The girls grew up together in a tight-knit suburban neighborhood in Tampa, Florida, for which The Mandolin Media Company receives its namesake: Mandolin Estates.

They were avid readers, (it’s still widely contested who finished the Harry Potter series first) and the imagineers of limitless realms of magic and mystery.

Saturday mornings always began with the sunrise, sometimes as early as seven-thirty. The girls spent their days scheming in the treetops, digging that hole, and saving stuffed animals, cats, and sisters from various, fear-inspiring, pretend threats.

When they weren’t playing together, Tessa drafted and wrote her own stories and chapter books, inspired by literary heroes like Rick Riordan, Suzanne Collins, and Jules Verne. Meanwhile, Jackie unlocked and harnessed an indescribable mastery of illustration, creating scenes, faces, and horses in acrylic, oil, and charcoal.

It’s not everyday an author meets a perfectly suited illustrator. It’s even less likely they meet when they’re four years old.