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Mid Atlantic (D.C./Virginia)

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Register now for the In-Person Winter Conference in New York City

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Meet The Agents Digital Workshop

October 2023

Meet Our Team

**Meet Our Volunteers**

Are you interested in getting more involved in our region? Fill out our Volunteer Interest Form or apply to one of our current positions [here](https://forms.gle/gtoKtBuaSjzPqwKx5).
 
**Co-Regional Advisors: Erin Teagan and Valerie Patterson**

**Erin Teagan** is the author of The Friendship Experiment (HMH), Survivor Girl (Clarion), and two Girl of the Year series, Kira Bailey and Luciana Vega, for American Girl. She has a background in science and uses her experience from the lab in her books. She loves sharing the best and most interesting (and most dangerous and disgusting) parts of science with kids. Erin lives in Virginia with her family, a droopy hound dog named Beaker, and a bunny that thinks he’s a cat. [www.erinteagan.com](http://www.erinteagan.com/)

**Valerie O. Patterson** is the author of two novels for young readers, both published by Clarion, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: The Other Side of Blue and Operation Oleander, a Junior Library Guild selection. Her non-fiction has appeared in such publications as The Writer and the North Carolina Literary Review. Valerie currently serves as co-Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Mid-Atlantic region.  She also is a member of the Children’s Book Guild of Washington DC. She has an MFA from Hollins University.
[Contact Erin and Val](mailto:midatlantic@scbwi.org)
 
**Illustrator Coordinator: Tami Traylor**

**Tami** grew up exploring the woods and waterways of historic, central Virginia. All those leafy, green hours spent along the James River stirred a lifelong fascination with the natural world that echoes in her illustration and writing. Through her work, she seeks to spark, in young readers, that same sense of curiosity and wonder she had as a child. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Arts with a BFA in Communication Arts and Design and worked as a graphic designer for much of her adult life. She’s been a member of SCBWI since 2005, serving as the co-editor/graphic designer of the Highlighter, a quarterly newsletter serving SCBWI’s Mid-Atlantic region, from 2007-2021. She currently serves as the region’s Illustrator Coordinator. She lives in Chesterfield, Virginia with her family, two feline studio mates, and a two very hungry guinea pigs. When she’s not illustrating or feeding guinea pigs, she’s walking in the woods or working at the library. 
[Contact Tami](mailto:midatlantic-ic@scbwi.org)
 
**PAL Coordinator: Nicole Green**

Nicole is the winner of the 2019 SCBWI Emerging Voices Award for the YA category and enjoys planning programs of interest to our published and listed members. She is a Pitch Wars and Author Mentor Match mentee alum. She writes mostly YA horror, suspense, and dark contemporary stories. If she’s not writing YA, she’s probably reading it. Outside of reading and writing, she enjoys spending time in the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley as well as visiting entirely new places. She has always been a big supporter of local kidlit authors and looks forward to continuing to be a resource for them in her role as PAL Liaison.
[Contact Nicole](mailto:nicole_green@alumni.virginia.edu)
 
**Webinar Coordinator: Maureen Egan**

**Maureen** lives in Richmond, VA and is a member of 12 x 12 and has studied at Highlights with both poets and picture book gurus. She has sold poems to Highlights and most recently, Cricket. She wrote Insiders’ Guide to Richmond and Richmond’s Culinary History (the latter with a co-author) and has had essays and features in Southern Living, The Washington Post and others. She was awarded a 2022 Baron Creative Writer fellowship from the American Antiquarian Society to research a STEAM nonfiction children’s book about a 19th century portraitist and diarist. She’s been an English teacher, a freelance writer, a magazine columnist and a creator and owner of a food events business which produced the award-winning food festival, Fire, Flour & Fork. 
[Contact Maureen](mailto:scbwi.midatlantic.webinars@gmail.com)
 
**Fall Conference Planning Committee:**

Daphne Dador \| Co-Chair\*\*
**D.C. Dador** is a science fiction & fantasy author whose stories feature BIPOC characters who explore the dark and unknown. Her writing can be found in the anthology, When Other People Saw Us, They Saw the Dead and forthcoming Reclamation from Outland Entertainment. D.C. is a Filipino-American writer who resides in Northern Virginia where she enjoys exploring historic (sometimes haunted) sites with her family. Her novels are represented by Tara Gonzalez at Erin Murphy Literary Agency. She can be found on Twitter @dcdador.

Lee Gjertsen Malone \| Co-Chair\*\*
**Lee** is the author of contemporary realistic middle grade novels including The Last Boy at St. Edith’s, (2016, Aladdin/S&S) which was a Massachusetts Book Award Must Read, a Sakura Award finalist, and a Nutmeg Award finalist, and Camp Shady Crook, (2019, Aladdin/S&S) which was a Junior Library Guild selection. A recent transplant from New England to Northern Virginia, Lee is also a freelance editor, writing instructor, and journalist who has written for a range of publications for adults and children including Muse, Odyssey, Faces, American Banker, Financial Planning, Cambridge Scout, and the Boston Globe. In her spare time she likes spending time outdoors, playing with her many pets, and traveling to national disasters as a shelter manager for the American Red Cross— but her secret dream is moving to London and qualifying for the Great British Baking Show.

Kelly Pavelich \| Coordinator\*\*
**Kelly** is a writer and mental health advocate in Arlington, VA. She’s published in the Global Societies Journal and Night Picnic, a bilingual literary journal, and is working towards her Professional Certificate in Creative Writing from UC San Diego.

