Kimberly Lee (Picture Book)

Author: Kimberly Lee (@kimlsywrites)

Age Range: Picture Book

Agent: Emily Forney, Bookends Literary

The Query Letter:

Dear Emily,

Thank you very much for expressing interest in my manuscript on PitMad yesterday. I’m looking forward to sharing more with you about my 545 word #ownvoices picture book, BOYS DON’T FRY.

Jin was born to cook, but the road to the kitchen is paved with tired traditions and troublesome aunties! With the help of his grandmother, the formidable matriarch of the family, Jin learns to challenge gender and cultural norms and gain entry into the fascinating world of spices, secrets and Malaysian Nyonya cuisine. This is a story that will aim to warm your heart - and your stomach.

Good food is the backbone of any self-respecting Peranakan (Malaysian Straits-born Chinese) household. Traditionally, however, recipes are fiercely guarded by the women (Nyonya) in the family and are rarely passed down to their male relatives (Baba). Jin’s story is intended to upend this (in a similar vein to Jessica Love’s Julian is a Mermaid (2018)), whilst celebrating all the fun and flavors of cooking (as in Kat Zhang’s Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao (2019)).

Like Jin, I too come from a Peranakan background and would love the opportunity to introduce the richness of my culture to a broader audience. I am a lawyer by training, but a writer at heart. Since leaving legal practice in 2017 to spend more time with my two young sons, I’ve been engaged in freelance writing work for a variety of local Malaysian publications and international organisations based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. I currently serve as a contributing writer (and occasional IGTV host) for http://makchic.com, a Malaysian-based parenting website, and am co-authoring a picture book for their debut publication effort, which is intended for local release in 2021. I am also an active SCBWI member, an occasional wedding singer and a frequent baker/ overeater of my own baked goods.

I hope that this story resonates with you. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this query. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch. I look forward to hearing back from you!

Warm regards,

Kimberly Lee