Dhonielle Clayton, MFA Creative Writing '12, is a New York Times Bestselling author of The Belles series, the co-author of the Tiny Pretty Things series and the forthcoming The Rumor Game. She hails from the Washington, D.C. suburbs on the Maryland side. She taught secondary school for several years and is a former elementary and middle school librarian. She is COO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books, and co-founder of  CAKE Literary, a creative kitchen whipping up decadent—and decidedly diverse—literary confections for middle grade, young adult, and women’s fiction readers. She’s an avid traveler, and always on the hunt for magic and mischief. CAKE Literary titles – The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi, Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble and Love Sugar Magic: A Sprinkle of Spirits by Anna Meriano, The Trouble with Shooting Stars by Meg Cannistra, A Match Made in Mehendi by Nandini Bajpai, Tristan Strong Punches A Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia, Symptoms of a Heartbreak by Sona Charaipotra, and more.