Our Authors
Jared Agard
Jared Agard was writing and illustrating books as far back as he can remember. His mother was a school librarian and knew all the best books to read. Now, he teaches Art and Film at the Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering in Beaverton, Oregon, which is his dream job, besides being an author. He values creativity and always has a new idea rattling around in his brain. He loves watching cartoons, goofing off with his boys, and chili dogs. He is married to the most gorgeous woman on the planet and has three amazing boys, two tiger oscars, and the most pathetic dog you’ve ever seen.
Mindy Baker
Mindy Baker can’t remember a time when she wasn’t an avid reader! Her library card has always been one of her most valuable possessions. Although she was born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa, she now resides in Indiana where she is a high school Spanish teacher. She has vast travel experience to over 25 different countries, and she keeps her passport renewed and ready…just in case. Her first book entitled Mouse’s Christmas Gift was published by Zonderkidz in 2018. Through her writing, she hopes to plant seeds of truth in the hearts of her readers. She is thrilled to become a Chicken Scratch Books author. You can connect with Mindy at www.mindybakerbooks.com.
Tiffany Blanchard
When she was seven, Tiffany announced her plans to become a mermaid in an underwater kingdom. A full year later, she realized that would never happen. When she was eleven, she resolved to become a writer. At fourteen, she decided that becoming an author was about as likely as becoming a mermaid, and she ripped into pieces the stories she’d written. Determined to be practical, she graduated from university and law school and spent the next few years both defending victims of domestic violence and trying to keep up with four children. When her youngest child started first grade, Tiffany decided that even if becoming an author was a pipe dream, she’d try it anyway. She practices law by day and writes by night, preferably next to a bowl of raspberries. Her husband patiently indulges her; her children think she’s crazy.
Tiffany is grateful to have found Chicken Scratch Books. She’d love to hear from fellow readers. You can email her at thepowerofwords888@gmail.com.
Hope Bolinger
Hope Bolinger is a Managing & Acquisitions Editor at End Game Press and the Founder of Generation Hope Books. More than 1300 of her works have been featured in various publications ranging from Writer’s Digest to Keys for Kids to HOOKED to Crosswalk.com. She has worked for various publishing companies, magazines, newspapers, and literary agencies and has edited the work of authors such as Jerry B. Jenkins and Michelle Medlock Adams. Twenty of her books are under contract or out now with traditional publishers, and she hopes more of her stories will find a home soon. She has also contributed to ten other books. She has won awards for her essays, poetry, children’s books, novels, and plays. Her favorite way to procrastinate is by connecting with readers on Instagram and Twitter @hopebolinger
Find out more about her at her website.
Angela Calabrese
In third grade, Angela discovered the power of words when a holiday poem she wrote moved her teacher to tears. She’s been tinkering with those words ever since. A former middle school reading specialist, Angela’s students were resistant readers who would rather visit a dentist than read. She appreciated their leap of faith when they embraced her unconventional multisensory methods. Her greatest joy was observing a student devour an entire book for the first time. Her stories generate laughter, portray endearing characters, and offer kids a sense of hope.
Belonging to a quirky family has its perks. There’s always a steady supply of unique material to write about! A proud mama to two talented and kind daughters, Angela is married to a warm-hearted guy whose specialty is making her laugh. They live with their pampered tabby cat in a bucolic town in upstate New York where every season’s beauty takes her breath away.
Visit Angela at www.AngelaCalabrese.com
Facebook: Angela Ferraiola Calabrese Twitter: @AngieCal76
Andrea Cox Christen
Reading into the night after her parents had told her to go to sleep, Andrea once burned her bed’s headboard by pressing the lamp into the fabric covering it. She still has a hard time not reading until the sun comes up. Andrea was born and raised in Montana, but after her children were born, she and her husband decided to teach abroad. Since then they’ve lived in two countries: Indonesia and Latvia. In Indonesia, Andrea loved bike riding through villages, eating Indonesian food, exploring different islands, and snorkeling in the ocean. In Latvia, Andrea can’t get enough of the craft markets, art nouveau architecture, sour cream, and forests. The different places she’s lived have also inspired her short stories. In the classroom, Andrea’s favorite part of teaching is when her students debate about the books they’ve read. Seeing them dive into the texts and analyze the character’s motivations and choices is such fun. She hopes her readers will do the same with her books — but not burn their beds reading them.
Tory Christie
Tory Christie is a scientist by day, studying water quality and other environmental issues in
remote wilderness areas. After dark, she writes kid’s books about science, technology, and
nature. One of the goals of her writing is to connect kids with the great outdoors. She is excited
to partner with Chicken Scratch Books on her first middle grade novel—a fun adventure about
friendship and the healing power of the natural world. Find out more at www.torychristie.com or
follow @torychristie on Twitter.
