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.
Writers/Artists
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.
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.
Sakharam Umrikar
Illustrator
Sakharam Umrikar is a professional illustrator from Mumbai , India. He has nearly 19 years of experience in commercial arts. Sakhar has contributed to multiple illustrations books & animation films in India & Overseas.
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.
.jpg)
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.
Tyrelle Smith
Illustrator
Tyrell is the illustrator for Princess MeeCheli and Just Indian.
Tyrell is an artist from Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended the Cleveland Institute of Art and majored in illustration.
A big fan of fantasy and science fiction, he always strives to give his own artwork a sense of scale, and epic, mythic quality.
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.
Verónica Rosado
Illustrator
Verónica is the illustrator for Heartfelt, the Special Reindeer and Abuelita's Tree.
Verónica has always admired the Victorian and early 20th century children’s book illustrators and painters. As a child, she was hypnotized by these kinds of images, doubly so if fairies or other magical creatures were depicted.
Tracie Mitchell
Illustrator
Tracie is the illustrator for Moving Day for Alex.
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.
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.
Jane Elliott
Illustrator
Jane is the illustrator of Beatrice and the POGS.
Jane Elliott studied art at Cal State Fullerton and has taken many other classes as she explors the world of art making. She is currently studying illustration and visual media design. Aside from drawing and painting Jane has expressed her creativity as a photographer, metal sculptor, woodworker, costume maker and surface pattern designer. art galleries.
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.
Meg Petrillo
Illustrator
Meg is the illustrator for Abela's Adventure.
Meg Petrillo is an illustrator who grew up on the outskirts of Queens, NY. She devotes a lot of her time to creating art and encouraging new artists. She learned art at a public high school and SUNY FIT. Her work can be seen at MegPetrillustration.tumblr.com.
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.
Nikki Key
Illustrator
Nikki is the illustrator for The Last Drop of Sunshine and When I Got a Sister.
Nikki is originally from a tiny town in east Texas and moved to New York in her twenties.
She majored in studio art at The City College of New York and spent a year of intensive figure study at The Art League of New York.
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.
Matsue Z. Wiles
Illustrator
Matuse is the illustrator of The Lost Bicycle.
A native of Monrovia, Liberia, Matsue relocated to Louisiana in the early '80s so that her father could attend Louisiana State University (LSU). The Wileses returned to Liberia four years later, only to seek shelter in Baton Rouge again in the '90s to escape the brutal civil war in Liberia.
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.
