Dahlia Adler
DAHLIA ADLER is an Editor of mathematics by day, the overlord of LGBTQReads by night, and a Young Adult author at every spare moment in between. Her novels include the Kids’ Indie Next picks Cool for the Summer, Home Field Advantage, and Going Bicoastal (Wednesday Books, 2023), and she is the editor of the anthologies His Hideous Heart (a Junior Library Guild selection), That Way Madness Lies, At Midnight (Flatiron Books, 2022), and, with Jennifer Iacopelli, Out of Our League (Feiwel & Friends, 2024). Dahlia lives in New York with her family and an obscene number of books, and can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @MissDahlELama.
Jennifer L. Armentrout
#1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband, her Border Jack Apollo, Border Collie Artemis, six judgmental alpacas, two rude goats, and five fluffy sheep. In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders. Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can. Jennifer has been nominated and won numerous awards for her young adult and adult fiction.
Jennifer loves hearing from readers. Follow her on IG @jennifer_l_armentrout, her Facebook and Goodreads, or visit her website at jenniferlarmentrout.com.
Marni Bates
MARNI BATES wrote her first full-length manuscript in high school, and was hired at age 19 to write her memoir, Marni, for HCI’s Louder Than Words series (selected by the New York Public Library for their Stuff for the Teen Age List). Her debut novel, Awkward, was optioned by The Disney Channel as a made-for-TV movie. She has five published novels in her Smith High School series, which have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, and French. Her latest novel, DIAL EM FOR MURDER is forthcoming from Merit Press in summer 2016.
Rebecca Bendheim
REBECCA BENDHEIM (she/her) is a middle school teacher, writer, and member of the nationally-renowned Typewriter Rodeo poetry troupe, with which she types on-the-spot poetry for strangers and records weekly poems for Texas NPR. She grew up in Rhode Island and earned her bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and her MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in Austin, Texas with her partner, corgi mix, and orange cat. You can find her @rebeccabendheim on all platforms.
Dusti Bowling
DUSTI BOWLING grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, where, as her family will tell you, she always had her nose in a book. But it wasn’t until after starting down a couple of different career paths that Dusti realized her true passion was writing. She currently lives in Carefree, Arizona with her husband, three daughters, one bobcat, a pack of coyotes, a couple of chuckwallas, several rattlesnakes, and a few herds of javelina.
Dusti’s middle grade novels include INSIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A CACTUS (Sterling Children’s, 2017) and its sequel MOMENTUS EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A CACTUS (Sterling Children’s, 2019), 24 HOURS IN NOWHERE (Sterling Children’s, 2018), and THE CANYON’S EDGE (Little, Brown Children’s, 2020). Follow her on Twitter @Dusti_Bowling.
Heather Murphy Capps
HEATHER MURPHY CAPPS grew up in a small Minnesota town where the motto is: “Cows, Colleges, and Contentment.” She spent 20 years as a television news reporter before deciding to focus on her favorite kind of writing: books for kids involving history, social justice, science, magic, and a touch of mystery. She’s a mixed-race author committed to diversity in publishing and an administrator/contributor to the blog From the Mixed-Up Files … of Middle-Grade Authors. Her debut middle grade novel INDIGO AND IDA will release from Carolrhoda Lab / Lerner in 2023. She now lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, two kids, two cats, and yes, even a few cows, colleges, and contentment too. Follow her on Twitter: @HMCwrites.
Hayley Chewins
HAYLEY CHEWINS is an award-winning author of middle grade fantasy and a published poet. Her debut novel, THE TURNAWAY GIRLS (Candlewick, 2018), received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and was named a Kirkus Best Book of 2018 as well as a 2019 Amelia Bloomer List pick. Her second novel, THE SISTERS OF STRAYGARDEN PLACE (Candlewick, 2020), also received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus, and was chosen as the 2020 Foreword Indies Gold Winner for Juvenile Fiction and an Amazon Best Book of the Month. Hayley is also the author of LOKI: SEASON ONE NOVEL (Marvel Press, 2023), a middle grade novelization of Marvel’s LOKI television show, starring Tom Hiddleston. Her YA debut, I AM THE SWARM, is forthcoming from Viking Children’s in 2025. Hayley lives with her family in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is the co-host, with Lindsay Eager, of the Story of the Book podcast, where she interviews authors about their publishing journeys. When she isn’t writing books, Hayley sings and writes music for her alt-pop band with Alejandro Zarazua, EIGHT THOUSAND BIRDS.
