Meet Our Writers

Burton W. Cole is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and award-winning humor columnist who grew up on a small farm in northeast Ohio with a slew of imaginative cousins and rambunctious cows. That boyhood inspires his colorful and comical novels, which include "Bash and the Pirate Pig," "Bash and the Chicken Coop Caper" and "Bash and the Chocolate Milk Cows." "Chicken Coop Caper" won the 2015 Selah Award for Best Middle Grade Novel. Burt is a grandpa who lives in northeast Ohio with his sweetheart and wife, Terry.

Candice Yamnitz is an elementary bilingual teacher by trade, but left the profession to stay home with her children. When she’s not doing errands or chores around the house, she’s reading and writing. She enjoys reading all genres for every age group. But, her mind is always off in distant kingdoms. Candice lives in the Chicago area with her husband and children.

Carol Eaton has been honing her writing craft with young adult manuscripts that have been selected as semi-finalists in American Christian Fiction Writers’ (ACFW) Genesis contest for several years and won in the ACFW Speculative Fiction category. She has a passion to reach young adults with an inspirational message through compelling fiction.

Elise desires to write God-glorifying stories for teens. She has a degree in marketing, loves being a middle school ministry leader, serves as a library trustee, and is the mom of three boys, twenty-five hens, and one tailless cat. She is living her "happily ever after" with her husband on their 15-acre homestead in Central Illinois.

Gretchen has eaten goat stomach dished up by an East African refugee and nibbled hors d’oeuvres at a governor’s mansion. Her background in journalism and education has fed her heartbeat for people and stories. As a pastor’s wife, the front door of her home—like her heart—is always open.

Jill K Willis is the author of "The Demons Among Us," a young adult speculative novel about a brother and sister who team with friends to battle a legion of demons invading their high school. Published by Redemption Press, this novel won the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award. Jill lives on a lake north of Atlanta with her husband and a one-eyed orange kitty. Subscribe to her newsletter at www.jillkwillis.com.

Julane Fisher is a speaker, blogger, and author of the Sour Lemon Series, Southern fiction for middle school teens. Sour Lemon Strikes Out was awarded the 2020 Selah Award for Best Middle Grade Novel. Sour Lemon and Sweet Tea was awarded the Readers’ Favorite® Five-star Seal and was a 2019 Selah Award finalist. The Sour Lemon Series is a humorous portrayal of life before cell phones and social media, emphasizing positive family values. Her blog, 2Wrds, is a collection of encouraging and inspirational stories. Julane lives in north Georgia with her husband, twin boys, and their two mischievous Labrador retrievers. Learn more at www.julanefisher.com

Julia is an adventurous warrior princess at heart who desires to write exciting clean fantasy for young adults navigating a dangerous world. She is a Sunday school teacher and a former homeschooler. When she isn’t working at her day job, she is either typing away on her current manuscript or making things out of epoxy resin. She lives with her knight in shining armor (aka her husband) and their fluffy twenty-pound cat Aslan.

With a heart that beat for Europe and a nose that thumbed the American West, Laurie Germaine is a walking testimony to God's humor as she now resides in Montana with her husband, two daughters, and their Alaskan Malamute. When she's not working on a new manuscript (or rather, when said manuscript is misbehaving), you can find her knitting anything from toys to felted phone cases, crafting backdrops for her 16" Ellowyne Wilde dolls (look 'em up; you'll be fascinated, too!), embarking on DIY adventures, and generally avoiding housework.

Michelle Welsh writes inspirational teen fiction with the underlying message that #yourlifematters. It has always been her dream to write so after she earned a degree in English-writing emphasis and print journalism, she wrote as a marketing specialist, newspaper journalist, and freelance writer. When she isn't writing, she's with her husband cheering their five kids on at their events or walking or reading. You can learn more about Michelle at www.michellekaderlywelsh.com.

Misha McCorkle is an artist, a scholar, and a lover of stories. While working towards her master’s degree in the Old Testament, it occurred to her how important stories are to the growth and maturation of God’s people. They broaden our limited worldview and engage the unfamiliar depths of God’s riches scattered throughout every linguistic and geographical existence.

Sharon Rene is a Christian multi-published writer who never went to the prom or became a cheerleader but learned to lean on Jesus in the lonely times. Her children’s book, A Mixed Bag of God’s Grace, was released May 18, 2018, by TouchPoint Press. The first book in her YA series, Hesitant Heroes, was realeased by Anaiah Press in September 2021. The sequel, Relentless Rebels, and the prequel, Defying Destiny have now been published. The Divine Destiny Chronicles is available on Amazon or Anaiah Press.
Sharon would love for you to connect with her on her website www.sharonreneauthor.com to learn more about her Divine Destiny Young Adult series and through her newsletter Your Dream – Your Destiny.

Links:
Purchase Link for A Mixed Bag of God’s Grace
https://www.amazon.com/Mixed-Bag-Gods-Grace/dp/1946920436/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527540028&sr=1-1&keywords=a+mixed+bag+of+god%27s+grace

www.sharonreneauthor.com

Tracy Popolizio has the opportunity to teach reading and writing to fifth graders every day. She writes inspirational middle grade fiction, with a passion to enrapture preteens in a discovery of God’s truths between the covers of a book. She shares her passion for writing and the writing process with students of various grade levels. Tracy also speaks about her personal experiences with God and how our thought processes can lead to a victorious life. In her free time, Tracy enjoys reading, playing the piano, dancing, and taking walks with her husband, as well as spending time with her two almost-grown children and four cats. Tracy lived in Connecticut her whole life until recently when the Lord called her family to South Carolina. You can learn more about Tracy at www.tracypopolizio.com.

Victoria is a wife, a mom to three girls, a full-fledged homebody, a so-so housekeeper, a mediocre musician and has dreamed of writing her whole life. She lives at the foot of the Rockies in Littleton, Colorado and she will never take that for granted. She has spent most of her life living in Colorado, with a brief six-year hiatus to live in Nebraska to attend college and get married. She is mostly a stay-at-home mom, but dabbles in a variety of other odd jobs, such as doing admin work and crocheting beard hats in the winter. She loves meat and potatoes, superhero TV shows and movies, and when the weather stays between 70 and 80 degrees. She could probably love the beach if she ever spent any time there.

Victoria spent her childhood reading and making friends with the characters in her favorite books. She never grew out of that. After many years of wondering, she decided it was time to write the stories she had always dreamed of writing. She hopes that her stories model an active Christian lifestyle, while feeding the insatiable sense of wonder and adventure that everyone has deep inside.