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Gifted, generous and genuine are just a few of the outstanding qualities of Ebony Lynn Mudd. Her love and big heart shine in the beautiful stories she writes and in the way she invests in children’s literature friends. In books like Just Like Tina and the forthcoming, Junior Takes a Leap, Ebony weaves words into [ Read the full article… ]
Every book starts with the characters. If I don’t have an MC I feel compelled enough to follow, then I don’t have a story. The emotional arcs serve as my guiding star throughout the creation process, and every other decision I make regarding world, plot, etc. is born from what best fulfills the emotional arc.
Bernard K. Mensah is a Senior Software Engineering Manager and an award-nominated children’s book author whose stories celebrate African culture and authentic experiences through a child’s lens. Born and raised in Ghana, Bernard now lives in the UK with his two sons—the inspiration behind every story he writes. His debut picture book, Esi the Brave (Who Was [ Read the full article… ]
Jerry Jordan is a children’s book illustrator and painter working in the style of contemporary realism. He counts the unsung artists of the Harlem Renaissance as his artistic role models. He has also been heavily influenced by such artists as John S. Sargent, William M. Chase and Joaquin Sorolla just to name a few. He [ Read the full article… ]
Ciera Burch is a lifelong reader and writer. She has a B.A from American University and an MFA from Emerson College. She is the author of Finch House, Something Kindred, Camp Twisted Pine, and Out of Step, Into You. Finch House was a JLG Gold Standard Selection and a New York Times Kids Year of [ Read the full article… ]
Kirstie Myvett is the author of several books for children. Her stories are of Black resilience, which exposes children to the diverse American history that helped shape our landscape. She is the co-founder of KidLit in Color, a blog that amplifies BIPOC creatives in the publishing industry. Kirstie believes representation matters in all places and [ Read the full article… ]
Patrice Gopo is the child of Jamaican immigrants and was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. As a child, she loved twirling a globe, dreaming about cities and states, countries and continents. As an adult, she loves words and enjoys pondering how places shape the people we become. She is the award-winning author of essay [ Read the full article… ]
All my ideas come from changing expectations—what if Misty Copeland had an attitude problem and a vengeful streak? What if the “psychic” really can see the future, but she lies anyway? At the core of my stories are emotions and experiences a lot of us can understand: being looked down on, not being believed, everybody assuming you’re the aggressor when really you’re the victim. I just like to give those feelings a supernatural twist, something big and dramatic for us to live through and be victorious.