Jade Kim Monsen is a Korean American writer who lives in Utah.
Writing is not her full-time job, she actually works in financial technology as a product marketer.
So her writing takes place in her "free time" after work, taking care of her young son and being a wife.
Jade says, "This is the book I wish I could have read before I first became pregnant and had a child."
She says her views of motherhood had always been "rainbows and butterflies", and when she experienced it herself, she was shocked by what it was really like.
"Milk and Blood" is written in a non-traditional way, meaning each chapter is a little different.
Jade explains, " One chapter might be more like a personal essay or journal entry. Another chapter might be comical sleep training instructions. And another might be a list of questions to ask an OB at a six week postpartum appointment."
The book is based on a fictional character named Evelyn, but Jade says she did weave a lot of her heritage into the story.
"Evelyn, like me, is half Korean, and she really struggles with the fact of seeing her child be born even less Korean than she is— which is something I really struggled with. Though I'm Korean American, I don't speak Korean, and I've always felt kind of like I didn't belong because of that."
Jade is already working on her next project, a fantasy book that's based in the fictional world and centered around magical creatures.
"And because I can't stop, I've already started outlining a story for a kind of romance/ thriller that will be set in Utah," she says.
You can learn more at jadekimmonsen.com and follow her blog at jadekimwrites.substack.com.
