When I look back on my journey to publication, it seems like it took forever, because- well…it kind of did.

I’ve always wanted to write and illustrate books. In fact, I recently discovered an old elementary school journal that confirmed this. However, as it often does, life took me down some different paths and I ended up in a fine arts (painting) degree, and later, a certifcation in K-12 art education, beginning my professional career as an elementary school art teacher in 2013- a fun, happy, and exhausting job.

I often spent my 20 minute teacher lunches in my classroom (because let’s be honest- after a morning of teaching 3rd-5th graders, a girl needs some quiet!) It was then that I’d pore over kid-lit blogs like Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, listen to podcasts, and dream of the day I would publish a book. This was in the Time Before (kids) and I was blissfully unaware of how much free time I actually had. I used the time after school and on weekends to work on writing (bad) stories, and creating (bad) illustrations. It didn’t matter that these creations were not good, they were getting my “butt in chair” as writers say, propelling my dream into action. I sent a few of these projects to literary agents (the days when we sent queries in THE MAIL- can you even?) and got some swift, impersonal rejections. The rejections stung, but I had a deep knowing that this dream was meant for me, and so I kept going.

In the years that followed, I continued to take workshops through SCBWI, a membership I’d HIGHLY recommend to anyone who has interest in publishing a book. I traveled to the Highlights Foundation for valuable workshops and joined Julie Hedlund’s 12x12 membership as well as Arree Chung’s Storyteller Academy. I also read a TON of picture books, which I think is the greatest way to learn the craft. While teaching, I was able to earn my Master of Fine Arts in Illustration through Marywood University’s Get Your Masters With the Masters program, learning from Megan Halsey and Melanie Hall, two amazing children’s book illustrators and mentors. This program really helped me to gain confidence in myself and the portfolio of work that I produced while there.

Soon after grad school, I became a mom, and gave birth to two beautiful (and wild) children, exactly fourteen months apart. I know-whyyyyyy??? I decided to leave the classroom for awhile, so I could fully devote myself to mom life and creating an art business on the side. It was during this sleep-deprived and magical time, that I holed up at home with my kids and spent nap times and weekends working on writing, illustrating and querying agents. I also joined a few critique groups (which is an invaluable resource), and made some kid-lit besties in the process.

In December of 2020, RIGHT BEFORE THE WORLD SHUT DOWN AND THE WORLD DESCENDED INTO CHAOS AND PLAGUE, I signed with an illustration agency. I was super excited, and managed to get a few small projects from them, but after about a year, I decided I wanted to focus on writing my OWN books, and began to query literary agents. The following year, in December, I signed with my now agent, John Rudolph, at Dystel, Goderich and Bourret.

You might think that once an author has an agent, the book deals start rolling in. However, those of us in the kid-lit industry know that things move at a glacial pace. After I signed with John, we sent out a book dummy (mock-up) for a project called A FRIEND FOR MOON. This book was on submission (out to editors) for almost a year, and had a lot of nice feedback, but the overall sentiment was that it was “too quiet” for their lists. One snowy winter day, I was in the middle of pulling my toddlers (now 5 & 6) off of each other during an intense fort-building squabble, when I got a call from my agent. He said that an editor at Peter Pauper Press (the lovely Mara Conlon) passed on A FRIEND FOR MOON, but has made an offer on IF YOU ARE AN ARTIST, another project I had in my portfolio. After scaring my kids with a loud screech, and performing some excessive fist pumping, I accepted the offer, and the rest is history! Some of you might be surprised to know that after the initial book offer, it can take years until the book is actually released. My process took a year, and that is considered pretty quick in this industry! So, in summary, only dream to publish a book if you are capable of sloth-level patience. Luckily, they are my spirit animal.

In my next blog, I will do a deep dive into the process of making the book, so stay tuned! And if you’ve made it this far, you are amazing and thank you so much for being here and sharing in my creative journey! If you’d like to order my book and leave a review, I would be eternally grateful!