A.W. Downer
At the age of twelve, A.W. Downer decided to become a published author, with the desire of writing books that both kids and parents could be comfortable reading. In her high school homeschool group, she and a group of friends had an unofficial writing club where they would swap characters, share stories, and write in the round. She earned a BA in Digital Writing from LeTourneau University and went on to earn an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She now teaches creative writing classes online to students in elementary grades through high school. She loves sharing her passion and encouraging young writers. Mrs. Downer lives in her husband’s home-state of Montana with her husband, daughter, barn cats, and chickens.
Photo Credit Carl ‘Buz’ Waitz 2018
Jason F. Franz
Reading and writing wasn’t always fun for Jason F. Franz. In elementary school, he needed to read out loud to comprehend. This disrupted the class, so he was forced to read by himself in the hall. In sixth grade he discovered the book series that would change his life forever. Thanks to his mother, the town librarian, he collected and read all sixty-four books in the series. This inspired Jason to try his hand at writing, and thus began the twenty-four-year quest to be a published author, despite, or rather, in rebellion against, his early barriers. Though encouraged by his father on countless woodland walks, Jason had begun to lose faith in his writing dreams, until Chicken Scratch Books. He hopes his stories can encourage other reluctant readers like him to overcome their unique hurdles. Jason lives in a small Wisconsin town with his amazingly patient, supportive, and beautiful wife. When he isn’t conducting the characters in his head like a chaotic chorus, he can be found watching 90’s cartoons, caring for his critters, or walking the shores of Lake Superior. Tweet him on Twitter @JasonFwrites, find him on Facebook at Jasonf Writes, or email jasonfwrites@outlook.com.
Kiri Jorgensen
Kiri Jorgensen has been writing stories since she was in elementary school. Many of them are in the form of stage plays. She’s written and produced over 30 plays for kids, and even a few musicals. She is a teacher, a writer, an editor, a publisher, a gardener, and a quilter, but her favorite roles are wife and mother.
Even though her husband and kids are all avid snow skiers, Kiri is content with the extreme sport of snowflake catching. Throw in a good middle grade novel to read and a mug of hot cocoa, and she’s set. Kiri lives in rural Montana with her husband and lots of pets.
Robin Kolb
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Robin spent countless hours riding her pony, or reading a book (you guessed it—a horse book!), always with her faithful dog by her side. Her passion for horses grew from that first pony to working in show stables, to breeding and training her own foals. Robin lives in Western Montana, where she and her husband raised two spirited daughters riding ponies of their own. With her girls constantly clamoring for more horse stories, Robin started writing her own. Galloping Away won second place in the 2022 Pacific Northwest Writers Association contest for middle grade novels. These days, in addition to writing and reading, you can find Robin hiking with her Australian Shepherds, shooting a traditional bow, or baking horse-shaped cookies.
Robin loves to hear from fellow readers and writers via her website or on Instagram @ robinkolb_author
Abbi Lee
Abbi Lee has always found joy within the world of a book. In grade school, she remembers regularly riding her bike to the small town library to check out the next book in the A to Z Mysteries series. With a passion for learning, Abbi pursued her degrees in Secondary Education in Social Studies and English and after teaching for a few years, she decided to stay at home with her daughters. From an early age, her girls loved to read so it wasn’t long before ideas started working themselves into words on a page. Abbi is passionate about creating stories and embraces the challenge that comes with writing realistic contemporary books for kids. She also works as a part-time copywriter and is an active volunteer within the PTO at her daughters’ school. Outside of reading and writing, Abbi also enjoys making (and eating) no-bake cookies, perusing her Julia Child cookbook, and going on adventures with her family. She doesn’t like to exercise, but makes time for it anyway… sometimes. Abbi was born and raised in Kansas and has no intention of ever moving away from the state she calls home. Abbi can be found on Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, and via her website at abbileebooks.wordpress.com.
Kelli McKinney
When Kelli McKinney and her family aren’t exploring national parks, she can be found on the sidelines at her son’s tennis tournaments, brewing a cup of cinnamon spice tea, or chucking a toy across the backyard for her English Mastiff to chase. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and her graduate degree in radio/tv/film from the University of North Texas. She enjoyed an eclectic-yet-fulfilling fifteen-year career in corporate marketing before wandering off on her own to be a freelance copywriter. Now, she is a part-time copywriter, full-time mom, and a children’s author. She lives in Texas but a huge piece of her heart belongs to Oklahoma. JEFF PENNANT’S FIELD GUIDE TO RAISING HAPPY PARENTS is her debut novel.
