P.A.L. Membership stands for “Published and Listed.” This level of membership is open to those whose books, articles, poems, stories, illustrations, photographs, films, television or electronic media for children have been commercially published by one of the organizations listed in the SCBWI Market Surveys. P.A.L. members may have a speaker’s listing in the “Find A Speaker” area of the main SCBWI site. They are also able to sell books at the SCBWI international conferences and at certain regional events where such sales are organized and sponsored by a regional chapter. Many regions also offer P.A.L.-specific events or P.A.L.-only sessions at conferences and workshops.
P.A.L Coordinators
JACCI TURNER. Jacci grew up as a storyteller, charging friends a nickel to see her plays. Her family moved a lot and eventually settled in California, where she earned dual degrees in Speech/Drama and Social Work.
Thirty-seven years ago, Jacci and her husband moved to Reno, where she trained as a marriage and family therapist and school counselor. A busy working mother of two, Jacci could find no time for theater rehearsals and started writing instead. Eleven years later, Jacci is caught up in the world of imagination and loves living there. She has published twelve indie books for middle grade and YA readers and one for grown-ups through Harper One.
Jacci loves networking and encouraging fellow creatives in person and online. You can find her on all major social networks @jacciturner.
P.A.L MEMBERS (Published and listed)
Please click on their name to link to their websites.
Ellen Hopkins, Regional Advisor Emerita and Nevada Mentor
ELLEN HOPKINS, Regional Advisor Emerita, is the award-winning author of 20 nonfiction books for children and ten NY Times bestselling young adult novels-in-verse, plus two adult novels. Her tenth novel, SMOKE, published September 15, 2013, and debuted at the number six spot on the coveted NY Times list.
A California native, Ellen has lived in northern Nevada for over 20 years and considers herself a “naturalized Nevadan.” She lives with her husband, son, two dogs, one cat and three ponds (not pounds) of fish near Carson City. She is the regional adviser for the Nevada chapter of the SCBWI, and a member of the SCBWI International board of advisers.
Suzanne Morgan Williams, Regional Advisor Emerita and Nevada Mentor
SUZANNE MORGAN WILLIAMS (@SuzyMWilliams) is the author of the middle-grade novel Bull Rider and eleven nonfiction books for children. Bull Rider is a Junior Library Guild Selection, is on state award lists in Texas, Nevada, Missouri, Wyoming, and Indiana, and won a Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City. Suzanne’s nonfiction titles include Pinatas and Smiling Skeleton, The Inuit, Made in China, Nevada, and her latest book, China’s Daughters.
Suzanne has presented to adult and children’s audiences and taught writing workshops at dozens of schools, professional conferences, and literary events across the US and Canada. A former teacher, she has an M.Ed, teaching credential, and a Montessori teacher certification. She’s been commissioned to create teacher’s guides for other writers as well as to write and support community cultural and literacy projects such as Nevada Hispanic Service’s/Nevada Humanities’ Great Latinos Biography Project. Visit www.suzannemorganwilliams.com.
Nevada Mentor
TERRI FARLEY lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains with her journalist husband, two children and pets, but still longs for the California beaches where she grew up.
She’s worked as a waitress, journalist and teacher and now writes full-time, most often barefoot, with a cat on her lap. She is the author of Seven Tears into the Sea, the Phantom Stallion series for young readers and many nonfiction magazine articles.
Nevada Mentor
JENNY MACKAY has written 23 nonfiction books for middle-grade and teen readers. Her favorites were about crime scene investigation, and she thought she wouldn’t ever find a writing topic as great as murder. Because she never turns down an offer of paying work, she has since written books answering countless burning questions like why roller coasters make you throw up, how figure skaters spin without throwing up, what makes people hoard, why the movie Titanic cost so many millions to make, and the intricate psychology behind the Kit Kat candy bar’s advertising jingle. In addition to her work-for-hire books, Jenny has written more than a hundred freelance newspaper and magazine articles. She also spent three years as a science, technical, and medical copyeditor for Sage Publications’ academic journals division (where she learned that correcting the grammar of people who have PhDs can be a dangerous venture). She has a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, has taught continuing-education writing courses through a local community college, and has tutored college students in an online writing lab. She is also the Assistant Regional Advisor for Nevada SCBWI. She dreams of one day owning a Tesla Roadster, because she believes unattainable fantasies make life more interesting.
HEATHER PETTY writes Young Adult novels about grim reapers with English accents, snarky magic shop cashiers, and faery-infested summer camps, all of which are represented by Laurie McLean of Fuse Literary. Her debut novel, LOCK & MORI, is coming Fall 2015 from Simon & Schuster, Books for Young Readers.
Heather is also a granola mom, avid reader, technical writer, and freelance editor. She lives in Reno, Nevada with a Lumberjack, a Fairy-Child, and four cats who she’s pretty sure are plotting her demise.
