THE SHORT & SERIOUS VERSION
MeiLin Chan is a children's book author who crafts stories that range from humorous and silly to poetic and inspirational. Find out more at www.meilinchan.com.
THE LONGER & STILL SERIOUS VERSION
MeiLin learned English when she moved to California from Hong Kong in 7th grade by reading middle grade novels with a dictionary. She couldn't stop reading since.
Reading led to writing. Writing changed her life when her essays led to scholarships to attend the University of California at Berkeley where she studied Business and Psychology.
With no idea what to do next, she tried out different careers. She installed text-messaging software for Caribbean wireless carriers, battled with statistics software and Excel in educational technologies research at MIT, hunted retail and office spaces for companies to expand in Boston, created and marketed novelty soaps from her soap-making studio, and translated technical information into marketing collateral for software companies.
The one thing that had stayed constant is her love for reading along with the drive to be creative. She is thankful for the caterpillar her daughter couldn’t keep that sparked the idea for the very first kidlit manuscript. When she is not brainstorming for surprising metaphors or ways to torture her characters, she’s likely making scary faces at almond-stealing squirrels by her almond trees or playing pretend with her daughters and husband in Northern California.
MeiLin is represented by Marisa Cleveland at The Seymour Agency.
THE CREATIVE VERSION
/May-lin/ * (noun)
Origin: Cantonese Chinese
1. A writer of board books, picture books, and novels for children with characters who share her life experiences and emotional truths and those with adventures she wishes she can have and difficult situations she is grateful to avoid in real life.
2. A reader who reads past her bedtime and easily swoons over beautiful language, unexpected endings, and clever plot twists.
3. An urban gardener who regularly runs a fertility clinic for plants to assure harvests and works toward self-sufficiency.
4. A friend to animals and insects except overweight squirrels that steal *all* of the almonds on her trees.
5. A mold and soap maker who creates molds to make soaps that look like food or objects you never thought could be soaps.
6. A wife to a husband with opposite tastes in music and food and a mommy to two spunky little girls who serve as chairwomen of her schedule as well as personal story consultants.
7. A name given by her grandfather that means beautiful lotus.