I hope you enjoy the interview below...
Welcome Sonya! I’ve read your book a dozen times and it gets better every time. Is there a period or event that gave this book its voice where you just knew it had to be written? “I would first like to say thanks for having me. It’s such a pleasure! I like to think of my book as being inspirationally inspired. I always knew I wanted to write a children’s book in life. I actually started writing one back in 2007, and I just had the hardest time with putting the book together and finishing it. I actually never finished the book. I really kind of put it behind me, and figured writing just wasn’t for me. Now looking back, I can say it just wasn’t my time. With this book “A Kings Love for his Daughter,” I wrote this book in a matter of five minutes while sitting at my desk at my old job. The lord just put the book on my heart, and I wrote it down. Not only did the lord give me the words to write, he gave me the passion, and desire to be serious about this book. Right after writing the book, I called my best friend and told her the great news. She was really supportive of the new journey I was getting ready to embark on.”
I understand you were raised by your Father as a single parent, may I ask what happened to your mother? “ That’s right. My father raised me the best he could with his addiction to crack, but My late aunt gets most of the credit for raising me. My mother abandoned my brother, sister, and when I was about 3 years old. She was unhappy in her marriage with my father , which caused her to turned to drinking and becoming an alcholoic. During this time even though it was the 80’s it was still considered taboo for a white woman and black man to be together, especially in the south where she was born and raised. Her family really had an difficult time accepting bi-racial granchildren as part of the family. With the stress of an unhappy marriage, drinking, and the and the added disappointment from her family, she felt it was better to allow my father to raise us, and she gave up her parental rights. I just met her for the first time in July of 2009. We have a great relationship now, and we are continually working towards getting to know each other and to be apart of each others life. She is a great grandmother to my son James, and Puppy “ Mort.” J
I’ve read your Aunt played an important part in your life before she succumbed to Cancer. What is your fondest memory of her? “Yes she was such a major part of my life. My aunt played the mother role in my life. Wow there are so many memories of her, and I’m comforted by the lord during my times of grief knowing she is with the king at her “Forever Home” where she is now healed from cancer. My aunt believed in the importance of education. She owned her own accounting business, and she was the co-founder of an art gallery here in Columbus. I remember when I graduated from high school, I was in love with my son’s father. I figured I would just stay close to home and go to a local community college. I will never forget how my aunt "about cussed" me out, told me I better pick a college out of town or she was going to pick one for me! She told me that I was going “off” to college somewhere in the fall. She wanted to best for me, and she wanted me to have a real college experience being on my own without any distractions from boys, or from home. I was so mad at her at that time, but reflecting back I appreciate her pushing me to get out there. I picked “The University of Cincinnati” where I majored in Psychology and I loved every single moment of it. I met so many great friends, and learned so much while going to school there.”
Ameerah is the prominent Character for your book and the story is told through her eyes…Where did the name “Ameerah” come from and what made you use her as the voice for your vision? “I had the vision for Ameerah in my mind before my illustrator put her onto paper. She had her own little personality, and wittyness about herself. I think a little of me is in Ameerah J She is the princess I never was. She is the voice I could never have as a child.
When I was looking for an character name I wanted to pick a name that meant “Princess.” I wanted a cute, ethnic princess type of name, something unique. After doing some research for princess names, I came across “ Ameerah” which means princess in Arabic . The great thing is even though my book is an Christian book, a lot of people of people of the Muslim faith enjoy my book as well, because the character “ Ameerah.” She appeals to many different religions about Jesus Christ, and I think that it’s just great!” This book allows The Gospel of Jesus Christ to not only be preached to his own sheep, but to other sheep’s as well.”
