Jill Ferrie
Jill grew up in Greendale, Wisconsin in a family where turning to God for help was natural, and spiritual healing was the norm. As students of Christian Science, she and her four sisters were encouraged from a very early age to grow their inherent awareness of God’s all-powerful, all-loving presence. They relied on prayer for daily health and healing. And, in their very active household, with five competitive swimmers, two working parents, and a very large dog, Jill remembers lots of opportunities to heal every day... as there was just no good time for anyone to be sick or selfish.
Her love for story telling was nurtured by her dad who used to tell original tales of the adventures of Heckle and Jeckle... along with Meckle, Deckle, and Freckle (a character for each one of the girls) who got into a lot mischief, but learned valuable lessons as they found a way out through the creative use of resources. After story time, she and her younger sister stayed up for hours telling each other stories and singing songs. Jill's mom nurtured her love of books and music with Mother Goose nursery rhymes and folk songs. As a long-time music teacher, her mom sang songs and rhymes with the girls as often as they read them. Jill added Dr. Seuss to her library of favorites and carried on these traditions with her own four children and now, with her grandchildren.
Jill started writing children’s books because she wanted to help young readers see how easy and natural it is to turn to God's Love, for help anytime, anywhere, to feel as close to Him as to their own thoughts, and to trust His all-powerful, ever-present care. She uses playful rhyming patterns, just like Goose and Seuss, to make her characters and stories as joyful and memorable as her favorite childhood books. Jill writes more about prayer and spiritual perspectives in her blog.
When Jill isn’t writing or pattering around social media, she’s hanging with her loyal companions, husband Dave and their rescue dog, Gus, at their family campground- Harvest Farm Campground Resort- in Cresco, Iowa.
Muhammad Khaidir Syafei
Khaidir, known in social media circles as mbekurius, is a freelance children’s book illustrator. He studied Visual Communication Design at Semarang State University and lives in Indonesia with his family. His work can be seen world-wide. When he’s not loving up the characters of special projects and books, he spends his free time drawing and illustrating creative ideas inspired by nature, film, Pink Floyd, and his precious life. Khaidir’s imagination comes to life in lots of different venues, such as canvas, digital prints, and web media.
Khaidir is super active on the Internet and loves to share his talent with others. In fact, he and Jill met on Twitter with her first tweet about looking for an illustrator for her children's book. They became friends over their kindred desire to help readers connect with a good story and see that life is full of colorful ideas and characters. Khaidir loves learning new things about his craft and is always looking for new ways to share with others and enjoy the journey. Get more from Khaidir.
Nicolas Pacheco
Nic loves pushing the boundaries of design. He doesn't really create things outside the box, he just doesn't see the box in the first place. He likes to keep readers engaged through discovery, so he enjoys finding unique ways on every page to surprise them--like sneaking a smiling cat in the window of the house across the street or hiding a message in the letters of toy blocks under the bed. Nic is motivated by people who live and work on the edgy side of innovation. He finds inspiration from God's super-creative angels who give him an endless stream of fun and interesting ideas.
Nic is a blast to work with. He uses his mad skills in a lot of different ways for a very diverse clientele. He designs unique websites (this one is a great example), cutting edge marketing videos (he has a cool drone @droviR), creative video tutorials (everyone needs help now and then), and inspired newsletters (for his i-device repair company, Voopple). See more from Nic.
Emily Rojo
Emily has loved writing since she was in 6th grade and living in Puerto Rico where she was born and raised. She kept a journal close by and wrote letters and stories and poems whenever she could. She loved to tell long stories and share her writing with anyone who was willing to read them. In fact, her first email address was longstoryteller@xxx.com. Now, Emily lives in St. Louis where she enjoys a career in law enforcement, but still finds time to collaborate on children’s books with her mom, Jill Ferrie, and translate them into Spanish. She shares her love of story-telling by reading to her young children every chance she gets because it entertains them and expand their minds and imaginations all at once.
Emily also loves to travel because it teaches her the importance of appreciating the meaningful influence culture and diversity have in the human experience. Lots of the people she meets give her inspired ideas for characters to write about. Her travels also give in her first hand opportunities to be part of prayerful solutions everywhere she goes.