Writer's Craft - Susan Tan, Rebecca Caprara, Susan Lubner, and Anna Staniszewski

This Writer's Craft theme is "Luck and Magic"

Susan Tan has lived many places in her life, but calls Concord, Massachusetts, home. She grew up in a mixed-race family, and, like Cilla Lee-Jenkins, had very little hair until the age of five. After studying at Williams College, she earned her PhD from the University of Cambridge, where she studied children's literature. She currently lives in Somerville, enjoys frequent trips to Chinatown to eat tzuck sang, and teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire is her first book.

Rebecca Caprara is a children's book author and illustrator. Her debut middle grade novel, THE MAGIC OF MELWICK ORCHARD was published in September 2018 by Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group. Her next novel, WORST-CASE COLLIN will be published by Charlesbridge in 2020. 

Rebecca graduated from Cornell University and practiced architecture for several years, before shifting her focus from bricks to books. An avid globetrotter, she has traveled to over 50 countries, and has lived in Italy, Singapore, and Canada. She is now growing roots in Massachusetts with her family. 

Rebecca is also a classically trained ballet dancer, and continues to teach creative movement and storytelling to young students.​

In 2017, she received the Marguerite Davol Picture Book Manuscript Scholarship, as well as the Jane Yolen Scholarship from the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. 

Susan Lubner is the author of three picture books and the middle grade novel, The Upside of Ordinary. Her stories have also appeared in Spider and Highlights. Besides reading and writing, Susan loves taking long walks, spending time on the water at Cape Code, the color blue, painting, and eating lots of chocolate. She lives in Massachusetts, but was born and raised in Maine, where her family always had two, three, or sometimes four cats. 

Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. She was a Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library and a winner of the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award. Anna lives outside of Boston, Massachusetts, and teaches at Simmons College. When she's not writing, Anna spends her time reading, eating chocolate, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. You can visit her at annastan.com.