Hello Wonderful People! I hope you are having a fantastic day today!
I am very delighted to see that I am interacting with authors from different parts of the world! My two previous featured authors were from Bilbao, Spain, and Johannesburg, South Africa, and today, Tabitha will be sharing her story from Melbourne, Australia; how amazing is that?!
Alright, without further ado, help me welcome Ms. Tabitha Page to Empowering Stories!
Please introduce yourself and let our readers know a little about you.
My name is Tabitha Page, and I am a New Zealand born author, living in Melbourne, Australia, since 2010.
A keeper, reader, and creator of books, taker of photographs, and coffee drinker, I love to make things (usually a big mess) but generally anything creative and artsy.
After living with autoimmune disease/chronic illness for many years and spending (far) too much time in hospital, I write books for children about illness and disability so that people (big and small) will know that they are not alone when facing challenges.
I want children to feel empowered and supported and aim to teach others about people with other abilities and foster understanding in children and young people.
To date, I have self-published four children’s books to date and has numbers 5, 6 and 7 releasing in 2021/2022.
What a fantastic journey! Aside from chronic illness and being an author, we share the love for coffee and make big messes while creating something beautiful! Please introduce us to your books/work.
I currently have four books out in the world –
Mikah’s Big Move and Mikah’s Wandering Feet are books one and two in the Mikah Can! series of illustrated children’s books, and they follow the journey of Mikah the deaf monkey. Mikah uses sign language to communicate and is always learning new things. Mikah is a cheeky monkey, who often finds himself in trouble and sometimes finds himself having to work through things that many people (young and old) do; things like anxiety and dealing with change.
Forever Friends is an illustrated book in which the two main characters deal with issues such as bullying and anxiety. Both girls are picked on, one for using a wheelchair and the other for wearing glasses. The two girls become fast friends after ending up in the same classroom, and they each end up with a best friend and having a great time, despite limitations.
Today I Met the Sock Fairy is a fun and quirky book picture book which introduces us to a young girl who loves to play and loves to have fun. One thing that she does not love (like many of us), is putting away her clothes and taking out her laundry. For this reason, she soon comes across the Sock Fairy, a mischievous little creature who helps her to see WHY we should keep our belongings tidy and why we should help around the house.
I have my fifth book, titled ‘I’m a Type One kid’ releasing on the 13th of March 2021, so very soon. This book follows a youngster named Tina, as she begins to feel unwell, is diagnosed and adjusts to life with Type One (Juvenile) Diabetes. It is a fun, easy to understand story told by the protagonist and the aim is to take the readers through an uncomplicated, yet informative and accurate description of Type One and some of the feelings that one might feel after diagnosis. It will be a great learning tool for those newly diagnosed, siblings/family, friends and classmates.
I also have two other books coming out in 2021/2022, though the details of these are not being released quite yet.
Wow, Great books with touching and inspiring messages! You have been busy, that’s for sure! I love that you create books with such powerful messages. I can’t wait to read them! What motivates you?
I am motivated by my desire to empower, support, teach and bring awareness to the challenges that many people face.
I want readers to know that there is someone out there who understands what they might be going through. There are so many different challenges, and most often, there is more than one person who is dealing with the same type of thing. I want children to know that they are not alone and that they can reach out for support.
I use my experiences with different disabilities, illnesses and challenges as inspiration for my work, because some of these things can really make you feel very lonely. I want to share my own experiences in a way that will help another person (big or small).
All the above also helps me to get through my own challenges, especially with my own health conditions.
I love it! I can relate to what you are trying to accomplish. I agree that having chronic illness or any type of challenges can get lonely sometimes, and we need people like you to remind them that they are not alone. I’m sure the readers will appreciate that. What helps you to focus when you sit down to write?
When I sit down to write, I have a playlist on YouTube that I will listen to with headphones. It helps me to focus, I am not sure how, as some of the music is pretty out there for concentrating, well… that is what I have been told, but for me, it works.
I use the same playlist every time I write. It includes (but is not limited to) Queen, Shania Twain, Whitney Houston, Home free, Pentatonix, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, Passenger, Andra Day and Lady Gaga.
Well, I love your playlist! I could almost hear the keyboards clicking and envision you just inspired at what you are creating. Who was your favorite childhood author, and why?
This is a hard one as I have so many favourites. I am a reader and have been for many years, so choosing just a few is hard. Childhood favourites, I would have to say … Margaret Mahy, who was a NZ born author that I read a lot of. I loved that she wrote about growing up and about relationships and interaction with other people, which for someone who found these things hard, was great. I adored her book titled ‘A Lion in the meadow’.
I also loved Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton, who’s The Faraway Tree series I loved to bits.
Wonderful authors! I also love the book, “A Lion in the Meadow”! Who is your current favorite author?
Currently, I would have to say Dilly Court, John Marsden and Cathy Glass.
I am sure there are many to choose from, but these are great choices. If you could meet any well-known person, who would it be and why?
Julie Andrews, just because she is amazing, and I am a huge fan of her movies and love the fact that she is also an author. She is great! I would love to chat with her.
I would like to use a different verb here, but I can’t find a fitting one, so here it is… I love Julie Andrews, too! I just find her adorable and have watched many of her movies, including my favorite, “The Sound of Music.” Having written many books, I’m sure you’ve reached out to other authors out there for some advice and resources. Have you ever been a part of any writing groups, pages, subscriptions, clubs, and would you recommend any of them? Why?
I highly recommend :-
The Duck Pond which is run by the wonderful Jen Storer.
The KidLitVic conference in Melbourne
Creative Kids Tales
Just Write for Kids Australia and Books on Tour
All of these can be found via a quick FB search. Email me for details and links if you like.
This is great! I will have to check some of them myself. What does writing success look like to you?
I would have to say that writing success for me is hearing or seeing that my books have made a difference in a readers life. It would be that my work inspires, uplifts and empowers children and supports those who need to know that they are not alone.
Amazing! What is one piece of advice you would give anybody starting out in their writing journey?
Do not pressure yourself to write every day. It is advice that I hear often and once upon a time, I agreed. With my chronic illness/autoimmune disease, it is not possible however, and after hearing ‘write every day’ so many times, when I was unable to, I felt anxious and like I was doing a bad job.
I believe that you need to write when you can and rest when you need to. It is okay to have a break and look after yourself.
So that would be my advice.
I can definitely attest to this. Well said! Is there anything you would like to add before we sign off?
You can find more information about me and/or my books on the following social media channels: –
Website- www.tabithajeanpage.com
Email- tpagewriter@gmail.com
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/TPageWriter
Twitter- https://twitter.com/TPageWriter0
Goodreads– https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18134511.Tabitha_J_Page
LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabitha-page-410164159
Thank you so much for having me!
It has been my pleasure to have you stop by at Empowering Stories Blog Page, Tabitha! I’m sure many people will be inspired by your work. I wish you more success and good health.
If you would like to be featured on Empowering Stories Blog Page and my other social media, please head on to the contact page on this website and send me a quick email. I would love to hear your empowering stories!
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