Jenn Bailey is an award-winning author who has her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her work has received the ALA Schneider Family Honor award, Bank Street Book of the Year award, been star-reviewed by Kirkus, The Horn Book, and Publishers Weekly, and been included in numerous state reading lists, among other accolades.
Jenn is a frequent guest lecturer and workshop leader for SCBWI, Heartland Writers for Kids and Teens, and the One Year Adventure Novel workshops. Jenn is published by Chronicle Books; Arcadia Press; Magic Cat Publishing; Little, Brown and Company; and Levine Querido and is represented by Erica Silverman with The Stimola Literary Agency.
Ho Hum – the normal stuff:
- I grew up in Rhode Island as a member of one of those families you only read about in fiction – which is why I write fiction.
- I wrote my first story when I was in 2nd grade. It was from the point of view of a bat on Halloween night.
- I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I’ve always wanted to be a dolphin too.
- I married a wonderful man (Kevin) who doesn’t seem to mind that I like to make things up. Over the years our family has grown to include three children – Cameron, Luna, and Kellen.
Some Other Stuff:
- Places I’ve lived: Rhode Island, Boston, Glacier National Park, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Kansas City.
- Jobs I’ve had: Babysitter, Ice cream scooper, Movie house ticket taker, Administrative assistant, Waitress, Photographer, Graphic Artist, Editor, Art teacher, Writing teacher, Social media consultant, Author, Speaker.
You May Not Know it, but I’ve:
- Made it to the Top 40 in the Lego Master Builder competition.
Follow your passions
even if it’s into a pit of Legos - Won Blue Ribbons for pie baking.
- Roamed Australia as the Still Photographer for Continuum (a documentary film about the World Solar Car Challenge).
- Hiked part of the Appalachian Trail.
- Climbed across the Continental Divide.
- Camped in the Australian Outback.
- Parachuted off a mountain.
- Swum in glacier-fed lakes (brrrr).
- Splashed about in 3 different oceans – Atlantic, Pacific, Indian.
- Dipped my toes in all of the Great Lakes.
- Visited all 50 United States (Started with the smallest and ended with the biggest.)
- Roamed the Scottish Highlands.
- Stalked the ‘monster’ of Loch Ness.
- Walked the battlefields of Culloden and Gettysburg.
- Steamed down the Mississippi on a paddle boat.
- Rafted an underground river to see the famous glow worms of New Zealand.
- Kayaked with Gray Whales off the coast of California.
- Boated with Fin Whales off the coast of Massachusetts.
- Ferried with Sperm Whales off the coast of New Zealand.
- Swum with dolphins off the coast of Bermuda.