One of the wonderful things about the book is that you address so many fears little girls have growing up (such as being alone, not feeling loved, being teased). Are these things you faced as a tween growing up? Well growing up yes I did feel lonely at many times. Even though I had a father, brother, aunt and many friends, the void from not knowing my mother saddened me. During mother day holidays, and such I would get even more depressed. It one thing to have an absent parent in the home. In most cases the father is missing, unfortunately it’s the norm. But for a young girl to be without a mother it was very difficult for me. I didn’t want to talk to my dad about personal girlie things. I felt like Everyone else had a mother but me. It really did affect my self-esteem in a negative way. I didn’t feel valued, loved, or worthy. I can remember moving from West Virginia and going to an inner city high school here in Columbus, Ohio I was picked on for my accent. I was considered to be to “White” acting for the black kids, and too “black” acting for the white kids. It was a constant state of confusion for me. There were times in my life where these types of issues had me wanting to take my own life. It was only though me getting to know Jesus Christ for myself that he saved me.”
You related real life storytelling and biblical verses so creatively. I’ve read many bible based children’s books and sometimes they can be too overwhelming for our young children. I love the way your book makes reading to my own daughter easy and rewarding. What feedback have you received so far? Can you give a few testimonials? Thank you. I have received so much feedback from my fans regarding the book. I have had so many little girls tell me how much they have enjoyed the book. On my facebook fan page at (www.facebook.com/akingslove) I have lots of pictures sent it from fans from everywhere that enjoy the book. I have had testimonials from nonbelievers who tell me this book allowed their children to learn about who Jesus Christ is. I had an testimony from a mother who told me that she was reading the book to her daughter before bed, and even though she read it many times before, for some reason on this night it touched her in a special way. She told me how she was really moved and encouraged. That’s the wonderful thing about Gods Word. The word is powerful. It doesn’t matter if it comes from a children’s book it’s powerful and it can touch you.”
“A King’s Love for his Daughter” also gives children a fun experience by providing them with fun tasks to do (coloring pages, a princess prayer and note page to name a few). How would you best describe your book to our readers? “My book is a book every single girl should have. My character Ameerah is a positive role model for young girls to look up to. She lets the readers know hey it’s okay to feel lonely at times, it’s okay to get teased at school, it’s okay because through all this you are still a princess. See sometimes as adults we get so consumed in our issues and trails that we forget our kids are going through their own little issues. They need to be encouraged just like us. Just like how we pray and pick up the bible to be encouraged, so should our children. You are never to young to have an relationship with Jesus. Not only does my book encourage it also gets fun with coloring pages. There is also a section at the end of the book that talks about famous girls of the bible. I want Ameerah to be a known character across the world. She is Gods little princess!”
I’d like to take this time to give cudos to your illustrator Mr. Omar Aranda! His work was remarkable. How did you meet him and are you planning to work with him in the future? “Thank you. I have no talent in drawing at all so he is truly a blessing! I was on the search for an illustrator for about a month. I had the vision of Ameerah in my mind, but no one was really giving to put my vision into paper until Omar. I happened to come across his work online. Omar lives in Australia. I was so impressed with his work. I read how he’s illustrated for marvel and DC Comic Books on top of many other major types of works. I thought I would inquire of his services for my book. Honestly I did not think he would even reply. I was an self published author just getting started, surely he would not want to do this type of work. Well to my surprise he was delighted to take on the project. I remember when he emailed me the first sketch of Ameerah I cried tears of joy. He got it. He was able to put my vision into paper. Throughout the course of months we corresponded through emails and mail. Omar is represented by the illustrator’s agency. I am definitely working with Omar again on future books. This is just the beginning.”
Lastly, what up next for Sonya Warlick? “I am currently working on my next book “ Princess Ameerah and the royal Tea Party.” I plan on doing a series of books based around my character Ameerah. My next book will introduce to Ameerah on a more personal level. In this book readers will meet her best friends, family, and it’s just more personal. I am also working on a book for our young boys. You can purchase my book “A Kings Love for his Daughter” Online at www.akingslove.com if you haven’t done so already. Join my fan page as well at http://www.facebook.com/akingslove?ref=ts#!/akingslove to stay up to date with book information. Thank you again Klarque it was a pleasure!”
What a remarkable Author! I do hope each one of you takes the time to invest in your children's future by ordering your book today! Thank you so much for follow this blog and I look forward to your insights and comments on this interview.
Milano Flascucci~
