I’m very excited to share that I’ve sold my first picture book! Here’s the announcement:
With two young kids, my life has been ALL ABOUT picture books for going on nine years now, and I love them so much. The way the words and art work together to create a funny or whimsical or sweet story…the way my kids’ eyes light up when we read their favorites. While I mostly write YA novels, as you know, my heart has been pushing me to try this new (to me) and different form of storytelling. LOVE LIKE CHOCOLATE is particularly dear to me because it’s inspired by my kiddos, and also my grandmother and her family-famous chocolate sauce. When I was a kid, I did a lot of baking with my grandmother. And now as a mom, I do a lot of baking with my kids. I wanted to write a story about how baking together (and chocolate!) can be a love language. And I wanted to share a family like mine, with an adopted child learning about how love works in their new family. I can’t wait to share more as we get closer to release. And please go follow the artist, Alina Chau, on Instagram. Her art is GORGEOUS. I can’t wait to see how she brings the family — and all the delicious chocolate treats — in LOVE LIKE CHOCOLATE alive.