Meet the Author - Sonia Chen

Very rarely do editors get the chance to support such young authors possessing such raw talent, making the editor question their own abilities. Sonia, aged 9 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, from 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.