McCully, Emily Arnold

McCully, Emily Arnold

I have been illustrating children’s books since 1967 and writing them since 1980. After college, I moved to NYC and worked on the fringes of advertising. My first children’s book came about by happy accident. I have also published adult novels and a Y/A biography of Ida M Tarbell, the Woman Who Challenged Big Business- and Wonwww.emilyarnoldmccully.com

More biographies of Ada Byron Lovelace and 21 other important women are coming later this year.

3 Fun Facts

1. I wrote my first book at 3
2. I once acted in an Of-Broadway play
3. I eat weeds

Marchese, Allison Guertin

Marchese, Allison Guertin

Allison Marchese is a graduate of Fordham University in New York City with a degree in communications and creative writing. She spent much of her professional career in public relations. In her work as a writer, Allison has created plays, and written short fiction, feature articles, and essays on the people, places and events in her adopted home of Columbia County, NY where she has lived for 30 years. Allison says she has always been a writer at heart and has history in her genes. Her family on her father’s side has kept meticulous records of the family dating back to the early 1600s in Anjou, France. Her idea of writing local histories blossomed when she and her husband purchased a historic 1740s colonial home in the hamlet of Malden Bridge, NY. They have lived there for many yeas with their two cats and possibly several other previous inhabitants. The Hidden History of Columbia County, NY, is Allison’s first history book. She follows up with her newest local history book, Hudson Valley Curiosities which contains some of the region’s most suspenseful stories and features some of the most infamous people to step foot in the region.

3 Fun Facts

1. I love history and reading.
2. I ride horses
3. I have a metal detector

Allen, Elanna

ELANNA_ALLEN

Allen, Elanna

Elanna Allen is the author most recently of Pet Dad and Poor Little Guy. She graduated from Brown University and studied animation and illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. She has designed characters and directed animation for Disney Junior, Nick Jr, and PBS. She lives in New York City with her husband and two boys, and is currently learning to play the ukulele. elannaallen.com

3 Fun Facts

1. Elanna designed characters and directed animation for Disney
2. She lives in New York City with her husband and two boys
3. Elanna is learning to play the ukulele.

Williams, Ismee

Williams, Ismee

Williams, Ismee

Ismée Williams is a pediatric cardiologist who trained and practiced at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City for 15 years. She lives in New York with her husband and three daughters as well as a dog who is commonly mistaken for a muppet. Water in May is her first novel. www.ismeewilliams.com

3 Fun Facts

1. Ismee is a pediatric cardiologist and the book is based on her experience in the field.
2. Her mother is a Cuba immigrant and she was raised by her abuelos, which also informed Mari’s familial relationships in the book
3. Her labradoodle has a larger Instagram following than she does: https://www.instagram.com/redrowandoodle

Sales, Leila

Sales, Leila

Leila Sales is the author of six young adult and middle grade novels, including This Song Will Save Your Life, Once Was a Time, and, most recently, If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say. Leila grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Chicago. Her hobbies include riding her bike, eating chocolate, and sleeping. Leila lives in Brooklyn, New York, and works in children’s book publishing. Follow her @LeilaSalesBooks or at leilasales.com.

3 Fun Facts

1.I type using only two fingers.
2. I did gymnastics for eight years.
3. I can recite the names of every student in my high school class in alphabetical order.

Janowitz, Jessie

Janowitz, Jessie

Jessie Janowitz is a graduate of Princeton University’s undergraduate creative writing program and holds a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School. She’s currently in the Writing for Children MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. The Doughnut Fix is her debut novel and the first book in a middle grade series. She lives in New York City with her husband and three children. www.jessiejanowitz.com

3 Fun Facts

1. I love the machines that I grew up with but that we don’t use anymore, like air poppers, typewriters, and cassette players, and I try to sneak them into my stories.
2. I never baked anything until I had kids, not even chocolate chip cookies.
3. I hate bats (the flying kind).

Funk, Josh

Funk, Josh

Josh Funk writes silly stories and somehow tricks people into publishing them as books – such as the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series Dear Dragon, Pirasaurs!, Albie Newton, How to Code a Sandcastle and more! Josh grew up in New England and studied Computer Science in school. Today, he still lives in New England and when not writing Java code or Python scripts, he drinks Java coffee and writes manuscripts.

For more information about Josh Funk, visit him at www.joshfunkbooks.com and on Twitter at @joshfunkbooks.

3 Fun Facts

1. Josh Funk plays a mean rhythm guitar – he wrote and sang the songs for all of his book trailers.
2. Josh Funk has a system for eating pancakes so the bottom pancake gets the same amount of syrup as the top.
3. Josh Funk can only think of 2 fun facts about himself.

Roy, Jennifer

Roy, Jennifer

Jennifer Roy is an award-winning, bestselling author or many books including Yellow Star, the Trading Faces series with Julia DeVillers, Jars of Hope, Mindblind, and her newest book Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein, inspired by the true story of a boy growing up in Iraq during the first Gulf War. Ms. Roy’s books have won numberous honors including the Boston Globe. She lives near Albany, NY and loves to read. www.jenniferroy.com

3 Fun Facts

1. I have an identical twin sister Julia DeVillers, who is also an author.
2. I spent childhood summers on my grandparents’ farm in Copake, Columbia County.
3. I have a Shih Tzu-Maltese mix and a rescue cat.

Stewart, Melissa

Stewart, Melissa

Melissa Stewart is the award-winning author of more than 180 nonfiction books for children, including Can an Aardvark Bark?; No Monkeys, No Chocolate; and Feathers: Not Just for Flying. She holds a degree in biology from Union College in Schenectady, NY, and a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. Melissa believes that nothing brings nonfiction writing to life like firsthand research. While gathering information for her books, she has explored tropical rain forests in Costa Rica, gone on safari in East Africa, and swum with sea lions in the Galapagos Islands. www.melissa-stewart.com

3 Fun Facts

1. My favorite research experience was observing hippos from a hot air balloon floating over the African savannah.
2. I often write in my pajamas.
3. My favorite punctuation mark is the question mark because I’m so curious.

Olien, Jessica

Olien, Jessica

Jessica is the author and illustrator of four books for Balzer+Bray/Harpercollins including RIGHT NOW, ADRIFT: AN ODD COUPLE of POLAR BEARS, THE BLOBFISH BOOK and SHARK DETECTIVE. Jessica’s cartoons have been published in the New Yorker and the New York Observer and Conde Nast Traveler and her writing for adults has been published in Slate, the Atlantic, McSweeney’s and many others. www.jessicaolien.com

3 Fun Facts

1. When I’m stressed I look at pictures of Corgis.
2. My favorite fruit is pomegranate.
3. I used to live in Egypt.

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