MEET THE AUTHOR
FEATURED AUTHOR: SUZY DAVIES
Hello and welcome to Silver Beans Café. My name is Jacks, and I am one of the interviewers here at SBC. Today I am happy to be sitting down with MULTI GENRE author SUZY DAVIES!
Thank you, SUZY, for being here today. Let’s just jump right into the interview. Let's start out by GETTING TO KNOW YOU. What GENRES DO YOU WRITE?
My genres are Romance Fiction, Children’s Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult Books. I like variety. But writing books for kids and young adults is the most satisfying. These kinds of books tend to have universal appeal.
Suzy, WHAT MADE YOU WRITE IN THESE GENRES?
Many authors have inspired me to write in these genres. For “The Cave,” my new Y.A release, reading the work of Hans Christian Andersen helped me create the shaman mother “Khun Mae,” and weave feminine intuitive power and mysticism into the real-life adventure action elements of the story.
I collaborate with award-winning world-acclaimed Artist, Illustrator, Animator and Movie-Maker, Professor Sheila Graber. Quite recently, Sheila shared one of her movies with me, “Lifeline,” which shows the life-cycle in a visual poetics that is simply stunning.
Sheila won the Royal Television Society’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” for outstanding services to Art and Education for this film. Her movie spoke to me on a deep personal level. The main theme resonated with one of my themes for “The Cave.”
Sheila’s film highlighted Life, Death, Transitions and Transformation.
Right here, I had a story to do with danger, life in the balance, adaptation and transformation.
Caves speak of unknown depths - portals, if you like, to other worlds.
They are a kind of threshold or liminal space into a “beyond this world or beyond this book,” where transfiguration is possible. All our “normal” sense of Time and Place is diminished. Nothing will ever be the same again, once we have emerged from “The Cave.” We have come of age.
Can you share the TITLES OF YOUR BOOKS?
“Johari’s Window,” a Memoir and Romance Novel, “Snugs The Snow Bear,” Juvenile Fiction, “Luna The Moon Pig: The Pig Who Hid,” Picture Book/Early Reader, illustrated in cartoon-style hand-drawings by Sheila Graber, and my latest book, “The Cave,” a Young Adult Fiction Book, (cover design by famous Sheila Graber,) also suitable for Adults.
Outside of writing what are some of YOUR OTHER INTERESTS?
I’m always looking for ways to boost my own creativity and for different ways of communicating ideas. I continue to educate myself, and I’m always studying something. This gives me self-confidence and keeps my outlook fresh and modern.
That is completely true! (Jacks)
Please continue, WHAT ELSE?
I love reading, and read across all genres, not just the genres in which I write. I read literary criticism, and articles. I’m always reading Psychology, Coaching, Leadership and Self-Help articles, to keep my Life-Coaching skills up to date. I like my books to have positive messages with good role models for young people. Keeping myself informed about what is happening in the book world is essential. Reading is part of my growth and professional development as a writer and book-reviewer, and I read for pleasure.
Music of all kinds appeals to me - anything from pop to classical. I enjoy writing lyrics and songs, and going to see live music gigs.
Nature fascinates me. There is plenty to see in Florida - in our yard, on nature trails or by the lakes, and especially on the beach. Exercise is so vital for writers who sit at a computer for hours and hours. It’s all about balance.
I love movies and animation. Watching movies helps me visualize things and write in a cinematic way. Sheila Graber’s work got me interested in cartoons. She’s known as The Walt Disney of The North East of England, and has won awards from Cannes to London! I haven’t visited Disneyland, yet!
Cooking relaxes me. I try to cook things that are tasty and healthy but indulge in cheese, cakes, chocolate, and ice-cream once in a while.
Spirituality and Mythology are interesting to me. I like to learn about and celebrate different cultures.
I appreciate Art.
I enjoy traveling. There are lots of places all over the world I would love to visit.
Mall-shopping is always fun and I love clothes shopping.
Bars, coffee-shops and restaurants are good places to unwind.
I like television. I watch documentaries, World News, programmes about wildlife, programmes about travel, talent shows and comedy. I’m a big fan of the late Anthony Bourdain, the late Carl Sagan, Sir Patrick Moore and a fan of Sir David Attenborough. I love “The Voice” and “The X Factor.” I adore Joanna Lumley’s travel programmes. I miss Joan Rivers and loved her dry humor.
