2024 Authors and Artists
The following authors, poets, and artists are part of this year’s featured programming.
Ridley Pearson
Keynote Author
Ridley Pearson
Ridley Pearson is the Edgar-nominated author of over sixty novels including two New York Times #1 bestsellers. His works for younger readers include Kingdom Keepers for Disney Books, a middle-grade thriller series following a group of friends as they try to save the Disney theme parks, and Peter and the Starcatchers. Pearson’s suspense thrillers have won him international acclaim, awards, and multiple appearances on best seller lists including the New York Times.
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Anne Carpenter
Author and Chef
Anne Carpenter
Anne Carpenter, longtime owner of Kitchen Conservatory in St. Louis, has been teaching cooking classes for more than thirty years. She has trained in restaurant kitchens in Italy, France and across the United States. A self-processed cooking nut, she is the author of the new recipe book You Had Me at Pie from Reedy Press.
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Ashley Steed
Wildlife Conservationist
Ashley Steed
In a world increasingly disconnected from the great outdoors, it’s more important than ever for people of all ages to connect with nature through fishing, hunting and outdoor recreation to ensure we can protect wildlife for generations to come. Wonders of Wildlife shares this passion with visitors through an authentic, educational and fun celebration of wildlife conservation.
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Cameron Collins
Author
Cameron Collins
Cameron Collins is the author of Lost Treasures of St. Louis, 1st Edition, the co-author of St. Louis Brews: The History of Brewing in the Gateway City, 3rd Edition, and Scenes of Historic Wonder: St. Louis, and Distilled History, a St. Louis history and drinking blog that was named the Riverfront Times' Best Personal Blog in 2013. A native of upstate New York, he earned a degree in American History from the University of Dayton and has called St. Louis home since 1995. His unique twist on the history of St. Louis has been featured in presentations and events throughout the St. Louis area.
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Chelsea Tornetto
Author
Chelsea Tornetto
Chelsea Tornetto is a former teacher turned author. Her first book, Conquering Content Vocabulary, was published by Scholastic in 2018, but now her passion is picture books. She is the author of Gardens Are For Growing (Familius 2022) and God Made You Too (WorthyKids 2022), with more titles on the way. When she isn’t working on her own stories, she helps others follow their dreams of writing for children as a freelance editor and author coach for At Home Author. Chelsea lives in Jackson, Missouri with her husband, Mike, and her two kids, Tessa and Milo. She loves snow days, lattes, and Target. She hates spiders, her sinuses, and laundry. You can find her on X and on her website.
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Dan Zettwoch
Author and Illustrator
Dan Zettwoch
Dan Zettwoch makes graphic novels, mini-comics, hand-drawn maps and homemade screenprints in his basement in St. Louis, MO. His books include Science Comics: Cars and Science Comics: Bridges (published by First Second) and most recently MISSOURI WEIRD & WONDERFUL with author Amanda E. Doyle (Reedy Press).
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Dave Lange
Author
David Lange
Dave Lange has chronicled St. Louis soccer since the 1970s for local and national media. He is the author of the only comprehensive history of soccer in St. Louis — "Soccer Made in St. Louis: A History of the Game in America’s First Soccer Capital," as well as "Year One: St. Louis CITY SC," from Reedy Press. Lange coached youth soccer and holds a USSF National D coaching license, and a coaching certificate from the Royal Dutch Football Association.
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Greg Olson
Author and Researcher
Greg Olson
Greg Olson is an independent researcher and author who lives in Columbia, Missouri. He is the author of seven books and several articles about Native American history in Missouri and the Midwest. The Ioway in Missouri (2008) won the Missouri Humanities Governor’s Humanities Award for Distinguished Literary Achievement. His book, Ioway Life: Reservation and Reform, 1837-1860 (2016) was named a Kansas Notable Book in 2017. His most recent book, Indigenous Missourians: Ancient Societies to the Present (2023) won the Missouri Conference on History’s 2024 Book Award.
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Jan Jacobi
Author
Jan Jacobi
Jan Jacobi was a middle school teacher and principle in three schools for fifty years. He has a unique perspective from which to write about Lincoln for young adults. He moved from New York to St. Louis in 1982 which is when his interest in Lincoln developed.
