MITCHELL, Nancy

PERSONAL: Born in Kingsport, TN; married John Mitchell (a commercial airline pilot); children: Jenny; stepchildren: Dave, Tom, Mike, Susan, Kathy. Education: University of Colorado, Boulder.

ADDRESSES: Home—Fremont, CA Office—Lightstream Publications, P.O. Box 3229, Fremont, CA 94539. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer and founder of Lightstream Publications. Pan American World Airways, flight attendant.

MEMBER: Fremont Council PTA (newsletter editor), Peralta District PTA (treasurer), Freemont Public Schools (superintendent's parent advisory committee).

WRITINGS:

"THE CHANGING EARTH" TRILOGY

Earth Rising: Disaster Strikes the Bay Area, Lightstream Books (Fremont, CA), 1999.

Raging Skies: Catastrophe in the East Bay, Lightstream Books (Fremont, CA), 1999.

Global Warning: Attack on the Pacific Rim, Lightstream Books (Fremont, CA), 1999.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Time Riders, an e-book; (with Laura Mordaunt) Fit at 55-Plus: Weight Loss and Fitness for the Rest of Your Life, true stories of people who have lost weight and improved their health through methods both ancient and modern.

SIDELIGHTS: Nancy Mitchell is the author of "The Changing Earth" trilogy, a series of young adult novels combining her interest in disaster preparedness with her interest in creating a fictional protagonist who is physically handicapped. Drawing on her experiences as the parent of a wheelchair-bound daughter, as well as on a great deal of research, Mitchell's trilogy confronts the possibility of ecological disaster in the near future, and the ways in which a group of teenagers might react to earthquakes, floods, and terrorist threats. Reviewing Global Warning: Attack on the Pacific Rim, in School Library Journal, Jana R. Fine wrote that "the author does successfully portray teens in a positive light, working to solve each crisis." Rather than wait for publishers to accept her books, Mitchell formed Lightstream Books to publish them herself. She has also made herself available to San Francisco Bay Area schools to discuss creative writing and the mechanics of getting published.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

School Library Journal, October, 1999, Jana R. Fine, review of Global Warning, pp. 154, 156.

OTHER

Lightstream Publications Web site,http://www.lightstreampubs.com/ (June 26, 2002).

Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Web site,http://www.scbwinorca.org/ (February 11, 2002),"Nancy Mitchell."*