Our bios — and more!
Scroll down for author bios and a Q&A with Cathy and Ellen
Cathy Hapka
Cathy Hapka followed her lifelong interest in reading and writing to a job in children’s publishing. After six years as an editor she switched to writing full-time and never looked back! She has ghost-written for various popular series and licenses as well as publishing numerous books for kids and teens under her own name.
When not reading or writing she enjoys horseback riding, animals of all kinds, gardening, music, and travel. She lives in an old house on a small farm in Pennsylvania where she keeps a small herd of horses and goats, a medium-sized flock of fancy chickens, and way too many freeloading cats.
photo by D. Manfredi
Ellen Vandenberg
Ellen Vandenberg and her husband share their home in New York City with two amazing daughters, a plump orange tabby, and a mountain of books.
When not reading or writing she enjoys visiting restaurants, museums, or the planetarium, traveling to destinations near and far, and cooking (even though she can’t follow a recipe).
She earned a master’s degree in medieval literature, but traded in her illuminated manuscripts for picture books and middle grade novels. She’s been involved in children’s book publishing ever since.
photo by Margot Draillard-Vandenberg
Cathy and Ellen
Cathy Hapka and Ellen Vandenberg met many moons ago as editorial assistants in New York City. They’ve been coming up with wacky ideas and laughing their heads off together ever since!
Q&A with Cathy and Ellen
Q: Why do you write books for kids?
A: Because they’re so much fun! We’re both kids at heart, and it shows!
*
Q: Where do you get your ideas?
A: All kinds of places! For HOW NOT TO BABYSIT YOUR BROTHER, we thought it would be funny to create a series of advice books that showed the OPPOSITE of good advice! Then we came up with the characters of Will and Steve, two brothers who couldn’t have more different attitudes toward life — and voila! The first few HOW NOT TO books were born. (And since Steve thinks his advice is ALWAYS good, the books from his point of view turned into HOW TO instead!)
Will and Steve from How Not to Babysit Your Brother, illustration © Debbie Palen
ASTRONAUT GIRL was inspired by Ellen’s daughter. As a little girl, she wore her astronaut costume all the time and begged to spend every birthday at the planetarium. She will always be our real-life Astronaut Girl!
It also helped that both of us have an interest in space. Ellen is a cheerleader for girls in STEM, a fan of science fiction books and movies, and even married a real life rocket scientist who participated in NASA projects including the Space Station!
Cathy started reading science fiction at a young age (everything from Tom Swift to Heinlein) and never stopped — she had a space-themed birthday party as a kid, and wrote the essay that got her into college about Ray Bradbury. Her sister is a high school science teacher.
Ellen’s daughter poses with one of her heroes, former astronaut Mark Kelly (now a U.S. Senator)
Q: Do you have brothers? Are they more like Will or Steve?
A: Cathy has one younger brother (and a younger sister). Her brother was a little like Steve when they were kids, but now that he’s all grown up, he’s much more like Will!
Ellen has one older brother. If you asked him, he wouldn’t hesitate to tell you that he is definitely the Will in the family, while Ellen as a child was definitely the Steve! (Ellen has no comment.)
Illustration © Debbie Palen
Q: Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
A: We’ve both been scribbling stories since we were kids, and we were both English majors in college. We also both went into publishing after graduation. So we suppose you can take that as a yes!
Q: I want to be a writer when I grow up. How can I do that?
A: You don’t have to wait — you can start writing now! Write stories, or write in a journal, or just do your best on school assignments. All writing is good practice! The other very helpful thing you can do is to READ! Read everything you can. The more you read, the more you’ll learn about writing (and other stuff, too)!
Cathy reads as much as she can!
Ellen snuggles with her real-life Astro Cat. (The bandage on her arm is probably his fault….)
One of Cathy’s many (many) bookshelves….
The original Astronaut Girl!
Cathy pretends to go on a space walk, thanks to Instagram filters
Q: What’s it like writing with a partner? How do you do it?
A: We have so much fun writing together! We live pretty far away from each other – Cathy lives on a farm in Pennsylvania and Ellen lives in NYC. We visit each other as often as we can and brainstorm ideas. But mostly, believe it or not, we write over the phone! Between marathon phone sessions, we e-mail edits and comments back and forth. Honestly, we’re not sure how it works — but it does!
Ellen in the car on her way to visit Cathy!
Q: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
A: Ellen enjoys reading, traveling, cooking (and eating!), and spending lots of time with her family and friends.
Cathy stays busy taking care of the animals on her little farm — she has cats, horses, goats, and chickens. She also likes to read, travel, garden, and watch TV. Occasionally she even enjoys cooking (but usually not).
Cathy is off for a ride