Samara Cole Doyon is a poet, educator, and award-winning children’s book author living on unceded Wabanaki/Abenaki territory. She is a neurodivergent mother of neurodivergent children, continually learning more from her offspring than they could ever learn from her. She earned both a Lupine Award and an International Literacy Association Award for her debut picture book, Magnificent Homespun Brown, and her second children’s book, Magic Like That, received a starred review from Kirkus and made the Bookstagang Best Picture Books of 2021 list. Samara works at Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance and resides with her husband, two children, and rescue pup in central Maine.
Riley Samels is an illustrator who grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Kent State University and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communications and Design. He has since traveled across the country from coast to coast working for various studios as an Illustrator in both the children’s book and greeting card industries. Riley’s work is fueled by his friends and family he has found in the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as his wide array of other passions including the wildlife around him, and good food. In his free time, you’ll probably find Riley tending to his indoor jungle or cooking up something in the kitchen.