This Year’s Panels
Meet the authors and hear our YA panels at the Share Exchange, 531 5th Street in downtown Santa Rosa.
10-11:15 – Hindsight and Other Sightings, with Stacey Jay (Juliet Immortal), Sophie Littlefield (Hanging by a Thread), and CJ Omololu (Transcendence)
11:30-12:45 - While We’re Young: Contemporary Teen Stories, with Gretchen McNeil (Ten), Dana Reinhardt (The Summer I Learned to Fly), and Corrine Jackson (If I Lie)
1-1:45 – Novel Storytelling: the Art of the Graphic Novel, with Brent Anderson (author of Astro City: Shining Stars), Paige Braddock (author of Jane’s World, Volume 10), Justin “Coro” Kaufman ((author of Transient Man), and Brian Fies (Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow)
2-3:15 – Love in Dire Circumstances, with Amy Reed (Crazy), Jason Myers (Run the Game), and Avery Williams (Alchemy of Forever)
YA Panel Authors
Brian Fies
- Brian Fies is a writer and cartoonist whose first graphic novel, Mom’s Cancer, won the comics industry’s Eisner Award and Harvey Award, as well as Germany’s Youth Literature Prize (Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis) for Best Young Adult Literature. His second graphic novel, Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?, won the American Astronautical Society’s Eugene M. Emme Award for Best Astronautical Literature for Young Adults. He lives in northern California.
Justin CORO Kaufman
- Justin CORO Kaufman is an illustrator and concept designer based in San Francisco, California. he is a founder of Massive Black, and has also served as the studio art director since 2004. In his spare time he enjoys drawing, painting, and writing various things, spending time with his family, and sleeping occasionally.
Stacey Jay
Stacey Jay is the author of Juliet Immortal and many other books for young adults and adults. Her books have been translated into five languages and called ʺsharp storytellingʺ by Booklist and ʺauthentic and often funnyʺ by Kirkus reviews. She lives in Sonoma County with her husband, two boys, and herd of imaginary goats. Learn more at www.staceyjay.com.
Dana Reinhardt
Dana Reinhardt is the author of five novels for Young Adults, including The Summer I Learned to Fly, and the winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award and California Book Award. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and their two daughters.
Corrine Jackson
- Corrine Jackson is a young adult author repped by Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary Agency. Her debut young adult novel, If I Lie, will be published by Simon Pulse (August 28, 2012). Touched, the first book of her young adult paranormal romance trilogy, will be published by Kensington/KTeen (November 27, 2012). Corrine lives in San Francisco, where she works at a top marketing agency managing campaigns for several Fortune 500 clients. She has bachelor and master degrees in English, and will graduate with her MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University this July. Visit her at www.CorrineJackson.com or on Twitter at @Cory_Jackson.
CJ Omololu
Cynthia (CJ) Omololu’s novel Transcendence (Walker/Bloomsbury), the paranormal romance about reincarnation and destiny, was released in June 2012 and will be followed by a sequel in February 2013. Dirty Little Secrets (Walker/Bloomsbury) about a teen living in a hoarded home was published in 2010 and was a Border’s Original Voices selection and was included in the ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Reader’s list.
Gretchen McNeil
Gretchen McNeil is an opera singer, writer and clown. Her YA horror/paranormal Possess debuted with Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins in 2011. Her second novel, Ten – YA horror/suspense about ten teens trapped on a remote island with a serial killer – will be released September 18, 2012. Gretchen is a former coloratura soprano, the voice of Mary on G4′s Code Monkeys and she currently sings with the LA-based circus troupe Cirque Berzerk. Gretchen is also a founding member of the vlog group YARebels where she can be seen as ʺMonday.ʺ
Brent Anderson
Brent Anderson was born in San Jose, California. His professional career began at Marvel in 1979 with Ka-zar the Savage and the Marvel Graphic Novel: X-Men ʺGod Loves, Man Kills.ʺ Since then he has created or co-created Somerset Holmes, Strikeforce: Morituri, and the Eisner Award-winning Astro City. He is currently working on a new cycle of Astro City, The Phantom Stranger (DC Comics) and several personal graphic novels; El Jaguár, Tecknight: Jar of Ashes, and Good Mother Dinosaur, in collaboration with writer Shirley Johnston. ʺMy greatest joy in drawing comics comes when I’ve added nuance to a character with just the right expression and illustrated a scene that captures the perfect mood. When the characters come to life I feel alive. That’s why I’ve dedicated my professional life to creating graphic novels.ʺ
Paige Braddock
Paige Braddock is the Creative Director at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates. As Creative Director, Paige works with the Schulz family members to oversee the art direction and editorial control for all Peanuts licensed products worldwide. Paige has also illustrated several Peanuts-themed children’s books, including a pop-up book released by Simon and Schuster. In 2001 Paige launched her own publishing company, Girl Twirl Comics, so that she could finally make her comic feature, Jane’s World, available to comic shops and bookstores. Jane’s World started as an online feature in the late 1990s, but was soon picked up for online distribution by United Feature Syndicate, Inc. Now distributed by Universal Press Syndicate, daily installments of Jane’s World appear on their GoComics website. In 2006 Jane’s World received an Eisner Award nomination for best humor book. There are currently 10 Volumes of Jane’s World in print.” Paige is also co-creator of the graphic novel, The Martian Confederacy.
Sophie Littlefield
- Sophie Littlefield, author of Hanging by a Thread, grew up in Missouri, attended Indiana University, and worked in technology before becoming a stay-at-home mom. She lives in California with her family.
Amy Reed
Amy Reed is a veteran teen author who has published meaningful, edgy fiction to great critical reception. Her books include Beautiful, Clean (a novel about five teens in rehab), and the upcoming Crazy, a heart-wrenching exploration of a romance marred by mental illness.
Jason Myers
Jason Myers is the author of four teen novels, including his debut, Exit Here, which became a cult classic. His latest, Run the Game, follows two teens in the sex industry who fall in love and attempt to find some kind of normalcy in the dark and twisted world in which they live.
Avery Williams
Avery Williams is the author of Alchemy of Forever, which tells the story of Seraphina, who as been reincarnated for centuries and finally decides to break out of the endless cycle and die like a normal girl—until she screws up and gets trapped in the body of a local high schooler and falls in love with the boy next door.
