April comes from bad blood. In 1656, one of her ancestors was charged with pig bewitchment. One great-grandfather was in an arson gang. Another gunned down her grandmother’s boyfriend for kissing her. Don’t worry – April only burns things down and kills people on paper. In third grade, April wasRead More →
Bill Konigsberg was born in New York City. Expectations were high based on his highly athletic birth; he stuck the landing and received a 5.8 from the Russian Judge, but he was later disqualified when it was determined he was doping. He blamed his mother, a practice that continued forRead More →
Morgan Matson never thought she was going to be a writer. She planned on being a marine biologist, until she spent a summer at oceanography camp and realized that she got seasick, didn’t like boats, and that fish creeped her out. (And that was day one.) Instead, she now spendsRead More →
Brandon Mull is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fablehaven, Beyonders, and Five Kingdoms series. He was also architect for the Spirit Animal series and wrote the first book. Brandon lived in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile for two years where he learned Spanish and juggling.Read More →
Lisa McMann is proudly left-handed when it comes to things like writing, but she’s ambidextrous when it comes to sports. Her favorite foods are bacon and avocados, and she doesn’t eat sugar. She lives in the Sonoran Desert outside of Phoenix, and her backyard is home to various way-ward catsRead More →
Mary E. Pearson’s favorite activities as a child were climbing trees and pretending she was Tarzan, or running along fence tops—and roofs—pretending she was a spy with a bagful of incredible gadgets. She was rarely herself. Amazingly, she never broke a bone until she caught a basketball in gym class.Read More →
Eliot Schrefer has probably already played many of you with his Hearthstone priest deck. (Keep an eye out for “YellowBonobo.”) When he’s not playing video games, he’s writing. Eliot is the author of Endangered, Threatened, and Rescued, survival stories about great apes and wartime which have twice been finalists forRead More →
William Ritter watches shows like Steven Universe and My Little Pony with his kids… but what his kids don’t know is that he watches them just as much when they’re gone. rwillritter.wordpress.com 2017 Workshop: 5 Fundamental Facets of Novel Writing A whirlwind tutorial through five key facets of story telling:Read More →
One of the best things Lisa ever did was write a book called It’s Raining Cupcakes because it got her a gig as a cupcake judge at a big baking competition. At the event, she sat next to a chef who was a winner on the show “The Cupcake Wars,” thoughRead More →
You are probably taller than Kiersten White. Don’t be too proud—it’s not very difficult to be taller than her. Still, she’s written nine novels, is a New York Times bestselling au-thor, and is a lot older than you are. So being taller than her is a little bit cool, andRead More →
When Dan was 5 years old he got autographs from both Darth Vader and Mr. Rogers. He owns more than 350 board games. He has visited sixteen different countries, and lived in three. He was diagnosed with hypochondria as a child, but it’s mostly gone now. He memorizes poetry forRead More →
Tui T. Sutherland is a night owl who does most of her writing between 11pm and 4am. She was born in Venezuela and grew up in Paraguay, where at various times her family hosted three snuggly dogs, a villainous kitten, two monkeys with nefarious plans, and a bathtub full ofRead More →
I once ditched school to hang with some friends and had such a miserable experience with my lame-o buddies that years later I wrote it up and sold it as a short story… and it’s REALLY popular! I chickened out on kissing the girl of my dreams in 8th gradeRead More →
Megan Shepherd grew up surrounded by books in her parents’ bookstore. She went to prom in Costa Rica, was an extra in The Hunger Games movie (in the reaping scene!), and has a phobia of mariachis. She might read your palm if you ask her nicely. meganshepherd.com 2016 Workshop: THE MAGIC OFRead More →
A former history textbook writer, I’m now trying to make amends for that crime by writing nonfiction books that kids and teens will actually want to read. Before the textbook thing, I made movies with my brother in Austin, TX (our first and only feature film, A More Perfect Union,Read More →
Sure, I wrote books like The Eleventh Plague, The Darkest Path and the upcoming Black River Falls, but did you know that I’m also a pretty decent baker of cookies, cakes and pies? (My specialties include triple chocolate espresso cookies and peach and blueberry buckle.) Or that I can escapeRead More →