SANDY ASHER
Variety and quality characterize Sandy’s work, which includes nineteen books, more than three dozen plays, and over two hundred articles, stories, and poems published in magazines. Her best-known play, A Woman Called Truth, has been produced by more than 250 school, community, and professional groups in the United States and Canada; she was honored with the American Alliance for Theatre and Education’s Charlotte Chorpenning Award for a distinguished body of work in theater for young audiences. She’s also the editor of three collections of fiction, including With All My Heart, With All My Mind: Thirteen Stories About Growing Up Jewish, winner of the 1999 National Jewish Book Award in children’s literature. A frequent guest speaker at conferences and schools, Sandy has served as writer-in-residence at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, and has taught writing workshops for people of all ages. Sandy's latest book is an anthology she edited with poet and author David Harrison. Dude! Stories and Stuff for Boys will be published this summer by Dutton. Her newest picture book, Too Many Frogs, won North Dakota's Flicker Tale Award, was chosen for the Texas Library Association's 2x2 reading list, and has been nominated for the Florida Reading Association's Children's Literature Award and the NY Library Association's Best of the Season Award.
Workshop: Writing Your First Novel

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MARK BALDWIN
Principal author of the Natural History Atlas to the Chautauqua-Allegheny Region, Mark has devoted the past fourteen years to the development of nature education programs for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. As director of education, Mark works with teachers throughout the country to infuse nature studies into their curricula. He is president of the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and vice president of the American Nature Study Society.
Workshop: Writing from Nature: Blazing a Trail from Field Journal to Publication

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ANDY BOYLES
A lifelong interest in science led Andy to his position as science editor at Highlights for Children and Boyds Mills Press. From dinosaur fossils and rain forests of Madagascar to environments closer to home, Andy’s encounters with the natural world and those who study it are recorded in countless interviews and articles. A member of the National Association of Science Writers, he has received numerous writing and editing awards.
Workshop: Writing from Nature: Blazing a Trail from Field Journal to Publication
Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing

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KENT L. BROWN JR.
Kent is the executive director of the Highlights Foundation, Inc. He is editor in chief emeritus of Highlights for Children, Inc., and the former publisher of Boyds Mills Press, the trade division of Highlights which he co-founded in 1990. He serves Highlights for Children, Inc. as a director. A past president of the Educational Press Association of America, Kent has served on the publications committee of the International Reading Association and is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English, the American Society of Magazine Editors, and the National Press Club.
Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing

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DOMINIC CATALANO
Dominic holds an MA in fine arts, an MFA in illustration, and most recently was awarded a PhD in art education from Ohio State University. He is an assistant professor at Bowling Green State University in northwestern Ohio. Dominic has illustrated twenty-five trade and mass-market picture books, four of which he also wrote—Wolf Plays Alone, Frog Went A-Courting, Santa and the Three Bears, and Mr. Basset Plays. His work has also appeared in numerous children’s magazines and reading series.
Workshop: Visual Art of the Picture Book

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CAROLYN COMAN
Carolyn Coman’s acclaimed novels for children and young adults include The Big House, Many Stones (National Book Award finalist and a 2001 Michael L. Printz Honor book), Bee and Jacky, What Jamie Saw (National Book Award finalist and Newbery Honor book), and Tell Me Everything. She has taught fiction writing at Harvard Extension, Harvard Summer School, and the Chautauqua Institute. For eight years she was a faculty member of the Vermont College MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults Program, and is currently on the faculty of Hamline University’s new MFA program.
Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop

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LINDSAY BARRETT GEORGE
Lindsay Barrett George was born in the West Indies and grew up in New Jersey. She received a BFA degree from Manhattanville College and an MFA degree from the University of Wisconsin, where she majored in drawing and printmaking. After her studies in the Midwest, Lindsay returned to the East Coast and worked as a fine-art printer in New York City. She later got a job in publishing and worked as a designer in a children’s book department. Lindsay left New York City, had two children, and now spends her time creating children’s books.

