The Picture Book Buzz - Interview with Nazanin Ford

2 minutes ago
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Nazanin Agange Ford was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to the United States with her family in first grade. She lives in Nevada with her husband, two daughters, and adorable Aussie Labradoodle.

She holds a master's degree in fiction, teaches writing, plays tennis, enjoys traveling, and volunteers for youth writing workshops and her school library (aka, her happy place). Her perfect day would include all of the above, plus a picnic and a shady tree to read under. She writes for children who see the world with their eyes and their hearts.

Naz is an American Library Association (ALA) Member and also active in several writing societies, including the 12x12 Challenge, Inked Voices, and SCBWI. She writes everything from poetry and picture books to novels and nonfiction, often exploring her Persian culture and always leaning into imagination and curiosity.

Her debut picture book, My America Blooms, releases June 30^th.

Welcome Naz,

Tell us a little about yourself. (Where/when do you write or illustrate? How long have you been writing and illustrating?)

It feels like I’ve always been writing stories! Before I could write, I was playing pretend with elaborate storylines that carried me through multiple days. I also remember writing several terrible plays for my cousins to perform at family gatherings. By middle school, I knew I wanted to be a writer, but it took me an absurdly long time to realize that I could be a kidlit author.

I used to write only when inspiration hit. Now, I write/revise/brainstorm on stories almost every day. I wish I could say I am a regular fill-in-the-time-of-day writer, but the truth is it’s always changing. A lot of the time, I get my writing in early or late when everyone else is in bed.

It is so wonderful to "meet" you and have this chance to talk with you. What is one of the most fun or unusual places where you’ve written a manuscript?

I have quite a few post-it note stories from ideas that came to me in ordinary life places, like parking lots and grocery stores. Those probably don’t sound like much fun, but anytime I have an idea that I want to write that badly is fun!

The place I’ve written that most people would call fun though is Disneyland. Inspiration hit while waiting in line!

That's definitely a fun place to start a draft! What was your inspiration or spark of interest for My America Blooms?

Book cover - a girl tossing blossom petals into the air, standing before a background curved image of the U.S. flag

My America Blooms actually started out as a poem intended for just me. I first started thinking about it as a picture book that focused on several children and their families’ immigration stories. That story wasn’t working because it sounded like a report.

Once I embraced my own emotional journey immigrating to America for the character, My America Blooms took shape. The concept of the garden came when I was brainstorming all the things my character had to leave behind. I realized the land was something she couldn’t take with her and I loved the idea of a garden standing in for all the things that she loses and gains.

The inclusion of your emotions surrounding your own journey made the poetic text so poignant What is the hardest or most challenging thing about writing My America Blooms? And what was the most fun?

The most challenging part of writing My America Blooms was letting myself get more personal with the story. There were powerful memories and emotions—not all bad, but all strong—that I had carefully contained for years. And being a private person, I wasn’t sure I was ready to share all those feelings. Ultimately, it was the best thing for the story, and also for me.

The most fun thing about writing My America Blooms was playing with the metaphor of the garden and finding ways to enhance the story by planting those references. (See what I did there? Sorry, I can’t help myself.)

I loved the ways you wove planting and rooting through the story, and especially at the end. How many revisions did My America Blooms take from first draft to publication?

From first draft to publication, there were several thousand drafts.

Just kidding.

Sorta.

There were several dozen, though, ranging from a few lines shifting to whole concepts in the story being redone. By the time the manuscript was under contract, it was really close to what you see published. Naomi Kreuger, my editor at Beaming Books, put a lot of trust in my creativity and we made only a few changes to the text. We also changed the title from My America to My America Blooms after playing with several ideas.

Did anything surprise or amaze you when you first saw Fateme Mokhle’s illustrations? What is your favorite spread?

Honestly, Fateme’s art brings out the heart of the story. It’s all amazing and they are all kind of my favorites.😊

Internal spread - as a taxi zooms across the spread with girl and her mother in the back seat, as pink petals stream behind the taxi.

Text © Nazanin Ford, 2026. Image © Fateme Mokhle, 2026.

That said, the taxi scene where the family is going to the airport is the first art I saw for the book. The moment I saw it will forever be a highlight for me. Fateme had captured everything I hoped the words would convey in an image that I had never pictured myself. I did not realize the art would affect me that much. It was a magical feeling.

I love the focus on the flower petals and the taxi as the rest of the cityscape blurs past. Was there anything you discovered during your research that you wished you could have included in the text or back matter?

Because the story is fiction inspired by my own family’s journey, I did not research too much. I did spend a lot of time writing and revising the “Author’s Note” because I wanted to share what the story meant to me in a way that would connect with readers.

Your honest and touching author's note not only did that but increased the power of the story. What's something you want your readers to know or learn about My America Blooms?

I’d want readers to know that a lot of wonderful people aside from me are the reason that My America Blooms is a book.

Obviously, this book would not exist without Fateme Mokhles’ talents. In addition to her, Naomi Kreuger and the whole Beaming Books team were amazing and passionate about this book. Also, my agent, Christie Megill, and Fateme’s agent, Christy Ewers, plus the team at The CAT Agency all championed this project. Even before that, I had wonderful critique partners and mentors who encouraged and shaped this story. Every one of them contributed something irreplaceable toward the making of this book!

It’s not something that readers always know when they see a book, but every book exists thanks to a lot of people’s time and passion.

Well put and a wonderful tribute to the time and passion that everyone poured into this book. Are there any new projects you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us?

As a picture book writer, I always have several projects I’m working on. Currently, Christie Megill and I have a couple of fun pb manuscripts on submission. I’m also working on other picture books, a couple of chapter books, and a novel, too.

But a project I’m really excited about right now is one that I’m collaborating with another Iranian artist on. The manuscript is a pb bio about Fahimeh Akhbar, an amazing Iranian woman who you’ve never heard of! Fahimeh had a beautiful singing voice and an even more beautiful vision to preserve and celebrate Rashti culture. Her life is fascinating and inspiring and I hope we can bring it into the public view in the near future.

These sound intriguing, we'll have to keep our eyes open for them. Last question, what is your favorite National Park or Forest, regional park, or city park (anywhere in the world)? Or the one you’re longing to visit. Why?

Photo of Red Rock National Park, Nevada ©blm.gov

I’m a little biased towards parks in general, so this is a tough question for me. However, I’m going to say Red Rock National Park near Las Vegas. It’s a beautiful desert landscape and I love that I can see it on a daily basis. My family loves hiking there, so it holds a lot of fun memories!

Thank you, Nazanin, for sharing with us a bit about yourself and your new picture book biography.

Thank you so much for these wonderful questions and for allowing me to share more about myself and My America Blooms with your readers.