Frequently Asked Questions

What's your favorite Hmong food?

I love egg rolls, just like Astrid! If you'd like to learn Astrid's mom's recipe, I made a video demonstrating how to amazing make egg rolls for St. Paul Public Library's Read Brave program. Watch it here!

What's your favorite animal?

Puppies are my favorite animal! In fact, Astrid and Apollo's pet puppy Luna Gao Hlee is based on my sweet real-life Morkie named Akamaru. 

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What inspired you to write Astrid and Apollo?

When I was a little girl, I loved books so much that I spent almost all of my free time reading. But I rarely saw Asian children in the books I read. I never saw any Hmong children in any books. I never saw myself represented. I dreamed of writing my own books someday and I knew I would write stories with Hmong characters so that Hmong children could see themselves represented. Representation is important to me but more important is authentic and updated representation. I wrote ASTRID AND APOLLO because I want Hmong people to be represented positively and accurately in books. I hope Hmong readers will see themselves and their families reflected in ASTRID AND APOLLO, and I hope readers of any background will enjoy these stories.

Can you read my work and help me get published?

I'm sorry, I'm not in the position to do that due to time constraints from writing, work, family, and other obligations. The great thing is there are a ton of excellent resources online for those who want to write for children. Here are just a few you can check out: Kid Lit, Storyteller Academy, Children's Book Academy, Kidlit411. Good luck!