Alice y ChenEver since Alice can remember, she has always been drawing. Whether it was enhancing coloring books or creating masterpieces on scratchboard, she has always gotten a feeling like no other after creating a piece of art. Alice was lucky enough to stumbe upon the profession of medical illustration while marching down the path toward a career in scientific research (which she wasn't very good at). She embraced this new path that blended science and art, and nearly twenty years later, has loved every moment of drawing hearts, brains, livers, cells, and other equally wonderful body parts (see www.aliceychen.com). However, there has always been something that has been a greater constant in her life: children's books. She began early on writing a book entirely in rhyme in her teenage years. But frankly, she stumbled on the illustrations. I couldn't seem to draw my character in any way but face-front, and I couldn't get down on paper their environment, even if it was all ice and snow. Many years intervened, and as she graduated from college her love of children's books was re-ignited with an exhibit about children's book illustration. There she met a ghost illustrator for the Mercer Mayer Little Monster book series (Ms. Fran Mitchell), who first introduced her to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), an organization that helped aspiring and established authors and illustrators to hone their craft and get their works submission-ready. Once again, life intervened, and many more years later, she found herself still with this kernel of an idea still buried in her mind. Finally, in 2012, she finished a book she began in 2005 (you guessed it, that book was Centipede Dragon!). In two months she cranked out 13+ versions, fine-tuning, drastically changing and fine tuning again, the plot of the book. From the words sprang urgent inspirations for the accompanying illustrations, so she furiously drew and drew in between editing cycles. In 2014, she took the bold step into the world of self-publishing. It's been an eye-opening experience, to say the least. Thus, when you purchase Centipede Dragon A Benevolent Creature, know that you are buying years of perseverance and heart. And stay tuned, because this is only the beginning to the adventures of Centipede Dragon (www.centipededragon.weebly.com) Read More Read Less