This week, we have Teri Hall. Teri is a card-carrying hermit who loves to write.

Here’s a little bit about THE LINE, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 2010.

The Line

Set in the near future, THE LINE chronicles the adventures of fifteen year old Rachel Quillen.  Since her father died in a war, Rachel and her mother, Vivian, have lived in relative isolation on a place called The Property; the home of Ms. Moore, a taciturn woman who makes her living growing orchids.

Amy Brecount White

This week, we have Amy Brecount White.  Amy teaches high school kids how to read (poetry and novels) and write for seven years.  When she got pregnant with her own, she started writing articles for newspapers and magazines about kids and traveling and gardening.  She had her mid-life crisis early — Eek!  this is her life? — and started writing this novel almost eight years ago.  It was a long and laborious gestation period.

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

This week, we have Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich. Olugbemisola is the daughter of a Jamaican mother and Nigerian father, and married to a man of Croatian descent.  So, that’s what’s up with the name. She’s worked as a freelance writer and contributing editor at various magazines, and has developed educational materials geared to educators and students.

This week, we have Rhonda Stapleton. Rhonda started writing a few years ago to appease the voices in her head. She has a Master’s degree in English and a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. Rhonda works as an editor for a legal publishing company and enjoys freelance editing and offering editing workshops. Because one writing group is never enough, she belongs to Romance Writers of America, several online and local writing chapters, and Romance Divas.

Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan

This week, we have L.K. Madigan. Lisa is married with one son, and two big black dogs. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where it’s green and gray. When she’s not reading, writing or playing with her family, she pursues hobbies like photography, music, bike riding, and sweeping up dog hair.

Here’s a little bit about FLASH BURNOUT, Houghton Mifflin, Fall 2009.

Give Up The Ghost by Megan Crewe

This week, we have Megan Crewe. Megan lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband and two cats. She has worked with children and teens for several years, in rec centers and schools, and as a private tutor for children with special needs. In her free time, she reads everything she can get her hands on, travels to distant locales, and speculates about the ghost that may or may not be living under her bed.

Kate Messner

This week, we have the magnificent Kate Messner. Kate grew up in Western NY, graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communication with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, and worked as a television news producer and reporter in Syracuse, NY and then Burlington, VT, before going back to school to get a teaching degree.  For the past twelve years, Kate has been a teacher of middle school English.

Mandy Hubbard

This week, we have Mandy Hubbard. Mandy grew up on a dairy farm outside Seattle, where she refused to wear high heels until homecoming and hated them so much she didn’t wear another pair for five years. A cowgirl at heart, she enjoys riding horses and quads and singing horribly to the latest country tune. She’s currently living happily ever after with her husband (who, sadly, is not a Duke) and her daughter (who is most definitely a princess).

Sarah Rees Brennan

This week, we have Sarah Rees Brennan. Sarah was born and raised in Ireland by the sea, where her teachers valiantly tried to make her fluent in Irish (she wants you to know it’s not called Gaelic) but she chose to read books under her desk in class instead. She lived briefly in New York and somehow survived in spite of her habit of hitching lifts in fire engines. She began working on The Demon’s Lexicon while doing library work in Surrey, England.

This week, we have Megan Frazer, who studied English literature and creative writing at Columbia University. She lives with her husband in Maine, where she is a high school librarian.

Fran Cannon Slayton

This week, we have the sensational Fran Cannon Slayton. Fran is a former child sex abuse prosecutor, a former legal publisher, and a stay-at-home mom.  She has been known to sing in rock and roll bands, play trumpet, do an incredible party trick where she flips her feet around backwards, and hop on a pogo stick 1000+ times in a row. (Full disclosure on that last one:  it happened quite awhile ago.  Like, decades.

Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia by Cindy Pon

This week, we have Cindy Pon. Cindy was born in Taipei, Taiwan and immigrated to California in 1980 at age six, settling in a suburb of Los Angeles. She began writing stories before she was officially declared English proficient.  Cindy is a student of Chinese brush painting, and her love for the art is reflected in her storytelling. An award winning artist, her paintings have been shown in various venues throughout San Diego.

Nan Marino

his week we have librarian Nan Marino, who lives on the Jersey shore. She’s written web copy for an alcohol distributor, published scholarly articles and co-wrote an educational book. Her first novel, Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me, will be published in May ’09 by Roaring Brook Press.

