PRIZES to win! PROMOTIONS
As a full-time dermatologist in New York City and mom of two young children, finding time to commit to the children's book series she's always dreamed of writing was difficult for Dr. Tamara Lazic Strugar. After being diagnosed with stage IV cancer in the spring of 2022, she took a break from clinical practice to dedicate herself to writing her new SKINVENTUREZ graphic novel series, using storytelling to teach kids about sun protection with the aim of decreasing rates of skin cancer and also educating about other polarizing skin ailments and conditions like warts. This fun and educational series will be Tamara's legacy to her profession as well as to her family.With her unique and playful graphic novels, Tamara's idea is to educate early on to inform families on the importance of lifelong skin care. Tamara's information and ideas for her books come from her professional expertise as a dermatologist and Yale-trained physician. But her most important contributors are her children, ages 9 and 11, who help Tamara ensure that the books are mostly fun, with the educational part in disguise.When she isn't writing engaging and informative books for children, and while still fighting stage IV cancer, Tamara enjoys spending time with her husband John and their children Mia and Luka, traveling the world every chance they get. They split their time between New York City and Connecticut along with their dogs, Tito and Ginger. It's Tamara's hope that her young readers learn valuable lifelong health lessons from her book that stay with them long after the book is closed. Lea Embeli is a painter, illustrator and concept artist. She graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade in the Department of Applied Painting, where she received her first Masters in Art degree.During her studies, she was awarded multiple scholarships such as the scholarship of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, as well as the Dositej scholarship from the Foundation for Young Talents. She was also a recipient of various awards for academic excellence, and in 2021 she received a research scholarship from the Japanese government to attend the University of Art in Tokyo, where she is currently working on her second Masters degree, this time in oil painting.Apart from painting, in 2016 she began to illustrate books for various European publishers and worked in animation and concept art.
