Aileen Stewart

"May Your World Always Be Full of Color and Texture!"

Aileen Stewart resides in Shelby, Ohio with her husband, daughter, and crazy cats. She is a fun early grade children's author, a blogger, a public Speaker, a children's writing workshop host, freelance magazine author, and a stay at home mom. Besides being a reading enthusiast, a writing enthusiast, and recipe creator; she loves to put puzzles together, quilt, take pictures, garden, travel, Geocache, and bird-watch. She is a library volunteer at her local library where she is in charge of the children's display case, and she volunteers at her daughter's school.

Learn more about Aileen on her website. 

Sage Blackwood

Sage Blackwood was born in Chicago and grew up in New York State. She graduated from Antioch College and the University at Albany, and taught ESL for many years. Her first fantasy novel, JINX, was selected as a Best Book of 2013 by Kirkus, Booklist, School Library Journal, and Amazon. (Source)

Booklist 2013 Editor's Choice Chicago Public Library 2014 "Best of the Best" 2013 Cybils shortlist Kirkus Best Books of 2013 An Amazon Best Book of the Year 2013 #3 on Indie Next List Horn Book "Recommended Fantasy Books" 2013 Panda Book Awards shortlist (China) A School Library Journal Best Book of 2013

Learn more about Sage Blackwood on her website.

Erin Dealey

As a high school theater teacher, Erin Dealey wrote scripts for her school assemblies because she couldn’t find any good skits for 35+ kids, and they weren’t supposed to do much Christmas stuff at the winter assembly…. Erin writes, "One day I picked up a cheesy YA novel one of my drama students had left on stage and thought, I can do that.

As it turns out, children’s books are a lot like theater. My background in theater allows me to create strong characters and I can hear the dialog in my head. The idea for my first picture book, Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox popped into my head while I was writing the YA."

Learn more about Erin on her website.

Drew Daywalt

Ever since his childhood in one of Ohio’s most haunted houses, writer director Drew Daywalt has been writing escapist fantasy and building worlds of his own. With a degree in Creative Writing, and a concentration in Children’s Literature from Emerson College in Boston, Daywalt set off to Hollywood where he spent years writing for Disney and Universal on such beloved shows as Timon & Pumba, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody Woodpecker, and where his animated series The Wacky World of Tex Avery garnered an Emmy nomination. 

His first trip into live action landed him studio screenwriting and feature film directing work with such Hollywood luminaries as Quentin Tarrantino,  Lawrence Bender, Tony Scott, Brett Ratner and Jerry Bruckheimer. 

With an eye toward picture book writing, Daywalt’s first book THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT, debuted on the New York Times Best Seller’s List in June 2013, and has since become a number 1 Best Seller.  (Source: The Nerdy Bookclub)