Photo credit: Karma Wilson

1. Karma Wilson is the New York Times bestselling author of over forty titles for children, including Bear Snores On (and the whole bear series), Frog in the Bog, and Hogwash. (Yes, this stunning gal is a famous children’s book author!) Her books have won numerous state and national awards, been printed in multiple languages, and featured in the Scholastic Book Club. In addition to writing, she spends her time on national book tours and author visits speaking to children, teachers, and librarians about her passion for books and the importance of reading and literacy. She resides in a country home in Fortine, Montana with her husband, three kids (ages 15-19), and three pets (dog, cat, chicken). She was once chastised that she didn’t look like a “children’s author ought to” to which she replied, “Thank heavens!”

Photo credit: Jen Groover

2. Jen Groover, a top media mogul and business expert is the author of What If? & Why Not?—a motivating book about transforming your fears into action and starting a business of your dreams.  Jen Groover’s name has quickly become synonymous with innovation, entrepreneurship and evolution. She has gone from guest-hosting spots on TV to inking deals with some of the industry’s biggest heavyweights and most recently making history with the honor of ringing the bell on the NYSE with the first group of all women to ring the bell, representing women’s leadership and economic independence. Her success skyrocketed with the creation of the Butler Bag, the world’s first compartmentalized handbag, and hasn’t stopped since. As a TV personality, highly-sought after speaker, author, designer, inventor and more, Jen is more than a triple threat, and undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with.

Photo credit: Bryan Thatcher

3. Andrea Syrtash is a dating & relationship expert, on-air personality and author. She’s contributed to over a dozen relationship advice books and is the author of He’s Just Not Your Type (And That’s a Good Thing) and Cheat On Your Husband (With Your Husband) Her next book will be published in the spring of 2013. Andrea frequently appears as a guest expert on TV shows including The Today Show, CBS This Morning and VH1; and has contributed to numerous popular sites including MSN, Yahoo and OPRAH.com.

Photo credit: Allison Winn Scotch

4. Allison Winn Scotch is the New York Times bestselling author of four novels, including the just-released The Song Remains the Same and Time of My Life. When not working on fiction, she writes celebrity profiles for a variety of magazines, including American Way. She lives in New York with her family and their dog.

Photo credit: Michael Hardgrove

5. Kiri Blakeley is the author of Can’t Think Straight: A Memoir of Mixed-Up Love, which details the fallout after learning that her boyfriend of 10 years and fiancé was secretly gay. The book was featured on The Today Show, The Joy Behar Show, The Gayle King Show, The Father Albert Show, and ABC’s 20/20, as well as in Marie Claire, The New York Post, The New York Times, The Frisky, Women on the Fence, Grazia, The Irish Herald, and many other publications. She was a long time staff writer and blogger for Forbes, where she covered entertainment, celebrities, women’s issues, lifestyle, technology, wealthy people, and entrepreneurs. She graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is a long-time Brooklyn resident who enjoys working out, running in the park, and volunteering at a cat rescue group. Yes, she borders on being a crazy cat lady.

Photo credit: Ana Schechter

6. Melanie Notkin is America’s premier “Savvy Auntie” and the leading voice of the nearly 50 percent of American women who are childless.  She’s founder and CEO of the Webby Award nominee for Best Family Site, SavvyAuntie.com, and the national best-selling author of SAVVY AUNTIE: The Ultimate Guide for Cool Aunts, Great-Aunts, Godmothers and All Women Who Love Kids (Morrow). Melanie has accumulated a large and influential social media following and is ranked among the Top 100 Most Powerful Women on Twitter (Grader) and is a Top 10 Woman in Social Media (genConnect/YahooShine).

