Welcome!

Welcome! You’ve found THE Cindy Kessler. Writer. Artist. Teacher.

Whether on stage or behind the camera, building sets or teaching in a classroom, Cindy is always working for the young and young at heart!

“I’m a neurodiverse author, playwright, and teaching artist. I’m a recovering children’s librarian, but for the past decade I’ve been working in all facets of youth theatre. I’m also a scenic designer, a Barbershop Bass, a classically-trained Opera Singer, and have had the rare honor of performing at Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center (and not just on the visitor’s tour!) I have three kids (the middle one has fur) and an amazing partner in crime. I’m a member of SCBWI, 12 x 12 (x4), Writing Barn’s Courage to Create program, and recently finished the Highlights Crash Course to Children’s Publishing.”

• Voice
  I’m deep in the editing stage on a PB manuscript that I started writing in 2021. This particular manuscript has been tricky for quite a few reasons. First and foremost, it’s about a character who cannot use their voice to communicate. This person is, for an unspecified reason, non-verbal. Communicating this character’s need to express… Continue reading Voice
• #ArtEverywhere – Mistakes…
  It’s become a joke in our family when birthdays roll around for at least one of my kids and/or my partner to risk life and limb by asking when I’m going to make the cake… and then ask when I’m going to re-make the cake. So when I woke up to this lovely gash this… Continue reading #ArtEverywhere – Mistakes…
• #BehindtheScenes – Author Visit Booksales
  In #BehindtheScenes posts, I share tips and tricks I’ve learned (or am learning) about writing and publishing. One of the most amazing parts of my life is sharing stories with kids. Sometimes I’m reading, sometimes I’m facilitating their reading, and sometimes they’re on stage, and I’m waving my arms frantically teaching them how to tell… Continue reading #BehindtheScenes – Author Visit Booksales
• #BehindtheScenes – Mockups
  In #BehindtheScenes posts, I share tips and tricks I’ve learned (or am learning) about writing and publishing. Y’all. This kind of blew my mind. First, I’m old. Like, not “I’ve lived a lot of years” old, but more “I’m a geezer in the body of a not-so-ancient human.” Most of the time, I’m good with… Continue reading #BehindtheScenes – Mockups
• #LiteraryLife – Six the Musical
  I have a rule. I never to listen to musicals before I see them. NEV. ER. Well, ok, almost never. I cheated a little for Hamilton. I watched the first “Cabinet Meeting” on the news one morning. (And then about 20 times later that day.) The night before I was “In the Room Where it… Continue reading #LiteraryLife – Six the Musical