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Kathleen Boswell
Author
Kathleen Boswell
Kathleen has been a big fan of Laura Wilder since she first read the books in fifth grade and is delighted to be given the chance to perform as her. She waited until she was old enough to portray Laura at the age when she wrote the books.
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Desideria Mesa
Author and Poet
Desideria Mesa
Desideria is an author of both historical and historical fantasy novels as well as poetry and songs. She loves writing about the experiences of women and often highlight the music of past time periods.
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Kelly Brinkman
Author and Artist
Kelly Brinkmann
Kelly Brinkmann is a working artist and author reclaiming every part of her heart to align with God's best designs. She travels as a writer and conference speaker, but always returns home as a creative instructor in her community. A closet organizer, cookie baker, wife, and mama, she is still trying to learn to grow plants and keep at least some of her clothes free from clay and paint splatter.
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Kristen Kiesling
Author
Kristen Kiesling
Kristen Kiesling is the award-winning author of the young adult graphic novel THE HARROWING. Now residing in Houston, Texas, with her hubby and two boys, Kristen writes screenplays, graphic novels, young adult books, and stories for children. A former public school teacher and the current Director for Kindling Words West, Kristen enjoys creating new twists that challenge readers’ beliefs, interpretations, and assumptions.
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Laura Stewart Schmidt
Author
Laura Stewart Schmidt
Laura Stewart Schmidt is the author of Sweeter Than Life, a YA novel; Until Proven Innocent, a mystery; and Don't Fear, My Darling, a domestic suspense novel. Her short stories have appeared in multiple anthologies. She has an MFA in Fiction Writing from Lindenwood University.
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Mathew Unger
Chef
Mathew Unger
Mathew Unger has been an accomplished chef of over 25 years. His career has been vast from the executive chef at the Missouri Athletic Club to opening and running his own upscale comfort food restaurant. However, his career has led him to focus on the comfort foods of his home state of Missouri.
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Micheal Anderson
Author
Micheal Anderson
Micheal Anderson is the award winning author of the STEM focused Zoey Lyndon chapter book series. Micheal firmly believes children can't be what they can't see, which is why she writes relatable stories that exposes young readers to the different disciplines of STEM.
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Paige Hulsey
Author and TV Host
Paige Hulsey
Paige Hulsey is a storyteller based in St. Louis, MO. She joined KMOV as a news reporter in 2016 and continues working at the TV station as a lifestyle show host. Hulsey is also the author of the children’s books “A Bad Day Fishing” and “A Fun Book."
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Rachel Wyman
Author and Baker
Rachel Wyman
Rachel Wyman is an instructor in baking and pastry arts at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). She started her career at Bread Alone while she was a student at the CIA in Hyde Park, N.Y. After completing her studies, she went on to manage the night production at Amy’s Bread in New York City. After moving to Montclair, NJ with her family, she opened the Montclair Bread Company in 2012. In 2021 she published Will Run for Doughnuts: The Montclair Bread Company Cookbook. Among her many accolades, she was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Bakers in the U.S. by Bake magazine in 2015 and was a finalist on Team USA at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in 2014. Rachel was featured on the Food Network’s Donut Showdown in 2014, where her tres leches doughnut took home the top prize.
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Tara Smith
Author
Tara Smith
Tara L. Smith has lived much of her life in the St. Louis area. Her blog, SeeingDandy.com, has been featured on "News 4 Great Day" and "Show Me St. Louis" and in Good Housekeeping and Farmhouse Style magazines. She is the author of the new book Best Mom St. Louis, a guide to regional activities for moms and their kids, she can often be found hiking or traveling with her husband and four children.
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Friends of Aaron
Jazz Group
Friends of Aaron
Friends of Aaron Jazz Combo will be swinging to some of your favorite jazz classics.
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Ballet 314
Ballet Company
Ballet 314
Ballet 314, led by Artistic Director Robert Poe and Executive Director Rachel Bodi, is a nonprofit professional ballet company dedicated to celebrating local talent in the St. Louis community. Our mission is to emphasize literacy through the arts via our main stage performances as well as our educational programming. We are dedicated to supporting and partnering with local organizations and serving as a bridge for the arts in St. Louis. Ballet 314 wants to recognize the following partners of our Dancer Wellness Initiative: Athletico, Restore Therapy and Nutrition, Clayton Chiropractic.