Frank L. Cole
FRANK L. COLE was born into a family of southern storytellers and wrote his first book at age eight. Highly superstitious and gullible to a fault, Frank will believe in any creepy story you tell him, especially ones involving ghosts and Big Foot.
Frank is the author of the middle-grade novels THE AFTERLIFE ACADEMY (Delacorte/Random House 2015) and THE WORLD’S GREATEST ADVENTURE MACHINE (Delacorte/Random House, forthcoming in 2016), as well as seven other children’s books including the ADVENTURE’S OF HASHBROWN WINTERS series and the GUARDIAN series. An active promoter of reading, he has spoken to over 45,000 children across the country on the theme of “Exercising Your Imagination.” You can read more about Frank at: http://franklewiscole.blogspot.com
Ashlee Cowles
ASHLEE COWLES is the award-winning author of BENEATH WANDERING STARS (Simon Pulse), which won the Colorado Book Award, and THE POPPY & THE ROSE (forthcoming from Owl Hollow Press in 2020).
A history buff who wishes time travel was real, Ashlee finds writing books the next best thing. Raised in a military family without roots, she spent her teen years in Europe and enjoys traveling the world almost as much as she loves telling stories. Learn more at http://ashleecowles.com.
Lindsay Currie
LINDSAY CURRIE loves a great mystery, and is the author of a number of award-winning books for young readers. Her titles include THE PECULIAR INCIDENT ON SHADY STREET (2017, Aladdin/ S&S), SCRITCH SCRATCH (2020, Sourcebooks), WHAT LIVES IN THE WOODS (2021, Sourcebooks) and the forthcoming CURSES OF EASTPORT (2022, Sourcebooks) and COME OUT, COME OUT (2023, Sourcebooks). Her books have been through several print runs, earned a feature in TIME for Kids, reached the finals in children’s book awards in eight states. Connect with Lindsay at https://www.lindsaycurrie.com/; Twitter: @lindsayncurrie.
Julia Day
JULIA DAY was born in Tennessee, raised in Mississippi, and now calls North Carolina her home. She has two twenty-something daughters, one old husband, and too many computers to count. When she’s not writing stories or software, she’s traveling to distant places or watching dance reality shows on TV.
The Possibility of Somewhere (St. Martin’s Press, 2016) was Julia’s first YA contemporary romance, followed by Fade to Us (St. Martin’s Press, 2018). She also writes YA paranormal as Elizabeth Langston.
Margaret Dilloway
MARGARET DILLOWAY is the internationally published author of critically acclaimed middle grade and women’s fiction novels. Her middle grade contemporary novels, including Summer of a Thousand Pies, Five Things About Ava Andrews, and Where the Sky Lives, are published by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins. She is also the author of the American Library Association Asian/Pacific Islander Honor Award-winning Momotaro middle grade fantasy series (Little, Brown/Hachette), about a contemporary half-Japanese boy who discovers that he’s a legendary warrior.
Margaret sits on the board of San Diego Writers, Ink, where she sometimes teaches. She lives in San Diego with her husband, three kids, and a fluffy Goldendoodle named Gatsby, who co-stars in the Momotaro series.
Jen Ferguson
JEN FERGUSON (she/her/hers) is Métis with ancestral ties to the Red River (on her father’s side) and Canadian settler (on her mother’s side), an activist, a feminist, an auntie, and an accomplice armed with a PhD in English and Creative Writing. Her debut young adult novel, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet (Heartdrum/HarperCollins), won a 2022 Govenor General’s Literary Award and is a 2023 Stonewall Honor Book, among other accolades. Her other YA novels include Those Pink Mountain Nights, a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection with four starred reviews, and A Constellation of Minor Bears. Her novella “Missing” won the Malahat Review’s 2022 Novella Prize and her essay “Off Balance” was selected for the Best Canadian Essays 2020. Jen lives on the traditional and unceded territories of the Meskwaki, the Báxoje and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ nations, and teaches fiction writing at Coe College.
