If you are lucky enough in your life to have a tribe, then feel blessed. Here at D Street Press we are blessed with a tribe of bright, passionate people who keep us sharp in our thinking and generous in our accepting.
Advisors | Authors | Artists | More Artists
Advisors
we need ‘em
Char Weiler (Mumbai, India)
Motherhood is Char’s career. As she says, “My work is shaping human lives.” She is the mother to nine children with more than full-time responsibilities of nurturing all their souls and bodies. “I try to help my children connect to God and be thoughtful, responsible, and compassionate human beings.” Char and her family live abroad on their third tour…with all the associated glories and challenges. When she has spare time (ha), she works in musical theater and paints. If you want to get on her good side, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle made by Brusters will always win you points.
Michal Thomas (California)
Michal Thomas graduated from BYU a million years ago with a degree in Sociology and Russian. She has spent the past 22 years studying the sociology of families with her husband, Jared, and now 6 children. She has a passion for Children’s Lit and can’t be trusted with a credit card in a bookstore. She spends her rare free time volunteering for a youth development non-profit and traveling as much as possible.
Jennifer Neves (Maryland)
Jennifer Neves has the best vocabulary of anyone I know. When we sat down to consider who would be helpful to have on our advisory board, I immediately thought of her. Her keen mind combined with her voracious reading habits of wide-ranging genres means she can offer excellent advice on anything from mystery book authors to peek firefly viewing. We are lucky to have her in the D Street Press tribe.
Natasha Kewene-Hite (New Zealand)
Raised in the US, Natasha has spent the past 13 years living overseas with her husband and three children across Ireland, France and Singapore. She is a passionate traveler, writer and multilingual who loves culture, gardening and great food, and works diligently to track down the local hiking trails at every port. She believes in the strength and capacities of women and girls and is passionate about crazy things like systemic bias and issues of decolonization. She has most recently returned home to her native motherland of Aotearoa New Zealand and wants to change the world.
Authors
the hole-finding wordsmiths
McArthur Krishna
Life is a gift from our Heavenly Parents—a grand, demanding, insane adventure. Along the way, McArthur has worked as a window washer, a construction crew member, an archeological aid, a Bollywood extra, a river rafting guide, a business owner, an artist. Those adventures led to publishing seventeen children’s books (including four with Deseret Book) and new job titles–Holy Harasser and Hogwash Eradicator. Now, she travels the world with her family and dreams of West Virginia rivers, zydeco dancing, and bottomless guacamole.
Bethany Brady Spalding
Bethany Brady Spalding has a knack for stirring things up in the kitchen and in the community. She likes to cook up change wherever she goes. In Salt Lake City, she founded an innovative partnership to provide health care for immigrants and refugees. In Washington DC, she established a mentoring program to improve graduation rates of inner-city students. Bethany and her daughter started a program to bring creative learning experiences to children living in the slums of Mumbai, India. And in Cape Town, South Africa, she helped build a health promotion partnership to reduce childhood infectious disease. Currently, Bethany leads a regional coalition in Richmond, Virginia creating a healthier food environment for at-risk children. She mothers three fiery girls, loves to cycle with her husband, Andy, and digs cooking spicy vegetarian food to share with neighbors.
Mieka Hiatt (Utah)
Mieka Hiatt studied child development at university and then worked in her field for over fifteen years. Among her passions in child development is children’s literature— books that make your heart sing. Her book “Don’t Forget to Play” will release soon. She says, “It is vital that children get the opportunity to play. And that we as adults help nurture the play— whether by providing opportunities or just getting out of the way! Play is divine— the chance to practice being like God.”
Artists
because great words deserve great art
Olive Penrith (Chicago)
Hi, I’m Olive and I love children’s books an awful lot. I also love mangos and guinea pigs, little girls in traditional dresses, trees with flowers on them, happy children and well fed children and adults who laugh often. I think our world can be very beautiful but is also distressingly messy. I help create books for children because they are one of the beautiful things we create and I believe that a good story with captivating illustrations can change the world for the better.
Katrina Berg (Utah)
I’m Katrina Berg, an oil painter, mother, art biz mentor, supporter of women, podcaster, chocolate lover, Francophile, and product designer. In my midway Utah studio, I serve up a palette of support, hope and love, with a side of realness! as a mother of 5 (including 6 year old twins), I know that life is rarely easy and jolly…but savoring the sweet moments gives us the strength we need to find peace, growth, and fulfillment along our journey.
Our Extended Family of Artists
A Girl’s Guide to Heavenly Mother & A Boy’s Guide to Heavenly Mother have more than twenty artists in each book.
A Boy’s Guide to Heavenly Mother – Artists
Allen TenBusschen
Brooke Bowen
Colby Adams Sanford
Clint Whiting
Crystal Suzanne Close
D. Mario Wood
David Cassler
David Marshall Habben II
Del Parsons
Elizabeth Sanchez
Heather Ruttan
Howard Lyon
J. Kirk Richards
L. Aerin Collett
Lexi Lyon
Linda Etherington
Lisa Jensen
Rose Datoc Dall
Rebecca Everett
Rick Shorten
Sage Gallagher
Samuel Walker
Sarah Richardson
Shari Lyon
A Girl’s Guide to Heavenly Mother – Artists
Allen TenBusschen
Ashmae Hoiland
Ben Crowder
Caitlin Connolley
Claire Tollstrup
Kathy Peterson
Katrina Berg
Heather Ruttan
J. Kirk Richards
Jenedy Paige
Joumana Borderie
Susana Silva
Sopheap Nhem
Kwani Povi Winder
Laura Erekson
Lisa DeLong
Louise Parker
McArthur Krishna
Melissa Kamba Boggs
Michelle Franzoni Thorley
Michelle Gessell
Normandie Shael Luscher
Paige Anderson
Rachel Hunt Steenblick
Richard Lasisi Olagunju
Sherron Valeña Crisanto
Esther Candari Christiansen
Courtney Vander Veur Matz