Former SCBWI NV Illustrator Coordinator
CYNTHIA KREMSNER considers herself a true Nevadan as her tenure in the Silver State far exceeds the time spent in Pennsylvania and her native state of California growing up. She’s a published author who writes humorous picture book texts with quirky characters. Off-times, she embraces a unique format that showcases an antagonistic protagonist with a change of heart. She’s also a professional illustrator with works featured in traditional children’s books, book promotions and logo design. Cynthia participated in the Nevada Mentor Program under the guidance of Laurent Linn, Art Director of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. A lover of all critters furred, finned, feathered and sometimes scaled (sometimes), she’s exceedingly happy when her contracted assignments feature humanized non-humans.
Former SCBWI NV Illustrator Coordinator & SCBWI NV Equity and Inclusion Team
KEN LAMUG I’m an author/illustrator based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
As a child, I made comics and books from scraps of used copy paper. Then, I stopped drawing for the longest time when my entire family moved to the USA.
I finally got back to my creative roots and have been having loads of fun making books and comics for all ages.
My debut picture book “A Box Story” has won the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, Literary Classics, Pinnacle Awards, and the National Indie Excellence Book Awards. In 2014, I launched a Kickstarter campaign that funded the all-ages graphic adventure book, “The Tall Tales of Talbot Toluca.” My most recent books include the macabre children’s fairytale, “The Stumps of Flattop Hill” (One Peace Books), and the parenting parody book, “HURTS LIKE A MOTHER” (Doubleday).
Former WriteRiders Editor MYRNA FOSTER
DIANNE MACMILLAN has been writing for children for many years and have published 24 books and numerous magazine articles. Ramadan & Id Al Fitr, Life in Deciduous Forest, and Diwali-Hindu Festival of Lights were selected for the California Readers Collection. Cheetah was selected for NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science and Science Books and Films Best Book. “SCBWI has always been an important part of my writing career. I’ve been a member almost since the beginning. I was the first Regional Advisor of Orange County and San Bernardino County in CA. Now I’m happily writing from NV.”
SCBWI NV Equity and Inclusion Team
David McMullin is a picture book writer, and children’s poet. His poems have been featured with Cricket Media, and in several anthologies. He was awarded honorable mention for the 2020 Ann Paul Whitford Award, and won a Writing with the Stars mentorship. In former lives he was a Broadway actor, educator, and children’s librarian. His passions include travel (70 countries so far) and nature (total bird nerd). David lives with his husband in Henderson, Nevada and is a proponent of LGBTQ equity.
KAY MOORE was born and raised in Maryland where she was surrounded by sites of historical importance. Exploring these turned her into an incorrigible history buff. A retired elementary school and University educator, Kay now draws upon her knowledge of children and love of history to create non-fiction books that excite and inform young readers about America’s past. She is the author of the award-winning The Great Bicycle Experiment: The Army’s Historic Black Bicycle Corps, 1896–97, a little-known true story that interested her because of her own early experiences riding a bicycle. Other published titles are If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War and If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution. Kay is currently working on a book about bold women in California history and will follow that with one about Nevada women. She enjoyed learning about her adopted state when she created and published Nevada Proud: People, Places, Events – Past and Present which includes 366 (Leap year!) daily facts about the state from 1752 to the 21st century.
ROBERT MURPHY – Award-winning author Robert Lee Murphy’s Eagle Talons, the first book in The Iron Horse Chronicles trilogy, won the 2015 Bronze Will Rogers Medallion Award for younger readers. The second book, Bear Claws was published in 2015. Golden Spike is scheduled for publication in early 2017. Five Star Publishing is the issuer for the complete trilogy. Murphy traveled the route of the transcontinental railroad, walked the ground where the scenes take place, and visited the museums and historical parks along the way to ensure historical accuracy. Prior to becoming an author, Murphy worked with international organizations on all seven continents, including Antarctica, where Murphy Peak bears his name. Murphy is a member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, Western Writers of America, the Wyoming State Historical Society, and the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society.
JEN NAILS
NATISHA ANN ROWELL – a former research scientist, joined SCBWI and became an active member of the Rochester Area Children’s Writers & Illustrators (RACWI), where she volunteered as the RACWI newsletter editor, participated in a program to encourage reading and writing in inner city schools, and assisted with the annual book festival. She has also been an editor for Double Dragon e-Publishing and a senior content editor for MuseItUP publishing. Natisha now lives in Henderson, NV and writes picture books through YA. Her published works include test development fiction and nonfiction for grades three through twelve.
MEMBERS – NEED INFO
Diana Aleksandrova
Mark Lichtenfeld
Lauren Ramirez
Russell Sanders
Brenda Woods
Nick Cook
Apryl Stott