Kimberly Pauley loves a good book you can sink your teeth into. Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (maybe), a comic coming of age vampire story, was her first novel. She majored in English at the University of Florida and took as many classes Read more…
Maribeth Fischer’s first novel, The Language of Goodbye, was awarded Virginia Commonwealth University’s First Novel Award for 2002. Fischer’s second novel, The Life You Longed For, chosen as an April 2007 BookSense Notable Book, as well as a alternate book selection the Literary Guild, was cited by The Library Journal Read more…
Bonnie Leick (pronunciation: like) grew up on a dairy farm in Central Wisconsin where as a child, she spent her summers picking rocks in the fields and baling hay. Year-round she was a “Calf Care Specialist”; i.e., she fed calves. Bonnie’s artwork has sometimes been defined as quirky and humorous. Read more…
THE POETRY PEOPLE first met as students of poetry, writing and workshopping at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha under the careful eye of Dr. Phil Zweifel. In 1997, the classmates decided to share their work with others and formed as The Poetry People. Their first public reading was hosted by Martha Merrell’s Bookstore Read more…
Kathi is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. In addition to writing, she works part-time as an occupational therapist. In the past, she has worked with teens in crisis and has publications in a variety of occupational therapy journals and books. Read more…
Tom Montag is a middlewestern poet and essayist who is interested in place, the way place shapes us, and the way we are shaped by it. Curlew: Home is his memoir of growing up on an Iowa farm. The Idea of the Local is his collection of essays about people Read more…
Lori Handeland has written nearly fifty novels, novellas and short stories in several genres–historical, contemporary, series and paranormal romance, as well as urban fantasy–for such publishers as: Dorchester, Kensington, Harlequin, St. Martin’s Press, Harper-Collins and Simon and Schuster. She is a New York Times, USA Today, Waldenbooks and Bookscan Bestselling Read more…
Janet Piehl is a children’s librarian and author. A former editor of children’s books, she has written more than ten nonfiction books on topics ranging from Harry Houdini to chipmunks. She currently works at the Wilmette Public Library outside of Chicago.
CANDACE DECKER has worked as a professional actress, singer, storyteller and taught acting workshops for children for the past 22 years. As a storyteller she has served as an artist-in-residence in the Chicago-area school system, performed for children throughout Maryland with BOOKPALS, and as a volunteer reader in the public Read more…
Kris Radish fell in love with words as a little girl when she discovered the joy of reading about Nancy Drew. By the beginning of eighth grade she had read every book in her local Wisconsin library and knew she was going to be a writer. With almost a million Read more…