Kelli loves to hear from readers and writers. She can be reached via her website at kellimckinney.com
Carol Paur
Carol L. Paur was born with a cleft palate. That meant surgeries and speech therapy. Because of this, she thought she’d become a doctor. However, she spent more time writing than working on her math homework. In elementary school she wrote plays for her classmates. In high school and college, she was a reporter for the schools’ newspapers. She had a collection of poems published in her high school anthology and won some writing competitions. Carol has done stand-up comedy and written a sitcom. She has an MA in Communication and worked as a freelancer for newspapers and magazines. Carol has five published books – three that are indie-published and two that are traditionally published. When she’s not writing, she’s picking up chewed up garbage left by her puppy Zuko, volunteering at her church, or traveling with her husband and daughters. You can find out more about Carol at www.clpaurauthor.com or @authorclp.
Photo credits: Clarisse O’Rourke Photography
Prim Pawn
Since Prim Pawn could hold a crayon, she’s been writing plays, poems, and short stories. She grew up on the shores of Lake Superior, where she spent summers swimming and fishing, and winters cross-country skiing, writing, and dancing ballet. While living aboard a motor trawler on Lake Michigan with her husband, yellow Labrador, and Persian cat, she developed the idea for her middle-grade novel inspired by the beauty and adventure of the Great Lakes. She presently lives on land in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. You can learn more about her at https://www.primpawn.com/
Susan Phelan
When Susan was in Junior High, she announced that she was going to be an actress. She eventually did become a professional actress, but before that, she rode horses, raised five children and several guide dog puppies, nursed a zoo of assorted animals, and worked (if you could use that term) in a library. Somewhere in the midst of wrestling kids and animals, she took up writing, because, as she puts it, life is made up of stories. When she’s not acting in stories or telling stories, Susan likes to play with her family and make messes in the kitchen, or any other flat surface she can find. Her middle grade contemporary novel comes out with Chicken Scratch Books in the fall of 2022.
Elizabeth Raum
When Elizabeth Raum was in 3rd grade, her teacher predicted that she would become a writer. It seemed impossible. Now, 150 books later, Elizabeth admits that Mrs. Brown could see into the future. Of course, it didn’t happen right away. Elizabeth became a teacher and then a librarian before turning to writing fulltime. She’s written biographies, nonfiction books on many topics, picture books, and several middle-grade historical novels. Her latest novel, Storm Warning, is a fictional account of the 1997 Red River Valley flood in North Dakota and Minnesota. She’s lived in seven different states and currently splits her time between North Dakota and South Carolina, enjoying the beauty of both prairie and ocean. She’s delighted to be working with Chicken Scratch Books. Be sure to visit her website: www.elizabethraumbooks.com
Susan Reimer
Susan Reimer has always loved to read. From a very young age, books were her constant companions,
sources of entertainment, escape and limitless possibilities. It wasn’t long before she began writing her
own stories. This passion led to a diploma in journalism and a short career in newspaper before she
began writing full time. The author of four young adult novels and two picture books, The Gatekeeper’s
Daughter is her first book for middle grade readers. A homeschooler for many years, she lives with her
husband in a rural community in Northern Ontario, Canada where she enjoys hiking and kayaking.
LuAnn M. Rod
Growing up on a dairy farm in Minnesota, LuAnn Rod had three loves: reading, writing, and horses. That hasn’t changed, except for the additions of a husband, son and daughter-in-law, one big cat, and four crazy dogs. Her reading list tends toward titles with plucky heroines and heroes, adventure with a generous dollop of humor, and heartfelt friendships—both animal and human. Now living in Montana under the great Big Sky she enjoys riding her Arabian horses across prairies and mountains, playing with her dogs, and sharing her stories with young readers and kindred dreamers. LuAnn earned her bachelor’s degree in English literature through Montana State University, and worked twenty-five years in the newsroom at her local newspaper.
Betty Vanderwielen
In the fourth grade Betty loved the mysteries in the Nancy Drew series but didn’t think they were very well written. So she set about rewriting them. She has been writing and rewriting in one role or another ever since. When she married and began raising two children, the family each summer cared for orphaned baby birds, squirrels, opossums, and raccoons until the critters were ready for release into the wild. Currently Betty and her husband live in Montana where she is a reporter for the Seeley Swan Pathfinder in addition to working on her own novels.
Catherine Witzaney
Catherine Witzaney spent much of her childhood immersed in Middle Earth, Narnia, and Tortall. At the age of seven, she discovered the magic of creating her own worlds through the written word, and has been writing stories ever since.
As a homeschooler with parents who loved to read, she grew up steeped in the historical fiction of G. A. Henty and Rosemary Sutcliff, which bestowed on her a greatly oversized vocabulary for which she was often teased. As an adult, she can now blame her verbosity on the handy excuse of being an author.
She resides in a lovely town in central Alberta, Canada, and is happily married to her knight in shining armour who flies helicopters instead of dragons. When she isn’t writing, she is likely to be found teaching piano, doting on her numerous nieces and nephews, or striving to keep her bird out of mischief.