Colleen A. F. Venable

Colleen Ann Felicity Venable has had many odd jobs—receptionist, book designer, bat hospital worker, lumberjack, secret Twitter ghostwriter for a very famous comedian, accidental creator of national holidays (National Pancake Day)—but she had her big break when she published Kiss Number 8, the first graphic novel written by a woman to ever be nominated for the National Book Award. She went on to win a pile of accolades and her most recent series, Katie the Catsitter, debuted at #7 on the bestseller list and has been nominated for fourteen state awards and counting. Her other books include the humor/inspiration book The Swayze Year: You're Not Old You're Just Getting Started (co-created with Meghan Daly and illustrated by Tara O'Connor); picture books The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom (illustrated by Lian Cho) which won a School Library Journal Best Book award and Mervin the Sloth Is About to Do The Best Thing in the World (illustrated by Ruth Chan); and her graphic novel series Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye (illustrated by Stephanie Yue) which nominated for an Eisner for Best Publication for Kids and awarded “Best Book” recognition from Kirkus Reviews, NYPL, Bank Street, and the Junior Library Guild. Colleen was named a Publisher's Weekly StarWatch Top 5 Finalist and now works as a full-time writer splitting her time between North Adams, MA and Brooklyn, NY.