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Our Mentors

Kes Trester
Kes Trester is not mentoring this year, but has mentored Young Adult
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Kes Trester
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A native of Los Angeles, Kes Trester’s first job out of college was on a film set, though the movie’s title will remain nameless because it was a really bad film. Really.

As a feature film development executive, she worked on a variety of independent films, from gritty dramas (guns and hotties) to steamy vampire love stories (fangs and hotties) to teens-in-peril genre movies (blood and hotties).

Kes produced a couple of independent films, both award-winners on the festival circuit, before seguing into television commercials. As head of production for a Hollywood-based film company, she supervised the budgeting and production of nationally broadcast commercials (celebrities, aliens, talking animals!) and award-winning music videos for artists such as Radiohead, Coldplay, and OKGO (more celebrities, aliens, and talking animals!).

In an attempt to raise kids who could actually pick their mom out of a line up, Kes turned to writing fulltime. Her contemporary novels for young adults are cinematic, fast-paced, and above all, fun. Add an understanding husband and a pack of rescue dogs to the mix, and that’s also an apt description of life in the busy Trester household.

Favorite Books
  • ONE OF US IS LYING by Karen McManus
  • THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE by Katherine Arden
  • THE GILDED CAGE by Vic James
  • CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE by Tomi Adeyemi
  • DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by Deborah Harkness
Years Mentored
2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Latest Release