Meredith Maltby Jao

In one sentence: I like to write books for kids and read books by grown-ups.

I’ve always been your typical bookworm under the covers with a reading light, obsessed with words since I learned the ABCs, and today that looks like reviewing and recommending books on my social platform (@letsreadwithmere).

After studying literature and creative writing at Tulane, I was in the swing of writing fiction until I quit writing entirely from 2016 to 2022 as I began a career in advertising strategy. I started writing The Hesitant Hedgehog in February 2022 after the story, plot, and characters were all dropped into my brain in a single flash of insight at a McDonald’s (no kidding). Since then, I pivoted to not only writing again, but writing children’s books — and I don’t even have kids!

As an unconventional brand strategist-turned writer and overall messy human, I hope to write stories for those that don’t have clear pathways, feel different than others, and need the courage to continue going anyway. For fun, I love fitness and pilates classes, making elaborate espresso drinks at my “home cafe,” exploring New Orleans where I live, and being cozy.