she loved drawing animals and people. After school she studied
fine art at university where she met her husband. They honeymooned
and camped around Europe for a year and then, back in Cape Town had
their first child. Reading picture books to her daughter awakened
Marjorie's interest and for the last 25 years she has been writing
and illustrating for kids. Her picture books, as writer and/or illustrator,
have been published in the USA, England, Germany, Greece and many
African countries, in English, Afrikaans, French, German, Greek and
about twenty African Languages. The original artwork for a number
of her books has been shown at various international exhibitions in
Europe and elsewhere. Her greatest joy is in writing and illustrating
a picture book that is good enough to be kept under the child's pillow
at night, but her greatest contribution to date has probably been
the 16-title reading series she designed, created and published for
the millions of historically disadvantaged beginner readers in South
Africa. |
 Denise Vega ROCKY MOUNTAIN member since 1989 Co-RA since 2004 |
Denise Vega has been writing since she was a child and is still amazed that
her dream of being a published author is a reality. She believes that
without SCBWI, she would not be where she is today with her children's book career and is thrilled to give back to SCBWI as a Co-Regional Advisor. Her first novel, CLICK HERE (To Find Out How I Survived Seventh Grade), was winner of the Colorado Book Award for Young Adult Literature. She has two other young adult novels coming out--Fact of Life #31 (May 2008), and ACCESS DENIED, the sequel to CLICK HERE (July 2009)--as well as two picture books in 2008 and 2009. She has also published articles, short stories, and poems in both the children's and adult markets. Denise loves french fries but can't stand cheese and lives in Colorado with her cheese-loving husband and three children. www.denisevega.com |
 Laurie Wallmark NEW JERSEY member since 2002 ARA since 2008 |
Laurie Wallmark writes picture books, middle-grade novels, non-fiction, and poetry. She has had articles published in Highlights for Children and Appleseeds. Read about her works-in-progress at www.lauriewallmark.com. |
 Laura Watkinson NETHERLANDS member since 2008 RA since 2008 |
Laura Watkinson is from the UK and is now based in The Hague, the Netherlands, where she works as a translator, mostly from Dutch, and occasionally from Italian and German, with a strong focus on children's books. She particularly enjoys working on picture books, because of the fascinating challenge of balancing the words and the pictures, but also loves working on books with more complicated plots for older readers. Above all, she's enthusiastic about stories and about opening up books written in different languages to English-speaking readers all over the world. As she says, "There's a lot of great stuff out there!" |
Mark Weinstein GREECE member since 2004 RA since 2008 |
Mark Weinstein |
 Bobbie Wells EASTERN NEW YORK member since 1997 RA since 2007 |
A recently retired elementary school art teacher,
Barbara "Bobbie" Wells is the author of the educational webquest, Art Is Like Ice Cream, for which she was awarded membership in New York State Academy of Teaching and Learning (NYSATL). Now enjoying the luxury of having time to pursue her dream, Bobbie writes and illustrates picture books. Long active in various activities in the Upstate New York Region, including coordinator of the Mid-Hudson Valley annual conferences, Bobbie finds SCBWI members to be among the most generous of professionals with their advice and encouragement. As RA for the newly formed Eastern NY Region, she is delighted to have the opportunity give back. |
 Tekla White CALIFORNIA - NORTH/CENTRAL member since 1990 RA since 1999 |
A retired teacher,
Tekla is the author and co-author of multicultural, reading, language
arts, logic, and math workbooks. She received the Sacramento Area
Reading Association's 2002 Lighthouse for Literacy Author's Award.
Tekla earned a B.A. in English Writing from the University of Washington,
a M.A. degree in Spanish Literature from Holy Names College in Oakland,
CA, and a California teaching credential. She studied anthropology
and archaeology in Mexico. Tekla is
the author of Missions of the San Francisco Bay Area (Lerner
Publications) and The Flight of the Union (Carolrhoda). She
has written nonfiction and fiction books for reading programs. Her
stories and photographs about migrant education, braces, fleas, apples,
and a variety of other subjects have been featured in newspapers and
magazines. Tekla loves writing
tall tales, inventing new characters and writing about the real world,
past and present. When Tekla isn't reading, writing,
having a Grammi day, or taking care of three cats and a dog, she substitutes
at the Spanish Immersion school in Davis, California. www.cal.net/~tnwrites/Tekla.htm |
 Patricia Wiles MIDSOUTH member since 2003 A RA since 2006 |
Patricia began her writing career as a public radio commentator and
newspaper columnist, and now works as a staff writer for her local
newspaper. Her essays on writing have appeared in Writer's Digest,
The Writer, and the 2001 Writer's Handbook. She
is the author of the Kevin Kirk Chronicles Series: My Mom's a
Mortician, Funeral Home Evenings, Early-Morning
Cemetery and The Final Farewell. She has received awards
from the Kentucky Press Association for her news writing and from
the Association for Mormon Letters for her children's books. Patricia
and her husband have three children who have grown and left the nest.
