"This is why I wanted to write the 10 worst stories!" - Children and Books PodCast

Show notes

Writing a book - Then the best children's book there is?! What a claim! Today, Lena tells us how this thought came to her and what her experience with writing was like.

She talks about writer's block, letters, wonderful stories and why she chose such a great and unique format in the end- The Letter Stories.

Have fun listening! Feel free to give us your feedback and tell us what you look for in a children's book!

https://lubina-hajduk.de/letterstories

To our english books and audio books: https://amzn.to/3HlOFEj

To our sorbian books and audio books: https://amzn.to/3Fv7dAv

Show transcript

00:00:00: Music.

00:00:05: Hello and welcome to the children and books podcast.

00:00:08: And today we have a special guest with Lena Mohr she's an author and illustrator and I'm happy that racing lubina and Lena with me today

00:00:18: hello from Scotland

00:00:21: hello from lifetick I'm very happy Lena that you are our best today because we live in the same town we live both and night take and we can say listeners it is a book town

00:00:36: we are making books and on different kinds or yeah maybe Lane are you like to introduce yourself a bit to our listeners and to

00:00:48: thanks for having me May 2020 and I started

00:00:58: writing and illustrating children's stories in December 2020 will I receive

00:01:05: and work as a freelance designer.

00:01:10: Also children and their very short stories and I sent them.

00:01:19: Wow that's interesting can you tell me what what inspired you to start writing the stories.

00:01:29: Yes I wanted to you I signed up for a female founders class and I wanted to

00:01:36: write and illustrate the best children's book on earth about empowerment and diversity and,

00:01:44: when I started writing I noticed that it was really hard because I had never done anything like that before and it was really hard to you write the best story on Earth,

00:01:54: waiting for the first time and it still as though instead I've started to write a lot of made a promise to myself that I would write very bad sorry.

00:02:07: To keep myself accountable I send all stories to print every Friday and on and on.

00:02:17: Then I took two different friends about it and it was actually friends idea and she said that you're writing digital letters would you like to send them,

00:02:28: on paper is a letter I really like the idea.

00:02:36: Yeah and I think everyone likes getting better if it's boring stuff.

00:02:45: Yeah and that was perfect because this is so short anyways yeah yeah it is quite a novelty together and a letter on real pay these days.

00:02:58: Yeah yeah that's true and yeah and I tried to make them pretty so if you open your letterbox and find that letter.

00:03:06: Und 73 that maybe the listeners you can have a look at Elena

00:03:14: my nose is hurting

00:03:16: because they are so colourful they are so lovely little straight it's I would I would really love as a try to get some nice weather yes.

00:03:31: Friends of mine now also getting the letters I think so grown up all child I think we'd all enjoy receiving a letter.

00:03:42: Beautifully illustrated with the story how do people get to get your letters what do they need to do,

00:03:49: bacon visit my website best shop if you're not living in Germany you have to send me more pictures of the little bit more complicated,

00:04:00: I'm open to send address to countries outside of Germany just have to send me different kinds of lettuce in the shopping.

00:04:11: Yeah fantastic yeah it's just maybe a development you can translate the stories to other languages too.

00:04:19: Yeah or you can help me translate thank you.

00:04:28: And the translation from interesting that you use in your stories different family situations.

00:04:38: What is the background of it tell a lot of stories that.

00:04:47: Show how dangerous the world actually children's stories the children still live.

00:04:57: Parents of the Dead and usually the depots to work in the man stays at home.

00:05:05: Reality in which a lot of the kids today less important to show.

00:05:12: Get that family can be a lot of things and it doesn't you can have very happy family and childhood even if you don't live with your biological mum and dad.

00:05:25: On the skies but it's not like the stories and the family situation always like a different,

00:05:35: sorry.

00:05:39: But this is the background in which the story happened it's not the focus.

00:05:48: Like a ordered just being a knob.

00:05:51: Cramping is good because it's very modern and it shows how the world today for children is my bread and in the end.

