fuonlyknew

MY REVIEW

Rae is many things on different days of the week. Today she’s a chef and she’s going to make the best sandwich. She gathers the ingredients and begins. She starts with the bread. Next is… What’s this? She only looked away for a moment but the ingredients keep disappearing.

How To Make A Sandwich is so fun. Rae is a sweet young girl. And the illustrations are as entertaining as the story. I read this and immediately read it again, wanting to see how the pictures connect with the content on each page. Whether reading this to your young one or reading it together, I see parents and children delighting in it as much as I did.

5 STARS

**Where do you get inspiration for your stories?**

My stories are based on real-life events with my first dog, Phebe. She was incredibly smart and mischievous, making me laugh every day. I take something she did, like the time she stole the turkey from my sandwich without disturbing anything else, exactly as it happened, and then layer on other humorous elements. I adapt these stories to fit my character Rae’s world and how she would react to these events.

**What advice would you give budding writers?**

Persevere! Do it because you love it, and no matter how many times you get knocked down—and there will be many times—you have to get back up, dust yourself off, and keep going. I wrote and rewrote my story so many times that I lost count of the versions. There were numerous moments when I wondered, “Why don’t I just give up?” but I never had an answer that convinced me to stop. I had to keep going until I made it a reality.

**If you could put yourself as a character in your book, who would you be?**

I’m Rae. While she’s smarter, more outgoing, and likely more precocious than I ever was, her relationship with her dog mirrors my relationship with Phebe. Rae is a little piece of me—a better version, perhaps—but still, I know I’m in there. How could I not be?

**Any hobbies? Or name a quirky thing you like to do.**

I have too many hobbies! I love gardening, drawing, painting furniture, creating wall murals, and interior decorating—the list goes on. One of my quirkier passions is competing in dog agility with my Australian Shepherds. It’s a time-consuming sport, but it helps build a strong bond. With Australian Shepherds, it’s fantastic because they need a job to engage their minds, and they absolutely love it.

**Favorite travel spot?**

Italy. My mother’s family still lives there, and I love being in Italy. It soothes my soul and is incredibly beautiful. When I’m there, I feel a sense of spaciousness inside myself that I don’t experience anywhere else.