Day 247: Drawing Charlotte with Deborah Sosin and Sara Woolley

Deborah Sosin, LICSW, MFA, is a writer and clinical social worker specializing in mindfulness. A native of Rye, New York, Debbie lived in Munich, Germany, as a teenager, then graduated from White Plains (N.Y.) High School and the University of Michigan. Her essays have appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine, The Writer’s Chronicle, the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, on Salon, and in numerous other publications. Debbie has worked with children in various capacities—as a therapist, Montessori educator, and volunteer with the Newton (Mass.) Child Assault Prevention Program.

Since 2011, she has served as managing editor of the Lahey Health Journal of Medical Ethics. Debbie teaches at GrubStreet in Boston and offers "Write It Like It Is" groups, writing coaching, and editorial consultation. She earned her MFA from Lesley University and MSW from Smith College School for Social Work and is a member of SCBWI and NASW. A longtime meditator, Debbie holds an advanced certificate from the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. She lives with her two very quiet cats outside of Boston, Massachusetts. This is her first book.

Debbie is currently shopping a second picture book, What's Your Extra-Special Thing, Maggie McAllister? Read about it here.

Sara Woolley is an award-winning illustrator and visual artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY.  Her work has been twice recognized by the New York Society of Illustrators, the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, and most recently by 3×3 Magazine of Contemporary Illustration. 

She has worked on a variety of exciting projects for clients including Scholastic, Random House, Parallax Press, The New Castle Science Convention, and Round Robin Editrice IT.  She has also had the pleasure of creating innovative costume pieces, puppets and and props for film and theatrical performance.  Credits include the feature film Monkey Bone, and Vital Children's Theater NYC.  Sara also had the fun distinction of being chosen as the VOX Vodka featured Artist for Martini Week San Francisco.

Sara’s ongoing personal project, a fictionalized graphic memoir written collaboratively with her mother and art partner Leila Gómez Woolley, Los Pirineos the mostly true memoirs of Esperancita Gómez,  was singled out for award by the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture.  Los Pirineos chronicles a young girl’s upbringing in and eventual exile from Colombia told through the lens of childhood imagination.  Researched on location in Colombia, it is at once deeply personal while giving voice to a common immigrant experience.

Sara currently teaches Illustration for the Academy of Art University, where she earned her MFA.

Remember to visit Deborah and Sara's websites!