Our team can adapt to predetermined timetables or create a detailed production schedule for an entire series of books — from concept statement to finished content. As always we're here to prepare
final books according to traditional pre-press specs or
emerging digital delivery platforms.
Project Director
Creative Director
Managing Editor
Photographer
Author, Photo Researcher, Editorial Assistant
Project Director
Mary has been the owner of The Creative Spark since 1994. Her primary focus is
on Project Management but also participates in concept development, graphic
design and marketing. When she is not hunting down just the right people for a
project or pouring over schedules and final page layouts, Mary enjoys
traveling, boating, reading and video production. Her dog, Mija, helps out
around the studio by barking at the UPS guy and encouraging Mary to take breaks
to walk around the neighborhood. Mary and Mija live in Bradenton, FL with her
husband, Andy, their kids, Alex and Ridge, and their cat, Chloe.
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Bachelor of Arts, Journalism & Marketing;
California State University at Long Beach
Associate of Arts, Business;
Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA
Other Experiences
Professor, California State University at Fullerton,
Magazine & Newsletter Design for PR Students 1997-1998
Production Manager, Seal Beach Journal Newspapers 1990-1993
Creative Director
Rob Court has over thirty years of experience in graphic design,
illustration, book design and marketing. While utilizing a wide range
of media, he enjoys the challenge of rendering creative solutions
that satisfy our clients' market strategies. Rob has written 29 books
about visual art and drawing for elemetary students. His website,
www.scribblesinstitute.com, offers young artists advice and techniques
for drawing. Rob enjoys riding his mountain bike, drawing, and filling
sketchbooks with new places and people visited.
Managing Editor
Nikki Bruno Clapper is a freelance book editor, writer, and former English
teacher with degrees in anthropology and education. As an editor, she
relentlessly perfects details while keeping the big picture in mind. She
strives to be an advocate of the reader while holding true to the author
’s style. Clapper lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband Joshua. She
enjoys hiking, yoga, choral singing, scuba diving, cooking, and traveling
worldwide.
Education
Ed.M., Teaching and Curriculum, Harvard Graduate School of Education 2003
A.B., Anthropology, Princeton University 1998
High honors, Phi Beta Kappa, 3.8 overall GPA, senior thesis on adult illiteracy
Certified Teacher of English, grades 5–12, State of Massachusetts (2003)
Photographer
David Budd has photographed more than 75 books for The Creative Spark. His
passion for photography was born with a gift from his father: a 1965 Nikon F
camera that had belonged to David's grandfather, an amateur photographer. After
living in northern Vermont and Steamboat Springs, Colorado, he went on to
graduate from the Brooks Institute of Photography (Santa Barbara, California)
in 1995. Looking to return to the mountains, he moved to Denver to pursue a
career in photography. He has shot for numerous businesses, in Colorado and
around the nation.
David lives on a quiet street in Denver with his wife Elizabeth (an author and
editor), their dog Sebastian (a Rottweiller), and their cat Simon (a British
Shorthair). When not taking pictures, he can be found on his road bike, on his
single speed mountain bike, or, if it's winter, on a pair of telemark skis.
More of David's photography can be viewed at
http://homepage.mac.com/dbuddphoto.
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Commercial Photography;
The Brooks Institute of Photography, Santa Barbara, California
Associate of Applied Science, Marketing;
Colorado Mountain College, Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Author, Photo Researcher, Editorial Assistant
Having retired from being a Family Life and Life Skills Educator and
Psychometrician, Sandra does freelance proofreading, copyediting, and photo
research. She has also authored six books for The
Creative Spark. Inspired by her family of "characters," Sandra has written
several children's stories, prose, short stories, and bios for others. Her free
time is spent as a "Reading Buddy" to second graders, traveling, and in her
gardens at Honeycomb Cottage. Sandra lives with her husband, Bud and Barklee,
their Chesapeake Bay Retriever, and Emmy, her Scottish Terrier. They are all
likely candidates for more stories.
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Education
Bachelor of Arts and partial Masters in Psychology;
Minor studies in English Literature with an emphasis
on Children's Literature and writing—
on Children's Literature and writing—
Mansfield University, Mansfield, Pennsylvania
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