Claire Forrest
CLAIRE FORREST is a novelist and essayist. Her work has appeared on HuffPost Personal and Bustle, among other places. She is a graduate of Hamline University’s Masters in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. Her critical thesis focused on the importance of allowing disabled authors to tell their own authentic stories. Claire debut novel, Where You See Yourself, will release from Scholastic in 2023, with a second novel to follow.
When she’s not writing, Claire is looking for her next book to read and enjoys swimming, attending concerts, spending time with her family and friends, and befriending every dog she meets. She currently lives in Minneapolis, MN. You can find out more about her at claireforrest.com.
Lisa Gerlits
LISA GERLITS is a writer, muralist, and children’s art teacher. She graduated with honors from Lewis and Clark College with a degree in English, where she published short stories, wrote and produced plays, and won an Academy of American Poets Prize. She spent ten years traveling and volunteering before settling down in Silverton, Oregon with her family. Her debut middle-grade novel A MANY FEATHERED THING will release from Capstone in 2020. Her website is www.lisagerlits.com; Twitter is @lisagerlits.com.
Alison Gervais
Watty Award winning author ALISON GERVAIS is a current undergraduate student at Colorado State University-Pueblo, and has been writing for as long as she can remember. If she’s not writing or studying for classes, she can be found re-reading Harry Potter, watching Supernatural, or trying to win the affection of her cats.
Her debut YA contemporary novel, IN 27 DAYS, which garnered over 15 million reads on WattPad, released from HarperCollins/Blink in the summer of 2017. THE SILENCE BETWEEN US followed in 2019.
Juliana Goodman
JULIANA GOODMAN was born and raised in Blue Island, Illinois. She received her B.A. in English Literature from Western Illinois University and her MFA in Fiction Writing from Purdue University. Juliana has received several awards and scholarships for her writing and was a 2014 Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Arts Award Finalist. She’s had work published in Sigma Tau Delta’s Rectangle, Blackberry: a Magazine and Fiyah Literary Magazine. Juliana is currently a second year Literary Arts Fellow with the Tulsa Artist Fellowship. In her free time, she enjoys watching horror films, reading the latest young adult novels and hanging out with her pit bull, Artie Partie and her cat, Pickle. Her debut YA novel The Black Girls Left Standing will release from Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan in Summer 2022, with a second novel to follow.
Candice Iloh
CANDICE ILOH is a first-generation Nigerian-American writer, performer and teaching artist residing in Brooklyn, NY whose writing has appeared in Fjords Review, The Grio, For Harriet, Blavity, No Dear Magazine, Glass Poetry Journal, Puerto Del Sol, and The Black Girl Magic Anthology by Haymarket Books. They are a recipient of fellowships from VONA, Home School via Lambda Literary fellowship, as well as a Rhode Island Writers Colony Writer-in-Residence alum. They hold an MFA in Writing for Young People, concentrating in verse, from Lesley University and is a 2018 Hi-ARTS Critical Breaks artist residency recipient where they debuted their first one-woman show, Ada: On Stage. When not writing or teaching, they dance. Candice’s debut YA novel-in-verse, Every Body Looking (Dutton Young Readers/Penguin Random House, 2020) was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and a Printz Honor book. Their forthcoming young adult novels include Break This House (Dutton, 2022) and Salt the Water (Dutton, 2023).
Jennie Liu
JENNIE LIU is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Having been brought up with an ear to two cultures, she has been fascinated by the attitudes, social policies, and changes in China each time she visits. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina with her husband and two boys.
Jennie’s debut, GIRLS ON THE LINE, a young adult novel, released from Carolrhoda Lab/Lerner in 2018, and was followed by LIKE SPILLED WATER in 2020. You can follow her on Twitter @starnesliu.
