About the Chicks

So, who are the Chicks? We are a crazy mix of YA writers who have somehow managed to find each other in this crazy world of authors! So, here is a bit more about each of us in our own words! Click on our names and you can see our individual blogs!

Susan Stec

One's real life is so often the life that one does not lead~~Oscar Wilde
Susan says she's always been weird, even as a child--might've been influenced by all the fairies and trolls living in and around the streams behind her Grandma's house in Connecticut. Or it could be because her mother has dreams that come true, her grandmother reads tarot cards, she talks to ghosts, and her daughter is two different people (the family loves them both).  One thing for sure, her writing is definitely influenced by her wacky family. Today, Susan lives with her husband (who is perfectly normal) and three King Charles spaniels (also normal) on 50 acres of woods, fields, and streams in upper Michigan. Click here to connect with Susan and see what she's working on!

Tess Black
Tess lives in sunny Perth, Western Australia, which has the dubious honour of being the most remote capital city in the world. (Hence all the Australian spelling!) One evening she announced to her very surprised husband she was going to write a novel. Just like that she was hooked. She does find working from home can be very distracting, with television to watch, the internet to be surfed and a multitude of things around the house to be cleaned and organised. This is Tess's excuse for writing at coffee shops and parks. It also allows her to partake in one of her favorite pastimes of people watching. When she isn't writing, her time is spent playing taxi to her young family, making school lunches and planning what to cook for dinner. An unfortunate accident at her first (and last) Tae Kwon Do class has her combining watching her kids training a few times a week with researching new fight moves for her characters from the sidelines now. She chose the pen name Tess Black because it's easier to spell than her real name. Boring, yet true. Click here to connect with Tess and see what she's working on!

Linda Ulleseit

Linda took her first creative writing course in seventh grade, accumulating a closet full of stories that she never showed anyone until 2007, when she was already involved in a career as a teacher. Currently Linda is a fifth/sixth grade teacher at James Franklin Smith Elementary School, where her students are some of the early reviewers of her books. Her favorite subject is writing, and her students get a lot of practice scribbling stories and essays. Blending her passions for history and fantasy, Linda wrote On a Wing and a Dare, which is set in medieval Wales and features teenagers saving a herd of flying horses. The second book in the series is In the Winds of Danger (2013) and the last Under a Wild and Darkening Sky (2014). Linda lives in San Jose, California with her husband, two adult sons, and two young yellow Labrador retrievers. When she’s not writing or teaching, Linda loves to cook,  read, and play Facebook games. Friend me on Candy Crush, Kitchen Scramble or Dessert Shop! Click here to connect with Linda and see what she's working on now!

Angela Fristoe
Angela grew up on the Canadian prairies amid dreams of becoming the next Dian Fossey or Jane Goodall until she realized she wasn't all that keen on the outdoors or animals. Instead, she went into education and focused on elementary education and helping struggling readers. Her passion for writing was ignited by The Hunger Games and Twilight crazes. Angela lives in Colorado with her husband and daughter, continuing to teach while pursuing her love of writing. Click here to connect with Angela and seee what she's working on now! 

DelSheree Gladden
DelSheree Gladden lives in New Mexico with her husband and two children. The Southwest is a big influence in her writing because of its culture, beauty, and mythology. Local folklore is strongly rooted in her writing, particularly ideas of prophecy, destiny, and talents born of natural abilities. When she is not writing, DelSheree is usually teaching yoga, coaching gymnastics, reading, painting, sewing, or studying about teeth as a Dental Hygiene student. Her works include Escaping Fate and the Twin Souls Saga. Click here to connect with DelSheree and see what she's working on now!

Apryl Baker

So who am I? Well, I'm the crazy girl with an imagination that never shuts up. I LOVE scary movies. My friend Chazz laughs at me when I scare myself watching them and tells me to stop watching them, but who doesn't love to get scared? I grew up in a small town nestled in the southern mountains of West Virginia where I spent days roaming around in the woods, climbing trees, and causing general mayhem. Nights I would stay up reading Nancy Drew by flashlight under the covers until my parents yelled at me to go to sleep.

Growing up in a small town, I learned a lot of values and morals, I also learned parents have spies everywhere and there's always someone to tell your mama you were seen kissing a particular boy on a particular day just a little too long. So when you get grounded, what is there left to do? Read! My Aunt Jo gave me my first real romance novel. It was a romance titled "Lord Margrave's Deception." I remember it fondly. But I also learned I had a deep and abiding love of mysteries and anything paranormal. As I grew up, I started to write just that and would entertain my friends with stories featuring them as main characters.

Now, I live Huntersville, NC where I entertain my niece and nephew and watch the cats get teased by the birds and laugh myself silly when they swoop down and then dive back up just out of reach. The cats start yelling something fierce...lol. I love books, I love writing books, and I love entertaining people with my silly stories. Click here to connect with Apryl and see what she's working on now!