SCBWI Podcasts

In this week's episode we are joined by Winsome Bingham!
Winsome Bingham is a soul food connoisseur, master cook, and a US Army war and disabled veteran. She received both bachelor's and master's degrees in education and has more than 15 years of teaching experience. You can find her writing on a deck while waiting patiently with a camera to capture a submarine shooting out of the water. She lives in Groton, Connecticut.
Buy Winsome's latest book, Together, here: bookshop.org/a/19191/9781419779459
Check out Winsome's website here: binghamwrites.com
Follow Winsome on IG: www.instagram.com/armyvetfive/

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In this week's episode we are joined by London Ladd.
London Ladd is an award-winning illustrator whose work has been featured in prestigious publications, including HarperCollins, Philomel Books, The New York Times, and Scientific American, as well as in community murals. Utilizing a distinctive mixed-media technique that combines acrylic paint, cut paper, and tissue paper, the artist brings various subjects to life, infusing emotion and reflecting a commitment to capturing the essence of life.
Ladd is a recipient of the Black Caucus - BCALA & SLJ Children & Youth Literary Award and SCBWI Crystal Kite Honor. His work has also garnered recognition from the Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, American Illustration, and 3x3 Magazine, and has been shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards. He received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the State University of New York and has been nominated multiple times for a NAACP Image Award.
Currently, he serves as an Assistant Teaching Professor at Syracuse University, where he earned both his BFA and MFA degrees. Ladd's vision is to establish a visual arts community center in Syracuse, NY, where lower-income families can participate in artistic activities in a fun and creative environment.
Pre-order his upcoming book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9780063326415
Follow him on IG: @london.ladd
Check out his website here: https://www.londonladd.com/
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In this week's episode we are joined by James Ponti!
James Ponti is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of four Middle Grade book series, including City Spies and The Sherlock Society. His novels have been named to more than seventy state award lists, translated into sixteen languages, and sold over one million copies. City Spies has been optioned by Amazon MGM Studios for development as a film franchise. He’s a two-time Edgar Award-nominee, winning in 2018 for Vanished!
​James was born in Italy and grew up in Atlantic Beach, Florida, where he could usually be found on the beach, at the movies, or playing sports. Despite being a reluctant reader, he decided to become a writer in the fifth grade. ​
A graduate of the University of Southern California’s film school, he spent thirty years working in television, first as a scriptwriter for Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and PBS; and then as a writer/producer for History Channel, Spike TV, Golf Channel, and NBC Sports. He wrote, produced, and co-directed the Emmy-nominated documentary 27 Years: The Exoneration of Valentino Dixon.
 He loves to travel with his family and visit museums, historic landmarks, major league baseball parks, and, most of all, bookstores. He lives in Orlando, Florida.
Buy his latest book here: bookshop.org/a/19191/9781665983563
Check out his website here: www.jamesponti.com
Follow James on IG: jamespontibooks
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In this week's episode we are joined by Regina Brooks!
Ms. Regina Brooks is the founder and CEO of Serendipity Literary Agency in New York, New York. Her agency is the largest African American owned agency in the country and has represented and established a diverse base of award-winning clients in adult and young adult fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. Her authors have appeared in USA Today, the New York Times, and the Washington Post as well as on Oprah, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, MSBNC, TV One, BET, and a host of others. In 2015, Publishers Weekly nominated Regina Brooks as a PW Star Watch Finalist, and she was honored with a Stevie Award in Business. Writer’s Digest Magazine named Serendipity Literary Agency as one of the top 25 literary agencies. She is currently the President of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) and co-chair of its Communications Committee, co-producer of the U.S. Book Show, a founding member and board member of Literary Agents of Change (LAOC), and a board member of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP). Formerly, she held senior editorial positions at John Wiley and Sons (where she was not only the youngest but also the first African American editor in their college division) and McGraw-Hill.
Prior to her publishing career, she worked as an aerospace engineer and made history as the first African American woman to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from The Ohio State University. She is a graduate of The School of the Arts High School in Rochester, NY.
She is the author of Essence Magazine’s quick pick children’s book, Never Finished, Never Done (Scholastic), Writing Great Books for Young Adults: Everything You Need to Know, from Crafting the Idea to Getting Published, 2e (Sourcebooks), and You Should Really Write a Book: How to Write, Sell, and Market Your Memoir and is a well-received blogger for the Huffington Post. Brooks is also on the faculty of the Harvard University publishing program, Western Connecticut MFA low residency programs, and Writer’s Digest University and teaches annually at more than twenty worldwide conferences. She has been highlighted in several national and international magazines and periodicals, including Publishers Weekly, Forbes, Media Bistro, Writers and Poets, Essence Magazine, Ebony, Jet, Women on Writing, Writer’s Digest Magazine, The Writer, The Network Journal, and Rolling Out.
She was named Woman of the Year by The National Association of Professional Women, A New York Urban League Rising Star Award winner, and a finalist for the StevieTM Award for Women Entrepreneurs. Regina Brooks is featured in books such as Guide to Literary Agents and the NAACP-nominated Down to Business: The First 10 Steps for Women Entrepreneurs, How to Build a Platform, and Bill Duke’s Dark Girls. She is also listed in International Who’s Who under the categories of Professional Management, Technology, Entrepreneurs, and Engineering. In 2010, Brooks partnered with Marie Brown of Marie Brown and Associates and Marva Allen of Hue Man Bookstore to launch a new publishing imprint with Johnny Temple’s Akashic Books called Open Lens.
Further, Possibiliteas is the brainchild of the literary agent and tea enthusiast, Regina Brooks, who believed that tea—the world’s oldest performance-enhancing beverage—could have a beneficial effect on her clients—writers, artists, and other creative professionals who were looking for fuel for their creative fire.
She is a pilot and cofounder of Brooklyn Aviation as well as a member of New York Women in Film and Television.
Ms. Brooks is the founder and Co-Executive Director of Y.B. Literary Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization designed to kindle a passion for literature within high school students and an appreciation for the possibilities and opportunities that reading can provide.
When Regina’s not agenting, she’s gardening, fishing, and flying her own plane (always in a dress).
Buy her latest book here: https://bookshop.org/a/19191/9781402293528
Check out her website here: www.serendipitylit.com
Follow Serendipity Lit on IG here: www.instagram.com/serendipitylit/
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In this week's episode we are joined by Dr. Seema Yasmin
Seema Yasmin is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, medical doctor, professor and the author of five books and three forthcoming books. She is director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative, clinical assistant professor in Stanford University’s Department of Medicine, and visiting professor at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA where she teaches crisis management and communications. She is a popular keynote speaker and has been invited to speak at the Vatican, White House, Aspen Ideas Festival, and Skoll World Forum. 
Yasmin was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news in 2017 with a team from The Dallas Morning News for coverage of a mass shooting. She is the recipient of two awards from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Her reporting appears in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, WIRED, Scientific American, and other outlets. She is a medical analyst for CNN and a correspondent for Conde Nast Entertainment.
Her scholarly work focuses on the spread of health misinformation and disinformation, the growth of medical and news deserts, and the impact on public health. She teaches creative nonfiction including health and science journalism, global health storytelling, practicing medicine with empathy and compassion, and advanced clinical communication skills.
Her unique combination of expertise in epidemics, science communication and journalism has been called upon by the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Skoll World Forum.
Buy her latest book here: bookshop.org/a/19191/9781665953429
Check out her website here: seemayasmin.com
Follow her on IG here: www.instagram.com/drseemayasmin

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