Their cat, however, is a moocher who refuses to move out and get his
own place. |
 Lynne Wikoff HAWAII member since 1995 RA since 2002 |
Lynne began writing in 1978, first
as a newspaper columnist writing on parenting issues, then working
in corporate communications, all the while wishing she had time to
write for children. In 1999, she decided she'd never have enough time
and she got started anyway. She has had two picture books published
by a regional publisher, has several manuscripts either under consideration
by national publishers or in progress. She also does manuscript reviews
and editing for a regional publisher and a limited amount of other
freelance writing. Lynne is a graduate of UCLA and earned a master's
degree in social work at the University of Hawaii. |
 Suzanne Morgan Williams SIERRA NEVADA member since 1993 RA since 2005 |
Suzanne Morgan Williams is the author of
10 nonfiction children's books with more on the way. From her first
book, Made in China: Ideas and Inventions from Ancient China,
to the present, her work takes her into classrooms to connect with
students, to universities and museums to work with experts, and to
communities to share experiences. She has traveled three times to
the Canadian Arctic to work with Inuit people, writing The Inuit
(Franklin Watts), and has worked with Indian people from various
tribes on books and projects. Pinatas and Smiling Skeletons: Celebrating
Mexican Festivals, co-author Zoe Harris (Pacific View Press),
won Best Nonfiction Multicultural Book 1999 from Independent Book
Publishers. A former teacher, and always a mom, Suzanne believes children
deserve honest, accurate, kid-friendly books. You'll find her speaking
at libraries, museums, teacher workshops, and schools -- or at home
writing (or gardening or feeding her goats). You'll find her books
in museum shops and libraries as well as book stores. www.suzannebooks.com |
 Linda Wirkner MID-ATLANTIC member since 1990 RA from 1994-2000 ARA since 2001 |
Linda Wirkner is the author of 14 books including Mystery
of the Blue-Gowned Ghost, Destination Norfolk, Martinis, Summer Romance,
hi-lo adaptations of As You Like It, Hamlet, and Julius
Caesar, and a 6-book series on US history for 4th graders. She’s
also published more than 200 short stories and articles in magazines
for both children and adults and was a contributing writer for The
Greatest Biggest Golf Book and The YG Book of Short Stories.
Linda has taught elementary school, including three years at an international
school in Tripoli, Libya, and has worked as an historical interpreter
for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. She served as the Regional
Advisor for the Mid-Atlantic chapter of SCBWI for 7 years and now
serves as Assistant Regional Advisor. She has been a writing instructor
with the Institute of Children's Literature since 1997. |
 Diane Wolfer AUSTRALIA member since 2003 ARA since 2006 |
Dianne
Wolfer is the author of eleven books for teenagers and younger readers.
Her picture book, Photographs in the Mud, inspired by a trip
to Papua New Guinea, is being used as a reference for international
workshops promoting peaceful and "positive discourse analysis." Dianne loves traveling. She has lived in Bangkok, Tokyo, remote western Nepal, and now lives over 400 km from Perth, said to be the most isolated city in the world. Keeping in touch with other children's writers/illustrators is therefore important to her. As ARA of SCBWI Dianne looks forward to linking Western Australia authors and illustrators with author/illustrators worldwide. www.diannewolfer.com |
 Yoko Yoshizawa JAPAN - TOKYO member since 2006 ARA since 2008 |
Born and raised
in Japan, Yoko Yoshizawa received her BFA from Aoyama Gakuin University
and lived in the U.S. for one year as an exchange student and another
as a visiting teacher. She also spent nearly a year in Africa and
has traveled to many Asian countries. These experiences have strongly
influenced her creativity. Her illustrations and stories of animal
characters and retellings of African and Asian folktales have appeared
in monthly magazines and Japanese textbooks, and have been published
as books by Fukuinkan Shoten. |
| Janice M. Yuwiler CALIFORNIA - SAN DIEGO member since 2000 ARA 2006 RA 2007 |
Janice's career as a writer began in elementary school when she insisted upon creating stories with her spelling words rather than mere sentences. Her fifth grade teacher proclaimed Janice would grow up to be a writer -- a prophecy Janice blithely ignored as she went on to work as a camp counselor, computer programmer, and with her Masters in Public Health, directed the California Center for Childhood Injury Prevention. For over fifteen years, Janice worked at the national, state, and local level to prevent child and adolescent injuries. But in 2000, the prophecy could no longer be denied -- Janice joined the SCBWI. Now, Regional Advisor for the San Diego Chapter, Janice's work has appeared in Highlights for Children and Spider magazine. She's published two nonfiction YA books with Lucent Press, Family Violence and Great Medical Discoveries: Insulin, and one of her middle grade adventure stories has been accepted for television broadcast. |
 Cheryl Byrd Zach member since 1982 Regional Advisor Chair SCBWI Board of Advisors |
Cheryl is the author of 50 books for adults and children, including
Benny and the No-Good Teacher (Simon & Schuster) 1995 nominee
for the South Carolina Children's Book Award; The Class Trip
(Bantam) a CBC/IRA Children's ChoiceBook; Hearts Divided (Bantam)
YA historical, VRW Holt Medallion, and Runaway (Berkley) YA,
RWA Rita award. She is the only young adult writer inducted into the
Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Recent YA suspense novels
include Secret Admirer and Shadow Self, (Berkley). A
former teacher and National Merit Scholar, she has a B.A. and M.A.
in English. She also belongs to Novelists, Inc.; Sisters-in-Crime;
and Romance Writers of America, and speaks at schools and writing
conferences around the country. Her articles have appeared in The
Writer magazine, Children's Writer, and the Writer's
Handbook. Sometimes working with her daughter Michelle Place, sometimes alone, she also writes historical fiction for adults under the pen name Nicole Byrd. Cheryl is a fervent supporter of the SCBWI, its members both old and new, and its hardworking, dedicated superheroes, the Regional Advisors. www.NicoleByrd.com |
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