Albie Newton By Josh Funk and Illustrated by Ester Garay…
Author Feature: Shoumi Sen
Introduction: About You
3 Little Known or Interesting Things About You
- I am a Strategy & Marketing professional by day and a children’s book writer by night!
- I have lived and worked in various continents
- When I’m not working or writing, you can find me either behind the camera or checking out the next travel destination for my family!
About Your Book
What inspired you to write ‘Celebrate Durga Puja With Me!’ ?
My writing originated as one of the ways to have my daughter appreciate a connection with her Indian roots, while growing up here in America. I spent a large part of my childhood in Mumbai and Dubai; as kids, my sister and I were always surrounded by the magic of Indian festivals. We joke that there are more festivals in India than months in a year … I still remember the excitement during celebrations of Durga Puja, Holi and Diwali from my childhood.
I searched for books which would help me paint these cultural experiences for my daughter and eventually I decided to write them. I chose the approach of a little girl as the storyteller because I wanted the stories to connect immediately with a child.
Tell us about your book, Celebrate Durga Puja With Me!
I started recreating my childhood memories in the form of a poem and that turned out to be the easy part! (Of course, there was a ton of research, writing and re-writing involved).
As for publishing, I knew that breaking into the world of traditional publishing could take forever; I wasn’t willing to wait that long and so I decided to self-publish.
There’s so much that goes into a book – there’s the research, the writing, the illustrations until you eventually have the book in your hands – this took me a good part of a year to complete.
This book is an important one, where can we read more about why it is such an important topic?
Advice
Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Keep reading .. and not just books in the genre you are writing in. As the saying goes, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Leave us with some wise words. What advice would you give the readers of this interview?
If you are interested in writing, just write your best – the rest will fall into place because once you have a story to share with the world, you will figure it out!
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing more about your book.
Please consider purchasing a copy of Shoumi Sen’s book here.
Also, follow her and connect!