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Circus Harmony
Circus School
Circus Harmony
Circus Harmony is the social circus school based at City Museum in St. Louis. They are both a youth development and arts education organization. You can learn more about them at www.circusharmony.org.
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Missouri Civil War Reenactors' Association
Civil War Reenactors
Missouri Civil War Reenactors' Association
Civil War Reenactors from all over the state, trying to keep our history alive and educate others.
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David Gorden
Author and Artist
David Gorden
David Gorden is a writer, artist and content creator based St. Louis, MO. He is the founder of 4Sight Studio and produces content for print, merch and YouTube.
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Dytania Harris
Author
Dytania Harris
Dytania Harris is an award winning educator with over 15 combined years of mentoring and educating students. She has worked at the early childhood and elementary level with kids of all ages. She has two beautiful daughters and a loving husband.
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Jo Schaper
Author and Poet
Jo Schaper
Jo Schaper is a native Missourian who grew up on High Ridge and has been writing of her own instigation since she was 10 years old. She is a published poet, freelance writer and a Missouri geologist, with a deep love for the rivers, caves and hills. She runs Geo Communications Services, Paw Paw Poets Publishing, is co-administrator for the Scenic Rivers Facebook group, and can be reached via jo.a.schaper@gmail.com.
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Manual Herrara
Illustrator
Manuel Herrara
Artist Manuel S. Herrera is also based in St. Louis, MO. He is an educator, illustrator, and international speaker. Some of Herrera’s other published books include “Cooper’s Comics” and “Whole Child, Whole Life.”
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Peter Lebrón
Impersonator
Peter Lebrón
Peter Lebrón is Hannibal’s newest Mark Twain impersonator. Although Lebrón is just stepping out onto the stage, he has long been a Mark Twain enthusiast, and is bringing a fresh take to this humorous show.
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American Championship Wrestling
Wrestling Company
American Championship Wrestling
With 20+ years in the wrestling business the owners of American Championship Wrestling bring you the most talented young Wrestling stars. Their ability to combine high flying moves with a classic wrestling style is a sight to see.
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Metro Theater Company
Theater Company
Metro Theater Company
Inspired by the intelligence and emotional wisdom of young people, Metro Theater Company creates professional theater, fosters inclusive community, and nurtures meaningful learning through the arts.
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Andrew Hahn
Author and Museum Director
Andrew Hahn
Andy Hahn is a 7th generation St. Louisan who has been passionate about history and maps since he was a kid. As a student at St. Louis University, he interned at the Cupples House, where he was bitten by the old house bug. Since 2003, he has worked as director of the Campbell House Museum, an 1851 townhouse in downtown St. Louis.
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Aaron Wills
Author
Aaron Wills
Aaron Wills has been working and playing in elementary education for over 30 years. He is also a writer of children's books in addition to being a husband, dad, video guy, board game designer, and goofball. Mr. Wills was previously the principal at Beaufort Elementary School right down the road from the Missouri Book Festival!
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Maureen Llewellyn
Author
Maureen Llewellyn
Maureen Llewellyn has dedicated over 27 years to teaching early childhood special education in the Fox C6 School District in Arnold, Missouri. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication Disorders from St. Louis University and a Master’s degree in Deaf Education from Washington University in St. Louis. Maureen resides in St. Louis with her husband Tom, their two daughters, Abby and Katie, and their beloved dogs, Millie and Moose.
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2022 Authors and Artists
In no particular order, the following authors, poets, and artists were part of 2022’s featured programming.
Maryfrances Wagner
Author and Poet
Maryfrances Wagner
Maryfrances Wagner is a poet and co-editor of I-70 Review and is a board member and programming chair for The Writers Place. Her newest books are The Silence of Red Glass, The Immigrants’ New Camera, and Solving for X. Her poems have appeared in many literary magazines including New Letters, Birmingham Poetry Review, River Styx, Main Street Rag, Rattle, American Journal of Poetry, Laurel Review, Voices in Italian Americana, and Poetry East as well as anthologies and textbooks. The Missouri Arts Council chose her as Individual Artist of 2020, and she currently serves at Missouri’s 6th Poet Laureate, where her job is to promote poetry throughout the state.
