Kara Bodegón-Hikino is an author-illustrator + freelance designer + music journalist + new mom

She grew up hoping to become a marine biologist to study sharks, but ended up in the music and entertainment industry, where she worked for Gary Valenciano and wrote for publications like Billboard, Bandwagon Asia, and PULP Magazine, assisted backstage at concerts with hospitality and logistics, and designed album covers and posters for some pretty cool bands and artists since 2011.

When she isn’t writing or drawing, Kara enjoys playing video games, chowing down on pizza, and worshipping heavy metal and Disney soundtracks. She also recently launched her small online art shop Karakugaki shortly before becoming a New Mom™.

Kara’s debut graphic novel SQUALO & MAGE is coming through HarperCollins in 2026. Her first picture book BIGGER THAN ME with author Erica Simone Turnipseed was published under Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books in September 2023.

Her fiction and book-related art are represented by Sara Crowe of Sara Crowe Literary, LLC.

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