Happy Thursday Critters! I hope this post finds you healthy and safe. Today, debut author Vicky Fang has stopped by Critter Lit to share her road to publication in celebration of her TWO debut books! I’m so excited to share these books with you.
So without further ado…please welcome Vicky Fang!
Where do you live?
I live in Mountain View, California with my husband, my two amazing little boys, and two pet death feigning beetles.
When did you know you wanted to write children’s books?
I had been designing technology products and experiences for kids for several years. When I began reading books to my kids after they were born, I became really excited about books as an interactive experience. That's when I knew I wanted to write books.
Tell us about your road to publication, what did that involve for you?
I guess you could say it was a series of fortunate events. I joined SCBWI and 12x12, I won a Writing With the Stars mentorship with Peter McCleery, and met my critique partners at an SCBWI conference. I worked with Stortyteller Academy's Arree Chung and found my agent, Elizabeth Bennett. There have been so many amazing people and moments along the way, but those feel like the most critical ones. It took me little under two years to get my first offer, which is pretty fast in picture book time!
What do you do to shake the rust off or get new ideas?
I find that I just need to let things go and not worry about new ideas all the time. Giving my brain space to breathe, and even to not do anything for a while, is the best way for me to come up with something I'm actually excited to write. My other trick is to email my amazing agent and ask her if there's anything she'd like to see from me. She's remarkably good at suggesting things that play to my strengths but stretch me in a new direction.
Tell us about your debut book.
I actually have two debut books!
The first is my debut chapter book, Layla and the Bots: Happy Paws, illustrated by Christine Nishiyama and launched on May 5 from Scholastic Branches. It's about a rockstar-slash-inventor and her crew of Bots who design, build, and code awesome inventions to help people they meet at their shows!
The next is my debut picture book, Invent-a-Pet, illustrated by Tidawan Thiapinnarong and launching on June 2 from Sterling Children's Books. It's about a girl who discovers a mysterious machine in her living room and must figure out the formula for her perfect extraordinary pet. It introduces the basic concepts of problem solving, inputs and outputs, functions, but most importantly - the idea that the extraordinary can be found all around us.
And last, but not least, favorite 80s movie?
Goonies. I watched it every Tuesday for a year with my best friend, Amanda. Usually followed by Ferris Bueller because it was on the same VHS tape - but Goonies was the real event.
Huge thank you to Vicki for stopping by Critter Lit today! Congrats on not one, but TWO debuts!!!
VICKY FANG has designed technology experiences for kids at Google and Intel Labs, where she’s designed robots, installations, games, activities, and more. She started writing to support the growing need of early coding education, particularly for girls and minorities. You can visit Vicky at vickyfang.com or on Twitter @fangmous.
FOR MORE INFORMATION you can visit Vicky at vickyfang.com or on Twitter @fangmous.
BUY THIS BOOK To purchase Vicki’s books, click here.
WIN A COPY! Want to win a giveaway copy of Vicky’s debut book, INVENT-A-PET?! Leave a COMMENT below or RETWEET this post on Twitter. One lucky winner will be announced on Thursday, May 28th! US addresses only please.