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I WON A NATIONAL AWARD!!!

When I wrote Chinglish, I had no idea of the 1000s in the Chinese community (all over the world) who would relate to my upbringing in a takeaway/restaurant. Since then, many have messaged to say how much better they feel knowing they weren’t alone.

Apart from the struggles (including racism, the immigrant experience and identity issues), growing up British Chinese was and continues to be, a rich and colourful dual culture experience. We were known as the ‘silent minority’ but with incredible awards like this representing all, I hope others will be encouraged to join in getting our voices heard. Congratulations to the other winners Onjali Rauf and Ayisha Malik and love to all – I’m off to celebrate now whoo-hoo!

Shortlisted for The Diverse Book Awards 2020!

Whoo-hoo! I can’t believe Chinglish has been nominated for The Diverse Book Awards shortlist! To any aspiring writers out there, no matter what your background is, if you’ve got a story to tell then tell it because THIS might happen!

I didn’t think anyone would want to know about me, a working class kid growing up in a Chinese takeaway in Coventry, but my agent persuaded me otherwise and he was right, people want to hear our stories, especially those that aren’t very often heard. I know now how important this is for us to be able to understand and connect with each other.

Massive thanks as always go to my agent and all the top folk at Andersen Press for their support. Also, thank you to the judges at DBA and congratulations to the other brilliant short listed authors – yaaaaaay!

Bristol Teen Book Award 2020

I’ve been shortlisted for the Bristol Teen Book Award, along with these crazily talented authors! (How did I get here?)

This is a brilliant prize that celebrates diversity and draws attention to young adult novels featuring characters whose voices are not always heard in mainstream fiction. This means so much to me, so thank you to all the fantastic readers and voters. Fingers crossed we can all make it to the ceremony in Feb 2021!

Oh my words!

Something gorgeous and shiny came in the post today! My very own special bound copy of BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words Competition book, with all the winning stories in it!

I illustrated 10 year old Ellie Aitken’s story ‘For the last time’, a moving and devastating account of a Jewish family’s final Sabbath meal. Ellie won a silver award in the 10-13 year old category for this wonderful piece of heartfelt writing. Well done Ellie!

Click here to see the winning stories.

I WON SOMETHING!

Okay, so I didn’t win Indie Book Awards. That pleasure went to the lovely Sophie Anderson for The Girl Who Speaks Bear, a book that will definitely go on my To Be Read list.

BUT….

I did win ‘Simply The Book’ category at the Coventry Inspiration Book Awards! This makes Chinglish an award-winning book so I am very happy indeed. Big love goes out to the organisers and all the dedicated readers who voted for me – you are simply FAB!

BBC Radio 2 500 Words winner

BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words competition was launched in 2010, after Chris Evans dreamt of getting children excited about reading and writing. All children: no matter what their ability, experience, or background. The idea was simple; pen an original story, no more than 500 words in length, about ANYTHING you want. Stories are judged anonymously, without regard to grammar, punctuation or spelling.

Since the competition launched, over 1 million stories have been submitted. This year was the FINAL one so imagine how excited I was to have been chosen to illustrate one of the winners! I couldn’t believe it, here I was alongside these great talents: Tony Ross, Axel Scheffler, David Roberts, Margaret Sturton and Fiona Lumbers. The story I illustrated was by Ellie Aitken, who was awarded Silver in the 10-13 category for the extremely emotive ‘For The Last Time’ and read by Blue Peter presenter Mwaksy.

Congratulations to all the winners in the history of 500 Words. Keep writing your fantastic stories!

Click here to see the winning stories.

Shortlisted for Indie Book Awards 2020!

Ok somebody slap me now!

I’ve been shortlisted for quite a few awards since Chinglish was launched, and in each one I’ve been side by side with some real heavyweight authors who have won awards already, some of them multiple times. But this particular one was a surprise because Indie Book Awards is national, it’s a BIGGIE! Supported by Books Are My Bag which is run by The Booksellers Association who support independent book shops in UK and Ireland. I’ve not won anything yet and may never, but right now it doesn’t bother me, because being on this list alone is such a high achievement.

