After spending over 20 years in architecture, I decided to take a sabbatical to explore my hobbies and passions. During this break, I discovered through a YouTube video that I could self-publish my own books. This led me to experiment with digital illustrations and create simple journals.
 

Around this time, an old friend asked for my help with cute illustrations for a music seminar she was organizing. Remembering how much I loved doodling, I took on the challenge, teaching myself digital art along the way. Completing this project was a huge boost to my confidence and sparked the idea of creating my own children’s book.

I thought back to one of my favorite storybooks from childhood, which started with “a house” and then revealed “a red house.” I loved how the story unfolded. Inspired by this memory, I decided to write a book introducing colors and shapes to little kids, starting with a red balloon.
 

Since my book is for toddlers, I wanted it to be simple and repetitive so they could easily understand the concepts. I focused on round objects in various colors, eventually featuring ten colors including black and white. I also thought it would be fun to have a boy character who asks questions and introduces the objects, and I added some rhymes to make it more enjoyable.

After completing the first draft of "Colors in Circles," I refined the story by grouping the round objects into two scenes, each with a rhyme that ties everything together. This approach made the book more cohesive and also gave kids a little break between scenes. Once I settled on this format, creating the second and third books became easier. In the second book, I added a girl character based on reader feedback to make the story more inclusive. For the third book, I gave the characters names to help kids connect with them better.
 

And that’s how my journey from architecture to becoming a children’s book author began—a journey filled with exploration, creativity, and a desire to bring joy and learning to young readers.