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Ed Wheatley
Author and Filmmaker
Ed Wheatley
Ed Wheatley is an award winning author, film producer, and sports historian. His works have received numerous accolades and awards including Sports Collectors Digest selection as the best book published on baseball in 2017, a 2017 nomination for the Lawrence Ritter Award by the Society for American Baseball Research for the best book in baseball, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s selection as one of the top 25 books of 2020. He has produced two films shown on the PBS network that each received EMMY award nominations, as well as a win in 2020.
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Carolyn Mueller-Kelly
Author
Carolyn Mueller-Kelly
Carolyn Mueller is a zookeeper at the Saint Louis Zoo and the author of Lily: A True Story of Courage and the Joplin Tornado, Missouri Almanac, and Forest Park: A Walk through History. She spends her days training a variety of animals, ranging from a sloth to porcupines, for summer shows at the Emerson Children's Zoo. She has spent the last decade living within two miles of Forest Park and countless hours and miles exploring its bike paths and running trails with her husband and two children.
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Brooks Blevins
Author and Professor
Brooks Blevins
Dr. Brook Blevins is a native of the rural Ozarks of Arkansas. He is the Noel Boyd Professor of Ozarks Studies in the history department at Missouri State University. He is the author or editor of a dozen books, including the recent History of the Ozarks trilogy from the University of Illinois Press and the forthcoming Up South in the Ozarks, a collection of essays that will be published by the University of Arkansas Press later this year.
Amanda E. Doyle
Author
Amanda E. Doyle
Amanda E. Doyle is a writer and zealous St. Louis transplant. She's the author of several books, including 100 Things to Do in St. Louis Before You Die, 100 Things to Do in Missouri Before You Die, To the Top! A Gateway Arch Story, Standing Up for Civil Rights in St. Louis, Missouri Almanac, St. Louis Sound: An Illustrated Timeline, and the upcoming Tower Grove Park: Common Ground and Grateful Shade Since 1872. She seeks out the city's singular charms with her husband and two children.
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Dan and Connie Burkhardt
Authors and Conservationists
Dan and Connie Burkhardt
Dan and Connie Burkhardt live in St. Louis and on their farm near the Missouri River with a herd of 50 cows and several flocks of chickens. Dan Burkhardt has also created two coffee-table books on two very different watersheds—Missouri River Country: 100 Miles of Stories and Scenery from Hermann to the Confluence (2013) and Florida Bay Forever: The Story of Water from the Everglades to the Keys (2013).
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Mon Trice
Author
Mon Trice
Mon Trice was born in East Saint Louis, Illinois and spent most of her childhood there. At an early age she chose books over toys and often made up stories and plays. Mon Trice is a publisher, author of three children’s books, a poet, and co-founder of Focus GSD, a life skills consulting company. She received her BS in Psychology from Southeast Missouri State University and an MBA Degree from Lindenwood University. Mon Trice is a humanitarian at heart, offering her time and energy to such causes as March of Dimes, Jump Rope for Heart, Junior Achievement and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Mon Trice now resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and believes children should see themselves reflected in the literature they read.
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Patrick Murphy
Author and TV Personality
Patrick Murphy
Patrick Murphy has spent the past 30 years producing television programs for PBS, both locally and nationally. A five-time Emmy award winner, he has created documentaries, weekly series, and musical variety shows. For the past 22 years he has hosted the St. Louis Speakers series from Powell Hall, interviewing more than 150 of the world's most renowned artists, writers, adventurers, and political leaders. Patrick is the author of Candy Men: The Story of Switzers' Licorice and The Irish in St. Louis: From Shanty to Lace Curtain. He is also a working artist, exhibiting his collection of woodcut prints in galleries throughout the St. Louis region.
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Gary R. Kremer
Author
Gary R. Kremer
Gary R. Kremer is the executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri, a position he has held since 2004. Prior to that date, he taught history at Lincoln University and William Woods University for thirty years. He also served as the state archivist of Missouri from 1987-1991. He has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books on Missouri history, including, most recently, This Place of Promise: A Historian Reflects on 200 Years of Missouri History.
