Tracie is a visual and performing artist and has been throughout the country and overseas working in the arts. She currently lives in New York City and is originally from the small town of Wintersville, Ohio near the border of the state, which she describes as Steeler Country.
She is a Congressional Arts Caucus Award recipient, and had one of her paintings displayed in the US Capitol Building as part of a one-year collection. She is a graduate of Chatham University, where she studied Arts Management with a concentration in Visual Art and Art History. She is also a veteran of the United States Navy, where she was a mechanic on the flight line based in Northern Japan.
Her professional visual art credits include murals and décor for many restaurants throughout the country including in Rainforest Cafés, Landry’s, Joes Crab Shack, and along the Keemah Boardwalk near Galveston, Texas. She has been part of the team at Spaeth Design, where she helped create and build the Christmas windows for Macy’s in New York City as well as those for Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue. She also worked for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission helping to restore artifacts for the museums of Pennsylvania. As a performer she has appeared on television and the silver screen as well tours entertaining the troops overseas in Korea, Kuwait and Iraq.
Authors
We are dedicated to tirelessly reading manuscripts, hearing stories, and looking at artwork to find the best emerging multicultural talents to publish works for AcuteByDesign. We find our writers and artists as fascinating as they are talented. Read on to get to know a bit more about each of our inspired authors and illustrators.

Jaclyn Kusmit
Author
Description coming soon...

Robert Klose
Author
Robert Klose teaches at the University of Maine. He is a regular contributor of essays to The Christian Science Monitor. His work has also appeared in Newsweek, The Boston Globe, and various literary magazines. His books include Adopting Alyosha — a Single Man Finds a Son in Russia, Small Worlds — Adopted Sons, Pet Piranhas, and Other Mortal Concerns, The Three-Legged Woman & Other Excursions in Teaching, and the novels, Long Live Grover Cleveland, which won a 2016 Ben Franklin Literary Award and a USA BookNews Award, and Life on Mars, which was a Finalist in the International Book Awards, American Fiction Awards, and American Book Fest. He is also a four-time winner of the Maine Press Association award for Opinion writing.

Robert Jones
Author
Rob Jones is a published author and poet. He is also a musician who has a passion for singing and writing songs. He enjoys reading, working out, going to church, and getting lost in a movie.
If he is not writing books and performing music, you can find him spending valuable time with his wife and family.
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Lily Mae
Author
Lilly Mae is a seventeen-year-old author who began writing The Winds of Truth when she was nine years old and finished it at twelve. After two years of editing and sharing her manuscript, she finally got her first publishing contract at fourteen. She has been accepted into two precollegiate writing classes at Stanford University and received top honors in both English and literature. Lilly lives in California and loves books, fencing, piano, and adventure. She can be found making tons of noise with her friends or on Instagram @lileeunn.

Phyllis Scala
Author
Description coming soon...

Emily Franke
Author
For as long as I can remember, my biggest inspiration was always my grandma. She was a kind soul who filled the world with light. She passed away recently and I knew I had to keep her light shining. In memory of her, I felt inspired to write a book about how to deal with the loss of a grandmother. I brought to life her Irish tradition and reminded myself she often visits me in ladybugs. So, I decided to take all my grief and fill it with happiness in creating The Ladybug Who Lived on a Four Leaf Clover. I hope my book will inspire other people to see there is still light after darkness, just look around!

Stanley Geter, Jr.
Author
Stanley Geter Jr. is an aspiring writer who has no boundaries when it comes to genre or subject matter. He was born and raised in Bridgeport CT to a Puerto Rican mother (Pauline Geter) and African American father (Stanley Geter). Along with his passion for writing, Stan enjoys exercising, golfing, listening to music and spending time with his wife Melissa and their dog Brody. He is a resident of Monroe CT and hopes to publish several novels, short stories and a book of poetry in the very near future!

Chiffon Samuel
Author
Chiffon Melissa Samuel is a licensed professional counselor in Dallas, TX. She provides mental health intervention for depression and anxiety using the cognitive behavioral therapy modality. Chiffon teaches mental and emotional processing to adults; however, she believes that if children are exposed to these skills earlier, they may avoid some of the difficulty of regulating emotions. Chiffon is a devoted wife and Air Force, veteran. She continues to serve the public as a passionate mental health counselor.

Ed Danko
Author
Ed Danko is a Canadian author who resides in central Ontario. His writing inspiration originates from true life experiences which he likes to weave into his children's books and adult mystery writing, Ed was motivated to write his first children's books from fond memories.

Raven Howell
Author
Raven Howell writes stories and poetry for children. Having published several award-winning picture books, she enjoys sharing her love of literature by visiting classrooms and libraries.

Melanie Kallas
Author
Melanie is an eighteen-year old Latina writer from rural Illinois where, in these difficult times, she hopes to bring a fresh voice to the science fiction genre. She enjoys telling a tale through her own brand of dark humor and sending her readers on an emotional roller coaster.

Jonathan Bisesi
Author
Jonathan Bisesi received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a Masters of Music degree from Boston University. He was a fellow of the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan and The Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Reshma Bhojwani
Author
Reshma Bhojwani, a published author, is an entrepreneur and founded Flourish Bizcenter to
help people with their financial struggles and planning.
She had survived several crises in her life, starting from the young age of twelve when she lost
her father, and her family went through financial hardships.