Lindsay’s published works include these children’s nature books: Around the Pond: Who’s Been Here?; Around the World: Who’s Been Here?; In the Snow: Who’s Been Here?; and In the Woods: Who’s Been Here? She also coauthored and illustrated Beaver at Long Pond and illustrated Box Turtle at Long Pond.
Workshop: Writing from Nature: Blazing a Trail from Field Journal to Publication

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TIM GILLNER
As the Boyds Mills Press art director, Tim is directly responsible for the design and art direction of all Boyds Mills Press books. Tim has taught book illustration at Marywood University for the past five years. He is a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Society of Illustrators in New York City.
Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing
Workshop: Visual Art of the Picture Book

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KL GOING
Kelly is an award-winning author of books for children and teens. Her first novel, Fat Kid Rules the World, was named a Michael Printz honor book by the American Library Association, as well as one of the Best Books for Young Adults from the past decade. Her books have been Booksense picks, Scholastic Book Club choices, Junior Library Guild selections, winners of state book awards, and featured by Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Children’s Book Council as Best Books. Her work has been published in Korea, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Workshop: The Hero's Journey - Bringing the Power of Mythic Structure to Your Writing

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KATHLEEN HAYES
Kathleen Hayes, currently editor of Highlights High Five™, has taught graduate courses in early childhood education at Bank Street College, worked with New Jersey public school teachers to create hands-on, outdoor science projects, and was the primary consultant and project manager of Bank Street’s collaboration with Macmillan/McGraw-Hill’s 2008 science program (PreK-2 materials). She also coauthored Classroom Routines That Really Work for Pre-K and K Teachers, (Scholastic, 2002) and has written science leveled readers for Macmillan/McGraw-Hill and Time for Kids.
Workshop: Writing from Nature: Blazing a Trail from Field Journal to Publication

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HELEN HEMPHILL
Hailed as a strong new voice in children’s literature by Kirkus Reviews, Helen is the author of the middle-grade novel Runaround (Front Street, 2007), named one of the year’s top ten romance books for youth by Booklist, and the critically acclaimed young-adult novel Long Gone Daddy (Front Street, 2006). She holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College and an MA in English literature from Belmont University. Helen is an education artist in residence for the Tennessee Arts Commission and a member of the Southern Artistry register at the Southern Arts Federation. Visit her on the Web at www.helenhemphill.com.
Workshop: Plotting the Novel

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PETER JACOBI
Peter Jacobi is a professor emeritus and visiting Riley professor at Indiana University’s School of Journalism, and a former professor and associate dean of the Medill Scholl of Journalism at Northwestern University. He serves as music columnist and critic for the Bloomington Herald-Times as well as columnist on writing techniques for the professional newsletter, Editors Only. His schedule still includes, annually, a number of workshops on writing, editing, presentation skills, and handling the media. His journalistic background spreads across the print and broadcast fields: as arts critic and writer for various newspapers, including the Chicago Daily News and The Christian Science Monitor; as editor of and freelancer for magazines; as newswriter, assignment editor, and on-air reporter for radio and television, including ABC and NBC News. His two guidebooks, The Magazine Article: How to Think It, Plan It, and Write It and Writing with Style: The News Story and the Feature, are standard journalistic references.
Workshop: Writing Memorable Nonfiction: Pleasures and Possibilities, Problems and Practice
Workshop: Life in the Spotlight: Author Opportunities After Publication

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PAUL KOWALCZYK
Paul is a longtime forester with deep firsthand knowledge of the Pennsylvania woods. As manager of the forest surrounding Boyds Mills House, he directs efforts to maintain the forest as a healthy habitat for wildlife as well as a source of timber.
Workshop: Writing from Nature: Blazing a Trail from Field Journal to Publication

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BARBARA KRASNER
More than sixty of Barbara’s articles have appeared in Babaganewz, Calliope, Cobblestone, Footsteps, and Odyssey. In 2005, she served as one of the judges in the SCBWI Magazine Writing Merit Awards. In January 2006, she received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. Barbara is a veteran of the Room to Create workshop and has led a Highlights Foundation workshop on magazine article writing. She is currently at work on a biography and two historical novels for young people.
Workshop: Room to Create: A Working Retreat for Children's Writers and Illustrators

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MARTINE LEAVITT
Martine Leavitt is the author of Dragon’s Tapestry (1992), Prism Moon (1993), Taker’s Key (1998), and The Dollmage (2001). Tom Finder (2003) was the winner of the Mr. Christie Award, and Heck Superhero (2004) was a finalist for the Governor General's Award. Her most recent book, Keturah and Lord Death, was a finalist for the National Book Award and was a Booklist top ten in the categories of fantasy, romance, and women’s history books for youth. Leavitt has a BA from the University of Calgary and an MFA from Vermont College, and is a member of the faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts. The creative project she is most proud of is her seven children and nine grandchildren, all of whom have been critically acclaimed.
Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop (October)

