Q&A with author-illustrator extraordinaire, Tamlyn Teow!

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SOXIETY
​(Book 1 in the BOOK OF KIN series)
written & illustrated by Tamlyn Teow
proudly published by Riveted Press/Yellow Brick Books

AVAILABLE NOW!

Visit https://thebookofkin.com/ to discover even more about Tamyln and her brilliant, ground-breaking vision behind SoXiety. 

Visit rivetedpress.com.au/ to learn more about Riveted Press, the publisher behind SoXiety. 

Thank you to artist, Tamlyn Teow, for stopping by my blog to tell us about her magnificent new book 'SoXiety'.

                  Q&A with TAMLYN TEOW

1. Your new book SoXiety is published with Riveted Press. It's a graphic novel/picture book, and the first in a series of five books called 'The Book of Kin' series with each volume showcasing a different theme that 'celebrates cohesive kinship'. Can you share briefly what SoXiety is about?
 
Sure thing! SoXiety explores issues around social media and the current state of our society. The book aims to open discussions around the themes of anxiety, depression and dopamine addiction. It is told through the perspective of ‘X’, as the character navigates through a dystopian world set within a concrete jungle. The reader follows the protagonist’s journey of deterioration and regeneration.


2. What prompted you to write SoXiety in the first place? And you don't have social media of your own, like the themes of the book. How did you research this book and get to know the harms of social media to portray? Why and when did you choose to not have social media? 

The seed of the idea for SoXiety stemmed from my own experience and struggles within our current cultural landscape. Having grown through the technological revolution, I’ve had the privilege of experiencing life with and without technology so the movement and change hits much harder. I’ve always been a deeply sensitive person which is both a blessing and a curse. Emotions, thoughts and situations are often amplified and even as a child, I’ve had a vivid imagination but tend to catastrophise as well. I tend to get focused or fixated on things, am competitive, and worry endlessly about others or what they think. As a result, those pre-existing traits are a bad combination with social media.

From daily observations, I am confident that I’m not alone in my struggles. The addiction to screens and devices is evident, the need for attention, shortening attention spans, reduction in self-awareness and companies hungry for marketing/data mining- are all serious issues that should be addressed. 

I got off social media 18 months ago as I noticed how much my mental health was adversely impacted. This decision was made so that the time and mental energy that was previously dedicated to “Likes”, “who commented/liked/follows someone”, comparing, scrolling - can be diverted to other areas that would help me grow rather than deplete my soul. Thus, the research for this book was based off my personal experience but also, reading others’ accounts online, watching presentations by Jonathan Haidt/Yuval Noah Harari/Johann Hari/Scott Galloway/Tristan Harris and documentaries such as The Social Dilemma. 
 
 
3. What was the process of writing and illustrating SoXiety like? And how did it come to be published with Riveted Press?
 
It was very fun and therapeutic to create the book. Mainly because my publisher allows a lot of creative freedom! It was surreal as the idea was very abstract and I never thought anyone would understand my vision or be interested as it’s experimental. When I pitched it to Rowena Beresford, publisher at Riveted Press, it was more of a conversation in passing rather than a formal proposal.
But she expressed interest so I put one together.

She took it under consideration, took a leap of faith and offered me a contract. It’s always a pleasure and highly rewarding collaborating with Rowena (she’s pretty much a one man band at Riveted Press!) since I worked on the very first project she offered.

​There was a lot of constructive conversation back and forth for around two years, discussions on how to improve the flow and clarity of the narrative and decisions on the format of the printed product. We have worked very closely together for a while now so I have a lot of trust in her.


4. You are so talented at book covers and illustrations. Why do you do what you do? Why do you love illustrating and creating books?

That’s so kind of you, thanks very much. I would like to take this opportunity to point out though, that talent only takes you so far and if you don’t work on your craft, you won’t progress. Getting to this point has been the result of a lot of failing, falling, rejections and getting back up just to inch forward only a little. I often feel that whatever others can do, I have to work three times extra hard to achieve that milestone.

But I try to keep in mind the importance of the compound effect and adopting atomic habits, setting small but achievable goals so you don’t get overwhelmed and give up. At present, I have so much more to learn and improve on, which is the beautiful thing since I do fear complacency or people finding out I’m actually not very good at all!

In my opinion, everyone is talented in their own way, it’s probably the grit and what you love so much that you’re willing to endure not quitting, that varies among individuals.

I love being an artist because it allows me to live a thousand different realities, to constantly learn and have no two projects that are the same. It helps me collaborate with other incredible artists who are just as passionate and most importantly, I get to learn so much about a vast amount of different areas. It’s also a compulsion, if I don’t do any art in a day, I get a bit odd. Ha-ha!

Growing up around a culture that disapproves of this career and having been in a line of work with a mould I didn’t fit in, does make this path more sacred to me.
 
5. What is in the pipeline? Can you share anything you are working on next?

Thanks so much for asking! Some books I illustrated that are released soon include...
 Bronte’s Big Business by Liane Young, out with Wombat Books in June,
a cover I did for The Disappearing Circus by Kate Gordon and Helen Edwards (published by Riveted Press in July),
​and My Pet Archie by Karyn Savage (published in August by Riveted Press).

And, there are sequels to SoXiety coming in 'The Book of Kin' series!