Jun Amparo
Author
In addition to being a published author and a motivational speaker, Jun Amparo serves as a youth and marriage counselor and church leader in Saraburi, Thailand. He runs his own blog and has contributed inspiring and informative articles to Adventist Reviews and other publications both local and international.

Michael Murray
Author
Michael Phillip Murray also known as Brother Mikal is a self-described son, father, husband, Pop-pop, musician, mentor and outdoors man. Michael grew up in inner city Philadelphia; earned an Associate Degree in General Studies at the Community College of Philadelphia, with a Certificate in American Sign Language.

Beverly Ann Allen
Author
After graduating from Eastern New Mexico University with a BA in English and a minor in History, Beverly was hired at the Portales News Tribune as a staff writer, and worked there until getting married and moving back to her hometown of
Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Laura Pearl Spivack
Author
Laura Pearl Spivack is the author of Pogo's Patchwork Blanket.
Laura Pearl is a mediator and forensic social worker. She works with children and families in the family court system.

Joel Tietjen
Author
Joel Tietjen is the author of Matthew, the Math Explore: In the Secret Realm of Nath.
Joel writes educational adventure books for elementary and middle school students, as well as political and science fiction books for adults.

Barbara Fox
Author
Barbara Fox is the producer/director of Mystery on the Menu, an interactive
theater company she started in 1986. She produces, directs, writes, and acts
in the plays.

Dr. Gilbert G. Campbell, Jr.
Author
Dr. Campbell is the author of This is my Story...Is This Your Story? Confronting Depressing and Suicide.
Gil is a retired American Baptist minister. A Virginia native, he is a third generation minister, and during his forty-five-year career served as a senior or transitional pastor of churches in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Florida.

Laura Stroebel
Author
Laura is the author of Animals Are People Too.
Laura Stroebel has been a Connecticut middle school educator for 18 years. Over that time, she has met hundreds of children just like the characters in these poems and loved teaching them all. Laura says that every classroom is special, and so is every family.
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Rod Martinez
Author
Rod is the author of Birthright.
Rod Martinez writes middle grade and young adult adventure/mysteries. Growing up on Marvel Comics and Twilight Zone as he did, the inspiration for Birthright was inevitable.

Dr. Arnold O.Thompson
Author
Dr. Thompson is the author of The Dark Side of the Gospel.
Dr. Arnold Thompson, a retired minister of twenty-eight years is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, Florida Atlantic University and Evangelical Bible College and Seminary.

Joey Lawson
Author
Joey is the author of There I was...Here I Am.
Joey Lawson is an emerging writer whose storytelling is a throwback blend of Baldwin and Ellison. Raised under what could politely be called “difficult circumstances,” he entered a life of crime at a young age, was imprisoned plural times, but managed to turn his life around.

Meagan J. Meehan
Author
Meagan is the author of Abelea's Adventure & Fanciful Words.
Meagan J. Meehan is a published author, poet, cartoonist, and produced playwright. She is also a stop-motion animator and an award-winning abstract artist.

Patricia Norki Nater
Author
Patricia is the author of Dance of the Antelope: A Ghanaian Cinderella Story.
Patricia Norki Nater began writing stories at a young age. One of her earliest and fondest story-writing memories is when her fifth grade teacher, Mr. Osei, was so pleased with a poem she wrote about the Christmas season and shopping in the Makola Market of Accra, Ghana that he read the poem to the class, showed it to the other teachers and displayed it on the classroom bulletin board.

Cynthia MacGregor
Author
Cyn is the author of Moving Day for Alex, Heartfelt: The Special Reindeer and Abuelita's Tree.
Cynthia, or “Cyn,” as she likes to be called, is a veteran children’s writer. She has published numerous fiction and nonfiction titles including Octopus Pie and Ants in His Pants.

Michael Sharpe
Author
Michael is the author of The Last Drop of Sunshine, There's a Tiger in My House, and The Legend of MeeCheli, The First African American Princes: The Secret Ndongo Kingdom.
Nothing gives Michael Sharpe greater joy than seeing or hearing about a happy child—except, perhaps, being the cause of that happiness.

Samantha Kennedy Pohl
Author
Samantha is the author of When I Got a Sister.
Samantha, new to children’s book writing, found her inspiration for doing so in the smiles of her two daughters.
With a B.S. in Human Biology from Kettering College, she has always valued learning and saw a need for books that put a charming twist on explaining life’s confusing happenings to little ones.

Jackie Neypes
Author
Jackie is the author of Just Indian.
Jackie Neypes is a dedicated teacher in her hometown of Anza, California. At an early age Jackie was the ambitious type. She was heavily involved in sports and school events.

Wanda Coppedge
Author
Wanda is the author of Dirty South and Cain and Able.
Wanda Coppedge is from Washington, DC and has served as an English instructor for over 17 years in the public and private sectors as well as a lecturer at Howard University and Maryland University. She’s earned her degree in Theater Arts at the University of the District of Columbia.

Cory Hill
Author
Cory is the author of The Lost Bicycle and Beatrice and the POGS.
Percussionist, composer, and storyteller Cory Hills is the creator of “Percussive Storytelling,” a program that fuses percussion instrumentation with oral storytelling, creating exciting sonic worlds for both children and adults.