Renner, Barbara
"Barbara and her husband have lived in Phoenix, Arizona for over 40 years. They tell and re-tell many touching and humorous stories about their family camping excursions around the state. The recreational vehicles have grown over the years, along with their family, from a cab-over camper to a 36-foot trailer. It was in the later that they started visiting Minnesota in the summer. Barbara coined the term "Sun Birds" to describe their exodus from the desert heat to the land of 10,000 lakes. Known as a Jane-of-all-Trades, Barbara has enjoyed many jobs in her life: bookkeeper, banker, retail store owner, educator. The career she enjoyed the most was teaching. As part of her Masters in Education degree, she received a reading endorsement from Arizona State University. Literacy is the most important skill to instill in children because reading enhances an understanding of the world. After she retired from teaching, Barbara started writing children's picture books. She wanted her books to contain an added feature - interesting facts about the animal characters. Barbara loves to travel. She's been as far away as Tahiti and as close to her home in Arizona as Jerome, where she and her adult children went ghost hunting. It was during the summer months in Minnesota that she fell in love with the Common Loon, the state bird. She researched their haunting calls and developed a way to allow the reader to hear each distinct call using a QR Code Reader App. Children love Lonnie the Loon, and the loons on the lake actually answer when the sounds from the book are played. Not wanting to slight the birds of her home state of Arizona, Barbara observed the coveys of quail scampering around her neighborhood. On one of her walks through the mountain preserve behind her house, she came up with the idea of having the main character, Quincy, be a little clumsy and bump into cacti. Being a bit of a klutz herself, she thought it would be fun to add a humorous dimension to her story. When not working on her picture books, Barbara walks her dog, Larry, and enjoys reading mysteries and thought- provoking novels. Cultural events abound in the Phoenix metropolitan area, so she seizes the opportunity to attend theatre performances and musicals with family and friends. There are still plenty of states and countries she would like to explore. Who knows, maybe she'll write about the blue-footed booby or the Trumpeter Swan. Oh, wait, she already has. Her new Trumpeter Swan book is a fun story about how the largest waterfowl in North America build their nests. Barbara is loving her new career as an author and classroom presenter. She plans on continually being inspired by her travels down the trail and around the world. Information about Barbara, her picture book series, and classroom presentations can be found on her website at www.RennerWrites.com"
Wells, Amanda M.
Amanda M. Wells graduated summa cum laude from Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University with a major in Screenwriting and a minor in Drawing. She works as a freelance artist in Arizona where she enjoys spending time with family, friends and her cats. To see more of her work, visit www.AmandaColorWells.com or contact her at Amanda.Wells@live.com
