Tag Archives: new book

A Maker of Dresses

4 Apr

A Beautiful Collaboration with Michael Sampson!

In 2023, I was in NYC with the publisher of Alithia Ramirez Was an Artist, Michael Sampson. (If you don’t know Michael, look him up, he is hugely impressive!) We were walking past chic boutiques in Manhattan when Michael told me about a fashion book idea about which he’d been ruminating for years. (We also brunched at Ellens Stardust Diner, seen below, which was SO FUN.)

Because he is a super thoughtful person and also a keen researcher, Michael knew some obscure facts about my history, including my former life as a theatrical costume designer.

In that moment, a collaboration was born.

Because Michael is not only talented and prolific but also gracious, he allowed me to take his idea and write it in verse. Creating the art for this dream assignment was, well, a dream! I am so grateful to Michael and to the amazing team at Brown Books Publishing, led by the brilliant publishing maven Milli Brown. Designer Danny did an incredible job. He is a magician of typography and, therefore, is my personal hero.

Book Tour

Michael and are presently touring to promote A MAKER OF DRESSES. We visited TLA (the Texas Library Association Convention) in Dallas yesterday, which was incredible, and will be making various stops across the US next week. Follow along on our social media, and if you’re in Atlanta, Miami, Austin, or Wake Forest, I hope you’ll stop by and say hello!

CLICK HERE to order your copy of A MAKER OF DRESSES today!

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Collab with Thomas Gabor, PhD

25 Mar

Gun Violence 101: A Graphic Guide to How Gun Safety Policies Save Lives

I am pleased to announce the release of Gun Violence 101: A Graphic Guide to How Gun Safety Policies Save Lives, written by Thomas Gabor, PHD, which I designed and illustrated.

The Origin Story

I listen to the news while I’m illustrating. Two years ago, in the Spring of 2023, I was heavily involved with Alithia Ramirez Was an Artist, my picture book biography of a victim of the Uvalde school shooting.

While listening to MSNBC, I heard Nicolle Wallace’s remarkable interview of co-authors Fred Guttenberg and Thomas Gabor. They were making the rounds to discuss their excellent book American Carnage: Shattering Myths About Gun Violence in America.

It was refreshing to hear clear, sober wisdom about gun violence in America. I was so inspired by the conversation, I created an anti-gun-violence social media campaign illustrating quotes by Guttenberg, Gabor, Wallace and others.

I read American Carnage and was immediately inspired. It occurred to me that all of the many shocking statistics could be shown in a visual way, similar to one of my all-time-favorite books, Steal Like an Artist.

I wrote to Fred and Tom and shared my vision for a book chock full of infograhics that would build on their masterwork, American Carnage.

Fred, whose beautiful daughter Jaime was a victim of the horrible Parkland shooting, replied that he was moving away from books; Tom Gabor, however, was interested in collaborating. Not only that, he had a similar idea. We got to work immediately.

Two years later, Gun Violence 101: A Graphic Guide to How Gun Safety Policies Save Lives is finally available from Mango Publishing. My sincere thanks to Fred Guttenberg, who wrote our foreword; to the entire team at Mango Publishing; and especially to my collaborator and friend Tom Gabor. Hopefully all of our efforts will make a difference.

Click here to order your copy from Barnes & Noble today, or support your local bookseller—if they don’t have it in stock, they can get it!

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