Katie Sivinski \| Coordinator\*\*
**Katie** is a writer, mom, and former preschool and elementary teacher.  She also spent some time on the administrative side of education coordinating professional development for teachers.  Katie’s writing focuses on nature and science, finding yourself, and the complex emotions involved in being a kid.  Her other hobbies include native plant gardening and discovering fun activities to do with her three kids. 
[Contact Fall Conference Planning Committee](mailto:scbwi.midatlantic.conference@gmail.com)
 
**Equity & Inclusion Team:**

Hanh Bui\| Co-leader\*\*
**Hanh** Bui is a children’s book writer. She believes in the power of storytelling to inspire kindness and connection in the world. Her stories are based on her early refugee experiences and Vietnamese heritage. Her picture books will be published by Macmillan Feiwel & Friends in 2023 and 2024. She is grateful to add her voice with other diverse authors to share stories that amplify the importance of inclusivity and positive representation in children’s literature.
[Contact Equity & Inclusion Team](mailto:scbwi.midatlantic.ei@gmail.com)
 
***Highlighter* Journal Team:

**Denise Taranov** \| *Highlighter* Editor, content
**Denise** is the Editor for our Mid-Atlantic region’s Highlighter journal, and collaborates with contributors to develop content for each issue. She also facilitates an SCBWI-member writing critique group in the Falls Church-Alexandria area called “NoVA Story Builders” and participates in the Mid-Atlantic Illustrators’ Critique Group. Denise is a consultant, writer, designer and illustrator in the DC metro area. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in International Relations, English and Spanish.

**Lauren Loucas** \| *Highlighter* layout
**Lauren** is the layout designer for the Mid-Atlantic region’s Highlighter journal, and collaborates with content and copy editors to assemble each edition. She also participates in the Mid-Atlantic Illustrators’ Critique Group. Lauren is a freelance illustrator and designer, as well as a part-time Adoptions Counselor at Animal Welfare League of Arlington in Virginia. She graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, and from Corcoran College of Art + Design with a Master’s in Interior Design.

**Korena Di Roma Howley** \| *Highlighter* copyeditor
**Korena** is a writer, editor, and children’s author. Her debut picture book, Sarang Saves the School, will be released by Candlewick in 2025. Korena reports on science news for multiple outlets and serves as contributing editor for the American Institute of Physics. She lives in Williamsburg, Virginia, with her husband and four-year-old kidlit muse.
 
[Contact ](mailto:midatlantichighlighter@gmail.com)*[Highlighter](mailto:midatlantichighlighter@gmail.com)*[ Team](mailto:midatlantichighlighter@gmail.com)
 
**Social Media Coordinator: Olivia Fisher**

**Olivia** is a freelance editor and children’s book writer with an English degree from BYU-Idaho. She has worked as an editor for over two years where she’s helped both self-published and traditionally published authors make their stories shine. When Olivia isn’t working, she can often be found dreaming about living in a treehouse or chasing down her two young boys. She enjoys curling up with a book, watching Star Wars, writing her next adventure, and trying to live in the state of child-like wonder that we all secretly, or not so secretly, miss. Follow her adventures on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Livy_Fisher) or [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/livy_fisher95/).
 
**Nonfiction Workshop Coordinator: Marcie Flinchum Atkins**

**Marcie** is a teacher-librarian by day and a children’s book writer in the wee hours of the morning. She holds an M.A. and M.F.A. in Children’s Literature from Hollins University. She is the author of *Ancient China* (ABDO, 2015), “Rookie Get Ready to Code” series (Scholastic Children’s Press, 2019) and *Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature* (Millbrook Press, 2019). She also muses about mentor texts and making time to write at [www.marcieatkins.com](https://www.marcieatkins.com/). You can follow her on Twitter [@MarcieFAtkins](https://twitter.com/marciefatkins) and read about her #writerlife on Instagram at [@marciefatkins](https://www.instagram.com/marciefatkins/).
[Contact Marcie](mailto:midatlantic@scbwi.org)
 
**Indie and Self-publishing Coordinator: Joyana Peters**

**Joyana** is the self-published author of the award-winning YA historical fiction books, The Girl in the Triangle and The Girl From Saint Petersburg. She loves exploring history and sharing stories about overlooked empowered women who fought for change. She got her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans and has also published non-fiction articles in publications nationwide. She is also a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association and currently serves as the Indie and Self-Published Coordinator for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Mid-Atlantic region. Joyana lives in Virginia with her family and her furry Yellow Lab muse, Gatsby.
 
**Critique Group Coordinator: Terry Catasús Jennings**

**Terry** landed in the United States on September 11, 1961 after a short flight from Cuba. On September 12th, she was enrolled in seventh grade in an American school. Her family, including her father who had been jailed during the Bay of Pigs invasion, was now in a free country. The only catch for twelve-year-old Terry was that she could count in English and recite the days of the week and the months of the year, but not much more. Often being the only Cuban in her school—even through college—Terry knows what it’s like to be the new kid on the block. She is delighted to have the opportunity, with DEFINITELY DOMINGUITA, to portray a typical child of immigrants—no different than her peers—other than she loves the classics (like Jennings did as a child) and thinks Cuban food rules. [http://www.terrycjennings.com/](http://www.terrycjennings.com/)
[Contact Terry](mailto:terryjenn0708@gmail.com)
 
**Volunteer Coordinator:  Liza Parfomak**

Liza is a science fiction and fantasy writer who draws on her Polish heritage for her stories. She holds her Ph.D. in Public Policy from George Mason University, with a concentration in Science, Technology, and Innovation – sometimes it comes in handy when she writes. Sometimes it doesn’t.    
[Contact Liza](https://midatlantic.scbwi.org/meet-our-volunteers/lparfomak@yahoo.com)

Our Team

Member Profile