about

I'm a Mexican-Japanese author and illustrator, currently based in Denver, CO.

I create magical tales into which we can escape. Let's find places where we belong and celebrate the differences that make us who we are.

Baby Saki, plein air painting.

Being born in Japan to a Mexican mother and Japanese father might explain my fascination with multi-cultural identities and transitional experiences. I grew up moving around the globe, becoming “the new kid” every few years. Looking and sounding different was my normal. Sometimes this was fun… a lot of times it wasn’t.

I begrudgingly became a grown-up, but have held onto my idealistic heart. I still think our imagination can make anything possible and believe in the healing, transformative power of storytelling. I use them to tell tales that make outsiders feel good about being themselves and to unlock worlds for dreamers who want to belong. My hope is to create books that make future grown-ups question “why not” and “what if?” by celebrating the big and small wonders of our universe, and reveling in all kinds of gray areas where seeming opposites embrace. 

I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of bringing these stories to the world with Clear Fork Press, Scholastic, and Macmillan.




Heart compasses that guide my creative process:

Finding and connecting with kindred spirits is THE BEST. The fact that you're here tells me you could be one?! I'd love for us to find each other. Please give me a holler if you ever want to geek out with me about any of the above.

Feeling things

I’m inspired by beautiful books that make me cackle, cry, and feel all the complex feels in between. When I’m not reading, I’m usually being moved to tears by our cosmos, and amazing humans. I'm easily amused and really good at laughing, which makes for an endorphin-rich life. 

Curiosities

Obsessions that make me dive down a rabbit hole often become ingredients for what I create. My list includes: surrealist art, cross-cultural folk and fairy tales, synthy indie pop, cabins and A-frames, astronomy and astrology, clouds and northern lights, thrifting, hot springs, Ghibli and Pixar movies, and early 90's manga /anime /RPGs. 


Gray areas and liminal spaces

I relish anything that thrives outside of the binarchy and refuses to succumb to dualistic "norms." This spans everything from androgyny and multi-ethnic identities to lucid dreaming and Bánh Mìs. This predilection is encapsulated in one of my favorite quotes by Niels Bohr that says, "the opposite of a great truth is another truth.”