The Pit Stop

One of the highest requests from AASL national conference attendees is more author events, presentations, and appearances. In November, you will have the opportunity to mingle with many regional authors at what we’ve dubbed: The Pit Stop. What? It’s not what you might think. Our Pit Stop is a specially designated area on the Exhibit Hall floor that features authors, storytellers, and illustrators. Don’t miss this chance to mingle, hangout and recharge your proverbial engines at the AASL Pitstop!

Darick AllanDarick Allan

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RJ AndersonRJ Anderson (known to her friends as Rebecca) was born in Uganda, raised in Ontario, went to school in New Jersey, and has spent much of her life [more...]

Libby BagbyDriving home one day from her job as a media specialist at North Surry High School in Mt. Airy, NC, Tar Heel native Libby Bagby rescued an injured dog. To her family and friends, this was typical behavior for Libby who already had five other dogs at home. Little did she know how helping this dog was about to change the “plot” of her life. [more...]

John Claude BemisJohn Claude Bemis author of The Nine Pound Hammer began his writing career as a songwriter, and through old-time country and blues music, began to explore how Southern folklore could become epic fantasy. John lives with his family in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where he teaches his favorite books to elementary school students. Visit his Web site at www.johnclaudebemis.com. [more...]
Albert BellAlbert Bell is a literary renaissance man. His previously published works include nonfiction, historical fiction, and mysteries. His articles and stories have appeared in magazines and newspapers from Jack and Jill to the Detroit Free Press and Christian Century. Dr. Bell has served at Hope College in Holland, Michigan since 1978, as a professor of classics and history and chair of the history department. [more...]
Lauren BjorkmanLauren Bjorkman grew up on a sailboat, sharing the tiny forecastle with her sister and the sail bags. They are still friends. Visiting exotic lands continues to be a big part of her life. She once learned how to make bread in Yemen Bedouin style and has played Hacky Sack with children in Thailand. Her passion for travel is second only to her love for books that take her to every world imaginable. [more...]
Clay CarmichaelClay Carmichael is the author-illustrator of the middle grade novel Wild Things (May 2009, Front Street, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press), as well as three award-winning picture books (North-South) published in many languages. [more...]
Karen Cecil SmithKaren Cecil Smith is the author of the children’s picture book An Old Salem Christmas, 1840 and the biography Orlean Puckett: The Life of a Mountain Midwife. A graduate of Salem College, Smith has worked as a reporter, editor, and photographer. [more...]
Scotti CohnScotti Cohn (One Wolf Howls) is a freelance writer and editor living in central Illinois. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the author of five nonfiction books published by The Globe Pequot Press, with a sixth book scheduled for publication by Globe in 2009. Her short stories have appeared in numerous magazines for young people, and her poems about animals have appeared in Highlights for Children and Zootles magazines. [more...]
Carol CraneCarol Crane resides in Holly Springs, North Carolina. She has written a number of books including T is for Tarheel: A North Carolina Alphabet Book and Wright Numbers: A North Carolina Number Book by Sleeping Bear Press. In addition she is the author of other books in the Publisher’s Discover America Series including books for Florida, Texas, Alaska, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Delaware. Carol is a historian and an avid journal writer. [more...]
Kristy DempseyAs a child, Kristy Dempsey enjoyed swinging from trees and splashing in the creek on her grandfather’s farm in South Carolina. These days, she lives in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where her favorite moments are time spent with her husband and three children. In addition to reading and writing, Kristy enjoys running and hand-painting glass tiles. [more...]

Erin DionneErin Dionne is a writer, editor and teacher living in the Greater Boston area. Her first novel, Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies, published by Dial Books for Young Readers, was selected as a Featured Title for Scholastic Book Fairs and has a first print run of over 100,000 copies. An early version of the Models manuscript (titled Beauty Binge) was named as one of PEN/New England’s 2006 Susan P. Bloom Discovery Night award winners. [more...]

Kathleen Benner DubleKathleen Benner Duble grew up surrounded by very talented individuals.

Her father was a jet pilot in the Pittsburgh Air National Guard, and her sister, Lauren, went on to receive her wings and become a tanker pilot for the MAINEiacs in Bangor, Maine. Because Kathleen had sixteen car accidents before she was twenty-one, Kathleen’s father would not let her try her hand at flying. This was probably a very good decision. [more...]

