Author Belinda Nowell

First time author, Belinda Nowell, has just released the title Who's Got a Normal Family?. Belinda chatted to us about families, books, illustrations and more!

Who’s Got a Normal Family? brings forward a topic that many families will find important, but is not yet prevalent in the current children’s book market.  Where did your inspiration for the book come from, and how did you decide to pose the book’s question in the way you did?

My parents ran out-of-home care facilities for kids when I was a child, so from a very young age my concept of ‘family’ was pretty broad. Then my parents remarried and had more children so I ended up in a big, blended family. Even though I didn’t have any friends with families like mine, I thought we were completely normal. I’m incredibly close to all my brothers and sisters, regardless of parentage, however I found as I got older that people wanted to make sense of who belonged to whom.

I am so passionate about the book’s message – all families are different and that’s the most normal thing of all. I want to live in a world where every child feels the same way.

Illustrator Miša Alexander’s bright and textured work brings the warmth and poignancy of the story right to the reader, yet still keeps the humour and playfulness of a picture book. Where did you source your illustrator and how did you know she was ‘the one’?

Miša is an incredible artist. She lives in Bangalow in north NSW and we would never have crossed paths had it not been for another fabulous talent and great friend, Kelly Boulton, who recommended I meet her after reading an early draft. Miša sent me some sketches and also illustrated the book’s hero Alex and his family from a different manuscript. I fell in love with her vision of Alex instantly and knew I didn’t want to do this project without her.

How did you find the production process ... what were some of the most surprising things that came up along the way?

The production process was very smooth. It’s makes a massive difference when you aren’t trying to do everything yourself. It gives you more time to play in that creative space and gives you the opportunity to think about launching the book and future projects. It’s also a great relief to have someone else double check your grammar and proofs!

Pre-releasing the book during International Families Week attracted some spotlight in its relevance. Have you found the overwhelming response to the book to be enthusiastic since then, and how are you keeping the book’s momentum going?

Luckily, I was a publicist in a previous life so I had a few ideas around launching the book. Pre-releasing the book during that time meant we could talk to a broader scope of media and it worked well because we got coverage in press you wouldn’t normally see surrounding a children’s book. Plus the mentions and articles are spaced out so we are still seeing the results of that first press release now. It gave the book a good nudge into the world and a good foundation to create more leads. I think you really need a plan beyond the initial launch so right now I’m now concentrating on introducing the book to people in education.

A family figurehead yourself, how have you seen your own family and children engage with the book?

There have been lots of questions about the families in the book but kids are totally on board with the message and it’s the best feeling in the world when you realise a child has connected with your characters.
As for my kids, my son thinks it’s very cool that you can actually ‘write a book’ and was the proudest person in the room at the launch when I read the story. I had to stop looking at him because he was making me emotional. I do love that they have witnessed the process and the hard work. I have a great photo of my two year old daughter studying the layouts plastered across the wall of our study. They still have a pile of drawing paper with discarded drafts and illustrations printed on the back.
 
You can read more about the book, and keep an eye on more from Belinda at boabel.com.au.