Sylvia Stein

Patricia Harris is a dreamer, crafter, gamer, and digital artist who loves creativity in life. A half-mad poet, her writing is found all over social media and various other websites, including coffee house writers. She is a devoted mom who can be found doing a variety of art when she isn't penning poetry and writing words. She is half of the small press Fae Corps publishing. Her collection of writings includes a memoir, children's books, and poetry. 

Tish MacWebber is full of surprises. Originally from Cape Breton Island, she draws inspiration from the ocean, especially where the Atlantic Ocean kisses the shorelines of the home of her heart, where her own story began. Tish currently lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick with her husband, Roy, their cat, Jazzy, and some tropical fish. Since November 2016, she has been on a journey of self-discovery, which revealed that she was born to be an author! Her pen name is Tish MacWebber, and she is currently working on creating a movement. #Tishspiration is a word she created and has since defined as the art of surprising yourself. She published her second book, #Tishspiration: The Art Of Surprising Yourself in November 2021, and her next goal is getting her word into a dictionary. Her first book, From Where I am Sitting: A Collection Of Cat Tales was written to honor the memory of her dear friend, Susan Douglas, who was well known for saying that “every book should have at least one talking cat in it.” In her whimsical fictional memoir narrated by cats, Tish tells the stories from several cats’ points of view.  She has had her work featured in online magazines and in five different anthologies. She enjoys writing flash fiction, and has entered and won a flash fiction contest with her story “Love In A Bottle”.

In between writing her first and second book, Tish helped her first cousin, Alicia to publish a book about her grandmother. Alicia has cerebral palsy and typed up not one, but two books on a regular keyboard with one finger. Tish will help Alicia with her next book later in 2022.

Tish has a Bachelor of Science from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, now known as the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus. She began her studies in a pre-veterinary program and finished her Bachelor of Science with Honors, majoring in Animal Science.

When she is not stirring up the internet for good, other hobbies include jewelry designing and playing at being a stylist while sharing her adventures with makeup.

Amy Sparling is the USA Today bestselling author of books for teens and the teens at heart. She lives on the coast of Texas with her family, her spoiled rotten pets, and a huge pile of books. Her favorite things are coffee, glitter, book boyfriends, and Netflix binges.

My name is Kelly Leslie, and I am a retired Principal with 30+ years of experience in the field of education. During that time, I developed an affinity for children with special needs and continue to strive to highlight the importance of recognizing all our strengths. To that end, in my retirement, a valued colleague-friend and I co-created an organization entitled Believe Beyond Bounds to showcase children and young adults with special needs.

In a further attempt to continue to impact young children, I have created some children's picture books. I believe it's never too early to teach our children about positive differences, acceptance, kindness, and inclusion. It is this belief that inspired me to create the Hannah Series and the Bruno Series, picture books for children aged 4-8. It is my hope to focus on the incredible strengths showcased by children with special needs and, through this, continue to support all children, as well as provide resources for both parents and educators.

I have recently had the pleasure of co-authoring an SEL (social, emotional learning) curriculum resource for K-3 teachers with Joyce Tam. We have developed an easy-to-use resource that incorporates all 6 of the picture books, focusing on (positive) Differences, Acceptance, Kindness, and Inclusion - The DAKI. Our hope is to support educators in facilitating social-emotional growth in the classroom. In addition, to help create a climate where students will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of self while supporting one another in a collaborative learning environment. 

I have also published my first YA novel, Chances Are... my hope with this novel is to impact our young adult audience with a message around learning to appreciate your personal strengths, be unapologetically yourself and your own best friend, and always.

Biography:

More than seven decades ago, Wanda Adams learned how to read and developed a deep curiosity about the world. Mrs. Fischer was raised in Weymouth, Massachusetts and born in Tennessee. She began writing in the second grade and her love of writing and storytelling grew as she got older. 

Following a nearly forty-five-year career in public relations/marketing/media relations for not-for-profit and governmental organizations, she retired and decided to write and release her first novel, Empty Seats, a coming-of-age book with baseball as the backdrop, in late 2017. 

In addition to her fiction writing, Wanda has been a folk music DJ on WAMC, Albany, NY’s National Public Radio affiliate, since September 18, 1982. Folk Alliance International inducted her into its Folk DJ Hall of Fame in 2019 at its annual meeting in Montreal. Every Saturday night, from 8-10 pm ET, she plays a mixture of traditional and contemporary folk, blues and bluegrass music. 

Click the "Learn More" button to discover more about Wanda's Writing Journey and all of her published books.