Ted DunaganTed Dunagan has been nominated for Young Adult Author of the Year 2009 by the Georgia Writer’s Association for his debut novel A Yellow Watermelon. The book has received outstanding reviews‚ including a positive notice from Kirkus which called the work a “memorable, generous-hearted tale.” [more...]
LM ElliottLM Elliott
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Judith GearyJudith Geary has served as an adjunct faculty member at Appalachian State University since 1987. She currently serves as a scenario evaluator for Future Problem Solving International and as the scenario director of the North Carolina affiliate. [more...]
David Macinnis GillDavid Macinnis Gill is the author of the debut novel, Soul Enchilada, from Greenwillow/Harper Collins. His stories have appeared in several magazines, and his critical biography, Graham Salisbury: Island Boy, was published by Scarecrow Press. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English/creative writing and a doctorate in education, both from the University of Tennessee, as well as a M.ED. from Tennessee-Chattanooga. [more...]

Mike GraffMike Graf author of The Weather Report and Adventures with the Parkers series currently has 6 books published taking place in: Zion/Bryce, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Great Smoky Mountains, and Olympic. Future books in the works include: Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Arches/Canyonlands, the Badlands/Mt. Rushmore and more. He has written several books on weather for children- fiction and non-fiction, several teacher’s books and science kits published on weather. Because his intrigue for weather has never left, he is, at times, a weathercaster for KHSL-TV in Chico. [more...]

Fran HawkFran Hawk’s favorite things are children, books, and writing. Writing children’s books is her dream come true, because it combines all three. Fran resides in South Carolina, and when the famous Hunley submarine was raised from Charleston harbor, she wrote a children’s book about the event. Her next book was called Ten Tips for Raising Readers, in which Fran shares all the best information she had gathered about bringing children and books together. [more...]
Louise HawesLouise Hawes
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Peter HugginsPeter Huggins’ children’s book Trosclair and the Alligator was named one of the best books of the year in 2007 by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center and was selected in 2009 for the PBS reading series Between the Lions. His new young adult novel, In the Company of Owls, is a gripping Southern coming of age novel. Peppered with vignettes of family country life, it tells an exciting story of courage and the triumph of family loyalty in the face of danger. [more...]
Jennifer JabaleyJennifer Jabaley was born in New York and raised in Bridgewater, New Jersey. She graduated from James Madison University with a degree in chemistry and received a doctorate from Southern College of Optometry. A part-time optometrist and mother of two, Jennifer began writing her first novel after a phone call from her sister sparked an idea for a story that lingered in her mind and stirred her creative juices. LIPSTICK APOLOGY will be released in August of 2009 by Razorbill. [more...]
Gail Langer KarwoskiGail Langer Karwoski is the award-winning children’s book writer of Julie the Rockhound, Water Beds: Sleeping in the Ocean, and River Beds: Sleeping in the World’s Rivers published by Sylvan Dell. Before becoming a full time author, Gail taught in Georgia public schools. She frequently returns to schools as a visiting author. Gail married a rockhound. On their honeymoon, they hiked through lush western forests and stark “forests” of petrified wood. [more...]
Lisa KleinLisa Klein
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Karen LeeKaren Lee has turned from illustrator to author/illustrator with ABC Safari. A visit to the Mote Marine Aquarium with her family inspired a series of drawings and poems beginning with the manatees she discovered there. She comments, “They are surprisingly beautiful, comical, and graceful.” Her sketchbook soon represented animals from all over the world. Karen spent over three years on this project, which was the runner up for the 2005 SCBWI Don Freeman Grant. [more...]

Cynthea LiuCynthea Liu spent her formative years in Oklahoma and Texas where she was a member of the Whiz Quiz team, an academic decathlon-er, and a spelling bee champion. (Yes, she was very popular.) After attending Wellesley College, she landed a job as a management consultant. When she had enough of PowerPoint and frequent flyer miles, she traded in her suit for sweats to focus on the fun stuff-writing for children. [more...]

Neesha Dosanjh MemingerNeesha Dosanjh Meminger was born in Punjab, India, grew up in Toronto, Canada, and currently lives in New York City with her family. All of her writing explores the inner landscape of her characters, and how it merges or conflicts with the outer. She writes stories of women and girls defining themselves and shaping their own destinies within the confines of their day to day realities. [more...]

