I’m a —takes a big breath— Vietnamese-Dutch children’s author/illustrator born in Japan, currently stationed in Milan.

‘How many lives have you lived?’

This question comes up every now and then, whenever I tell my friends about that-time-I-lived-somewhere-and-did-something–no-one-saw-coming.

‘Maybe I’m secretly a cat with 9 lives,’ I tell them. ‘Maybe I’m a butterfly that remembers what it was like to be a caterpillar’.

I smirk. They groan.

It’s not entirely make-believe, though. Nothing makes me happier than going on adventures. Micro, macro. Literal, figural.

After all, they are what triggered my metamorphosis.

Having grown up in an unsafe home, empowering readers (no matter young or old) to take up space is at the heart of every story I tell. It is the north star that tugged me through intensive Montessori trainings and human rights projects. I will keep writing stories that offer shelter and nurture a safer world for all, until my very last breath.

If I am not wrting, drawing, or over-analyzing story structure; you might find me hunting for the best pastry shops, or trying to kick my own forehead in martial arts sessions.

---