Laura's Bio: Laura A. De La Cruz is an emerging Latina writer from Los Angeles, California, specializing in writing picture books. Laura is a former Library Media Technician who managed an elementary school library for eight years. During that time, Laura shared her passion for children’s literature with her students. After reading hundreds of picture books, Laura realized she too had stories to tell. She returned to school and received her B.A. in English from Arizona State University, graduating Summa Cum Laude as a first-generation college graduate. In addition to reading and writing, Laura continues to improve her craft by attending workshops, webinars, conferences, contests and three critique groups. She is a member of SCBWI and Julie Hedlund’s 12x12 Picture Book Challenge, where she recently won a scholarship. Also, in 2021, Laura won runner-up in the #PBChat mentorship contest and was able to hone her humorous manuscripts with Tara Lazar. Recently, Laura won an honorable mention in Vivian Kirkfield’s #50PreciousWords contest and in Kailei Pew’s Kids Choice KidLit Writing Contest #KidsChoiceKidLitWritingContest. Laura now lives in Austin, Texas.