Billy MooreBilly Moore is the author of Cracker’s Mule and Little Brother, Real Snake. Cracker’s Mule is a quiet book that recalls a former time and an old-fashioned way of storytelling. Eleven-year-old Cracker must redeem himself in the eyes of both his family and the town by caring for a blind mule and showing his maturity. Southern Scribe calls Cracker’s Mule “a sweet coming of age story.” [more...]
Jenny MossJenny Moss is a former NASA engineer. She earned a master’s degree in literature and taught writing at University of Houston-Clear Lake. Her first novel, Winnie’s War, was published by Walker Books for Young Readers this year. [more...]
Lucy NolanLucy Nolan spent many childhood days roaming two very special islands: Pawleys Island, South Carolina, and Amelia Island, Florida, where she collected the family stories that were shared around the dinner tables of hundred-year-old homes. It was only natural that she would eventually combine her love of the sea and storytelling into Gulls. This playful book retells Mother Goose rhymes and embodies everything Lucy loves about America’s coastlines! [more...]

Joyce Moyer HostetterJoyce Moyer Hostetter was born in Quakertown, PA. But, when she one-year-old, she heard about “The South” and decided to move on down! Her parents raised her and her seven siblings in the Hickory, North Carolina area which is also the setting for her novel, Blue.

She received her BA in Early Childhood Education at Lenoir Rhyne College in Hickory. Since then she has taught special education, pre-school, homeschool support groups, and camp drama classes. Along with her husband, Chuck, she has raised two children and is now enjoying 5 grandchildren (soon to be 6!). [more...]

Jackson PearceJackson Pearce is twenty-four years old and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with a slightly cross-eyed cat and a lot of secondhand furniture. She recently graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English and a minor in Philosophy. She auditioned for the circus once, but didn’t make it; other jobs she’s had include obituaries writer, biker bar waitress, and receptionist. In addition, Jackson coaches both colorguard and winterguard at a local high school. [more...]

Shani PetroffShani Petroff is a writer living in New York City. Bedeviled: Daddy’s Little Angel is her first book. But she also writes for news programs as well as several other venues. Unlike Angel, she has no devil lineage — at least as far as she knows. [more...]
Donna Rathmell GermanDonna Rathmell German penned Carolina’s Story and Octavia and Her Purple Ink Cloud for Sylvan Dell Publishing. She is also the author of 16 cookbooks, 4 of which were New York Times best-sellers, including The Bread Machine Cookbook Series, which have sold more than 3 million copies. The 1990’s brought extensive media experience promoting her cookbooks, with appearances on such nationally respected programs as The Today Show, The 700 Club, Attitudes with Linda Dano, QVC, and a host of other radio and television programs. [more...]
Roger ReidRoger Reid is the author of two young adult stories published by NewSouth Books. His debut novel, Longleaf, a winning combination of fast-paced adventure story and intriguing ecological fact, has been widely praised; it received a very favorable notice from the Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books. Mr. Reid’s second novel, Space, is set at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. [more...]
Anne RunyonAnne Runyon
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Carrie RyanCarrie Ryan author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, Carrie is a graduate of Williams College and Duke Law School. A former litigator, she now writes fulltime. She lives with her writer/lawyer boyfriend and two fat cats in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are not at all prepared for the zombie apocalypse. [more...]
Emily Smith PearceEmily Smith Pearce is the author of critically acclaimed middle-grade novel Isabel and the Miracle Baby. Her easy reader, Slowpoke, is slated for publication in 2010, and she is currently at work on a young adult novel. Ms. Pearce grew up in Florence, South Carolina. [more...]
http://www.learningtimes.net/aasl/author-pit-stop-laurel-snyder/Laurel Snyder
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Julia Taylor EbelJulia Taylor Ebel celebrates nature, heritage, and cultural history through stories and poetry. Her books include Addie Clawson: Appalachian Mail Carrier; Orville Hicks: Mountain Stories, Mountain Roots; The Picture Man (Parkway Publishers); Walking Ribbon (Viewpoint Press); and Dresses, Dreams and Beadwood Leaves (High Country Publishers/Ingalls Publishing Group). [more...]

Carol WeatherfordCarol Weatherford

Baltimore-born and -raised, I composed my first poem in first grade and dictated the verse to my mother. My father, a high school printing teacher, printed some of my early poems on index cards. [more...]

Lisa Williams KlineWRITE BEFORE YOUR EYES is Lisa Williams Kline’s third novel for middle-grade readers. Her first novel, ELEANOR HILL, was winner of the N. C. Juvenile Literature Award, and her second, THE PRINCESSES OF ATLANTIS, is in its fourth reprinting. Her stories for young people have appeared in Spider, Cicada, Odyssey, and Cricket. She has an MFA in fiction from Queens University, and lives in North Carolina with her husband, who is a veterinarian. [more...]
Lara ZielinLara Zielin used her experiences in the evangelical church as the basis for her novel DONUT DAYS. She is no longer part of the evangelical community, but she still loves church potlucks and the smell of an old Bible. [more...]
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