Bio & Interests for Author Jennifer Phillips
I’m interested in all sorts of things that have to do with creativity and making connections. This includes helping kids discover who they are, what they’re capable of and how they can fit in the world, no matter what their current circumstances. And this also includes helping adults make time to weave different forms of creativity into their lives.
Firebreak Book Release
Creative Techniques for Writing Workshop
Diversity in Children’s Books Panel
Highlights Foundation Writing Cabin
My writing interests:
- Hi-lo fiction and nonfiction for middle grade and young adults.
- Fiction picture books anchored by social-emotional learning, social studies, history.
- Active and inventive middle grade nonfiction.
- My writing leans toward lively plain talk to help children who can feel excluded from the reading experience.
- Some of my work is serious due to the subject matter, but I’m happy when humor (and even a little cheeky sarcasm) sneaks into my stories.
Influences
My stories often reflect some aspect of the experiences and needs of children who navigate learning challenges, their emotions, developmental disabilities or mental illness. This has been shaped in part by my home experience helping a child with disabilities find her place in the world. I also advocate for change through organizations such as The Arc and NAMI. I’m a NAMI family-to-family class facilitator. And my work experience includes a psychiatric care setting and focus on foster youth.
I’d love to talk if you’re:
- A reader, parent or educator with a question or suggestion.
- An editor with a book or article project needing my skills and passion – or you’d like to see some of my works in progress.
- An agent who thinks my work might fit with your representation interests.
- Interested in me talking with your book club or class.
Here’s a Room to Read panel discussion I participated on about Diversity of Diversity: The Power of Books in Fostering Inclusive Communities
My creativity interests:
- The many ways creativity emerges through different forms of the arts and crafts.
- The power of creative thinking to help with everyday problems.
- I share through tools and links to other resources, blog and Substack posts, themes in some of my books and occasional workshops.
Influences:
I’ve facilitated creative thinking in my daytime work for many years as a process improvement and creativity facilitator. I began to share tips and examples more broadly as I realized how much these approaches help in my everyday life with my writing and at home.
I’d love to talk if you:
- Have an idea or question I can address through my resources or blog.
- Are looking for a contributor on your blog, podcast, publication, panel or conference.
- Are interested in putting together a workshop.
Here’s an online session I presented about Quick and Easy Creativity Techniques to Get Unstuck for my state’s annual quality improvement conference.
Interesting things I’ve done (so far)?
I’ve been able to try many fun and interesting things so far in my life. For example:
- Starting out as a newspaper reporter. My beat included covering crime and court stories. I’d hang out in police labs before shows like CSI made crime investigation so popular.
- Riding in helicopters. This was part of doing public relations for an aircraft manufacturer.
- Watching surgeries while working in health care. This often involved trying to keep up with a super-busy surgeon explaining things over their shoulder.
- Participating in a medical mission to Vietnam. My job was to support the clinical volunteers providing life-changing surgery to children with cleft lips, cleft palates and orthopedic disabilities.
- Spending three weeks in Japan with a work team. We studied how manufacturers like Toyota and Hitachi use a process improvement approach known as lean thinking. This included several days on a manufacturing line looking for ways to make things more efficient, safer and easier for the employees.
- My husband and I have always been big on travel. We go near or far depending on the time and money we have. Our family loves exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest. (Yes, we’ve been to Forks, Washington, home of the famous Twilight series.) We get up to Canada and the other Western states when we can. But travel has also taken me to several other parts of the U.S.. This included a bucket list trip to Fairbanks, Alaska to watch the Northern Lights. My overseas trips so far have been to England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Australia, China, Japan and Vietnam. I hope to see more of the world when I can!
My Youth
I grew up in Alton, Illinois in the St. Louis area. And I never expected to be a writer. Like many kids, I started playing an instrument in the fifth grade and music quickly became my passion and my career aspiration. Flute was my main passion and then I added oboe and a little tenor saxophone by high school. It was a high school English teacher who first planted the writing seed, suggesting I had talent and should consider this when I went to college.
I filed it away, determined to become a professional musician. But by the end of my freshman year at college, I realized I wasn’t cut out for the competitive professional music world. Meanwhile, I got a part-time job in the front office at the student newspaper. I remembered what my English teacher said and started looking into journalism. By my sophomore year, I was setting typeface at the newspaper and had switched my major. By my junior year, I was a student reporter.
Writing became my thing from then on. I still love music and occasionally dust off my old flute to run through a few songs. But watch out for those insightful teachers!
Jennifer Phillips, Children’s Author
