Sunday, January 22, 2023

Interview With Children's Book Author Anastasiya Keegan

 


 

1. What motivated you to write your book, to force you from taking an idea or

experience and turning it into this book? For many years I drew books for different authors and various publications. These books were wonderful, kind and instructive. But at one point I found myself in the forest and began to remember my childhood. I remembered how fun it was to find delight in every moment, and it made me want to make a book that is not instructional, which shows you that you can make every moment fun just by connecting to your imagination.

 

2. What is it about and who is it for? This book is for children 3-6 years old.

There are two characters in my book: a brother and a sister. Even though I don’t talk

about it, you can see that they have completely different personalities. The girl is

fearless and the boy is a little afraid of everything he gets, but he behaves very boldly,

because to be brave is to step over your fear. In my book, kids tell a story they made up

to get out of eating breakfast that their grandma thinks is healthy (maybe it doesn't work

with their parents and they only use this technique with their grandma). There is another hero that I show who is not noticeable at first sight, is a pajama bear who really does not want to be where he is amid all these unbelievable dangers.

 

3. What takeaways might the reader will be left with after reading it? The most important conclusion that I would like my little readers to make is that life is a lot of fun, and even if nothing happens, you can use your imagination to make the world more interesting for yourself.

 

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? The title of the book fully reflects its content, it was immediately clear that the book should be called that. My editor and I had been looking for the cover for a while. I didn’t want to portray happy characters there, and then we decided that the cover would immediately show the beginning of the story. Therefore, I drew a key moment when the children decide that they need to come up with a way to not eat this porridge. And I also had a lot of fun when I drew each illustration, this cover seemed funny to me too.

 

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers? Look inside yourself and do what you want. There are many people in the world and your readers will definitely be among them, because we are all so different.

 

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book

publishing industry is heading? This is a big and difficult question. If we talk about world trends in children’s literature, we see that books are increasingly touching on ethical issues, and we try to explain to the child as early as possible what kind of world they live in, to cultivate empathy in them, respect for any manifestation of life and for themselves. And often the authors do this not from the standpoint of moralizing, but from the standpoint of being happy and healthy. For many years, there has been a double-address in children’s books, when a parent reads a special message for themselves, which, due to age, the child does not see. This continues to this day. In general, I also see more and more humor being used in children & literature and I’m very happy about it. I don’t see this in America, but in Europe for some time now, books without text for children aged 3-7 have been gaining popularity. It seems to me that this is a very interesting direction, when the child composes a story for themselves. Now the kids’ industry in general is all about entertaining children. I really like it when they are given the opportunity to entertain, I think that is a very important skill.

 

7. What challenges did you overcome to write this book? Although an experienced illustrator, I am an aspiring author., I have faced all the problems that authors face - uncertainty, doubts, crises. But I knew that this book had to appear. And I tried to focus on this, and not on my doubts. I would not call it a difficulty, but I approached the book via the picture, because I think in pictures. First, I felt the mood and saw the vision of the book, then the skeleton of the story. Afterwards, I started writing lyrics. I had a lot of fun during all stages, from coming up with the idea to drawing the details in the illustrations. I drew the book during the pandemic, when everything in the city was closed and naturally, I managed to focus on work.

 

8. How would you describe your writing style? Hilarious mess. In fact, I would like it to be so. I want my books in the future to evoke a smile and laughter as the first reaction.

 

9. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? Because it is funny. Because this book shows that you can have fun without gadgets and cartoons, using your imagination.

About The Author: Anastasiya Keegan learned to paint as a child at a local children's art school in her hometown of Grozny, Russia. In 2006 she graduated from the Stravropol Art School as a graphic designer and later studied in St. Petersburg at the Higher School of Print and Media Technologies as a book artist. Her first book in Russia was published in 2011 and won a Russian competition. In 2014, she devoted herself to working with book illustrations, and has since published a dozen books in Russia as an illustrator. She currently lives in New York State and works on her own projects as an author and illustrator.  For more information, please see; www.instagram.com/an.keegan 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.2 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts over the past decade, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Susan RoAne, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, IBPA, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, NewsdayThe Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum

 

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