Breathing by Cheryl Renee Herbman

This week, we have the fabulous Cheryl Renée Herbsman. Cheryl received her B.S. in psychology from Duke University and her master’s in clinical psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. She lives with her husband and two children in Northern California.

FORTUNE'S FOLLY by Deva Fagan

This week, we have Deva Fagan. Deva likes searching for patterns, which is how she explains both her degree in mathematics and the echoes of old fairy tales in her stories. She lives in Maine with her husband and her dog.

Here’s a little bit about FORTUNE’S FOLLY coming out in just two weeks (Henry Holt).

Ever since her mother died and her father lost his shoemaking skills, Fortunata has survived by telling fake fortunes.

Sydney Salter

This week, we have Sydney Salter who held a variety of jobs before becoming a full-time writer, including her brief stint delivering pies and flowers, wrecking vans, and destroying wedding cakes in Reno, Nevada. Sydney now lives in Utah with her husband, two daughters, two cats, two dogs and two tortoises. She loves reading, writing, traveling, and, of course, baking and decorating cakes (but not driving them anywhere).

Mark Fink, author of STEPPING UP

This week, we’re celebrating the fabuloso Mark Fink. Mark wrote and produced for television, doing shows for every major network, including Full House, Saved By The Bell, Growing Pains and many others.

Snoop says, “KEWL!”

Mark also created and produced the NBC teen comedy Hang Time, about a high school basketball team in Indiana. This show allowed him to enjoy two of his passions: comedy and basketball.

Deborah Lytton

This week, we have a STAR and a debut author. Well, all of our debut authors are stars, but she’s really a star, like in movies and stuff! Deborah Lytton grew up in front of the camera as an actress and singer, beginning her career at the age of six.

J.C. Phillipps

This week, we have the phenomenal J. C. Phillipps, who goes by Julie in regular non-author life. Julie has degrees in theater and art. She never took courses in writing or illustration, but realized her playwriting experience and art background might mesh well into picture books. Because she was twenty-five at the time and the thought of writing picture books seemed like something an older person might do – she bought a leather jacket instead.

This week, we have the notable Neesha Meminger who was born in India, grew up in Canada, and currently divides her time between New York City and Toronto. Her first book SHINE, COCONUT MOON is due for release in March, 2009 from Margaret K. McElderry Books

When you received your offer, you…

Well, I debated if I should interview myself for my own column (I mean–have Snoop do it!! Woah, where did that come from?!) And I decided I probably do owe everyone a little bit more about myself here on Writing for Children and Teens. Plus, my book is coming out in a couple of weeks … So … without further ado, here it is. Snoop, ask me the tough questions!

( *Snoop clears his throat.* Ahem.)

This week we have the scintillating Kurtis Scaletta. Kurtis was born in Louisiana and grew up in New Mexico, North Dakota, England, Liberia, Brazil, and a few other places. He now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with his wife and several cats.

MUDVILLE

A little bit about Kurtis’s book MUDVILLE (Knopf, February 2009).

Welcome to Moundville, where it’s been raining for longer than Roy McGuire has been alive.

This week, we have the ingenious Jenny Moss. Jenny is a former NASA engineer who was secretly writing at night [prior to getting a contract]. As a child, she loved words. As a teen, she dreamed of hanging out in French cafes with other writers. But she also loved numbers, which led to a career in engineering. Now a full-time writer, she still hopes to hang out in those French cafes one day.

This week we have C. Lee McKenzie. In her other life-the one before she began writing fiction for teens and middle grade readers-C. Lee was a teacher and administrator at California State University, San Jose. Her field of Linguistics and Inter-cultural Communication has carried her to a lot of places in the world to explore different cultures and languages.

Tell us a little about your first book SLIDING ON THE EDGE (WestSide Book, coming April, 2009).

This week we have the sensational Samantha R. Vamos. Samantha grew up on the East coast where she attended law school and practiced law. She spent her 30’s in the Midwest, managing to keep warm in the Windy City. Now she and her family reside in the Pacific Northwest where she writes as much as she can and heads outside whenever the sun shines.

(Snoop says, hmm, sunshine? Maybe I should move.

