Get to Know Yashika
Yashika Mody is a recovering management consultant who spent the last 13 years crafting corporate pitch decks (aka storytelling for suits!), and now dreams of bringing a different style of storytelling to the more fun (and dare she say – important!) audience of children.
She values the learnings and experiences from her global upbringing: she was born in India, raised in Singapore, and studied at an American high school and later at a US university. She currently lives in sunny Singapore with her husband, their playful Westie puppy (who is a doppelganger of Snowy from Tintin!), and their 2 ever-hilarious and ever-sweet sons.
Her international background as a Third Culture Kid (TCK) growing up in the intersection of East and West influences her writing as she looks to portray stories with a cross-cultural perspective. Her writing is also inspired by the antics of her son, who fills her world with equal parts humor and wonder!
In between Mom-ing and writing children’s books, she loves listening to live music and traveling (Morocco and Russia have been two of her favorite adventures so far). She is also a passionate supporter of the arts and theatre scene, and has been a long-standing Patron sponsor of the Singapore Repertory Theatre.
She loves connecting with authors and folks involved in the children’s book publishing space, and would love to grab a coffee (in person or virtual!) to chat.
Writerly Things
Yashika is repped by Karly Dizon at Fuse Literary. Her debut picture book, FUNCLES, comes out in Fall 2026 with Lantana Publishing (illustrated by Adriena Fong) – check out more details HERE! She is an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the 12×12 Challenge, the Inked Voices writing community, The Authors Guild (US), and The Society of Authors (UK). Yashika loves meeting fellow authors and honing her craft through writing conferences (such as The Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore, SCBWI Conferences, and Picture Book Summit) and courses (such as Renée M. LaTulippe’s ‘Lyrical Language Lab’ and Justin Colon’s ‘The Mechanics of Humor’ class). She is lucky to be a part of a fabulous SCBWI critique group here in Singapore with fellow picture book writers who meet every week for “Writer’s Wednesday.”
My Learning Process
As a management consultant, my occupational hazard is diving deep into a new industry and learning as much as I possibly can (it’s very Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hours-esque!). One of my personal learning processes is called 5 x 5 (I try to consume 1 piece of picture-book related content from each of these different mediums of study per day: podcast, webinar or training course, website link, educational book, picture book).
- Favorite picture book podcast episode I’ve listened to so far: Picture Book Summit Podcast: #15, Cultural Connections with Rukhsana Khan. Click here for a round-up of some of my other favorite picture book and writing-related podcasts.
- Most helpful picture book webinar I’ve taken so far: A Crash Course in Comp Titles: Finding and Using Them Effectively with Tara Luebbe
- A picture book that has inspired me: Watercress by Andrea Wang and illustrated by Jason Chin. What a poignant story about immigration, cultural assimilation, and the nostalgia of memory – this one hit me right in the feels as a fellow child of immigrant parents.
Check out my other end-of-year learning round-ups here: 2025, 2024. Fellow authors, let me know if you have any great recommendations of resources that have helped you in your writing journey!