Interview Tuesdays

Brock Heasley is an author, filmmaker, and artist. He has written the novels Paper Bag Mask and The Shift; the memoir The Other Side of Fear: A True Story of Murder, Forgiveness, and the Peace Only Faith Can Bring; and a graphic novel collection of his comic, The SuperFogeys. After leaving his 15 year career as a graphic designer, Brock began his work in film. His feature film debut as Writer/Dire...

Elizabeth Ese is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her BA in Political Science, as well as the London School of Economics, where she earned a master’s in Public Policy. As the child of Nigerian immigrants, Elizabeth has always sought out stories where she could see herself and her culture reflected. She has striven to tell stories highlighting the beauty and complexity...

Barbara Carroll Roberts’s books for young readers include the novels Nikki on the Line, a finalist for two state children’s book awards, and The Metamorphosis of Bunny Baxter, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Her picture book, A Rose Named Peace, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, is also a Junior Library Guild selection, as well as a Texas Topaz Nonfiction Gem. Barbara has had many...

Janice Milusich is a children's author and a teacher for the visually impaired, working with preschool students who are visually impaired and blind. Her students and their experiences often inspire her writing. She graduated from Stony Brook's Children's Literature Fellowship and Renee LaTulippe's Lyrical Lab. Her newest picture book, I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea, illustrated b...

N. WEST MOSS is the author of the story collection The Subway Stops at Bryant Park. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the New York Times, Salon, McSweeney’s, and many other publications. The recipient of three William Faulkner–William Wisdom gold medals and winner of the Saturday Evening Post ’s Great American Fiction Contest, she holds an MFA in creative writing and a certificate in n...

Lynn Becker has been a reader and creator all her life. After growing up in New York, Lynn spent many years in the Southern California desert with her husband, children, cats, dog, and lots and lots of chickens. She now lives in Colorado. The chickens stayed behind, but a few mythical beasties may have followed her to her new home…!These days, when she’s not writing picture books or children’s boo...

Maureen Johnson is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of several YA novels, including 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Suite Scarlett, The Name of the Star, and Truly Devious. She has also done collaborative works, such as Let It Snow with John Green and Lauren Myracle (now on Netflix), and several works in the Shadowhunter universe with Cassandra Clare. Her work has appeared in publi...

Beth Anderson has always been fascinated with words and language—from sound and meaning, to figurative language and point of view, to cultural and scientific aspects of language. After earning a B.A. in linguistics and a M.Ed. in reading, she taught English language learners for more than 20 years. That classroom community taught her valuable lessons as she advocated for students and encouraged th...

Romina Garber is a New York Times and international bestselling author whose books include The Last Vampire, Castle of the Cursed, Lobizona, Cazadora, & the ZODIAC quartet. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and raised in Miami, Florida, Romina landed her first writing gig as a teen—College She Wrote, a weekly Sunday column for the Miami Herald that was later picked up for national syndication—a...

Charlotte Lillie Balogh is an author, a screenwriter, and a comic book writer born and raised outside Boston. She self-published her first book at sixteen years old and later graduated as a Remembrance Scholar from Syracuse University. CLB is a lifelong superhero fanatic, and she launched into the television and film industry by working at DC Entertainment on projects including Wonder Woman 1984 a...

Lina Chopra Haldar is a math educator, a woman of color in STEM, and a children’s book author. She began her career in New York City, where she completed a B.S. in Operations Research and an M.A. in Mathematics Education at Columbia University. As she soaked up the vibrant culture and stories of New York City, she worked as an investment banker and then as a high school math teacher. Lina’s passio...

Heather Brockman Lee is an illustrator specializing in children's illustration and images for licensing. Her publishing clients include Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, Simon and Schuster, Beaming Books, and The Innovation Press. She is a winner of the Grand Prize Portfolio Showcase, 2021 SCBWI Big Five-Oh! as well as the 2020 Letters and Lines at the Rocky Mountain chapter of SCBWI. She...

Kaz Windness is the award-winning, genre-crossing illustrator and author of funny and heart-warming books for young readers. Proudly neurodivergent (ASD/ADHD), Kaz specializes in character-driven books celebrating inclusivity, grit, and kindness. Her many books include the Geisel Honor recipient, “Worm and Caterpillar are Friends,” the Dolly Parton Imagination Library selection, “When You Love a B...

