Wow, it’s been thirty years since my first children’s book contract. So… what have I learned in thirty years?

I’ve learned that people often don’t respect or understand just how long it can take to accomplish a task that might appear, to the one not doing it, to be easy. I think everyone has experienced the boss, friend, or family member who has no clue what it takes to do a job, but feels justified to ask, “Are you done yet?” and scoff if you are still at it after what they conceive to be a reasonable amount of time to be done already. I hear you.

As a children’s book writer and illustrator, the belief that this is easy, fast work has always been an unjustified assumption about our business. I used to tell a friend what I was working on, but I stopped telling her because she would…