Today, a new author is born–J.M. Vanek. That’s me!

Actually, I’ve been around for awhile, but as Jan Morrill, author of The Red Kimono and a few other books. But I’m preparing to start a new path–writing books for children, middle grade and young adult.

My middle grade book, Mo’s Shadow, will be released by Birdsong Publishing, June 2017. This is a story very close to my heart. It’s about a young girl named Mo, who befriends an alcoholic neighbor after her own parents divorce because her father drinks too much. It’s based on my own experiences of finding my way to love, from loss and back to love again.

My picture book, Magical Red Kimono, will be released by 4RV Publishing, Fall 2017. This book, too, is close to my heart–well, aren’t they all? 🙂

It is based on the characters, Sachi and Jubie from my historical fiction, The Red Kimono. (University of Arkansas Press, 2013–written under pseudonym, Jan Morrill.) It’s about a hot, lazy afternoon, when Sachi comes up with the fun idea to teach Jubie how to dance in a kimono. If you’ve read The Red Kimono, you already know it doesn’t go as smoothly as planned.

So, as I re-create myself (at least on social media), building new audiences on Facebook, Twitter, blogs (have I left anything out??) I hope you’ll come along with me.

Not to be too demanding, but stay with me on my Jan Morrill path, too, because I promise, I WILL finish the sequel to The Red Kimono . . . someday.