MY LIFE IN A LIST

I have…

  1. Jumped out of a plane at 5,000 feet in Arizona
  2. Gone hang gliding off a giant sand dune at Kitty Hawk
  3. Walked through the bush for five days in South Africa
  4. Given a black-backed jackal a drink of water in Namibia
  5. Relieved myself near a lioness in the Kalahari
  6. Sailed in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Pacific
  7. Snuggled with five mother cats and their 30 kittens in a hayloft
  8. Tried to fly a helicopter (It’s hard.)
  9. Snorkeled with sharks in Tahiti and at the Great Barrier Reef
  10. Eaten witchetty grubs in Australia

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BIO

Jilanne Hoffmann has been a zoo train engineer, a waitress, a “real” engineer, a fitness trainer, a tai chi instructor, a freelance writer for nonprofit organizations, and now enjoys writing stories for kids and adults. She has a BS in Engineering and an MFA in Creative Writing, has read at Listen to Your Mother – San Francisco, is an alumna of the Community of Writers and the Rutgers One-on-One Conference, and has attended Highlights Summer Camp with all the cool children’s authors. Jilanne received an Honorable Mention in Literary Death Match’s Flash Fiction Bookmark Competition (judged by Daniel Handler) and has been a finalist in Susanna Hill’s online short story competition, for a Valentiny and an honorable mention for a second Valentiny. She has presented at Kidquake, the elementary school program of Litquake, San Francisco’s premier literary festival. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, son, and dog named Wrigley—the reason the Cubs won the World Series in 2016.

Jilanne is represented by Lori Steel.

PAST WRITING

Jilanne was a freelance writer and editor, working with socially responsible organizations such as California Rural Legal Assistance, The California HealthCare Foundation, and Exponent Partners.  She enjoyed telling her clients’ stories and sharing their successes in the public forum. Her work has received an APEX Award for Excellence in Technical Communication.

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GROUPS

Jilanne is a member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators(SCBWI), 12×12 Picture Book Challenge, the Writing Barn’s Courage to Create community, and the Northern California Science Writers Association. She is a Local Area Coordinator in San Francisco for the SCBWI San Francisco South Bay Region and has been a CYBILS Award 2nd Round judge for picture and board books. She is also a founding member of the Dogpatch Writers Collective. Jilanne volunteers in the library at her son’s school and supports We Need Diverse Books.

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TRAVEL

Jilanne has been to every continent except the one where Emperor Penguins reign. She’s been as far north as the Lofoten Islands in Norway and as far south as Cape Agulhas, South Africa and Queenstown, New Zealand. She’s snorkeled above Giant Clams along the Great Barrier Reef, swum with sharks in Tahiti and with dolphins in the Indian Ocean, had her cooler stolen by a hyena in Botswana, hiked in the highlands of the Amazon while visiting Machu Picchu, and fallen down the Great Wall of China. So many crazy adventures, so many more to come!