Hazel was born and raised on the prairies of southern Alberta. As the youngest child she spent quite a bit of time on her own and became very good at thinking up imaginary worlds and imaginary friends. She also enjoyed the many farm animals. She had a horse named Sabu and two goats named Dolly and Babe. There were also wild animals that the family rescued such as crows, baby bunnies, snakes, a bathtub-swimming duck and a pigeon. All the wild "pets" were released once they could take care of themselves. From the time Hazel was little, she loved stories and wanted to be a writer.

Today there are over forty "Hazel Hutchins" titles that show up in various corners of the world. She left the prairies but was lucky enough to live with a wonderful husband in another beautiful part of Canada — a town in the Rocky Mountains. She has three great children (now adults!) and a dog. She loves Jersey Milk chocolate bars and people who are both kind and humerous. She also loves to ski, hike, canoe, bike, birdwatch, read books and — first and always — write stories.

How to Contact: e-mail hjhutch@telusplanet.net
Web site: www.telusplanet.net/public/hjhutch/home.html

As a kid growing up in Holland, Maria's family had five people, seven bicycles and a Citroën Deux Cheveaux, which is basically an umbrella on four wheels, even though it survived many family camping trips to France.

Typically Dutch, her family loves to explore. Maria's dad drew maps in uncharted New Guinea before she was born and cruised the world in a submarine when she was young, which may explain why almost all her childhood drawings feature submarines. The other ones feature people with rooster heads or math teachers stuck in spider webs. She wishes she had an explanation.

Her house had one bathroom, and her supermarket sold one type of peanut butter. Her bedroom was as big as a Canadian closet and her fridge was the size of a Canadian cereal box. Well, almost...

Ontario is 25 times as big as Holland, but has less people than Holland. Holland has 16 Million people and 30 Million bicycles, so it is very crowded! Come to think of it, perhaps this is perhaps why the Dutch are explorers—they are always looking for space!

After Maria finished high school, her parents moved to the US for six years, where she received her BA in Visual Communications, and learned to draw things besides rooster people or submarines.

After a year backpacking across Asia and Australia, she had a chance to explore even more while dreaming up ideas for new drinks in Coca-Cola's international department. Traveling to different countries, she realized people everywhere are more alike than different. Dutch school kids, Indonesian street vendors and French women all share facial expressions, posture and body language.

Today, Maria and her husband Peter live in a 100-year old house in San Francisco, California with creaky floors and a tiny bathroom.

She still loves to explore and watch people, which is why she can often be found on her bicycle, riding around San Francisco.

How to Contact: e-mail maria@mariavanlieshout.com
Web site: www.mariavanlieshout.com