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Angela Elam
Radio Host
Angela Elam
Angela Elam has been fascinated with hearing stories since she was a child in rural South Carolina, listening to the adults around her talk about their struggles with day-to-day life. Add that to her love of reading and writing, it's no wonder she ended up as an English major and in public radio, first training at Deutsche Welle in Cologne, Germany, and eventually working at WUGA in Athens, Georgia after completing her MFA in playwriting at the University of Georgia. There she collaborated on several projects with the literary journal, The Georgia Review, which served as a precursor to her 25 years of producing the nationally-distributed literary show, New Letters on the Air, for New Letters magazine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she also taught radio production for the Communication Studies Department.
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Lori Stillman
Author
Lori Stillman
Lori Stillman started writing her story down in the form of a journal at a young age after discovering her love for books and words. After managing a manufacturing company for 22 years, she reinvented herself as a certified personal trainer. Born in rural Missouri, she is a self-proclaimed tomboy and daddy’s girl. Lori is a wife, fur baby momma, and travel enthusiast. Her passion for hearing people’s stories sparked her interest in having her father tell his own. Together she and her father, John Stillman, co-authored Jumping from Helicopters: A Vietnam Memoir, a vivid and moving memoir that unearths fifty years of repressed memories with stunning accuracy and raw details.
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Thomas Eyssell
Author
Thomas Eysell
Thomas Eyssell has been a Professor of Finance and Legal Studies at the University of Missouri St. Louis for over thirty years, and a car guy for nearly fifty. His love of automobiles began with his work as a mechanic in the early 1970s, and continues to this day. He co-authored of They Will Run: The Golden Age of Automobiles in St. Louis with fellow car enthusiast and historian Molly Butterworth. He currently has four 1960s muscle cars in his garage and is always looking to add to the fleet.
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Porcshe Moran Murphy
Author
Porcshe Moran Murphy
Porcshe Moran Murphy is a marketing and communications professional based in central Missouri. She creates digital and print content for global and regional brands, covering topics like food and drink, travel, home design, healthcare technology and business. Porcshe holds a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the University of Missouri. In her free time, she enjoys being at home with her husband and furkids, reading mystery novels, attending arts and culture events, and exploring restaurants, wineries, state parks and museums. She is the coauthor of Missouri Comfort: Recipes and Stories from Favorite Places, coming next Fall.
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Dea Hoover
Author
Dea Hoover
As a veteran tour director, Dea Hoover is accustomed to hearing the familiar mantra, “Are We There Yet?” Thus the name of her full-service tour operation in the city of St. Louis. In 2008, Are We There Yet?, LLC expanded its operations with the acquisition of St. Louis’s first local receptive tour operation Discover St. Louis, LLC, founded in 1975. She is the best-selling author of STL Scavenger: The Ultimate Guide to St. Louis’s Hidden Treasures.
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Dan O'Neill
Author
Dan O'Neill
Born in St. Louis, Dan O'Neill graduated from the same University City High School as Tennessee Williams, Bing Devine, and Nelly. With a journalism degree from the University of Missouri, he has been an award-winning feature writer and columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MSNBC.com, and numerous publications. Dan is the author of When the Blues Go Marching In: An Illustrated Timeline of St. Louis Blues Hockey and Celebration: The Magic of the Cardinals in the 1980s.
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Steve Wiegenstein
Author
Steve Wiegenstein
Steve Wiegenstein grew up in the eastern Ozarks, which is the setting for his novels and short stories. His story collection Scattered Lights was a finalist for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award in Fiction. He is a frequent speaker at libraries and civic groups throughout the state, and he blogs about Ozarks and rural issues at stevewiegenstein.wordpress.com. A longtime teacher at colleges around the state, Steve now lives in Columbia.
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Father Dominic Garramone
Author and TV Personality
Father Dominic Garramone
Father Dominic Garramone, OSB, a monk of Saint Bede Abbey in Peru, Ill., was the host of the PBS cooking show Breaking Bread with Father Dominic from 1999 to 2001, and has written ten cookbooks. He still produces pledge specials for public television. While usually living a secluded life in a rural monastery, he occasionally travels throughout the Midwest giving lively talks (both culinary and inspirational) to civic and religious groups. Breakfast is his favorite meal, regardless of the time of day.
