About Me

Hello, my fellow book lover! 

Since I am publishing this on the first official day of fall (forget the calendar, it's PSL day at Starbucks), I sure hope you're checking out my new site with a tasty treat in hand! 

I've been thinking about taking this plunge for a while, but I haven't because I know it'll take time away from writing. Sometimes, that gut feeling gets loud enough to push aside the arguments and do it anyway. 

And that gut feeling has been loud. 

I'm a very creative person by nature, and if you're not new to me, you've seen this. I'm neurospicy; I love to chase ideas (and dopamine), and I've done a lot of things. I've owned a photography business. I took classes during COVID (and never finished the course) on food photography. When I had to stop taking clients, I learned about product photography. 

I started publishing in 2021, and it's been a really interesting journey of learning about myself. In fact, the Instagram attached to this name began in October 2020 as a way to share books I loved, along with pretty pictures and tasty treats, with other people who loved the same things. 

Now I'm coming full circle with a whole lot more knowledge (and experience) under my belt, and I want to share art made by human hands. AI is becoming harder and harder to avoid — it was already present in Photoshop back in 2018-2019 (not at the level it is now), when I ran my photography business. There are literal AI creators, AI stock photos all over Etsy (literally guys, it's everywhere over there), and images are popping up on stock sites we all used to trust... and it's getting really frustrating. 

Well, that's where I'm coming in.

I'm always snapping photos--collecting them, if you will--since at least 2020. Probably before then. I'm a sucker for a good "postcard" looking image! I also have a ton of travel images (before kids) that I can scan and turn into digital images... if I'm feeling adventurous enough. I've made book covers (all of mine and several others) and know my way around graphics. 

I know how hard it is to write the book and then turn around and try to create pretty images (even if it's a "simple" graphic on Canva), especially if you don't have an eye for it. (And that's fine! You wrote a book. You shouldn't need to have an eye for graphics, too.)

I know how hard it is to pay for marketing anything in this economy, especially when you're just starting out. (Believe me, I know.)

I know how easy it is to get stuck--because you don't think your house is aesthetic enough, or your pictures don't look like you want, or graphics melt your brain... Or maybe you're just tired from life and writing that freaking book! 

I GET IT! That's why I'm doing this. 

So I want to take all the knowledge I've amassed over the years and help. 

I want to give you templates with zero generative AI used in the process (sometimes background remover is necessary, guys). I want to hand you stock images, B-roll, and videos you can use to market, and you'll know without a doubt that a human made them. 

I want to offer blog posts on how to do things that make your life easier, not more difficult. 

Welcome to my passion project: The Bookish Baking Blonde. 

I hope everything you find here helps. 

Behind-the-scenes photo below for tax: my sweet pumpkin spice kitty likes to oversee the process. (His name is Branch, like the troll. "Ahhh, the Bergens are coming!")