This week, we have the magnificent J.E. MacLeod who lives with her husband and son near the Canadian Rockies. Before becoming a full-time writer, J.E. was a copywriter in radio and television. She was also a DJ and still thinks that might have been kind of cool. Waiting to Score (WestSide Books, February, 2009), is her first young adult novel.

WAITING TO SCORE

Tell us about your first book.

This week we have the ever-amazing Erin Dionne, who has lived on two coasts and in four states. Her debut novel, MODELS DON’T EAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES (Dial, February 2009), was inspired by events that occurred in seventh grade, when she wore a scary peach bridesmaid dress in her cousin’s wedding and threw up on her gym teacher’s shoes (not at the same event).  Although humiliating at the time, these experiences are working for her now.

Saundra Mitchell

This week we have the stupendous Saundra Mitchell! A screenwriter and author, Saundra penned the screenplays for the Fresh Films and Girls in the Director’s Chair short film series. Her short story “Ready to Wear” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and her first feature film, Revenge Ends, debuted on the festival circuit in 2008. SHADOWED SUMMER, her debut novel, launches in February of 2009, and has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild Selection.

This week we have the amazing Aprilynne Pike. She has been spinning faerie stories since she was a child with a hyper-active imagination. She completed her BA in Creative Writing at the age of twenty at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. When not writing, Aprilynne can usually be found at the gym; she also enjoys singing, acting, reading, and working with pregnant moms as a doula. Aprilynne currently lives with her husband and three kids in Utah, and dreams of warmer climates.

This week we have writing dynamo David Macinnis Gill. David is the author of the debut novel, SOUL ENCHILADA, due out in May 2009 from Greenwillow/HarperCollins. His stories have appeared in several literary magazines. He is the current President of ALAN (The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents) and an Associate Professor at UNC Wilmington.

This week we have the sensational Cyn Balog! She’s a normal, everyday Jersey Girl who always believed magical things can happen to us when we least expect them. She’s also the Race & Event Manager for several national fitness magazines. She lives outside Allentown, Pennsylvania with her husband and young daughter. Both are 100% human, or so she thinks. FAIRY LUST is her first novel (Delacorte, Summer 2009).

Tell us a little bit about FAIRY LUST.

This week we have the notable Nancy Viau, but here’s the thing. Snoop and Cynthea have been away for the last several months, and you might have noticed AOTV had to go offline for a while. As a result, Nancy, our latest Author on the Verge, is now an Author in Print! (AIP!!!) Her debut novel Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head has just been released with Abrams/Amulet. Gooo, Nancy!

Here’s a bit more about this lovely lady.

This week we have Gayle C. Krause whose debut picture book Rock Star Santa will be released this winter with Scholastic. Rock Star Santa depicts a unique Christmas Eve involving a child and a different side of Santa. Gayle also writes MG and YA historical fiction, fantasy and contemporary novels. She is a reviewer of children’s books for Children’s Literature.com and holds a M.S. degree in Elementary Education.

This week, we have Meg Medina, a Cuban American writer who works in picture books, middle grade fiction and young adult fiction. Her work blends traditions of Latin American literature with modern concerns of growing up. (Snoop says, WOAH!) She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and three children.

This week, we have Chris Rettstatt, the creator of Kaimira and co-author of the Kaimira book series (Candlewick Press and Walker Books). The first book in the Kaimira series, Sky Village, hits stores July 2008.

This week, we have Chris Rettstatt, the creator of Kaimira and co-author of the Kaimira book series (Candlewick Press and Walker Books). The first book in the Kaimira series, Sky Village, hits stores July 2008.

This week, we have Maggie Stiefvater, a young adult novelist and professional equestrian artist. A mother of two toddlers, Maggie lives in Virginia with her husband, her children, and two small dogs who have a distressing tendency to fart.

(By the way, Snoop is trying really hard NOT to make a farting joke right now.

This week, we have Emily Ecton, middle-grade novelist and writer and producer for Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the NPR news quiz. She has also been a playwright, a chinchilla wrangler, an ice cream scooper and a costume character. While Emily doesn’t have a groovy rabbit like Snoop, she does live in Chicago with her dog, Binky. And we here at Writing for Children and Teens love Chicago and all of our furry friends.