Ellen Hopkins is the award-winning author of 20 nonfiction books for children and 15 NY Times bestselling young adult novels-in-verse, 2 middle grade novels, plus 4 novels for adult readers. A California native, Ellen lived in northern Nevada for more than 30 years until packing up her extended family and two German shepherds and moving 1500 miles east, to a lovely log home on five acres of Missouri woods. She was the regional adviser for the Nevada chapter of the SCBWI for ten years, and is a member of the SCBWI International advisory council, as well as sitting on the ILF board.