Jill: The dream to write children’s books emerged about ten years ago, when I was in the thick of reading picture books to my then three-year-old daughter. The children’s books available for us were not the ones I grew up with, nor were they like the ones I read when I was a babysitter. There were so many beautiful stories out there. My children and I became totally immersed in picture books. Though Tickle Trouble is my first children’s book, I hope it’s not my last. I’ve harbored a dream to write books about my late husband’s early childhood. He was a very, very naughty little Nepali village boy, but he ended up channeling that energy into pretty amazing things.
Chase:Honestly my latest milestone is the project I’m doing with y'all at Ladderworks right now! Back in 2017, I graduated from The Fashion Institute of Technology Associates program at the top of my class, and I had the opportunity to make a speech. I have the worst sort of stage fright and almost didn’t do it, but I felt like I had to. Transmasculine people are particularly invisible, and I’ve wanted to amend that. Naturally, I came out to the audience and told them about how I am a 3rd generation FIT student (both my father and his mother got their professional education there). Jonathan Vatner, a campus journalist, thought my story would make for a nice article in Hue, the campus alumni magazine. I even did a one-page auto-biographical comic for that issue, it was an amazing experience. Anyway, a year later Jonathan recommended me for work, and now I’m here!
