By Rajani LaRocca

I’m so excited that my debut picture book, SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS: A TALE OF MUSIC AND MATH, is releasing today! It is gorgeously illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan and is published by Lee & Low Books.

The story is set in ancient India and follows a boy named Bhagat who wants to bring his family out of poverty by winning a place in the rajah’s court as a singer.

As he prepares to leave on his long journey to the rajah’s city, Bhagat brings with him all that his family has left in the world: a single rupee coin and a chain of seven tiny golden rings. Bhagat’s mother blesses him and reminds him, “Bhagat, you are a fine singer. But you are an even finer thinker.”

 As it turns out, when it’s time for Bhagat to find a place to stay in the city, he is faced with a mathematical puzzle. He must pay the innkeeper one ring per night in advance, and it costs one coin to break one link in his chain of seven. But Bhagat only has a single coin, and he doesn’t know how many nights he will need to stay. How can Bhagat find a way to divide the chain of seven rings in order to pay one ring per night and avoid overpaying? As he walks through the city contemplating this conundrum, his mother’s words come back to him.

In the end, Bhagat succeeds in an unexpected way—and it is his thinking as well as his singing that saves the day.

This story was one of the first picture book texts I ever wrote—one of the stories that taught me how to write a picture book. I first drafted it in 2013, and it took me almost seventy drafts before I felt it was “ready” in 2017. We sold it to my wonderful editor, Cheryl Klein, in 2018, and here we are in 2020 with its release. It was well worth the wait!

But my journey to becoming a writer has been even longer.

I was a kid who was obsessed with books.

I also loved writing, but I knew I didn’t want to pursue it as a career. I was in a creative writing class in high school—a class I loved—when I told my teacher, “I really enjoy writing, but I know I want to become a doctor.”

That teacher, Mr. Herzfeld, told me, “Who says you have to choose?” And he introduced me to the works of several authors also happened to be doctors, including Richard Seltzer, William Carlos Williams, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

And although I already knew what I was going to do with my professional life, that planted a seed in my mind.

Years later, after college and medical school and residency, I did indeed become a practicing physician. I made some of the best friends of my life, friends who share the same values of helping people stay healthy and easing their suffering when they are ill. And I loved my career in medicine. I still do.

But eventually, when I’d become established in my practice and my kids were older, I felt a yearning to return to something creative. And that seed planted by my teacher years earlier began to grow and bear fruit. I started taking writing classes again—first online, and then in person, and I met fellow writers who would become my critique partners and some of my closest friends, who share my love of creating beautiful stories for children. And I kept writing, and learning, and writing.

And then, after a few years, I signed with my marvelous agent, Brent Taylor of TriadaUS. He loved my work, and we started submitting manuscripts to editors. And after the rollercoaster ride that is publishing, we sold a book. And then another. And then another. And on and on, until today, when we have eleven books under contract!

I could have closed the door on writing all those years ago. I could have told myself it was enough to have a career I loved. But I’m so grateful I didn’t talk myself out of the possibility of having two careers I love, two careers that challenge me and nourish me and bring me joy in unexpected ways. And like Bhagat, I’m grateful that early on, I had someone in my life who believed in me and told me I didn’t have to choose, that maybe I could do both.

So today, on the book birthday of my debut picture book, I’m also celebrating the idea of not letting anyone limit what you can be . . . including yourself.

Rajani LaRocca was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area with her wonderful family and impossibly cute dog. She spends her time writing novels and picture books when she’s not practicing medicine. Her middle grade debut, MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM (Yellow Jacket/Little Bee Books), was a Kirkus Best Middle Grade Book of 2019 and a 2020 Massachusetts Book Award Honor title. Her debut picture book, SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS: A Tale of Music and Math (Lee & Low Books) involves a math puzzle and an explanation of binary numbers and earned starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly. Her forthcoming middle grade novel-in-verse, Red, White, and Whole (Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins) will publish in February 2021 and involves heritage and fitting in, science and poetry, Hindu mythology and ’80s pop music. You can learn about her other forthcoming books at RajaniLaRocca.com and find her on Twitter and Instagram @rajanilarocca.