VICKI JOHNSON is a children’s book author, and a former band nerd, White House staffer, and nonprofit director. Her debut picture book is Molly’s Tuxedo, illustrated by Gillian Reid and based on her experiences growing up. It was released June 27, 2023 from Little Bee Books and GLAAD. Vicki was a 2022 Lambda Literary Fellow, a 2020 PBChat Mentee, and a 2020 Finalist for the We Need Diverse Books MG Mentorship Program. She received a 2023 artist grant from the WV Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval by the WV Commission on the Arts. She is an active member of SCBWI…

Forrest Pritchard is a seventh generation farmer and New York Times bestselling author, holding a B.A. in English and a B.S. in Geology from the College of William & Mary. He grew up in the Shenandoah Valley on his grandparent’s diversified farm, and spent summers with his non-farming grandparents in the Appalachian highlands and the Ohio River Valley. Upon returning from college in the mid 90s, he took over the family farm ⎯primarily growing GMO corn and soybeans⎯ hoping to make the land profitable for the first time in decades. On harvest day, when five tractor-trailer loads of grain reaped a meager paycheck of $18.16, he realized he must radically…

M. L. Rio was born in Miami and raised in North Carolina by parents from California, and has never known how to answer the question, “Where are you from?” Her writing career began in elementary school with Reading Rainbow’s Young Writers and Illustrators Contest and a story about a girl with a pet dragon and the problem of how to hide it from her parents. She picked up a pen to write her first novel at the much more judicious age of twelve. Half a dozen ‘drawer novels’ later, she is represented by Arielle Datz of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency, Inc. Her debut novel, If We Were Villains,…

Heather Crosby is a recipe developer, menu and product consultant, and an educator specializing in plant-based, gluten-free good food for all eaters. She’s the founder of Good Food Cooking School and the author of YumUniverse and Pantry to Plate. A lover of all things plants, she can likely be found barefoot in her garden when she’s not creating, cooking, designing, or baking. About YumUniverse:No matter where you land on the diet spectrum, more whole, plant-based foods can enrich your life and improve your health. If you’re transitioning to a plant-based diet or you just want some ideas for preparing scrumptious veggie dishes, Heather Crosby provides a step-by-step guide to simply…

Jeff Zentner is the author of New York Times Notable Books The Serpent King and In the Wild Light, as well as Goodbye Days, Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee, and his forthcoming debut for the adult market, Colton Gentry’s Third Act. Among other honors, he has won the ALA’s William C. Morris Award, the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award twice, the Muriel Becker Award, the International Literacy Association Award, and been longlisted twice for the Carnegie Medal. He’s a two-time Southern Book Prize finalist; and was a finalist for the Indies Choice Award. He was selected as a Publishers Weekly Flying Start and an Indies Introduce pick. His books have been…

Matthew Cappucci is an on-air meteorologist at FOX 5 DC in Washington D.C., fulfilling a lifelong dream he’s had since childhood, and a member of the Capitol Weather Gang on WAMU/NPR. He also produces content for the MyRadar app, publishes daily articles in the Washington Post and makes regular appearances on NPR, BBC News, DW News, and Sky News Arabia. He was recently named the FLASH 2023 national weatherperson of the year. In his scant spare time, he works as an educational consultant. About the book:An energetic and electrifying narrative about all things weather—by one of today’s rising meteorological stars. Get in—we’re going storm-chasing! Imagine a very cool weather nerd…

Crystal Good is a member of the Affrilachian (African American Appalachian) Poets, a group of writers and artists whose creations and existence combat the erasure of African American identity in the Appalachian region, an Irene McKinney Scholar, and the author of Valley Girl. She is the founder and CEO of Mixxed Media, a government relations consulting firm that leverages social & media engagement strategies for mission-driven organizations. Crystal holds the completely made up but totally real office of Social Media Senator for the Digital District Of West Virginia whose platform encourages digital and political literacy. She is the founder and publisher of Black by God, a monthly newspaper published in…