We took advantage of our trip to Europe and stopped in London before returning to Brazil. The book "Are You a Monster? had just been released in England and it was a great opportunity to do some promotional events.
On the weekend I did the storytelling at the bookstore 'Nomad Books', in a very nice neighborhood of London. The kids had a lot of fun and let their imaginations fly away while we made a monster together as they suggested.
The next day, at the “West End Lane Books” bookstore, I did a window intervention - which had kept me awake, wondering how to draw the monster on the inside of the glass, but have the layers shown in the correct order on the outside. The solution was to start at the end... lol, that is, the details, and then paint the body. It worked out pretty well, check it out:
This bookstore happened to be near Abbey Road and was the perfect excuse to stop by on the way back. The Beatles have always been part of my musical background and imagining them walking there 50 years ago was amazing. By the way, they are in my book "About a Song", you may have seen this illustration.
In addition to the bookstores, Happy Yak organized some school visits, two of them in Wolverhampton, near Birmingham, and two in London. The program was to tell the story, draw a monster with the children's suggestions and answer some questions. And in between, we had the special participation of a life-size monster. In the first school, some children got scared when he came in, so we adapted a more subtle entrance for the following time, and success was guaranteed!
Having a book published in other countries is very pleasant, especially for being an author from a different culture. It is very good to know that my work is accepted in different places, even more so in a country that is recognized for its literature, books, and authors of worldwide success, with a literary tradition filled with works of great quality.
The power that books have to reach readers of all ages, social groups, races, cultures, and languages is what fascinates and motivates me the most to continue creating. Literature is a way to unite people from different cultures but who are the same, with feelings, need for affection, connection, and belonging, regardless of place or language.
Another nice thing about promoting a book in a country like this is being able to visit tourist attractions that are the backdrops of movies and series, as well as having access to culture, which in smaller cities like mine is more restricted.
Seeing the Rosetta Stone and so much history at the British Museum, having a view of the sunset on the London Eye, walking beside the River Thames at night with the lights reflecting on the water (with a lot of icy wind, which left me speechless and almost compromised my school presentations), strolling in the alternative Camden Town, visiting the bookstore from the movie "Nothing Hill", going to a play that made me laugh from beginning to end, eating mushroom risotto at Borough Market, and, having a pint of Guinness!
"Traveling is the only thing you spend money on, and it makes you richer." It's great to remember all these moments and to be able to share them with you.
If you want to see more pictures from the trip, go to my Instagram here.
See you in the next newsletter.
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