First, big news! I’ll be appearing on the Weekend Today in NYC Show on Sunday, October 18th at 7:45 AM… save the date! And don’t forget to write down my book signing dates: NYC (Oct 11), Philly (Oct 17), DC (Oct 24). Full info here.

The more we change, the more we stay the same… As a child, I loved Hello Kitty and spent hours drawing Japanese-style characters of my own imagination. Today, I do pretty much the same thing for a living: Perigee has just released Cute Yummy Time, my book about making adorable food that features my Scottish Fold cat, Basil Farrow. (This entry is also posted on the Penguin blog.)

I created an adventure story to accompany the 70 recipes, and illustrated every page with cutie characters. Where did I draw inspiration? From my childhood doodles of puppies and chicks.

The round, simple shapes and Japanese sensibility mirror my childhood creativity.

When I was about ten, I sketched several comics where birds fell asleep while drifting in a river… and fell over a raging waterfall. The exact same incident happens to La Carmina and Basil Farrow. And the waterfall is even called Death Falls!

Oliver the Owl was one of my favorite comic creations. I resuscitated him for Cute Yummy Time, and even paid tribute to his drifting log.

My cookbook Cute Yummy Time is in all major bookstores now, and can be ordered online. Book signing dates for NYC, Philly and DC are here — stay tuned to my daily Japanese cute-meets-morbid blog for the latest La Carmina news.

PS: I have a new weekly column called Trendcatcher on CNNGo. This week: dreamy boys Japanese vampire dramas. Blame Twilight.