Who's In The Club


	NANCY VIAU, a former elementary school teacher and freelance writer, is the author of the middle-grade novel Samantha Hansen Has Rocks In Her Head (Amulet Books), and two forthcoming picture books: I Can Do It! (Abrams Books) and Storm Song (Marshall Cavendish). When not glued to her computer writing or running defense for her children, she skips out of rural NJ in search of adventure.		KERI MIKULSKI the author of Head Games (Razorbill/Penguin), Stealing Bases (Razorbill/Penguin), Making Waves (Razorbill/Penguin, 2012), and Fifteen Love (Razorbill/Penguin, 2012). When she’s not on a field, diamond, or court, Keri teaches writing at local colleges while working toward her MFA in Creative Writing at Rutgers University. A three-sport athlete in high school, Keri splits her time between the New Jersey suburbs and the shore with her equally sports obsessed family.
	www.nancyviau.com		www.kerimikulski.com


	WENDY MASS is the author of nine books for young readers, including A Mango-Shaped Space, Jeremy Fink & the Meaning of Life, Every Soul a Star, and 11 Birthdays. She wrote the storyline for a Monk episode that aired during the show's second season. She tells people her hobbies are hiking and photography, but really they're eating candy and searching for buried treasure. She lives in northwest New Jersey with her husband and twins.		ALISON FORMENTO is the author of the award-winning picture book This Tree Counts! and its abridged board book This Tree, 1, 2, 3. From Booklist: Teachers and parents will welcome Formento's “going green” tale. Upcoming books include These Bees Count! (2012) and Seas Count! (2013). Alison has written for several publications including The New York Times, The Writer and Parenting. She loves visiting schools and libraries and donates a portion of her book sales to AmericanForests.org. Free downloadable teachers guides are available on her website.
	www.wendymass.com		www.alisonashleyformento.com


	JEANNINE NORRIS was inspired to write Tonight You Are My Baby (HarperCollins) when she became a mother and experienced the miracle of Christmas with her own children. She is a frequent presenter in the schools and finds many budding authors in the audience. She lives with her family in Phoenixville, PA.		IRENE BREZNAK wrote stories as soon as she could print; however, she made them up long before that. Her parents called them fibs; she preferred “fiction writing in the making”. Irene shares her life with her two teenage sons and their huge appetites. Sneezy Louise is Irene's debut picture book.
	www.jeanninenorris.com		www.irenebreznak.com


	JENNIFER R. HUBBARD lives and writes near Philadelphia, PA. She is a night person who believes that mornings were meant to be slept through, a chocolate lover, and a hiker. She has written short fiction as well as the contemporary young adult novel The Secret Year (Viking).		AMY HOLDER is the author of The Lipstick Laws, her spring 2011 debut. In her free time she likes fighting grammar crime... such as enforcing the proper usage of they're, their, and there. She resides in the Philadelphia, PA area with her verbally challenged accomplices (2 cats and 2 dogs).
	www.jenniferhubbard.com		www.amyholder.com


	CYN BALOG is a normal, everyday Jersey girl who always believed magical things can happen to us when we least expect them. She is the author of young adult paranormals Fairy Tale, Sleepless, and two forthcoming novels from Delacorte. She lives outside Allentown, PA with her husband and daughters.		TIMOTHY YOUNG is the author, illustrator and pop-up engineer of I'm Looking For A Monster! (Random House) He has worked as an art director, toy designer and animator and has designed his own App for the iPhone. He lives near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland with his wife and 3 children and loves talking to students about all of the creative things they can do. He has two new book coming out in 2012, Shadows On My Wall and They're Coming! (Schiffer Publishing)
	www.cynbalog.com		www.creaturesandcharacters.com


	ELLEN JENSEN ABBOTT thinks that life would be perfect if she could move her home, her job, her friends and her family to the White Mountains of New Hampshire where she grew up. Until she can convince everyone to join her, she’s content to be writing, teaching English, and living with her husband and two children in West Chester, PA. Her debut novel, Watersmeet was an IRA Young Adult Award Notable Book, and was nominated for YALSA’s Teen Top Ten. The sequel to Watersmeet, The Centaur’s Daughter, was released on September 1, 2011.		MARGIE GELBWASSER is a freelance writer who has written for a variety of magazines. Her first novel, Inconvenient (November 2010, Flux) was named a Sydney Tayelor Notable Book for Teens. Her next novel, Pieces of Us (March 2012, Flux) is told in four POV (one of them second) and deals with cyberbullying, abuse, family relationships, and how one teen's actions affect the other three. When not writing, Margie loves being a mom to her four year old boy, hiking, dancing, cooking, and watching bad television. She, her husband, son, and Henry--their cuddly, big-boned kitty—live in the awesome suburbs of New Jersey.
	www.ellenjensenabbott.com		www.margiewrites.com


