At age ten, Wendy Brant wrote her first book, My Mysterious Double, the story of a girl and an imposter pretending to be her. Wendy put not one but TWO copies of her glorious fourth-grade school picture on the cover. Toni Tennille bowl haircut, yellow turtleneck, denim vest with wide lapels. Brave might be one word to describe her …#Years later, after graduating with a degree in journalism from Northwestern University and completing the Publishing Institute at the University of Denver, Wendy wrote adult fiction (albeit unpublished) while working as an HR manager and being a mom. But when she started reading the same YA books as her kids, her attention and passion shifted. Now she likes to write about isolated teenagers who somehow find a way to connect with others, and she’s also a sucker for a little romance.#Though Wendy miraculously manages to keep her kids and pets alive and well, she has a brown thumb and kills plants indiscriminately. She likes to bake but not to cook. She loves the smell of coffee but not the taste. One of her favorite things is videos of unlikely animal friends. Wendy has always been somewhat of an introverted nerd, but she was also a cheerleader in high school … so figure that one out.#Wendy lives in the Chicago area in the best neighborhood in America (as crowned by Good Morning America in 2010) with her husband, teenage daughter and son, and guinea pigs Mac and Tosh.~Twitter: @wendyjobrant

Lindsey Summers is a self-proclaimed bookworm. Growing up, she begged for new books rather than clothes. It wasn’t until Wattpad that she gained the courage to start writing her own stories. Her first novel, The Cell Phone Swap, has received more than 79 million hits online. #Lindsey credits being born in Hawaii for her aversion to closed-toe shoes. While she’ll always be a local girl at heart, she now lives in Los Angeles, California. When she’s not writing, Lindsey can usually be found drinking coffee or at the beach with her nose in a book.

Kerry is an elementary school teacher who lives on a farm in Antrim (blink and you’ll miss it!) in the Ottawa Valley with her husband, Neil, their two young boys, Robert and Ole, and their dog, Lily. A city girl most of her life, she has grown to love muddy creeks, rogue cows and, yes, even John Deere tractors.#Sleep, Sheep! is Kerry’s first published book. She wrote the first draft of it in 2011, when she was teaching an amazing group of grade-four students in Arnprior. The class, teacher included, would write for ten minutes a day about whatever topic inspired them in whichever form they chose. Between the poems, letters and newscasts the students came up with each day, Sleep, Sheep! was born.#Kerry’s mom was the first to read Sleep, Sheep!, shortly before she passed away in 2014. Inspired by her mom’s faith in her ability as a writer, Kerry decided to submit her manuscript to a publisher. On a cold winter day, ice-skating with the kids in the barn (yes, the barn!), she got an email from Kids Can Press that began a new adventure for her as a published author.

Loredana Cunti was born the middle child between two brothers in an Italian immigrant family. She was raised outside Kleinburg, Ontario, and counted feeding the chickens among her chores when she was little.#As a child, Loredana preferred sports to writing and reading. She often got into trouble at school for talking too much, but eventually this served her well as she began winning speech contests and drama awards.#She began her career in radio as a guest host on a Jamaican radio program and then on a multicultural radio station featuring Italian, Chinese, German, Indian and other world music programs. She eventually worked in children’s entertainment as an executive producer of animated programs, and moved to England, where she went on to become Senior Vice President of Children’s Programming at Universal Pictures.#She spent many years traveling and working and has lived in many cities, including London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles and Rome. While living in Paris, she became a mother of two and a Cordon Bleu Pastry Chef.#Loredana moved back to Canada with her family after nearly 17 years away and wanted to spend more time with her children than traveling the world. Inspired by her childrens’ dreams to go to space, she started writing and co-authored the award-winning Dr. Dave Astronaut series of four junior nonfiction books.#She realized that while sitting and writing, she could travel anywhere her imagination would take her and still be home in time for the after-school pickup.#She is passionate about sharing stories of culture and family through food. She loves inventing stories around fun facts, coaching kids’ soccer, eating cake, cooking and listening to all kinds of music. Her hobbies are cooking festive foods and learning a few words in any language she can. She plans to keep writing as long as the little friends in her brain want her to tell their stories.

Anna Mainwaring studied English Literature, which led to a career in banking. She left to travel and then to train as a teacher. Anna took part in NaNoWriMo in 2012, and after endless drafts, Rebel with a Cupcake was born. When not writing, Anna can be found walking up hills or in cafés. She lives in Cheshire, England, with her family, including a murderous gold fish called Moriarty.