This Month's Featured Member Is...
Bobby Podesta
Meet Bobby
Bobby Podesta has been drawing cartoons for longer than he can remember and published his first newspaper comic strip in the Sacramento Bee while still in high school. After attending CalArts, Bobby began working at Pixar Animation Studios, where he has contributed as an animator, story artist, supervising animator, and director on several of their films and series. When not working on animated films, Bobby continued to draw cartoons for himself. From 2003 to 2004—before the rise of social media—he created the webcomic Six Foot Six Year Old. Bobby began working in earnest on North for the Winter while taking an evening writing course through UC Berkeley Extension. He spent two more years writing and refining the project with a local writers' group formed out of that class. He later found his agent, Jennifer March Soloway of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, at a local SCBWI event where she was speaking. After further revisions and a pivot from novel to graphic novel, First Second Books made an offer on North for the Winter, which will be Bobby’s publishing debut. It arrives on September 2, 2025, wherever books are sold. Bobby lives in Oakland, California, with his wife, daughter, son, some chickens, a spoiled cat, and a pretty cute dog. He still writes and draws cartoons every day.
Meet Bobby at these Upcoming Events!
Bobby has a busy few months ahead! Here are just a few of his upcoming events:
September 11th 4:00-5:00pm Meet & Greet - Copperfield’s Books, Petaluma, CA
September 12th 7:00-8:00pm BOOK LAUNCH!!! - Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore, Oakland, CA
October 18th SCBWI Oktoberfest, San Ramon, CA
October 19th Live Q&A - Comix Experience, San Francisco, CA
See Bobby's full event schedule at https://www.bobbypodesta.com/
Member Spotlight Info
Want to be featured in the Member Spotlight?
About once a month, Member Spotlight will feature a member who is celebrating a career milestone--a launch date, a book birthday, or some other significant event! Members should apply at least a month before their special date to ensure the regional team has time to process the application and gather any needed info. (Applying does not guarantee you will be featured, but the regional team will do their absolute best to ensure fair and equitable use of the Member Spotlight space.)
Please fill out the form here to be featured!
Past Featured Members
August 2025: Natasha Yim is a children’s author and freelance writer. She has published eleven picture books including, Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2014), a Junior Library Guild and Scholastic Book Club selection, Mulan's Lunar New Year (Disney Press, 2018), Luna's Yum Yum Dim Sum (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2020) and Lunar New Year (Words & Pictures, Quarto Books, 2023). She has also written for the children's magazines, "Highlights for Children", "Appleseeds", "Faces", and "Muse". Natasha's new books, Luna and the Case of the Missing Mooncakes, another book in Charlesbridge Publishing's Storytelling Math series, will be released on Aug. 12, 2025. Her first board book, No School For Me (Change is Hard), part of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Babies series, will be released on Aug. 5, 2025. Natasha grew up in Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong and loves to write about people and cultures from around the world.
July 2025: An active member of SCBWI since 2015, Teri Stevens began her writing journey when her now three teenagers were toddlers. The adage "write what you know" resonated with Stevens who devoured s’mores and creepy stories as a child during summer camp at Lake Tahoe, CA. Makenzie’s Ring, a ghostly story of friendship and self-discovery, is her debut novel. When she’s not writing or exploring haunted manors, she’s caring for her three teens, husband, backyard chickens and Maxx, their rescue dog. Visit her in Napa Valley, CA.
June 2025: Maritza Ruiz-Kim is a Bay Area artist and writer who makes books for kids. Her current projects include picture books, a young reader graphic novel, and a hybrid illustrated middle grade novel. She’s published comics and an illustrated essay in MUTHA Magazine. Before coming to kid lit, she exhibited her fine art studio work in gallery shows in New York, Miami, Santa Fe, and San Francisco. Maritza currently serves as a Co-Illustrator Coordinator for the SF North & East Bay Region of SCBWI and also makes use of offerings from Kids Comics Unite, The Illustration Department, and Storyteller Academy. In Spring 2025, she has a comic included in the crowdfunded, LET’S GO! A Kids Comics Studio Anthology!
May 2025: Monica Wesolowska found her agent, Kelly Sonnack, who sold Monica’s first picture book LEO + LEA (Scholastic, illustrated by Kenard Pak), which went on to win an SCBWI Crystal Kite award. Since then, she has published a second picture book, ELBERT IN THE AIR (Dial, illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey). In gratitude to SCBWI, she is currently co-coordinator for SCBWI, Alameda county. She lives in her hometown of Berkeley where, in addition to doing her own writing, she teaches and edits picture books for others.
March 2025: Teri Roche Drobnick enjoys writing for children and adults. MOVING DAY is her debut picture book. Her work as a Clinical Social Worker influences her story themes about LGBTQ, dementia, immigration, chronic illness, and dying. She hopes to instill empathy and kindness in her readers. Her memoir, A DAUGHTER’S LONG GOODBYE, a love letter to her father who died of Alzheimer’s, is currently out on submission. Teri lives in Petaluma, CA, with her husband and writing assistant, Hobie, a Goldendoodle. When she's not writing, Teri can be found hiking or rowing on the Petaluma River.
November 2024: Nadia Salomon is a #PitMad Success Story and award-winning author of GOODNIGHT GANESHA, which is a Bank Street Best Book, ALSC DIA Selection, and #NCTEWow book. Her new book, A VOICE OF HOPE: THE MYRLIE EVERS WILLIAMS STORY, released on Sept. 24, 2024! She writes on themes of South Asian and Caribbean culture, STEM, nonfiction, and humor. Nadia is an award-winning journalist and holds a journalism degree from Emerson College. When not participating in her own goodnight rituals or spinning silly yarns... you'll find her working closely with SCBWI, 12x12 Challenge, Kids Comics Unite, and Storyteller Academy.