Meet the Author - Sonia Chen
It’s a rare privilege for editors to encounter young authors with such raw talent—talent so striking, it makes them question their own abilities. Sonia, aged nine from Hong Kong, author of The Miracle of Belief, did exactly that. Her sci-fi/fantasy oozes beautiful descriptions, laced with both humour and drama, while her mature outlook on life is encapsulated in a strong message that anything is possible. Shmuel Barber, of Pynewood Press, sat down with Sonia to talk about all things food, books and bugbears.
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PP: Let's kick this off with a really serious question: in The Miracle of Belief, the main character, Evelyn, comes home to a table groaning with lavish food. So, if you were Eevee and could wish for the meal of a lifetime, what would be on your table?
Sonia: I would choose boba tea pudding with ice cream, quesadillas, french onion soup and broccoli, because those are all of my favourite foods and broccoli is my preferred vegetable.
PP: What gave you the inspiration for The Miracle of Belief? Is sci fi/fantasy your favourite genre?
Sonia: The inspiration was from the movie Wish, which I thought was a very interesting way to bring out the hope and faith in everything. And yes, even though it is a little bit challenging to merge phones and magic wands together, sci-fi and fantasy is my favourite theme to work on, although one of my other stories is just pure fantasy.
PP: If you had to move to another planet, which three people would you want to have with you? Why?
Sonia: For the first person, I’d pick one fictional character from my book. I would choose Eloise to come with me because I think her personality matches mine as a friend, and I think Evelyn would be a little too useful, as she could wish anything up.
For the second person, a fictional character from another book, I would choose Hermione Granger from Harry Potter because she is also quite smart. I would be delighted to learn some magical spells from her.
For the third person, I would choose Olympic female backstroke champion, Kaylee McKeown, because I want to swim with her and let her teach me some good swimming techniques, especially backstroke, as my main stroke is also backstroke.
PP: Give us an interesting fun fact about your book.
Sonia: You might think Evelyn is a nice goody-two-shoes who loves helping people by wishing things up, but she actually loves pranking her neighbours, like putting fart stink bombs in front of their door.
PP: What are your biggest bugbears when writing the book?
Sonia: My biggest bugbear was when I didn’t know how to bring out Evelyn’s power and how she knew that she had it. Finally, after pacing around, looking at myself in the mirror, and maybe picking my nose, I settled on the most simple decision: Evelyn’s mom confessing it to her.
PP: Are there any books that inspired you to be a writer? What helps you to write?
Sonia: I don’t think anything inspired me to be a writer. Since I was in primary school, I had loved writing and had written a lot of stories in English class, so I just went on until Primary three. Reading and listening to music gives me more inspiration and helps me to write more.
PP: What’s something you are really good at which few people know about?
Sonia: I think I am pretty good at sculpting, but few people know about it. My parents just bought me an air-dry clay set, so I just started sculpting.
PP: What are you working on at the moment, and when will it be available?
Sonia: Right now, I am working on a book that isn’t really called a ‘novel’ (yet). I think it will be available before I turn ten (3rd of October, 2024) because during the summer holidays I will keep on working on it.
PP: To wrap this up, so you can get back to sculpting, writing or eating, I’d love to know what you’d like to achieve with your books.
Sonia: I want my books to be bought by lots of people, but not too many. I’d want to be a quiet author because I don’t know how to deal with all the fame and stuff.
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Sonia’s debut book, The Miracle of Belief, is available on Amazon for the price of a coffee. Share it around (kids love it!) and help support such a young and inspiring author.