Many authors have inspired me to write in these genres. For “The Cave,” my new Y.A release, reading the work of Hans Christian Andersen helped me create the shaman mother “Khun Mae,” and weave feminine intuitive power and mysticism into the real-life adventure action elements of the story.
I collaborate with award-winning world-acclaimed Artist, Illustrator, Animator and Movie-Maker, Professor Sheila Graber. Quite recently, Sheila shared one of her movies with me, “Lifeline,” which shows the life-cycle in a visual poetics that is simply stunning.
Sheila won the Royal Television Society’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” for outstanding services to Art and Education for this film. Her movie spoke to me on a deep personal level. The main theme resonated with one of my themes for “The Cave.”
Sheila’s film highlighted Life, Death, Transitions and Transformation.
Right here, I had a story to do with danger, life in the balance, adaptation and transformation.
Caves speak of unknown depths - portals, if you like, to other worlds.
They are a kind of threshold or liminal space into a “beyond this world or beyond this book,” where transfiguration is possible. All our “normal” sense of Time and Place is diminished. Nothing will ever be the same again, once we have emerged from “The Cave.” We have come of age.
Can you share the TITLES OF YOUR BOOKS?
“Johari’s Window,” a Memoir and Romance Novel, “Snugs The Snow Bear,” Juvenile Fiction, “Luna The Moon Pig: The Pig Who Hid,” Picture Book/Early Reader, illustrated in cartoon-style hand-drawings by Sheila Graber, and my latest book, “The Cave,” a Young Adult Fiction Book, (cover design by famous Sheila Graber,) also suitable for Adults.
Outside of writing what are some of YOUR OTHER INTERESTS?
I’m always looking for ways to boost my own creativity and for different ways of communicating ideas. I continue to educate myself, and I’m always studying something. This gives me self-confidence and keeps my outlook fresh and modern.
That is completely true! (Jacks)
Please continue, WHAT ELSE?
I love reading, and read across all genres, not just the genres in which I write. I read literary criticism, and articles. I’m always reading Psychology, Coaching, Leadership and Self-Help articles, to keep my Life-Coaching skills up to date. I like my books to have positive messages with good role models for young people. Keeping myself informed about what is happening in the book world is essential. Reading is part of my growth and professional development as a writer and book-reviewer, and I read for pleasure.
Music of all kinds appeals to me - anything from pop to classical. I enjoy writing lyrics and songs, and going to see live music gigs.
Nature fascinates me. There is plenty to see in Florida - in our yard, on nature trails or by the lakes, and especially on the beach. Exercise is so vital for writers who sit at a computer for hours and hours. It’s all about balance.
I love movies and animation. Watching movies helps me visualize things and write in a cinematic way. Sheila Graber’s work got me interested in cartoons. She’s known as The Walt Disney of The North East of England, and has won awards from Cannes to London! I haven’t visited Disneyland, yet!
Cooking relaxes me. I try to cook things that are tasty and healthy but indulge in cheese, cakes, chocolate, and ice-cream once in a while.
Spirituality and Mythology are interesting to me. I like to learn about and celebrate different cultures.
I appreciate Art.
I enjoy traveling. There are lots of places all over the world I would love to visit.
Mall-shopping is always fun and I love clothes shopping.
Bars, coffee-shops and restaurants are good places to unwind.
I like television. I watch documentaries, World News, programmes about wildlife, programmes about travel, talent shows and comedy. I’m a big fan of the late Anthony Bourdain, the late Carl Sagan, Sir Patrick Moore and a fan of Sir David Attenborough. I love “The Voice” and “The X Factor.” I adore Joanna Lumley’s travel programmes. I miss Joan Rivers and loved her dry humor.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk more ABOUT THE BOOKS.
Can you give us a quote on YOUR IDEAS ABOUT BOOKS?
Books are a portable kind of time travel. We go back as well as forward when we read them. When we come back into the now, after being immersed in worlds previously unknown to us, we find ourselves, transformed. Touched by their magic, nothing we ever perceived beforehand remains quite the same.
