Summer’s here . . . wait! Summer’s nearly gone. And Introducing Anita Higman . . .

The Armonia team has been on summer vacation. Translation: The Armonia team has let time slip away doing all those summer chores, and we honestly didn’t realize we hadn’t posted anything here in weeks!

Oops. Sorry about that.

The good news is . . . no, the GREAT news is, we have a new author to introduce. Which is a misleading statement, because Anita Higman is anything but a new author. She’s an award-winning, bestselling author, and we’re proud to add her to our Armonia family. We know you’ll love her as much as we do.

To celebrate her upcoming ABC picture book release, I Love You Sour, I Love You Sweet, we asked Anita to share a little about herself:

Armonia Publishing (AP): How long have you been writing books?

Anita Higman (AH): I’ve been writing for about thirty years or more. I wish I could tell you that the success I’ve had came easily to me, but that is far from the truth. In fact, it’s been a long, stumbly-bumbly kind of ride. I’ve had some moments when I really didn’t know what I was doing or why I was doing it. Moments when I was frightened of failure and moments when rejection nearly swept me under. But I never gave up, and I’m glad I didn’t.

AP: How many books have you published?

AH: I’ve had forty books published now in a number of different genres, for both children and adults, and I’ve found the writing to be satisfying. In fact, sharing my stories with you, the reader, is one of my greatest joys.

AP: Tell us about your new book for Armonia.

AH: I am excited to announce my new ABC picture book, which will be released this year. This book, which is entitled, I Love You Sour I Love You Sweet, will have some really beautiful illustrations by the artist, Jeneal Rogers.

AP: Here’s a draft sample from Jeneal of one of the pages from the book. This is the “B” page . . . I love you like a big bear hug. Isn’t it beautiful? We think so . . . and this is just the draft! Man. What talent. 

AP: What gave you the idea for the book?

AH: I wrote the rough draft of I Love You Sour I Love You Sweet some fifteen to twenty years ago. During that time I would occasionally dig out this manuscript from my files and have some fun tweaking it. Mostly I did this while my kids were growing up.

My now grown-up kids still remember this book. Perhaps I even got their input on its creation. I remember that our family did love picture books. In fact, there were a handful of those books that became as dear to us as friends. I’m not totally sure why. Perhaps it was the whimsical and lyrical sound of the stories as they were being read out loud. Or the beauty and wonder of the illustrations. Or the memorable and quirky characters. Perhaps it was a magical mix of all of those things. But I do know that we were always left a little lighter in spirit each time we read them.

I sincerely hope I Love You Sour I Love You Sweet becomes a favorite in your family.

AP: Thanks, Anita! We feel certain it will become a favorite for many families for years to come.