Regional Advisor
Becky Herzog writes creepy and funny stories for young readers. She’s worked as a US Sailing Instructor where she got to play on the water all day and she may have had a run-in with a kraken once. Becky has also worked for the US Forest Service where she almost got a photo of Bigfoot in the high mountains of Utah. If you can’t tell, she loves the outdoors –– except for murky lakes (too many swamp monsters). Becky’s spooky poetry has been published in Spaceports & Spidersilk. She lives in sunny (and muggy) Florida with her crazy family, and a menagerie of animals including a lazy bearded dragon, two grumpy geckos and a saucy tarantula. Learn more about Becky at www.rebeccaherzog.com.
Co-Assistant Regional Advisor
Adriana Hernández Bergstrom is a Cuban-American artist and children’s book author-illustrator. She studied fine art & theatrical set design at the University of Miami, FL and industrial design at RISD. She loves literacy and languages and speaks English, Spanish, and German. She is the author and illustrator of ABUELITA AND I MAKE FLAN (Charlesbridge, 2022) about a little girl learning to make amends when making flan goes terribly awry. And she’s the author and illustrator of the upcoming TUMBLE (Scholastic, 2023) and COUNTDOWN FOR NOCHEBUENA (Little, Brown, 2023)Learn more about Adriana at adriprints.com.
Co-Assistant Regional Advisor
Candy G. Barnhisel grew up in upstate New York, running barefoot in the soft grass and filling her lungs with dairy scented air. Now you can find her swimming through the humidity and slapping mosquitos along the seaside in Florida. When she’s not outside soaking in psithurism and photographing nature’s creatures, she’s writing fiction and nonfiction picture books. Tidbits about her: *She’s a Photographer *She’s a former newspaper photographer where one of her favorite assignments gave her the opportunity to meet a WWI veteran who was 111 years young. She enjoyed capturing his glee as everyone celebrated him with the gift of belly dancers. *She had the opportunity to learn from legendary National Geographic photographer, James L. Stanfield. *She helped care for a manatee named, Snooty. *She volunteered at Mote Marine and helped care for a juvenile pygmy sperm whale. *She was a Segway tour guide. *She’s a shorty that loves shooting hoops and would love to challenge you to a game of horse. *She loves big dogs and Hemmingway cats. *She’s a mom of two young boys and is always on guard as a tackle could happen at any given moment! *She is merrily married to an even bigger boy who can never seem to find anything, especially, in the refrigerator. Candy now has an invention idea for the man-fridge- just ask her about it.SPACER
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John Herzog is an illustrator and educator. He has created work for Scholastic, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Little, Brown and Company, Highlights for Children, DreamWorks TV, and Hasbro. He also teaches illustration at Ringling College of Art and Design.John is a member of the National Cartoonists Society and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, where he received the 2018 SCBWI Magazine Merit Award. He lives in Florida with his family. Learn more about John at johnherzog.art.