It’s the third and final of my December author interviews. This time it’s the turn of author, poet, and all round author helper, Lily Lawson. Her children’s picture book, Santa’s Early Christmas is no. 17 of my 24 recommended reads this month.
My interview with Lily
I know you as a poet, Lily, so what led you to write a children’s picture book?
I have written a few bits and pieces for children, accidentally you might say, from prompts. I tend to just go with wherever the prompt takes me. My children’s poems were well received so it made sense to explore the possibility of publishing them.
I used to write poems for my parents in their cards. Santa’s Early Christmas started out as a poem for my dad and one of the additional ones as a poem for my mam. The Santa poem has been edited to make it suitable for children. The original one will be a freebie in one of my December editions of Life with Lily.
What a lovely story. Do you think you’ll write more books for children?
There’s another one on the way. It’s at the editing stage. I expect to publish in early 2023. I would like to publish more at some point in the future.
Getting back to you as a poet, will you release any poetry collections in 2023?
I do intend to publish another collection in 2023. I am unsure of the details at the moment but once I have published my next book I will decide.
What have been your favourite reads in 2022?
I will be announcing my Lily award winners and there are some hard choices. Unforgettable by R E Loten, and And then she fell by Dreena Collins both definitely deserve a mention. I have read a lot of poetry this year and a fair few short stories so there is a lot of competition in those categories. I have been surprised at what I have found myself reading at times, I love that.
What does the festive season look like for you and yours?
Nowadays things are much quieter than they used to be. We have simplified things a lot since my childhood Christmas’ of squashing into my nana’s and everyone hosting some sort of celebration. My dad and I will eat Christmas food and catch some festive TV.
Sounds like a lovely Christmas to me. Thanks for talking to my readers, Lily. Here’s to a fabulous festive break for you and your dad.
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If you’d like to find out more about Lily and her writing, here are all the links: