Meet the NJ SCBWI Regional Team

Tisha Hamilton  Regional Advisor

We are very pleased to have Tisha as our new Regional Advisor for the New Jersey chapter of SCBWI. A bio and photo are forthcoming. We will also have information on our first event as a new team–Fall Craft Weekend 2018–appearing shortly. Stay tuned!

Rosanne Kurstedt  Co-Assistant Regional Advisor 

Rosanne L. Kurstedt, Ph.D. has been an educator for over 20 years, supporting learners of all ages BUT she’s been a writer all her life. She kept journals and notebooks when she was young and made up stories at night when she couldn’t fall asleep.

She’s so honored to be a published author, for teachers and children, and a part of the New Jersey  SCBWI Regional Team. Her professional books include Teaching Writing with Picture Books as Models (Scholastic, 2000) and a series entitled 100+ Growth Mindset Comments (Newmark Learning, 2017). Her children’s books are Karate Kid (Running Press Kids, 2019), And I Think About You (Kids Can Press, 2022), Sticks vs. Stones (Worthy Kids, 2024).

Fun fact: Rosanne first became a member of SCBWI in Hong Kong.

Linda Bozzo Co-Assistant Regional Advisor 

Linda is the author of more than 70 books for the educational market.  She has partnered with the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America to publish picture books DANCING WITH GRANDDAD: AN ALZHEIMER’S STORY FOR CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES and GARDENING WITH GRANDMA. She has been an Honorable Mention recipient of the SCBWI Barbara Karlin Grant Award and received the 2013 Outstanding Author Award by the New Jersey Association of School Librarians. She was a volunteer for the New Jersey SCBWI chapter for many years before becoming the Co-Assistant Regional Advisor. You can visit Linda’s website at: http://www.lindabozzo.com and follow her on Twitter @lindabozzo.

Anne Appert  Illustrator Coordinator

Anne Appert spent their childhood with their nose stuck in a book, while their wild imagination transformed their New Jersey backyard into faraway places. Anne still enjoys spending time in their backyard dreaming, and now their imagination turns their dreams into words and pictures for children. Anne wrote and illustrated their debut book BLOB published by HarperCollins in Fall of 2021, and their book, WHAT IF YOU WISH? will publish with HarperCollins in Winter of 2024. They have been a member of SCBWI since 2012, from which they received an honor in the 2021 Conference Portfolio Showcase. You can find Anne online at anneappert.com, Twitter and Instagram.

Kim Pfennigwerth  Volunteer Liason Captain

A writer, reader, lover of children’s picture books. Often found in the middle of two to seven dogs. Loves to travel both in the real world and in her imagination – those stories are often confused for one another. Moderator of two critique groups and member of SCBWI.

It’s always been about the books for Mary—from hiding novels inside her textbooks during class to an English degree and then library school. The only thing better than books are the people who create them, share them, and read them. So she finds the people who love books wherever she goes—on trips and the many places she’s lived including Wyoming, California, Utah, Colorado, and New Jersey. Luckily, SCBWI is everywhere, and she has been a member since 2013. Mary writes picture books, chapter books, and middle grade fiction.