- from right to left – Andrew Harwell, Ammi-Joan Paquette, Tamra Tuller, and Cheryl Klein
Our 2014 Workshop was incredible – largely due to our fabulous faculty – Big Thanks to this Fab Four!
Andrew Harwell is an Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books, focusing on middle grade and young adult fiction. He especially loves novels that take risks and play for keeps, and his favorite books are genre-benders held together by alchemical prose. At Harper, Andrew has the privilege of working with such authors as Dan Gutman, Noelle Stevenson, Madeleine Roux, Heather Brewer, and many more. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Andrew is a piano player, a gamer, and a film fanatic. Andrew led a fantastic session on character with great exercises helping us see our characters in new ways.
Cheryl Klein is Executive Editor at Arthur A. Levine Books. She has worked in children’s publishing for over a decade. Among the books she has edited are A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce, Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork, The Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb, and Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg. She led an amazing original session on pacing, packed with new ways to approach plotting and pace.
Ammi-Joan Paquette is a Senior Agent with Erin Murphy Literary Agency, working from her home office in Massachusetts as the “East Coast branch” of the agency. She represents all forms of children’s and young adult literature, but is most excited by a strong lyrical voice, tight plotting with surprising twists and turns, and stories told with heart and resonance that will stand the test of time. Joan is also the author of numerous books for children, including the novels Paradox, Rules for Ghosting, and Nowhere Girl. Joan’s session on the appeal and pitfalls of atypical story structures was full of useful examples from middle-grade and YA literature.
Tamra Tuller got her publishing feet wet in the Scholastic Book Clubs, and then moved on to Scholastic’s trade division at Blue Sky Press. She was an editor at Philomel Books, primarily focused on modern, literary middle grade and young adult fiction as well as story-based picture books. She has worked with such authors as Ruta Sepetys, Beth Kephart, Kathryn Erskine, Matthew Cordell, and Hannah Moskowitz. Tamra recently moved to San Francisco, settling into her new position as Children’s Editor at Chronicle Books, where she is now helping to develop their middle-grade and YA lists. Tamra’s session on dialogue included a fascinating exercise on the effect of shifting scene on dialogue.