Ed Shankman¹s entire life has been one long creative project. He has been writing children¹s books since he himself was a child. He has been a performing lead guitar player and an impassioned, if imperfect, painter. He is currently making the rounds with his most cherished project, a novel called the Backstage Man that was written over a period of three decades.

Fittingly, perhaps, Ed has earned a living for most of his adult life as Creative Director at various advertising agencies, using his connection with the creative process to help others make the most of their own creative potential. Prior to entering the advertising industry, Ed spent 7 years as a welder, having mastered the trade while living on an Israeli kibbutz in the late 1970s.

Today, Ed lives in Verona, NJ, with his wife Miriam, who is the love of his life, and their two cats.

Dave O'Neill is an illustrator, graphic designer and all around swell chap. He began drawing when he was a child and is thankful that he never stopped. With his brain firmly anchored in cartoons, video games and pop culture, he moonlights as a comedian with Out of Order, a NJ-based improv comedy troupe. Dave updates a blog featuring his illustrations when he's not designing t-shirts for his online shirt shop, Swell-bot Industries. He is currently working on an online comic strip, to be launched later this year.

Throughout the years, Dave has worked with several agencies, the first of which is where he met Ed Shankman. Though he has applied his creative strengths to advertising and marketing alike, he admits that drawing children's books is the most rewarding.

Dave resides in Montclair, NJ with Melinda, the super-cool girl he married. They are the proud owners of a keyboard she won on Double Dare.