That’s a beautiful way to view them! Absolutely agree! (Jacks)
Any traces of YOUR PERSONALITY IN YOUR MAIN CHARACTER(S)?
My latest book is “The Cave”
Ancient Thai Mysticism and a modern-day tale of The Wild Boars Football Team and their leader's adventure in a Thai cave are woven together in this young adult's story of hope, courage, adventure, teamwork, bonds of love and survival.
Lek, the smallest boy in The Wild Boars Football Team, is the main character of my new book, “The Cave.” I was born in August, and I remember being one of the youngest in my school year, so I can identify with his vulnerability.
Lek is sensitive, and so am I. He’s afraid of the water in the cave to begin with, and this reflects my fear of water when I was young. I was attracted and repelled by it.
I learned to swim relatively late. Someone literally “threw me in” at the deep end. Lek has to learn fast, too. He’s helped by his companions. He values friendship. I do, as well. But he is so much braver than I was in my youth. I admire his strength.
Where do you DRAW INSPIRATION FROM FOR YOUR BOOKS?
I often say that books choose me. I draw on my own experiences for all my work and ideas. Luna The Moon Pig appeared in our back yard one night under a huge Harvest Moon. I thought, “I’m going to write a story about You!” Life can imitate Art sometimes. In fact, when I wrote the last words of “The Cave,” I went outside for a breath of air, and a big red ball had appeared - out of nowhere - right outside our house in the front yard!
My latest book, “The Cave,” is inspired by the knife-edge drama of the Thai Cave and The Wild Boar Football Team Rescue that played out on television and media.
The legend of the Princess of Sip Song Panna or the Princess of the Mountain, as she is known to Thai locals, made this book an irresistible write for me. I did my research, and wrote day and night to complete the book.
What is ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT WRITING?
I enjoy the thrill of when you get the beginnings of an idea for a book, and spill out the first lines on a blank page. There’s that sense of exploration and adventure that is almost indescribable.
What is one of the BEST PIECES OF ADVICE that you received OR A QUOTE THAT YOU LIVE BY?
Fortune favors the brave.
Love that! (Jacks)
What is one thing that YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO YOUR READERS?
I’m humbled and honored that you should read books written by an unknown author. Love and thanks to you all!
Books are a portable kind of time travel. We go back as well as forward when we read them. When we come back into the now, after being immersed in worlds previously unknown to us, we find ourselves, transformed. Touched by their magic, nothing we ever perceived beforehand remains quite the same.
That’s a beautiful way to view them! Absolutely agree! (Jacks)
Any traces of YOUR PERSONALITY IN YOUR MAIN CHARACTER(S)?
My latest book is “The Cave”
Ancient Thai Mysticism and a modern-day tale of The Wild Boars Football Team and their leader's adventure in a Thai cave are woven together in this young adult's story of hope, courage, adventure, teamwork, bonds of love and survival.
Lek, the smallest boy in The Wild Boars Football Team, is the main character of my new book, “The Cave.” I was born in August, and I remember being one of the youngest in my school year, so I can identify with his vulnerability.
Lek is sensitive, and so am I. He’s afraid of the water in the cave to begin with, and this reflects my fear of water when I was young. I was attracted and repelled by it.
I learned to swim relatively late. Someone literally “threw me in” at the deep end. Lek has to learn fast, too. He’s helped by his companions. He values friendship. I do, as well. But he is so much braver than I was in my youth. I admire his strength.
Where do you DRAW INSPIRATION FROM FOR YOUR BOOKS?
I often say that books choose me. I draw on my own experiences for all my work and ideas. Luna The Moon Pig appeared in our back yard one night under a huge Harvest Moon. I thought, “I’m going to write a story about You!” Life can imitate Art sometimes. In fact, when I wrote the last words of “The Cave,” I went outside for a breath of air, and a big red ball had appeared - out of nowhere - right outside our house in the front yard!
My latest book, “The Cave,” is inspired by the knife-edge drama of the Thai Cave and The Wild Boar Football Team Rescue that played out on television and media.
The legend of the Princess of Sip Song Panna or the Princess of the Mountain, as she is known to Thai locals, made this book an irresistible write for me. I did my research, and wrote day and night to complete the book.
What is ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT WRITING?
