2021 Authors & Workshops

Elana K. Arnold

​Elana K. Arnold writes books for and about children and teens. Her oeuvre includes DAMSEL, a Printz Honor Winner and a finalist for the California Book Award; WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF, a finalist for the National Book Award and the California Book Award and the winner of the Golden Kite Award; A BOY CALLED BAT, a 2018 Global Read Aloud selection; and INFANDOUS, which won the Moonbeam Children's Book Award and the Westchester Fiction Prize. Her books have garnered many starred reviews and have been featured on numerous "Best Books of the Year" lists. She teaches in Hamline University's low residency MFA program in Writing for Children and Teens and lives in Southern California with her family and a menagerie of animals.

Writing Workshop
What is a Tree? An Exploration of Symbolic Language

“Did the author really mean for the tree to symbolize family? Or is that just something my teacher believes?” This is the sort of question I remember asking as a kid. I wanted to know: Did authors include symbols in their writing on purpose? Through an examination of my writing and some of my books, I’m going to explore the process of including a symbolic language in a novel, and will help emerging writers get in touch with the potential symbolic language in their own work

Featured Books
The House That Wasn’t There (MS)
Far From Fair (MS)
The Question of Miracles (MS)
Red Hood (HS)
Damsel (HS)
What Girls Are Made OF (HS)​

Avi

It was my twin sister who gave me the name "Avi."  She is also a writer.

Not a particularly good student in high school, he flunked out of his first school. In his second school, the English teacher told Avi’s parents that Avi, “was the worst student he ever had.” By way of revenge, Avi decided to become a successful writer and has now published some eighty-two books. That is serious revenge.

He lives in a log house in the middle of a forest, about a mile and a half up among the mountains. The snow lasts from September until June. He does not like snow. His nearest neighbors are not people but deer, elk, fox, bears, coyotes, skunk, ermine, pine martins, mountain lions, chipmunks and, every once in a while, a porcupine. He has noted some forty-five different kinds of birds at his bird feeder. His favorite bird is a Stiller Jay, which looks like a punk rocker.

Writing Workshop
My mantra is "Writers don't write writing. They write reading." Journaling, diary keeping, letter writing--all good stuff. But I am interested in writing for readers. How do you do that? What are some of the way I have learned that helps you do that.

Featured Books
 Gold Rush Girl
Unexpected Life of Oliver Cromwell Pitts
The End of the World and Beyond
The Most Important Thing
​The Button War.

MArtha
Brockenbrough​

Martha Brockenbrough was a teenager for several years, and during that time, she worked as a strap cutter in a factory. She ran cross-country and track and swam and played viola in the Seattle Youth Symphony. She worked for a writer the summer she turned 18, and even though he made her wear a gorilla suit--or maybe because of it--she knew she'd be a writer when she grew up. ​

Writing Workshop
Welcome to the School of ... (It's a Secret): Sometimes we think writing is about being able to think of all the most wondrous things. But a lot of the time, the best writing comes when you give yourself strict limits. Martha Brockenbrough teaches master's students at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and she's going to shows you what she teaches them about the magic of creative constraints. Come ready to do some writing, some reading, and a whole lot of laughing.

Featured Books
The Game of Love and Death;
​Alexander Hamilton: Revolutionary; and Unpresidented

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Traci Chee​

Traci Chee is the New York Times bestselling author of The Reader Trilogy and We Are Not Free (June 2020). An all-around word geek, she loves book arts and art books, poetry and paper crafts, though she also dabbles at egg painting, bonsai gardening, and hosting game nights for family and friends. She studied literature and creative writing at UC Santa Cruz and earned a master of arts degree from San Francisco State University. Traci grew up in a small town with more cows than people, and now feels most at home in the mountains, scaling switchbacks and happening upon hidden highland lakes. She lives in California with her fast-fast dog.

Writing Workshop
Tips & Tricks for Getting Unstuck
In this workshop we'll explore quick tricks for getting unstuck when the writing is stickiest. Come with the blank page you're still staring at, the brick wall you keep writing yourself into, or a particularly thorny bit of storytelling you just can't seem to break through. Leave with a few new ideas (some good, some outlandish, some maybe actually usable!)--and techniques to keep going when the going gets writer's block.​

Featured Books
We Are Not Free
​The Reader Trilogy (MS/HS):
The Reader
The Speaker
​The Storyteller​

Shelli R. Johannes

Shelli R. Johannes writes for children with several picture books in the works and for teens with her popular thrillers in "The Nature of Grace" series. After earning a master’s in marketing and pretending to be an adult in Corporate America, Shelli traded out her heels and suits for flip-flops and jeans to follow her passion for writing. Shelli can juggle (almost), pick locks (most of the time), recite all 50 states in alphabetical order. She loves cheese dip, board games, and cracks herself up. When she's not laughing, she can be found on highways and country roads saving forgotten strays, angry wildlife, and injured animals. Shelli lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her own pack of weirdos—a husband, two kids, one bird, one fish, and two crazy-haired goldendoodles.
​
Writing Workshop
Secrets to Writing a KickA$$ Bestseller (and a few tips on being a spy)*
- How to be a Writer in Black (WIB)
- How to take down your Inner Hater
- Create cool chicks and dudes that we all want to love or hate
- Keep your readers on the edge of their seat (without falling off)
- And all the classified stuff in between (That I can’t mention in this summary for fear of retribution.)

