Meet our talented family of teachers—each an accomplished writer and trustworthy guide. Leaf through our faculty bios, profiles, book excerpts, and writing advice articles. You’ll like the people you meet.
James Preller

Faculty Profile

Meet James Preller

Gotham Children’s Book teacher James Preller candidly admits, “I wasn’t a reader as a kid.”

When he was young, his dream career was to play baseball for the New York Mets. He describes his childhood self as a doer, spending his time running around and playing sports.

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Philip Cioffari

Faculty Profile

Meet Philip Cioffari

Gotham teacher Philip Cioffari is prolific.

A writer with five published novels, a short story collection, and pieces included in publications such as Southern Humanities Review and Playboy, plus numerous scripts and an indie feature film, which won Best Feature Film at the Long Island International Film Expo.

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The teacher is a magician. Not only did my storytelling reach new heights and depths, the whole class exponentially raised their skills of storytelling.

Jean Grant, storyteller & meditation practitioner

Faculty Excerpts

The Islander

The Islander

David Berner
Excerpt from Chapter 1On the horizon, the sun now flickered over the land of silhouettes, sometimes hiding behind bruise-blue clouds, creating little sparks of light on the surface of the water. These were the glints of light that poets wrote...
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<em>Exit 13: The Whispering Pines</em>

Exit 13: The Whispering Pines

James Preller
What follows is a brief excerpt from James Preller’s new book, EXIT 13: THE WHISPERING PINES (Scholastic, February 2023, grades 4-6). The McGinn family, including siblings Willow and Ash, find themselves in a mysterious motel. They are caught in a...
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Faculty Articles

N. West Moss

The Perils of Settling Scores in Your Writing

N. West Moss
Readers can feel when they’re being manipulated, and they don’t like it. Make a character too pure, and watch readers revolt. An example of this is the death of Little Nell in Charles Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop. As Oscar...
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Social Media: Does it Really Sell Books

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Most writers I know have a love-hate relationship with social media. I know I do. I love seeing what friends are up to, but I’m often reluctant to do what it takes to post regularly.When my first book, Pen on...