Our Story

Trisha & Door started when our daughter was about two years old. I would make up short stories at bedtime to help her wind down, something my dad used to do with me when I was a kid. As she got older, she started chiming in, changing characters and deciding what should happen next. The stories were for her anyway, so I just started following her lead.

Trisha came first, and eventually she added Door. For months, I thought Door was a person. In my head he was this kind of dopey businessman with dark hair and a tie who always ended up in some weird predicament. One night I decided I wanted to know what these characters actually looked like. She described Trisha, but when I asked about Door, she just pointed at her bedroom door. I kept asking about his hair, his eyes, anything—and she kept pointing at the door. Finally I asked, “Wait, is Door a door?” She got a huge smile and said yes. Apparently she had known that all along. I kept the tie.

For a long time these were just our stories. My wife eventually convinced me to start recording them, and on February 3, 2026, we recorded Crunchy the Unicorn. There was no plan to publish anything. We just kept telling stories.

Eventually I printed a few so our daughter could have the books. They weren't very good. The artwork was inconsistent, there were mistakes everywhere, and I had no idea what I was doing. But she kept reading them. That was enough to send me down the rabbit hole of figuring out how to make them better. Meanwhile, story time continued and our little collection kept growing.

Somewhere along the way we found our formula. Every story starts in a familiar way that lets her know it's time to settle in, but after that we really don't know where we're going. I steer the boat, our daughter fills in the details, and we see where we land. That's still how we do it today.

When I go back and read these books, I remember what was happening in our lives when we wrote them. Something from school, a silly moment together, or something that could only have come from her imagination.

Some families take photos to remember. We write books.

And we're lucky enough to share some of ours with everyone else.