Catherine Ann Velasco started her writing career as a journalist at newspapers in Wisconsin and Illinois covering issues important to kids and families. She created Teen Scene, a weekly newspaper page dedicated to teens' stories, photos, art, reviews and poems. The best part was helping middle grade and high school students get their work published. Velasco has won numerous writing awards that now decorate her sparkly purple writing room. She has written two nonfiction books for kids and is revising her middle grade novel, Hammerin' Hector's Playbook.