00:06:06: Birthday and your present and a little fight between the child and the mother and in the end it turns out that the next day of the child is going to,

00:06:18: dead father died doesn't live with the family but it's not really important part of the story within the last sentences of the story and a friend of mine afterwards

00:06:33: text me that because her parents are divorced and she said that she was crying because it was so special to her to be in a story

00:06:41: current temperature just the normal thing it's not the point around which.

00:06:49: The story of us around just told his family lives.

00:06:57: I think you're picking up on something that is really important for children.

00:07:03: And that's to see themselves represented in the stories that they read.

00:07:10: Yeah I think there's this saying you can't be what you can't see.

00:07:16: Before when I still lived in Stoke that I founded a non-profit organisation in Stuttgart and organise workshops for how to code and how to

00:07:28: and we try to have a female or gender diverse students so they can see.

00:07:37: People just like them working in it and that makes a huge difference.

00:07:44: Yeah that's fantastic because women I think,

00:07:50: possibly underrepresented in tech work and you don't want it's it's not it's not commonly seen off,

00:08:01: maybe it's maybe that's a myth maybe there are lots of women working in technology but we just don't know about it.

00:08:08: I'm not sure when I'm just thinking I sent a lot of women working in technology actually drop out of their jobs after couple of years.

00:08:16: Find a dislike the work environment they send it to hospital and then they start working for example in project management.

00:08:24: We also organise a network event and we see that it makes a change to have a favourite food.

00:08:33: Talk about the kind of experience you have friends see that you're not alone

00:08:37: very good super is also great things and interesting as well because I think you know you've kind of.

00:08:51: Started up on your own later and you know being very entrepreneurial in terms of setting up your own website and you know.

00:09:01: Fulfilling this this idea that you've had a creating these stories and illustrating them as well I wonder is that something that women do you think more often.

00:09:13: Yeah I say so.

00:09:21: A lot of women with great ideas and Tuesday ratings and I think it's,

00:09:28: dad and help each other because it's not like I do everything on my own all the time I go for a lot of friends to example read the stories and give me feedback

00:09:38: promote the letters on Instagram who invited to podcast like this if we can help each other

00:09:47: more great things can happen.

00:09:52: Yeah I think to this networking between women and so it's important.

00:10:00: Help me to.

00:10:06: NN11 question ahead what was the greatest experience with your with your letters and your stories

00:10:16: I also thought you had an interview on the Xbox set which is a local,

00:10:21: Leipzig local newspaper but I'm interested what was like the emotional part of the whole the whole story.

00:10:31: Sorry can also be really lonely.

00:10:37: Write me on your desk disappearing in your own world.

00:10:46: When you repeat again with your studying and you don't know if it's any good send,

00:10:55: all the time when I

00:10:57: get feedback from readers or from parents are like to hear this is really great thing I've been looking for something like this my children really like this story.

00:11:09: That warm fuzzy feeling and.

00:11:20: I don't have that many chances have to you actually read to children by Nigeria.

00:11:28: Also amazing it's really really lovely and and and.

00:11:38: Centre a youth club and it was really great group of kids and they were super attentive and I was reading

00:11:47: a story with a gender neutral pronoun,

00:11:52: complicated in German by explain it before how this one on the side of a new word and we're not get used to hearing it and maybe going to be a bit weird when I read it but I'm sure

00:12:06: thank you get along with it and when I was finished.

00:12:12: Write also Friday postcode to the character in the story and.

00:12:21: How do I address this character because I can.

00:12:25: German snatcher steer how how do I do this because I can't use that right because.

00:12:32: Going to have their going to have a dress agenda to them so how do I do that because you didn't get the whole thing you step brother.

00:12:46: And there were I think 10 or 11 children and they're so yeah so open and.

00:12:58: Very curious and explain to them and made a lot of sense for them that was really impressed,

00:13:04: I think a lot of it yeah yes hopefully full it is possible to deal with this questions.

00:13:16: Yeah thought I would say thank you Lena thank you that you have been August

00:13:22: I would mention to our listeners learn German then you can have a look and future right for Lena they like to have it on changing

00:13:41: on and on thank you Lena thank you Rachel branko lovely podcast thank you.

00:13:50: Music.

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