*Disclaimer - Since I will obviously be revealing top secrets, before you leave, I may have to “neuralize” some attendees (so enter at your own risk!)

Featured Books
Nature of Grace series (Untraceable, Uncontrollable, Unstoppable) (YA)
Rewired (YA)
On the Bright Side (MG)
Cece Loves Science; Cece Loves Science and Adventure (PB)
Cece Loves Science - Push and Pull
Libby Loves Science

Daria Peoples-riley

Daria only took one art class throughout her education, but she always dreamed she would become an artist one day. She practiced a lot. At least ten thousand hours. Eventually, she become an author-illustrator. Today, she dreams of making movies for kids, traveling the world, and owning a horse she can dress up as a unicorn.

Writing Workshop
Daria will guide students through writing and drawing activities to write and illustrate their own spoken word poems.

Featured Books
AMERICA, MY LOVE, AMERICA, MY HEART (MS/HS)
THIS IS IT
​I GOT NEXT

CHUKUNDI
​SALISBURY

Chukundi Salisbury is a Dad, DJ, Star Wars Fan and loves Cheesesteaks and the Seattle Seahawks!

​Writing Workshop
Capturing Culturally relevant content.

Featured Books
Lil BigFella

eLIOT SCHREFER

Eliot Schrefer is a New York Times-bestselling author, and has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award. In naming him an Editor’s Choice, the New York Times has called his work “dazzling… big-hearted.” Less known is that he plays video games just as often as he writes, and cannot be trusted around any open bag of marshmallows. He also has a cool scar from when he was bitten by an endangered ape in Congo!

Writing Workshop
The Importance of Character Choices in Writing Great Stories: We'll look at a few examples of characters stuck in compelling dilemmas, and then branch out into looking at how an entire novel can be plotted as a sequence of character choices. You'll leave the session with a better insight into what makes some books bestsellers and award-winners, and a roadmap for a winning story of your own.

Featured Books
Endangered
Threatened
Rescued
Orphaned
Animal Rescue Agency Series
The Popper Penguin Rescue: Mez's Magic
The Lost Rainforest Series

ruta sepetys

Prior to becoming an author, Ruta Sepetys spent over twenty years working as an artist manager in the music industry. She helped songwriters, bands, film composers, and video game composers distill stories into song.

Panelist Only - No Workshop

Featured Books
The Fountains of Silence
​Between Shades of Gray
Salt & Sea​

Kristin Tubb

Kristin O'Donnell Tubb is a champion four-leaf clover finder, and she believes in the luck they bring. She can often be found crawling around on the floor behind her pets, trying to see the world as they see it, so she can write authentic animal stories. She lives outside of Nashville (but doesn't know a single country music singer) with her five pets and three humans. Like her dogs, she can be bribed with cheese

Writing Workshop
"The Tail-Tale Heart: How to Write Your Own Animal Tale!" In this workshop, we'll discuss a story formula that includes characters, their goals, and the obstacles they meet. We'll brainstorm ideas for our own animal stories, and each participant will leave with a brief outline of their OWN animal tale!

Featured Books
The Story Seeker (MS),
The Story Collector (MS),
A Dog Like Daisy (MS),
John Lincoln Clem: Civil War Drummer Boy (MS),
​The 13th Sign (MS)​

Katy Upperman

Katy Upperman is an author, reader, and wanderer. She writes novels for teens and teens at heart, including KISSING MAX HOLDEN, THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF US, and HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN. She’s a Washington State University alum (go Cougs!), and she loves baking, makeup, true crime documentaries, Jelly Bellies, and houseplants. She lives on the California coast with her husband, two daughters, two kitties, and world's cutest pup. ​

Writing Workshop
First Words For Teen Writers: Learn to appropriately critique a story in this interactive workshop. Participants are encouraged to submit a 250 word writing sample to Katy via email in advance, to be critiqued roundtable-style at the workshop. Writing will be read and critiqued anonymously so writers can feel confident in submitting their work. Attendees will leave the workshop knowing how to appropriately and respectfully critique their peers’ work and, if they’ve chosen to submit a piece for critique, workable feedback to apply to their own writing.

Featured Books
The Impossibility of Us (MS/HS)
​How the Light Gets In (upper MS/HS)​