My name is Dave.

I write stories and make pictures. Some of that work is for children. Some of it isn’t. I write and illustrate my own work, paying attention to how language and image carry meaning together.

I care about how language feels as much as what it says. My work tends to live in the space between fear and courage, and I write with the assumption that readers are capable of meeting a story without being guided every step of the way.

The Sarah the Magnificent books are illustrated tales written with that approach. They follow kids learning to face fear not by eliminating it, but by understanding it and standing steady inside it. While written for young readers, the books lean on poetic structure and visual storytelling to carry their emotional arc.

I’m also a poet. That work is written for adult audiences and takes on similar questions with a more direct, reflective voice. Across forms, I’m drawn to clarity over reassurance, honesty over spectacle, and stories that trust the reader to participate.

I live and work in Washington State.