	ANN BONWILL is the author of five picture books, including Pocket’s Christmas Wish, Naughty Toes, and The Frazzles. She grew up in Maryland, surrounded by good books from her mother’s library and good food from her father’s kitchen. Books and food still bring a smile to her face, especially enchiladas with extra guacamole. She shares her life (but not her guacamole) with her husband, son, and crazy corgi dog.		TONI DE PALMA is the author of Under the Banyan Tree (Holiday House) and the middle grade fantasy, Jeremy Owl (Aerodale Press). A former school social worker, Toni teaches writing to children and adults. As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, her claim to fame was that she got to see John Travolta’s ankle during his filming of Saturday Night Fever.
	www.annbonwill.com		www.tonidepalma.com



	ALISSA GROSSO’s first YA novel, Popular, will be published in May 2011 by Flux. At various points in her working life she has been a tavern wench, a term paper writer, a newspaper editor and a children’s librarian. She lives with three cats and one hyperactive dog in Clinton, NJ		CYNTHIA CHAPMAN WILLIS is a former editor of educational books and materials for children and the author of two middle-grade novels, Dog Gone and Buck Fever, both published by Feiwel and Friends. Cynthia lives in rural New Jersey with her family, which includes four cats and a dog that rule the household.
	www.alissagrosso.com		www.cynthiawillis.com


	ANN MALASPINA, a former newspaper reporter, writes multicultural picture books inspired by true events. She is the author of Finding Lincoln (Albert Whitman), Yasmin’s Hammer (Lee & Low Books), and Phillis Sings Out Freedom: The Story of George Washington and Phillis Wheatley (Albert Whitman). Her next book, about an Olympic champion, will be out in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics.		ELISA LUDWIG's YA debut, Pretty Crooked (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins), will be out in March 2012, the first of a trilogy about a sassy teen outlaw named Willa Fox. Elisa is also a freelance writer specializing in all things edible, and an avid home cook/baker/ice cream maker. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband Jesse and cat Beau (a.k.a. Bread).
	www.annmalaspina.com		www.elisaludwig.com


	TIFFANY STRELITZ HABER is the author of two forthcoming, rhyming picture books: The Monster Who Lost His Mean (Holt/Macmillan, 2012) and Ollie and Claire (Philomel/Penguin 2013). She has eaten fried bugs, jumped out of airplanes and lives for adventures in general! Tiffany grew up in NYC, but is now located in central NJ with her husband and two young sons.		JACQUELINE JULES is the award-winning author of 22 books for young readers including the Zapato Power chapter book series (Albert Whitman) and Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation (Charlesbridge, 2009). She is also a teacher, librarian, and poet. At author visits, she teaches the audience original songs so they leave the presentation humming. You can hear The Ballad of Freddie Ramos at her website.
	www.itsryhmetime.com		www.jacquelinejules.com


	EVE MARIE MONT is the author of the forthcoming YA novel, A Breath of Eyre (Kensington 2012), the first in a Gothic Revival trilogy. When not writing, she can usually be found playing with her dog, reading all the YA books she can get her hands on, or daydreaming about Austen and Brontë heroes. She teaches English and creative writing in the Philadelphia suburbs, where she lives with her husband and 14-year-old shelter pup.		KELLY RAMSDELL FINEMAN is somewhat bemused to find that she has grown up to be a poet and the author of the picture book At the Boardwalk, forthcoming from Tiger Tales Books in March of 2012. She cannot name a single favorite anything, but given a topic, she can most likely provide you with a list of many favorites. She lives with her favorite children across the river from Philadelphia, PA in the suburbs of New Jersey.
	www.evemariemont.com		kellyrfineman.blogspot.com


	ARTIE BENNETT is the executive copyeditor for a children’s book publisher and he writes a little on the side (but not the backside!). He wrote The Dinosaur Joke Book: A Compendium of Pre-Hysteric Puns (currently extinct) when he was a much younger man, but The Butt Book (Bloomsbury, 2010) is his first mature work. Artie was the youngest (at thirteen) person to originate and sell a crossword puzzle to the New York Times. It’s been downhill ever since. His “number two” picture book, fittingly called Poopendous! (Blue Apple Books), publishes in March 2012. He and his wife live deep in the bowels of Brooklyn, New York.		PATRICIA INTRIAGO is the author/illustrator of Dot her first picture book published by Margaret Ferguson Books/Farrar Straus & Giroux. It was released on August 30, 2011.
	www.ArtieBennett.com		www.intriagodesign.com