I enjoy the thrill of when you get the beginnings of an idea for a book, and spill out the first lines on a blank page. There’s that sense of exploration and adventure that is almost indescribable.
What is one of the BEST PIECES OF ADVICE that you received OR A QUOTE THAT YOU LIVE BY?
Fortune favors the brave.
Love that! (Jacks)
What is one thing that YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO YOUR READERS?
I’m humbled and honored that you should read books written by an unknown author. Love and thanks to you all!
What’s NEXT FOR YOU?
Who knows? Even I don’t, yet. I’m working on “The Blue Talisman,” among other things. It’s a mystery novel with supernatural elements.
What is the name of YOUR UPCOMING RELEASE?
“The Cave” is already released in EPUB but will soon be launched as a paperback, with color illustrations by the celebrated Sheila Graber.
What should people EXPECT TO SEE FROM YOU IN THE FUTURE?
More books - probably a book series. My collaboration with Sheila Graber makes for some interesting possibilities, including animation.
ANY EVENTS YOU WANT TO SHARE that you will be appearing at in the near future?
I’ll be doing book signings in Volusia County, Florida, and will announce them on social media nearer to the time.
What are YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT?
Life. Books. Words. Ideas. Education. People. Work. Collaboration. Having Fun! The Here and Now.
Who knows? Even I don’t, yet. I’m working on “The Blue Talisman,” among other things. It’s a mystery novel with supernatural elements.
What is the name of YOUR UPCOMING RELEASE?
“The Cave” is already released in EPUB but will soon be launched as a paperback, with color illustrations by the celebrated Sheila Graber.
What should people EXPECT TO SEE FROM YOU IN THE FUTURE?
More books - probably a book series. My collaboration with Sheila Graber makes for some interesting possibilities, including animation.
ANY EVENTS YOU WANT TO SHARE that you will be appearing at in the near future?
I’ll be doing book signings in Volusia County, Florida, and will announce them on social media nearer to the time.
What are YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT?
Life. Books. Words. Ideas. Education. People. Work. Collaboration. Having Fun! The Here and Now.
AND LASTLY, HOW CAN WE:
BUY YOUR BOOK
“The Cave” is published by Smashwords on smashwords.com, instant EPUB download in a variety of formats. Here’s the link:
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/SuzyDavies
CONTACT YOU
Goodreads Question and Answer.
KEEP UP TO DATE ON NEW RELEASES
Just Look at my Author Page on Goodreads. Here’s the link:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/473767.Suzy_Davies
“The Cave” is published by Smashwords on smashwords.com, instant EPUB download in a variety of formats. Here’s the link:
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/SuzyDavies
CONTACT YOU
Goodreads Question and Answer.
KEEP UP TO DATE ON NEW RELEASES
Just Look at my Author Page on Goodreads. Here’s the link:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/473767.Suzy_Davies
Once again we would like to thank Suzy for being here today and sharing with all of us here at SBC. It’s always wonderful to learn more about a gifted author like Suzy Davies and to be able to share with everyone at SBC.
I want to send a thank you to all of the readers here at SBC. We really appreciate all of you. We here at SBC promise to continue to bring you more authors in the near future. See you again soon, Jacks.
I want to send a thank you to all of the readers here at SBC. We really appreciate all of you. We here at SBC promise to continue to bring you more authors in the near future. See you again soon, Jacks.
Jacks, Silver Beans Reviewer and Interviewer
Posting: ROMANCE FICTION, YA, and CHILDREN BOOKS
Posting Date: 10/20/2018
SUZY DAVIES Book Reviews Average: 4.6 STARS
Posting: ROMANCE FICTION, YA, and CHILDREN BOOKS
Posting Date: 10/20/2018
SUZY DAVIES Book Reviews Average: 4.6 STARS
HUGE THANKS AGAIN...
SUZY DAVIES for popping in for a chat!
SUZY DAVIES for popping in for a chat!
Additional Fun Fact:
SUZY DAVIES is always learning something new!
SUZY DAVIES is always learning something new!
Looking...
for a good book readers? Check out Suzy Davies' BOOKS!
for a good book readers? Check out Suzy Davies' BOOKS!
THE CAVE by Suzy Davies
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