Lily Williams is the critically acclaimed author and illustrator of the If Animals Disappeared picture book series and graphic novels Go With The Flow and Look On The Bright Side. She grew up in Northern California and worked in feature film animation before moving to Colorado. Lily seeks to inspire change through education and believes in the power of making information fun and accessible for all...

Tricia D. Wagner is an award-winning novelist, poet, and short story writer with five published novels and many more on the way. She is the creator of Swift and the Star of Atlantis series, an epic literary coming-of-age adventure. And she is the author of Sun Child of the Moor, a literary fantasy and winner of the 2023 Royal Dragonfly Book Award. Wagner grew up in Amarillo, Texas, chasing storms,...

Mel Rosenberg hand-wrote his first children's book, "Bacteria Galore by Sunday at Four" when he was 23 years old. Twenty years later, Tel Aviv University published the hardcover version of his book on bacteria in Hebrew, חיידקים מיליון עד יום ראשון, illustrated by Tali Niv-Dolinsky. ​For many years, his writing career was on a back burner while he became a scientist, inventor, and la...

Dr. Kodey Bogart, AvD., is a former United States Army Warrant Officer and aviator who flew the Blackhawk during medical evacuation missions. She is a decorated combat veteran, having received two Air Medals and a Sikorsky Rescue Award. Kodey made history as the first female to be designated as Pilot in Command for day, night, and night vision goggle (NVG) operations in combat for the Florida Army...

As a Programs team member, Mandy is the United Through Reading Program Coordinator in the D.C. Area. She works with commands and local military support groups, increases awareness of United Through Reading and the importance of the read-aloud experience for the entire military family, and coordinates recording opportunities. Mandy is an Air Force spouse of 18 years and mom of three. She has a Bach...

Guojing is an award-winning author and illustrator of picture books and graphic novels. Her wordless picture book The Only Child was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year. Her second wordless picture book Stormy: A Story About Finding a Forever Home was an ALA Notable Children’s Book, hailed as “masterful” by The New York Times. Her graphic novels The Flamingo and Oasis received...

C.M. Cornwell is the author of whimsical stories with magic and heart including The Memory Spinner (Penguin Random House, 2025) and The Paper Ballerina (Penguin Random House, 2027). She has a degree in English Literature and lives in Pennsylvania with her family. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys traveling, hoarding cardigans, and tangling herself in fiber arts projects. Learn more at https://www...

Author Christy Mihaly loves history, nature, and books. She writes for kids because she believes that our best hope for the future is raising young people who love to read, and giving them the knowledge and skills to lead. Christy has written around 40 children's nonfiction titles on topics from hayfields to free speech to food. Her fall 2021 picture book with Barefoot Books, WATER: A Deep Div...

Tom was born and raised in Southern New Jersey. Growing up in rural America, Tom has a deep sense of community - when our families, neighbors, farmers, local businesses, and organizations all work in concert to support one another, it strengthens us individually and collectively. Tom relishes opportunities to develop meaningful relationships with his local community. ​​As a gay dad and a father of...

Alby C. Williams hails from the land of snow and salt potatoes. They are a storyteller, poet and artist of dubious skill but endless enthusiasm. If you catch them in their spare time, you might mistake them for a cat based on the amount of yarn in their immediate vicinity, but don't be fooled---they're actually several pigeons in a trench coat. Learn more at https://albycwilliams.com/

Lija Fisher is the author of funny adventure novels for kids that explore the world of cryptozoology, or the search for legendary animals that might be real. Her debut novel. THE CRYPTID CATCHER (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) received a starred review from Booklist and was a Junior Library Guild Selection. The sequel, THE CRYPTID KEEPER, was written while Lija was the Writer in Residence with Aspen...

Isabelle Knight is the middle-grade fantasy author of the Enchantria series, which she began writing at age ten and published during her middle school years. A lifelong book and cat lover, she now resides somewhere in a book-filled apartment, surrounded by an unimaginable number of stuffed pandas and enough books to start her own bookstore. When she’s not writing about creepy shadows, daring heroi...