Eva Wong Nava joins Ian Eagleton in The Reading Realm today to talk about her new book LEGENDARY CREATURES OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC, which is illustrated by Iris Lei…
Before we settle down in The Reading Realm for a chat, what’s your drink and snack of choice?
A cup of camomile tea with a couple of Jammie Dodgers.
Tell us about your book in three sentences and then three words!
It ’s filled with legendary, magical creatures.
You’ll find mythology and facts in it.
It’ll make a great book display in shop windows during the Chinese New Year.
Three words? Illustrated, Magical, Stunning!
If one of your characters could come to dinner, who would you invite and what would you cook them? What do you think you’d talk about?
The Jade Emperor and I’ll make him some longevity noodles and serve him a delicious fish platter.Then, we’d have mandarin sorbet for dessert. We’d talk about the Great Race and the twelve animals that won the race, and why.
What’s the funniest word you know that always makes you laugh?
‘Confuzzled’ because my daughter who loved making new words up as a kid, used it when she was around 8 years old. I thought she’d mixed confused and puzzled, and invented this lovely word. I didn’t know it was a real word and thought she’d made it up, which is why this word always makes me laugh.
What’s the silliest or strangest thing you’ve ever researched for a story?
When writing my picture book, Dancing Dumplings For My One And Only, I went down the rabbit hole researching dumplings around the world. I discovered a regional Italian dumpling that looks exactly like the dumplings that my ethnic Chinese grandmother used to make. My husband is Italian and we were delighted by this.
Do your characters ever surprise you?
Always! They all seem to have a mind of their own even when I don’t intend for them to.
If your writing desk could speak, what would it say about you?
Sit up straight, don’t slouch, it’s bad for your back. (Sounds like my mum, but alas if only I’d heeded her wise advice when I was a child, I wouldn’t have to listen to my desk!)
Did you like reading when you were a child? If so, what?
The library was my babysitter when my mum was at work during the summer holidays. She’d drop me off at the library when it opened and picked me up when it closed. Books were my best friend. And I’d say, they still are.
What’s your favourite book that isn’t yours?
Oooh, that means that I’ll have to return it to the library! I’m sure that after all these years, they’d have written it off as lost, can’t be found! And, the book is Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jone.
What’s the funniest thing a child has said to you?
“Can I come home with you?” followed by the child clinging to me.
If you weren’t an author, what would you be?
An illustrator.
What BAD advice would you give to someone who wants to be a writer?
Write picture books because you only need to tell your story in less than 800 words.
SPEED ROUND:
Cake or biscuits? Cake.
Dinosaurs or unicorns? Dinosaurs.
Pirates or astronauts? Pirates.
Museums or theme parks? Museums.
Cats or dogs? Dogs.
Summer or winter? Neither, I’m a spring and autumn kinda girl.
Aliens or robots? Humans!
THANK YOU Eva for joining us in The Reading Realm today!
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