A.S. CHUNG
- Guest Author -
G'day folks,
Today, I interview another Australian author who writes picture books. A.S. Chung is a mother of a young toddler, blogger and recently added author of children’s picture books to her repertoire. A recent divorce inspired her to create Pigeonhole Books,
which is a gentle resource to deal with life’s challenges. It was a way
to communicate with her daughter and show her that life continues after
difficult times. She has a great desire to preach positive messages and
the importance of love and family to young children. Therefore, Pigeonhole Books is a project very close to her heart. Apart from the topic of divorce, Pigeonhole Books also deals with important subjects such as same-sex, blended and multiracial families.
Welcome, A. S. ...
1.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT
YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY.
I am a mother of a young toddler,
blogger and author of children’s picture books. A recent divorce inspired me to
create Pigeonhole Books, which is a gentle resource to deal with life’s
challenges. My first book, A Brand New
Day, was written as a way to communicate with her daughter and show her
that life continues after difficult times. A
Brand New Day recently won the 2015 National Indie Excellence® Awards.
I have a great desire to preach positive messages and the
importance of love and family to young children. Therefore, Pigeonhole Books is
a project very close to my heart. Apart from the topic of divorce, Pigeonhole
Books also deals with same-sex, blended and multiracial families. My second
book Wishful Wedding was recently
published in June 2015, which is my first LGBTQ children’s literature dealing
with marriage equality and same gender marriage.
2.
WHAT TYPE OF
PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST
SHOOT FROM THE HIP?
As I am a picture book writer, I just go
for it! My books are generally less than 300 words so I just start writing and
then worry about the structure and formatting later. So far it seems to have
worked well for me as it all fits on one A4 piece of paper!
3.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST
ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
I love being able to put on paper, what I have in my head.
I am always astonished with the finished product, “I wrote that??”
4.
DO YOU HAVE A
PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?
No I don’t. I write when I’m in the mood as I find I am
most productive then. Whenever I have planned some time aside to do some
writing, I have hardly ever produced anything worth even editing!
5.
WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE
AUTHOR AND WHY?
The great man himself, Paulo Coelho.
When I got a divorce, I turned to Paulo Coelho’s spiritual words to get through
that difficult phase in my life and in many ways allowed the slow minutes
become beautiful days. This turning of events and the realisation how books can
be so powerful, ignited my need to write and hence the commencement of a very
new chapter in my life.
6.
WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES
INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?
Absolutely and that is exactly how I
came to start writing children’s picture books. As mentioned above, I went
through a divorce and it became a very tumultuous time. I was most concerned
about my daughter and wanted to shelter her from the unavoidable difficulties.
At the time, she was too young to really understand the ramifications of
divorce but old enough to know something was amiss. I was then inspired to
create Pigeonhole Books, which is a
gentle resource to deal with life’s challenges. These picture books are
designed for young children who come from divorce, same-sex, blended and
multicultural families.
7.
OTHER THAN WRITING,
WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?
I love organising social occasions and have done many over
my lifetime, purely with the knowledge that I was making a friend happy during
their milestone celebrations. I love entertaining my friends, as we sit around
a table and converse all day. Travel is definitely on the top of my list and
with a young child in tow now, she has opened up the world in a very different
way.
8.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS
FOR THE FUTURE?
Continue to write as long as I have the passion, energy and
imagination. Well, finances too but let’s not damper the mood!
9.
DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN
ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS?
In all of my divorce series of picture books, I am the
separated parent, trying very hard to keep it together and provide my child
with a loving and safe environment to grow up in. Hoping that the divorce
doesn’t affect her traumatically and that she understands whilst we are a separated
family, she is very much loved and a number one priority in our lives.
HOW
WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A WRITER.
When readers tell me what a difference the book has made to
their lives and that they believe it will help others.
10. HOW MUCH THOUGHT GOES INTO DESIGNING A BOOK COVER?
The natural answer for a picture book would be “a lot!”.
However, I work with an amazing illustrator who has the ability to translate
the vision and objective of the book into beautiful art. Her first drafts were
amazing enough so I just said “yes!”.
11. WRITING IS ONE
THING. WHAT ABOUT MARKETING YOU, YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR BRAND? ANY THOUGHTS?
That is a big question. Book marketing is not for the faint
hearted and is relentless. You have to be a player and a constant one at that.
I have currently committed myself to blogging 100 marketing tips on my blog,
Pigeonhole Books over the next year both as a learning curve as well as helping
other indie authors out there. http://pigeonholebooks.com/category/100-online-book-marketing-tips/
12. ARE YOUR BOOKS
SELF-PUBLISHED?
Yes they are! I didn’t explore traditional publishing as I
wanted full control of the story as well as the accompanying illustrations.
Self-publishing has never been easier but of course it comes with hard work. I
am however, loving the journey thus far.
13. WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? GOOD ONE?
I am in the midst of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mocking Bird.
Reading it again, for inspiration and beautiful writing.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A BRAND NEW DAY BOOK:
WHERE TO PURCHASE
AMAZON:
BARNES
& NOBLE:
BOOK
DEPOSITORY:
WHAT IS THE BOOK ABOUT:
A Brand New Day: A
Banana Split Story is a children's picture book about divorce. It tells the story of a
little girl who has to split her time between two homes so that she can spend
time with her mother and father throughout the week. The book is written in
gentle rhyme accompanied by beautiful artwork with a muted colour palette.
The story also
introduced the concept of a blended family as the little girl inherits a step
brother. The story never once mentions the word "divorce" and
presents this life challenge in a positive light. The book was written to
demonstrate that despite being in divorce family, the child can still create
special moments with each parent and still be very loved.
“Mondays and Tuesdays are fun,
going on cooking adventures with Dad. We look forward to Wednesdays and
Thursday too when we get to be a green thumb with Mum. Don’t forget the
holidays! Spring breaks with Mum and hot summers camping with Dad. Each day is
a truly special day!”
Clancy's comment: Thank you, A. S. Mm ... You sound as passionate as me in what you write for kids. Good for you, and well done on winning an award for A Brand New Day. You must be doing something right - write!
I'm ...
No comments:
Post a Comment