For someone who struggled at school, I’m living proof that you don’t have to be an exceptional academic to be able to write a book. Just plain self-belief and a bit of hard graft is enough to get you where you want in life.

However having said that, there’s no way I would have got here without my agent, editor, the brilliant team at Andersen Press and the countless people that have supported me along the way – so thank you so much everyone!

Staying chilled during lockdown

We’re into week 3 of lockdown and the world is a very different place. So many extreme adjustments have had to be made in such a short space of time. If anything this enforced break will make us slow us down and give us time to reflect: did we really need to go that fast, buy that stuff, eat that junk, act without thinking on so many occasions because we didn’t have time to do anything else?

Even before this happened, I felt the world was going at a ridiculous breakneck speed. Technology is supposed to make our lives easier but actually it fuels the need to deliver even quicker. Our brains and bodies can’t cope with the constant daily demands because technology advances faster than we can keep up with it. Before you know it we forget who we are and forget nature around us.

I started meditating over 10 years ago. It took a long time for me to accept that it might work as with many things these days, we want instant gratification. Meditation takes a while to ‘kick in’. It might take 3 weeks or 3 months but the key is to persevere until it happens, and you know when that is because that feeling is what I call ‘bliss’.  It’s when you start taking charge of your own mind and your mind is no longer controlling you. Look at it like going to the gym, it’s just like exercising another muscle.

From my experience I could clearly see the benefits of meditation to people of all ages and I really wanted to spread the message. I especially wanted to teach the next generation how to utilise this tool so that they could take it with them into adulthood and live calmer, happier, peaceful lives, without all the unnecessary clutter in their heads that can lead to mental health issues.

I wrote and illustrated a picture book that could spread that message. It’s called Chill with Lil and includes a guided relaxation to help calm kids down when things get too frantic. I’ve read it to lots of children in yr 1&2 at schools, at library sessions and to individuals and it works every time! Of course, you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy this particular chill time, anyone can join in.  Watch my story reading video here: tiny.cc/myb0lz

Much love and light to you all as we navigate our way through the coming weeks, Sue x

Last event for now…

This is me with the librarians and some of the students from Collingwood College, Surrey, a couple of weeks ago. At this point COVID19 was emerging as a threat but we hadn’t yet been given any official guidance from the government, so I went to the event as planned and enjoyed the talks.

I called my husband on the way back home. He was finishing work early as he wasn’t feeling well. Then I spent the next 14 days self-isolating while he recovered from flu symptoms. That was the start of the whole world downward spiralling.

The last few weeks have seen catastrophic changes. We don’t know when or if things will get back to normal but in the meantime we need to do the best we can to carry on reading, learning and adapting to our new way of life. Maybe when we get to the other side, we’ll have had enough time to reflect and become better human beings. More compassion and kindness towards each other and nature. Less ego, speed and mindless consumerism, that’s my hope.

Accumulate – Charity for the homeless

The lowest point in my life was when I was pregnant and living in a squat at 18. That’s why I didn’t hesitate when Accumulate asked if I’d like to help out at one of their workshops. The charity provides learning to young, homeless people who have gone through hardships and are now living in hostels or temporary accommodation in London. They also fundraise for scholarships so that participants can continue their creative education and study at college.

Students are currently working on a unique, crowdfunded book which will showcase their drawings, texts, visuals and poems, and give them ownership and control over who tells the stories of their lives and in what context. I spent the day listening to their stories and guiding them with their artwork: photography, illustration, painting and writing, which fascinating to see.

It’s easy to forget marginalised groups  and that’s why charities like Accumulate are so important, because they give these young people life-changing opportunities that open up a new world of positivity.

The Book Of Homelessness launches 4 June 2020.