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BOB MORROW
Bob began writing for children’s magazines in the late 1980s, after a longtime career as a photojournalist for television, radio, and print media. He has published numerous children’s stories and poems in the United States and abroad. His first young-adult book, Immigration: Blessing or Burden, was selected for the 1997 Best Books list by the Bank Street College of Education. He is currently under contract for a young-adult novel. Equally at home with preschool audiences, he wrote the charming picture book Let’s Take the Zoo Bus!, published by Kindermusik International. A former instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature, Bob is submissions editor and also director of marketing and promotion for the small press Boxing Day Books.
Workshop: Writing Fiction for Children's Magazines

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PAULA MORROW
Paula has been a children’s literature specialist for twenty-five years and currently has an independent editing service. Longtime editor of Ladybug and Babybug magazines, she has also edited books by such esteemed children’s authors as Eve Bunting and Barbara Seuling. Paula is a regular columnist for the children’s writers’ magazine Once Upon a Time, weekly book reviewer for newspapers in northern Illinois, and instructor with the Institute of Children’s Literature. She is the author of more than two hundred stories, articles, poems, and activities published in children’s magazines.
Workshop: Writing Fiction for Children's Magazines

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SOLON MORSE
Solon is an ecologist, illustrator, and Web-programmer on the staff of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. His primary interests lie in community ecology, conservation, and education. He has participated in a number of large-scale research projects in the Midwest, which examined the impacts of forest management on migratory birds and other wildlife. Currently he teaches several courses for the Peterson Institute and—with John Wiessinger—is developing the Electronic Naturalist, an online nature education resource.
Workshop: Writing from Nature: Blazing a Trail from Field Journal to Publication

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LORI RIES
Lori wrote her first book—Super Sam—at the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua. Published by Charlesbridge, Super Sam soon led to other books, and Lori was on her way as a children’s writer. Lori’s books have been recognized as outstanding by Horn Book, Parenting Magazine, Nick Jr. Family Magazine, and Bank Street College. Her chapter book Aggie and Ben, Three Stories (Charlesbridge) was a 2006/2007 Oregon Book Award Finalist. Her most recent books include Punk Wig (Boyds Mills Press) and Good Dog, Aggie (due from Charlesbridge in 2009). Lori has given many school presentations and has taught workshops.

Find out more about Lori at www.loriries.net.
Workshop: Writing from the Heart: A Guided Writers' Retreat

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MARILETA ROBINSON
Marileta is a senior editor at Highlights for Children, where she edits fiction for young readers in addition to writing each month’s installment of the popular feature "TheTimbertoes." A free-lance writer before coming to Highlights, Marileta has published two picture books and several magazine stories. Her background includes teaching in the Peace Corps and on the Navajo reservation, as well as instructing for the Institute of Children’s Literature. She holds a master’s degree in bilingual education and is a regular speaker at SCBWI conferences around the country.
Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing
Workshop: Room to Create
Workshop: Writing Fiction for Children's Magazines

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LARRY ROSLER
Larry is the editorial director of Boyds Mills Press, where he has broad responsibilities for acquiring manuscripts and developing them for publication. Before coming to Boyds Mills Press, Larry was a manager of New Morning Books and worked for Henry Holt and Company, first in marketing and later in editorial on both adult and juvenile titles.
Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing

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WENDY SCHMALZ
Wendy is the principal and founder of the Wendy Schmalz Agency, founded in 2002. Representing a wide range of writers for both the children’s and adult markets for more than twenty-five years, her current client list includes Sandy Asher, Myla Goldberg, April Henry, Robin MacCready, Julie Anne Peters, Seymour Simon, and Sue Stauffacher, to name a few. She began her career at Curtis Brown before moving on to Harold Ober Associates, where she was a principal of the company before leaving to start her own agency.
Workshop: Writing Your First Novel

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JOSEPHA SHERMAN
Josepha is a fantasy and science fiction writer/editor, folklorist, and storyteller. She has written everything from Star Trek novels to a biography of Bill Gates to folklore books such as Trickster Tales (August House). Current titles include the Star Trek: Vulcan’s Soul trilogy (Pocket Books) with Susan Schwartz, the reprint of the Unicorn Queen books (Del Rey), and Mythology for Storytellers (M. E. Sharpe.) She is editing The Encyclopedia of Storytelling for M. E. Sharpe.
Workshop: Retelling Folktales and Myths

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CYNTHIA FABER SMITH
Cindy is the art director of Highlights for Children. She has enjoyed designing publications for diverse audiences for more than 20 years, including positions at Science magazine, Insight magazine, The Executive Office of the President, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Cindy’s award-winning designs are based on the intimate connection she sees between the designer and the reader.

