We Love Our Caterpillar Collection for Young Readers!

Ever since Lori was in the fourth grade and won a young author’s contest, she has had a passion for writing. When attending the Young Author’s  Conference, she heard Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree read aloud, and she knew right then that someday she wanted to write meaningful stories, hoping to capture the hearts of children. 

She lives in sunny Southwest Florida with her husband and daughter. She loves all things nature and you will find many of her experiences in the pages of her stories.

Exploring  the interconnectedness of humanity, Denise Minnerly’s passion fires her  work as she transforms human reaction and social mores into her  paintings, etchings and sculptures. “The Village Project” an  installation asks participants from a wide spectrum within communities  to create their version of “home”. The project has traveled from college  galleries to museums. Most recently her attention has been focused on  understanding human nature. Observing horses and our own human reaction  she delves into the similarity of our state of awareness. Using paint,  plaster and pigments traditionally used in the renaissance she  communicates her own identity as it relates to the understanding of the  human condition.

Denise  Minnerly graduated from the University of Vermont with a BS in art  education and BFA in the arts. She continued her art education at the  Arts Student League in New York City and the Silvermine School of Art in  Connecticut. She is the illustrator of three published children’s books  relating to art; The Color Tree, Molly Meets Mona and Friends and  Painting the Town. Minnerly exhibits her work in the Tri-State area. Her  paintings are displayed by public corporations throughout the  Northeast. 

Caitlin  Alexander is the author of SHE'S STILL HERE and an  award-winning journalist. She loves uplifting young girls through  literature, ghost stories, and sweet treats. Caitlin lives with her   husband, two beautiful children, and pup in southeast Minnesota. 

Ian Roth works in fundraising for a nonprofit academic research hospital.  He happens to be married to an author who roped him into this project for their two children--and other interfaith families like theirs.

 Penny Schneider is a Long Island, New York based author illustrator that has loved doodling her entire life.  By day she is a high school art teacher and by night, a superhero in sweatpants to her daughter, husband and rescue Shih tzu.  Her love of art and making children laugh and happy is what led her to her career as an art educator and now writing and illustrating children’s books.  She loves using any art media she can get her hands on, but if you asked what her favorite would be, she would simply say a paper and pencil.  In addition to her love of art, Penny enjoys nature, animals, cooking with her many kitchen gadgets, going on hikes and laughing with people she loves.  

Tanya hails from the bustling city of Montreal, where French is her first language. She’s the proud mother of two young and spirited girls who fill her life with endless inspiration. Tanya has always believed in the magic of words nestled within the pages of a  book. Today, she harnesses that magic to craft stories that bring smiles  to people’s lives. MY NAME IS LILI AND I'M DIFFERENT is a heartfelt  dedication to her daughters, a gentle reminder that every child is  uniquely special in their own way.

A life-long lover of reading and writing, Sandy has been penning poems and stories for as long as she can remember. She is employed as a Speech-Language Pathologist

within  the public school system, heads a creative writing club for pre-teens at  her local library and is a certified adult and kids’ yoga instructor.  In addition to her upcoming YA novel, FLIGHT: NOVEL IN VERSE, she's delighted to publish MEATBALL MAN: HEAD DETECTIVE to honor the creative imagination of her storytelling with her children. Sandy lives in Western, NY with  her husband, two kids and two cats.

Stephanie Cotta writes epic fantasy and is the award-winning author of the young adult fantasy novels The Conjurer’s Curse andThe Wraiths of Arjun. After discovering the world of Star Wars and the land of Narnia at a young age, her love of Sci-fi/Fantasy has been undying ever since. Following college, she spent several years working as a children’s book illustrator, which is when she first created the illustrations for The Mountain of Gold. As a writer, she loves crafting stories of hope amid impossible odds and creating realistic characters who inspire readers of all ages to discover their inner strength and overcome their struggles.

Stephanie lives in beautiful Southern Oregon with her husband, their two kids, two corgis named Walter and Fred, and a tabby-cat named Percy. When she’s not writing, she’s practicing archery, avidly reading, doing art, playing an immersive RPG, or hiking with her family.

Fred J. Fisher was born and raised in San Francisco. As a lifetime lover of literature and the arts, he wrote several screenplays, stage plays, and children’s books, most notably A Punkin in the Frost. The Mountain of Gold was inspired by his time in the US military while serving overseas in Japan. Although he lived as an adult in many different parts of the world, Mr. Fisher spent the remaining years of his life in a quaint, historic “gold” mining town in the heart of Southern Oregon.

Honor Statement for Fred:

Fred Fisher was a dear friend of mine and my family. He encouraged me in my writing and my artwork, becoming a mentor to me, and ultimately, my benefactor. He loved talking story-craft with me about his favorite screenwriters and writers, such as Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, and Charles Dickens. Fred kindly gifted me beautiful editions of these authors' works that have special places on my bookshelves.

Back in 2010, when Fred learned I was studying fine art in college, he reached out to me with the prospect of illustrating his delightful book, THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD. As a lover of Japanese culture, I immediately fell in love with this story set in old Japan and agreed to illustrate it. The first time we met to discuss the story at a local coffee shop, Fred was bursting with ideas for the illustrations. I took lots of notes and began working on my preliminary sketches. I did lots of research on Japanese clothing, artwork, and soon found my key inspiration for the illustrations from Japan’s famous woodblock printer, Hiroshige. 

Together, over many long hours of brainstorming compositions, adjusting elements in the illustrations, and tweaking the manuscript, we completed this delightful tale a year from when we started. And now, thirteen years later, I am overjoyed that I can finally bring Fred’s written words to publication. THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD is a love gift to Fred’s memory, and I hope you all enjoy it.