Mary McCoy
MARY MCCOY is a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library and the author of the young adult novels Indestructible Object (Simon & Schuster Children’s), Dead to Me (Disney-Hyperion), Camp So-and-So (Carolrhoda Lab), and the 2019 Printz Honor Book I, Claudia (Carolrhoda Lab). Mary grew up in western Pennsylvania and holds degrees from Rhodes College and the University of Wisconsin. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.
Anna Meriano
ANNA MERIANO is the author of the middle grade Love Sugar Magic series (Walden Pond/HarperCollins), which has received starred reviews from Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Shelf Awareness, as well as the YA contemporaries This Is How We Fly (Philomel/Penguin) and It Sounds Like This (Viking/Penguin, 2022). She grew up in Houston, Texas, graduated from Rice University with a degree in English, and earned her MFA in writing for children from the New School. Anna works as a tutor and part time teacher with Writers in the Schools, a Houston nonprofit that brings creative writing instruction into public schools. In her free time, she likes to knit, study American Sign Language, and play full-contact quidditch.
Jennifer Moffett
JENNIFER MOFFETT grew up in Arkansas, where she spent her childhood playing in creeks and climbing trees while dreaming up stories about faraway places. A college study abroad program sparked her lifelong passion for travel. After working in children’s television in New York City, she received an MA in Creative Writing from The University of Mississippi and wrote book reviews for regional publications. Her short stories and poems have appeared in various literary journals, including New Orleans Review and descant. She teaches creative writing at a community college on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where she enjoys kayaking, gardening, reading outdoors, and planning trips to new places (preferably with great local yarn shops and bookstores).
Her debut YA thriller, THOSE WHO PREY, will be published by Atheneum, Simon & Schuster in Fall 2020.
You can find Jennifer at: website | twitter | instagram
Axie Oh
New York Times bestselling author AXIE OH is a first-generation Korean American, born in New York City and raised in New Jersey. She studied Korean history and creative writing as an undergrad at the University of California San Diego and holds an MFA in Writing for Young People from Lesley University. Her passions include K-pop, anime, stationery supplies, and milk tea, and she currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her dog, Toro (named after Totoro). She is the author of the YA science fiction novels Rebel Seoul and Rogue Heart (Tu Books/Lee & Low), the YA contemporary XOXO (Harper Teen), and the YA fantasy The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, 2022).
Ingrid Palmer
Originally from Ohio, INGRID PALMER has always had a touch of the pioneer spirit. She once crewed a sailboat through the Georgian Bay, drove sled dogs in Quebec, and went river rafting in Germany. These days, she’s having the time of her life writing young adult novels in the small Colorado mountain town where she lives with her husband, two sons, a mellow dog, and a ninja cat.
When not writing books, Ingrid works as a freelance editor. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and is a graduate of the Denver Publishing Institute. ALL OUT OF PRETTY, her debut novel, will release from Creston Books in 2018. Visit her online at www.ingridpalmer.com or follow her on Twitter @IngPalmer.
Jaime Questell
JAIME QUESTELL grew up in Houston, Texas, where she escaped the heat and humidity by diving into stacks of Baby Sitter’s Club and Sweet Valley High books. She has been a book seller (fair warning: book lovers who become book sellers will give half their paychecks right back to their employers), a professional knitter, a semi-professional baker, and now works as a graphic designer in addition to writing. Currently, she lives in the suburbs with her family, one derpy dog, and one imperious cat. If she had her way, she’d have an army of corgis, like the Queen of England. Her debut YA contemporary fantasy By a Charm and a Curse released from Entangled Teen in 2018.