Cindy earned an MFA from Vermont College, a BA from Furman University, and a publication specialist certificate from George Washington University.
Workshop: Visual Art of the Picture Book

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JANE RESH THOMAS
Jane Resh Thomas is the author of fifteen published and contracted books, including picture books, short fiction, middle-grade fiction, and biography. The Comeback Dog, Saying Good-Bye to Grandma, Courage at Indian Deep, and Lights on the River have won, among other honors, a Parent's Choice Award, Notable Books and Best of the Best listing by the ALA, and an award from the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs. Her most recent books are The Counterfeit Princess and Blind Mountain, an adventure story. After eight and a half years as a faculty member of the Vermont College MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults Program, she has now joined the faculty of Hamline University’s new MFA program.
Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop (June)

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RICKI THOMPSON
Ricki has written poems and essays that appear in a variety of journals and magazines for grown-ups, including The Threepenny Review, Passages North, and Spoon River Quarterly. She launched her present career as a children’s writer by publishing an article in Highlights and a poem in Ladybug. In 2006, Ricki received an MFA from Vermont College. Her YA historical novel, City of Cannibals, is due to be published by Front Street in fall 2009.
Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop (October)

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RICH WALLACE
Rich is the author of a number of acclaimed novels for young adults, including Playing Without the Ball, Wrestling Sturbridge, Shots on Goal, Restless, and One Good Punch. His most recent novels are Dishes and Perpetual Check. He has also authored a short-story collection called Losing Is Not an Option and a series of sports novels for middle-grade readers called Winning Season. His columns, profiles, and other features have been published in Highlights, Track and Field News, Runner's World, and other publications. Rich is a former senior editor at Highlights for Children.
Workshop: Writing for Young Adults

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SANDRA NEIL WALLACE
Sandra has been a writer and TV host for travel magazines, ESPN, Fox Sports, and Canadian Television News. She is a ghost writer for a Running Press imprint and has a monthly lifestyle column in Connections magazine. Her sports articles have appeared in MH-18 (a teen version of Men’s Health), and Highlights published her story “Sandra on Sports,” a profile of her career as a female sportscaster.
Workshop: Writing about Sports

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ED WESELY
Ed is director of the Butterfly Barn Nature Center, which overlooks the Delaware River, where he rears and releases about 400 monarch butterflies each summer. Ed’s environmental education background provides the foundation for his many outreach activities, including numerous publications, lectures, and guided field tours. He is currently developing a natural history Web site.
Workshop: Writing from Nature: Blazing a Trail from Field Journal to Publication

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CLAY WINTERS
Clay is president of Boyds Mills Press and has been in publishing since 1960. Before coming to Boyds Mills Press, he was president of Putnam/Grosset Books for Young Readers, the children's book group of G.P. Putnam & Sons. Clay has introduced the rudiments of publishing to aspiring writers and has taught a maketing course for entrepreneurs for several different institutions.
Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing

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CAROLYN P. YODER
Carolyn is the senior editor of history for Highlights for Children and has written numerous articles on research and writing history for children. She spent a decade serving as the award-winning editor in chief of Cobblestone: The History Magazine for Young People; Calliope; Faces; and Odyssey, which led to her position as assistant publisher of Cobblestone Publishing, Inc., overseeing development of its book division.

Carolyn is currently editor of Calkins Creek Books—the history and historical fiction imprint of Boyds Mills Press, publisher of her book George Washington: The Writer. She also reviews juvenile history books for the Civil War Book Review and has been a writer and editor for the New Jersey Historical Society.
Workshop: Carolyn Yoder Alumni Writers' Retreat (Spring)
Workshop: Carolyn Yoder Alumni Writers' Retreat (Fall)

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