I am delighted to have Tania Tay as my special guest on my blog today. Tania has written the first in latest Storymix creation Spellcasters under the pseudonym Crystal Sung and published by Hachette Children’s Books.

Tania is second generation British Malaysian Chinese. She first wrote stories and plays on her mum’s old typewriter in the school holidays. Working as an advertising copywriter in Singapore and London was great training in writing commercial fiction.

As well as ghost writing Spellcasters Tania has written a screenplay, developed with BBC Writers Room London Voices.

Spellcasters is an empowering magical adventure series, which will cast a spell over children aged 7+. Jenny is the new girl in town and forms a band called The Spellcasters with her new friends.

When an ancient evil spirit escapes from its underground lair, the girls discover that they have something even more special in common – they can all channel the magical powers of their ancestors! Maya can shapeshift, Tamzin can control nature, and Ananya can read minds. But to stop the evil Graydig from destroying their beloved community centre, Jenny must travel back in time to ancient China to master her own supernatural ability.

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Welcome Tania to my blog.

Tell us a little about yourself and the inspiration for your book Spellcasters.

I’m an advertising copywriter and SCBWI volunteer and I’ve been writing fiction and spec screenplays for over ten years before I got this chance to collaborate on Spellcasters with Storymix Studio. The idea behind Spellcasters comes from Jasmine Richards and her drive to produce books for children with a diverse cast of characters, having fun adventures with magic.

I know Spellcasters is a Storymix book, how have you found the book packaging experience and how was the pseudonym for Spellcasters chosen?

Working with Storymix has been really fun. While Storymix came up with the idea and storyline, I filled in with much of the character descriptions, especially for the Malaysian Chinese grandparents and Jenny’s family life. By coincidence, my own daughter lived with my parents while I worked away for a while, and I drew off this experience. I added a lot of Malaysian food descriptions as well. I also researched Chinese magic and found the Wu shaman female ancestor for Jenny, which was really interesting.

For the pseudonym of Crystal Sung, we used the Chinese surname Sung. Since the English spelling also relates to music, it was a fun way to relate the author name to the story, as the four girls are in a band. For the first name, we wanted something magical and I came up with a long list of possible names, but in the end we chose Crystal.

How did you decide what magical powers your characters would have in the story?

The magical powers were in the storyline created by Storymix. They wanted each girl’s magic to have been passed down from a female ancestor who was rooted in history. I found the female Wu shaman who passed down powers of astral projection to Jenny. These shaman used song and dance to channel the spirit plane. Maya is descended from an ancient Egyptian acolyte of Isis who could shapeshift into animals. Tamzin has powers of healing and the ability to control the weather which is passed down from her ancestor Gang Gang Sarah – a legendary witch from Trinidad and Tobago. Ananya’s telekinetic ability is wish fulfilment magic, passed down from an ancestor who used the magic of the Kalpavriksha wishing tree.

What magical power what would you choose to have and what jewellery amplifier would be connected to it?

I loved reading about magic as a child and mixing potions. I’d choose to have the wishing magic if I could! My favourite jewellery to wear are earrings so that would probably be the best talisman for me.

If you could meet your characters, Jenny, Maya, Tamzin and Ananya, what would you say to them?

To enjoy their magical powers to the max! I would have loved to have magic powers as a child – and still would! But also I’d tell them resolve any differences as they come up and keep being friends. Friendship is the most important super power of all.

What writing advice would you give to an aspiring children’s book author?

If you get stuck, write longhand in a notebook. You can always find something to write down, even if you’re just writing about people you see on the tube, or you’re just having a moan about annoying things in your life. Often, writing longhand gets your imagination going and you could find yourself writing about a past event or in the voice of a character, or coming up with a story. Always be curious. (My family might say nosy…)

Has having a book published changed the way you see yourself? 

I guess it’s given me external validation, and proves to my family that I’m a real writer, rather than just scribbling in my notebook every day. I’m still doing the same things day to day but it has boosted my confidence.

Is there anything else you would like to tell readers about Spellcasters and writing for children?

I couldn’t have written the book without Jasmine Richards and the Storymix editors, including Clare Whitston who devised the storyline, and Irem Ozpullukcu. So the author Crystal Sung isn’t just me but a collaboration of all of us. With my own writing, I’m constantly angsting about the plot so having the storyline given to me made the process a lot easier. But you also can’t be precious about anything – if they want to change anything you have to say yes. My own writing at the moment is mainly for adults, not children, so it’s been fun to have this chance to write about some fun adventures and magic.

Thank you for joining me today. I am looking forward to reading book two of Spellcasters Potion Power.

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You can follow Tania Tay on Twitter @taniatay88 and Instagram @taniatay88

You can buy a copy of Spellcasters by Crystal Sung in any good bookshop and online at uk.bookshop.org, an organisation with a mission to financially support local, independent bookshops.