Sherri L. Smith is the author of several award-winning young adult novels, including the 2021 Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite winner, The Blossom and the Firefly and the 2009 California Book Awards Gold Medalist, Flygirl.  She writes contemporary, speculative, and historical fiction, nonfiction, and comics.  Her books appear on multiple state lists and have been named Amelia Bloomer and American Library Association Best Books for Young People selections.  She has worked in film, animation, comic books, construction, and a monster factory.  Currently she teaches in the MFA in Children's Writing program at Hamline University.  Sherri holds a certificates in the Art of Archetypal Fairy Tale Analysis from the Assisi Institute; in Enchantivism—a form of "activism for introverts" that uses deep storytelling, mythology, dreams and the environment to enact positive change in the world— from Pacifica Graduate Institute; and in Applied Mythology, also from Pacifica. In addition to public speaking, Sherri offers creativity courses a member of the Two Trees Writers’ Collaborative and the founder of Story Forest, a liminal space where writers follow the old tales to find their own path.   Learn more at www.sherrilsmith.com.