Sandy Stark-McGinnis
SANDY STARK-MCGINNIS was born in California. Early childhood dreams: Play quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, or become a forest ranger. Instead, she became something more inspirational, a teacher. Currently, she teaches fifth grade, and is amazed and inspired by her students every day. She spends her time reading (of course), and traveling with her husband and two children. Sandy believes her thirteen years as a competitive swimmer trained her to have the discipline and perseverance to journey through a writing life. Her middle grade novels include Extraordinary Birds and The Space Between Lost and Found (Bloomsbury). Find about more about Sandy at https://sandystarkmcginnis.com
Kirya Traber
KIRYA TRABER is originally from Northern California, and now resides in Brooklyn, NY. She is a collaborating artist with Ping Chong + Company, and is New York Stage and Film’s 2020 Founders Award recipient. From 2015-2020 she was Lincoln Center’s lead Community Artist in Residence. She is the recipient of a NY Emmy Nomination (First Person PBS), Robert Redford’s Sundance Foundation award for Activism in the Arts, a California Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, and an Astrea Lesbian Writers Fund award for Poetry. She has been a commissioned artist of notable New York arts institutions such as the New York Philharmonic, the Morgan Library & Museum, the Orchestra of St Luke’s, and La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, among others. Throughout her ambitious performance and writing career, Kirya has continuously utilized her art for social change as a cultural organizer. Her debut young adult novel will release from Dutton/Penguin Random House in 2023.
Edward Underhill
EDWARD UNDERHILL writes music for animated TV shows by day and words for teenagers by night. He grew up in Wisconsin and earned his bachelors in music composition from the Oberlin Conservatory (while also writing queer ghost stories for a campus magazine). A queer trans man, Edward is a recipient of the SCBWI-LA Mentorship Award and currently resides in California with his partner and a talkative black cat. His debut young adult romcom Always the Almost will release from Wednesday Books/Macmillan in spring 2023, with a second novel to follow.
Jenni L. Walsh
JENNI L. WALSH spent a decade enticing readers as an award-winning advertising copywriter before becoming an author. Her passion lies in transporting readers to another world, be it in historical or contemporary settings. She is a proud graduate of Villanova University, and lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband, daughter, son, and four-legged kids. She writes historical fiction for adults and children, along with nonfiction for children. Her first middle grade historical novel is forthcoming from Scholastic Press in 2021. You can find Jenni at jennilwalsh.com. and @jennilwalsh on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Kristi Wientge
KRISTI WIENTGE is originally from Ohio where she grew up writing stories about animals and, her favorite, a jet-setting mouse. After studying to become a teacher for children with special needs, she spent several years exploring the world from China to England, teaching her students everything from English to how to flip their eyelids inside out before finally calling Singapore home. Now, all her adventures revolve around her four children and within the contemporary MG books she writes. Her novels include Karma Khullar’s Mustache, Honeybees and Frenemies, and Best Friends, Bikinis, and Other Summer Catastrophes (Simon & Schuster Children’s, 2022).
Justine Pucella Winans
JUSTINE PUCELLA WINANS (they/she) is a queer and nonbinary writer who lives in Los Angeles with their husband and incredible Halloween-colored cats. Their books include YA mysteries like the critically acclaimed Indies Introduce title, BIANCA TORRE IS AFRAID OF EVERYTHING, and ONE KILLER PROBLEM (Harper Teen). Their MG speculative horror titles include the acclaimed Stonewall Honor Book, THE OTHERWOODS and WISHBONE (Bloomsbury Children’s). When not writing queer, creepy, and funny fiction for kids and teens, they can be found training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, reading (a lot of) manga and webcomics, and actively avoiding real life scary situations.
Alexandra Leigh Young
ALEXANDRA LEIGH YOUNG was born with a Top 40 song stuck in her head. Her first two cassette tapes were Janet Jackson’s Control and Queen’s Greatest Hits. Her pop-music dreams came true in college when she got a gig in concert production and went on tour with Third Eye Blind, The New Kids on the Block, Nick Lachey, and many more. After graduating from UC Berkeley, she moved to New York City where she ran an audio post-production house called Explosion Robinson. While there, she produced music and sound design for TV shows and video games like Ru Paul’s Drag Race, and Dance Central. In 2015, she was awarded an artist residency in South Korea, where she fell in love with a new kind of music: K-pop. After a year of reporting on South Korea’s music industry, she returned to the US and produced her debut podcast episode for Radiolab, called “K-poparazzi.” Today, she continues to report and produce podcasts for The New York Times’ #1-ranked news podcast, The Daily. Her debut young adult novel Idol Gossip, set in the world of K-pop, will release from Walker US/Candlewick in fall 2021.