Photo credit: Dashama Konah Gordon

7. Dashama Konah Gordon is a health, fitness and yoga expert, the author of Journey to Joyful, Transform Your Life with Pranashama Yoga and Founder of Pranashama Yoga Institute, Yoga for Foster Children & Orphans and Perfect 10 Lifestyle. She has been featured on Oprah.com and consulted for Sony Motion Picture Studios and Waldorf Astoria Resorts.  An adventure lover, Dashama leads 7 to 30 day yoga training transformation retreats in exotic locations such as Bali, Costa Rica, Mexico, Ibiza, Isle of Man, UK and Miami Beach. Nominated “Sexiest Raw Woman” “Sexiest Raw Athlete” and “Power 30 Under 30″ Dashama was also awarded “Student of the Year” by the Pre-Medical Society for stumping her chemistry professors in college. Her travel, yoga and life transformation show is being syndicated for network television which will be filmed in Bali, Indonesia and other exotic locations globally.

Photo credit: Kimberly Johnson

8. Kimberley A. Johnson has always enjoyed asking questions and when she had the idea to find out how men and women lost their virginity, she realized that people were more than happy to share very personal information. Her first book, The Virgin Diaries, documents seventy-two accounts of virginity loss. She and her mother and writing partner, Ann Werner, started ARK Stories Publishing to showcase their Reality Books as well as Werner’s fiction novels. The duo’s second title, Ain’t No Sunshine: Men Reveal The Pain Of Heartbreak, is a collection of anonymous stories from men describing in detail how they deal with a broken heart. Current projects include collecting stories from both genders on body and self-image and articles from teens about sex and virginity. Kimberley recently started writing for the political website Addicting Info. For seven years she appeared on the NBC daytime drama, Days Of Our Lives, as a police officer but is now quite happy to give the spotlight to those contributing to her projects.

Photo credit: Deanna Miller

9. Jaclyn Nesheiwat Stapp  is model, philanthropist, and wife of Scott Stapp, lead singer, songwriter and voice of Creed.  She has written a children’s book titled Wacky Jacky: The True Story of an Unlikely Beauty Queen because she wanted to spread the message that ‘you don’t need a crown to sparkle.” Based on Jaclyn’s childhood experiences of being bullied, Wacky Jacky’s ultimate message is that it’s alright to be different. By imparting valuable character lessons in an engaging story, Wacky Jacky is a tool for parents and teachers to teach lessons in self-esteem and positive attitude, and illustrate social issues like bullying.  She’s a Stetson University grad, loving wife and mother of three has won many beauty titles, including Miss New York USA 2004, Mrs. Florida America 2008, Mrs. America First Runner Up 2008, and placed in the top six at Mrs. World 2011.

Photo credit: Isa Adney

10.  Isa Adney  is quite a rising star. The White House blog recently called her a “Community College Superstar.” Isa wrote the book Community College Success: How to Finish with Friends, Scholarships, Internships, and the Career of Your Dreams to share with other low-income and first generation college students how to make the vital connections with peers, professors, and professionals that helped her go from crying in the advising office at community college, wondering where her life was going to go, to winning the $110,000 Jack Kent Cooke scholarship and serving as the commencement speaker at her transfer university. Isa is the first in her family to receive a Bachelor’s Degree, and will receive her M.Ed from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign June 2012. Isa inspires students and staff around the country as a national college speaker, and also shares free content daily to help students succeed in college and beyond at communitycollegesuccess.com.  

Photo credit: Michael Lionstar

11. J. Courtney Sullivan is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels Commencement and Maine. Maine was named a Best Book of the Year by Time magazine, and a Washington Post Notable Book for 2011. Courtney’s writing has also appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Chicago Tribune, New York magazine, Elle, Glamour, Allure, Men’s Vogue, and The New York Observer, among others. She is a co-editor of Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Harry Fellows

Now that you’ve fed your soul, fill your belly with Ten Sizzling Hot Chefs. 

Janene Mascarella is a lifestyle writer whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, CNNMoney, American Way, Self, Glamour, Cooking Light, Women’s Health, Woman’s Day, Bella, Mint.com, Currency, Parenting, Parents, Family Circle, American Baby, AOL Travel, and iVillage. Follow her on Twitter: @MrsWrite