CHERYL
CALDWELL
Author/Artist
About Cheryl
Hi and thanks for stopping by! I am a sometimes artist, photographer, filmmaker, fisher*, and author who primarily writes Upper Middle Grade novels. I've been known to be unusually lucky. My librarian grandmother gets the credit for fostering my life-long love of reading. Some of my happiest times as a young girl were summers spent shelving books for Mee-Maw—though I admit, I might have sneaked off to read or draw more than I shelved. Whether I was in a tree or on the water, you could be sure a book was close at hand and a story was about to happen.
A self-described twelve-year-old at heart**, my sense of wonder and awe about the ocean ripples through my characters’ stories. My real-life narrative includes shark encounters, sea turtle rescues, a particularly harrowing storm at sea, and being fortunate enough to have had a dolphin join me for a swim in the wild.***
When I'm not on (or in) the seas of the Gulf or the Caribbean, I call Central Florida my home. I've been fortunate enough to be a Pitch Wars 2019 mentee and a 2020 and 2023 SCBWI Rising Kite winner for excellence in unpublished children’s writing. Additionally, I am the co-host of the MG Book Party podcast. I have twelve humor gift books published as well as a slew of Greeting Cards.
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*Mostly, I go fishing. Every now and then, I go catching. Here’s proof.
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**at heart
phrase at heart
—in one's real nature, in contrast to how one may appear.
Click here for a zip file of a high-res author headshot where I'm wearing a shirt acceptable for inland restaurants and look slightly older than twelve. Or click here for the same headshot to open in a new window. Photo credit: Patrick Patterson
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*** Told you I'm lucky.
