Love Violet

A Valentine’s Day Story

Happy Valentine’s Day! Yes, that is original art by Charlene Chua, Illustrator from Love, Violet! My heart has been breaking all week, but today, I want share a sweet story. A little friend of ours was born the same weekend as Love, Violet. In late 2023, she and her parent helped my spouse set up… Read more »

9 Picture Books in Mahmoud v. Taylor SCOTUS Case

On April 22, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear the case of Mahmoud v. Taylor, deciding whether Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland have the right to include 9 LGBTQ+ picture books in the classroom, including Love, Violet, without advance notice to parents and the option to remove their children from… Read more »

SCOTUS Takes Case Naming LOVE, VIOLET & 8 Other Books

Mahmoud v. Taylor decision response and links. Mahmoud v. Taylor links HERE. (Edited Feb. 4, 2025) On Jan. 17, 2025, we learned that SCOTUS will take up a court case that names 9 LGBTQIA+ picture books, including Love, Violet (Chua, FSG). Dana Rudolph provides thoughtful, thorough background on the case: Mombian: “Supreme Court to Hear… Read more »

“No More Ghosts” | Queer Childhood Out of the Closet

Flahsback!  Read the essay here: WNDB: “NO MORE GHOSTS! A (Queer) Picture Book Love Story” We Need Diverse Books, Nov. 16, 2021   When I wrote this essay to celebrate the launch of our picture book, Love, Violet (Chua, FSG, 2022), the book bans and anti-LGBTQIAP2+ laws had just begun to surge. Since then, this movement has… Read more »

“When Work Isn’t Enough” | Creating Humanely

Flashback! “Creating Love (When Work Isn’t Enough)” Cynsations, Feb. 2022   “And what is art for anyway? A place we gather         to share the journey,         our pounding hearts.”   C. S. Wild I remember struggling so hard with this essay–it was winter, my “bad” health season. I wrote it… Read more »