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Mathew Unger
Chef
Mathew Unger
Mathew’s love of food and cooking started at the age of 9 after taking a cooking class from the Sisters of Notre Dame. Mathew received his BA in business from Missouri State University in Springfield, and, after spending a few years as a stockbroker, he decided to turn his passion for food into a career. He’s taught culinary classes, worked in kitchens at local restaurants, and owned and operated his own restaurant, Mathew’s Kitchen. Mathew is currently the Director of Foodservice at Midwest Petroleum, where he oversees Dottie’s, a truckstop diner in Cuba, Missouri, and develops programs for convenience stores throughout Missouri and Illinois. He lives in St. Louis with his wife, Maggie, and their two children. He is the coauthor of the upcoming Missouri Comfort with Porchse Moran Murphy.
Virginia Brackett
Author
Virginia Brackett
Virginia Brackett, PhD helps organize writing workshops for veterans and their families as a member of the Kansas City Veterans Writing Team. She is a board member of the Moral Injury Association and serves on the Great Group Reads committee of the National Women’s Book Association. Brackett’s most recent book, In the Company of Patriots (Sunbury Press, 2019), is a narrative nonfiction study of the effect of the loss of her father to war on her family. Her fiction placed second in the fall 2018 Owl Canyon Hackathon, a competition for which she served as a judge in 2019, and her work was a finalist in the 2019 William Penn Foundation Early Childhood Book Challenge. Her 15 books have received citations from Booklist and the Amelia Bloomer Project (ALA), among others, and she has published dozens of stories, essays, and blog posts for readers from children to adults.
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Cameron Collins
Author
Cameron Collins
Cameron Collins is the author of Distilled History, a St. Louis history and drinking blog that was named the Riverfront Times Best Personal Blog in 2013. His books include St. Louis Brews, Lost Treasures of St. Louis, and Scenes of Historic Wonder. A native of upstate New York, he earned a degree in American History from the University of Dayton and has called St. Louis home since 1995. His unique twist on the history of St. Louis has been featured in presentations at PechaKucha St. Louis, Landmarks Association of St. Louis, and at the Missouri History Museum. A volunteer at the Campbell House Museum, he was awarded the President’s Award from the museum’s Board of Directors in 2015.
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Chris Stuckenschneider
Author
Chris Stuckenschneider
Chris Stuckenschneider, of Washington, is the author of Twist of Fate: The Miracle Colt and His Friends, Patriotic Pals, and My Washington, which she co-authored with photographer Jeanne Miller-Wood. Chris was book editor and a columnist at the Washington Missourian for 22 years and is highly regarded by publishers for her reviews. She is a lifelong literacy advocate and currently reviews books for Neighborhood Reads Bookstore, including overseeing the bookstore’s Bound to Read Blog, which features reviews by a wide variety of readers. Chris serves on the board of the Community Literacy Foundation and coordinates Book Buddy, a literacy project that selects quality children’s books and works with area service groups, businesses and individuals to place these books in school and public libraries. To date, more than 21,000 new, hardcover books have been donated through the project.
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Rick Stromoski
Illustrator
Rick Stromoski
Rick's illustrations and cartoons have appeared in national magazines, advertising, book publishing, children's publications, licensing, newspaper syndication and network television. He has won a bunch of awards. He is a member of the Society of Illustrators, The National Cartoonists Society and the local Costco.
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Nancy Allen
Author and Law Professional
Nancy Allen
Nancy Allen is a New York Times bestselling author and practiced law for fifteen years as Assistant Missouri Attorney General and Assistant Prosecutor in her native Ozarks, trying over thirty jury cases, and served on the faculty of Missouri State University for fifteen years. She is the author of the Ozarks Mystery series (HarperCollins) and the Anonymous Justice series (Grand Central Publishing). With James Patterson, Nancy is co-author of New York Times Bestsellers Juror #3 (2018) and The Jailhouse Lawyer (2021). Nancy is currently working with Patterson on their fourth novel.
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Jessica Horne
Author and Professional Counselor
Jessica Horne
Jessica Horne is a children’s book author and licensed clinical professional counselor born and raised in Kansas City. Jessica has enjoyed writing from an early age, finding delight in poetry and short stories to perform around the city. In 2017, Jessica published her first children’s book, Tia’s Tingles, seeking to combine her admiration for literature and mental health care to support emotional and social wellness for children of all backgrounds. Jessica is also the author of the children’s book Tia’s New Neighbor. She is a proud graduate of Tennessee State University where she obtained a Bachelor's in Psychology and Northwestern University where she received a Master's in Counseling Psychology.
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