Ari Halper

Ari is a writer by trade, coming from the advertising world. His work is some of the most famous and awarded in the industry. Highlights include fathering the E*TRADE Baby, creating a short film with Ron Howard called “When You Find Me,” that shortlisted at the Oscars, and winning an Emmy for his work on Canon.

His first book "Feliz Navidog" was co-authored by his 8 year old daughter Reya who came up with the concept of the main character. A lot of fun, love, and laughter went into the creation of this story, and it greatly strengthened their bond.

But this is way more than just a nice backstory. The experience of publishing their first book is a lot like the story itself, filled with unlikely heroes and perseverance, on many levels. After all, learning to self-publish is challenging enough, but throw in being laid off amidst the pandemic, overcoming quarantines, a scoliosis diagnosis, an 11th hour rewrite and a journey from New York to Mumbai and back again (virtually) and you've almost got your next book right there!

Hopefully, our journey to become published authors will serve as an inspiring reminder, that if you put your heart and mind into anything, that everything is possible.

Ari & Reya both live in Westport, Connecticut with their black golden doodle, Shadow. The inspiration that started it all.