Sometimes this happens...

Being a writer is lonely, poorly-paid, frustrating, ego-crushing, time-consuming, unappreciated, overwhelming, OCD-inducing, enervating, daily-grinding, and sometimes-you-work-for-a-whole-year-on-a-book-and-it-doesn't-sell-and-you-think-"oh no I've wasted my life"-ing.

But then sometimes this happens. You meet a fellow children's book artist (in this case, the National Laureate of Adorableness, Salina Yoon) and you chat and you bond and then a few months later, she does this to the cover of your upcoming books (order it, people!).

And suddenly, it all seems worth it.