Today, Mummum has the pleasure of speaking to David Seow, author of several well received children’s books in Singapore. David and I spoke on the same panel at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content 2012 and the Singapore Writer’s Festival 2012. Since then, we’ve had several conversations, and here is our latest:
1. You’ve one of the front runners in our young children’s books writing scene in Singapore. Share one “up” and one “down” in your decade of writing.
David: There have been a lot of ups and downs for over a decade. Writing books, especially children’s picture books, is a roller coaster ride. The biggest “down” would be trying to get my books out there once they’ve been published. There’s a lot of competition in the children’s book market and trying to promote my books is a constant struggle.
The biggest “up” was when my book There’s Soup on My Fly was dramatised at the Literature Lecture (the closing night) at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content in 2012. After watching the performance, the Managing Editor of a major publishing house told me that I definitely have what it takes to be a successful children’s book author and that really meant a lot to me.
2. Your new Sam, Sebbie & Di-Di-Di series with Epigram books is a reprise of sorts of an earlier series with the same characters.
How did the Epigram series come about?
David: The Epigram series came about after an initial meeting with Epigram publisher Edmund Wee and his managing editor Ruth Wan about two years ago. My editor Sheri Tan and I started work on the revamped version of the books earlier this year – At the Night Safari was released last month and At the S.E.A. Aquarium is due to be published this month.
What was the story behind the original series?
David: My niece and nephews Samantha (Sam), Sebastian (Sebbie), and Jeremy (Di-Di-Di) inspired the original series. I used to babysit them every weekend and I would make up stories about them at bedtime. Their brother Alexander (Xandy) came along after the books were first published and I planned to end the original series with a story about his arrival, but my publishers at that time had other ideas. I’m very happy with the new books so many thanks, Sheri, Ruth and Edmund!
3. What was the defining moment when you knew you wanted to be a writer?
David: I don’t think there was a defining moment when I thought I wanted to be a writer. I always had and still do have an over-active imagination, which gets me into trouble to this day. But I have to admit that it has come in terribly handy when it comes to crafting characters and plot.
4. Name the one book from childhood that impacted you most. Tell us why.
David: That would have to be Babar the Elephant. My family had just moved to London and I couldn’t speak the language because up to that point Cantonese was my first language. My parents bought me a lot of picture books to get me to learn English. I remember reading the first book in the series, where (Spoiler Alert) Babar’s mother got shot and killed by a hunter. I was about three years old and I remember looking at the picture of the hunter shooting Babar’s mummy and I smacked that hunter until my hand hurt, thinking that by smacking him, I would prevent that shooting. When that didn’t work, I hurled the book across the room. It took a while before my mum could convince me to look at it again. And though Babar went on to have a happy ending with his new family, I never completely recovered from that traumatizing first page.
So that book impacted me in various ways:
1) I started learning English
2) I stopped speaking Cantonese and soon totally forgot it
3) It instilled a deep hatred for elephant hunters and poachers of any kind. I suppose you could say it inspired my book Emma’s Elephant, which is now available at Bookaburra and all good bookstores.
5) What’s your first words of advice to budding writers on venturing down this path less written about?
David: Don’t do it. I mean it 🙂 lol. Seriously, it’s not easy, but if you have a passion for writing and it’s something you feel you just have to do, be prepared for a bumpy ride. Fasten your seatbelts and get your barf bags ready. And if you can weather the storms of disappointment and tsunamis of rejections, then, just then, you might have what it takes to survive the writer’s life.
Mummum: It’s great to see that your love for picture books is very much alive despite the trauma of seeing Babar’s mummy killed off on Page 1 of your first picture book. Thanks for sharing such a great childhood story!
Read more about David and check out more celebrity book sightings at his blog.
[…] Ken: I remember reading the reply of Singaporean author David Seow to a similar question: “Don’t do it.” […]