Interview: Author Christine Alemshah - Bea’s Balikbayan Box of Treasures
Welcome to my blog!
I’m excited for this to be a space for updates, musings, lists, travelogues, and more.
I’m especially keen to chat with and help boost writers and others in the publishing community.
So, grab a cup of tea, get comfy…and let’s dig in!
I am thrilled to share this discussion with my friend (and “agent sibling”), author Christine Alemshah, whose picture book, Bea’s Balikbayan Box of Treasures, illustrated by Dream Chen, will debut on July 15 with Free Spirit Publishing and is now available for pre-order!
Mother to two spirited daughters and classically trained vocalist, Christine Alemshah writes children's picture books that celebrate innovation, music, and her biracial Filipino American heritage. She hopes readers will see themselves in the stories she writes. When not writing, Christine enjoys singing karaoke and reading with her husband and two daughters under cozy blankets at their Lake Forest, California, home. She is represented by Vicky Weber at Creative Media Agency.
Christine gives back to the KidLit community through her invaluable Grow Your Writing Challenge, which is a trove of resources, links, and opportunities for learning. Be sure to check it out!
SR: Hi Christine! I'm so excited to chat with you.
CA: Hi Stacey! Thanks so much for having me on your blog to share about my debut picture book, Bea's Balikbayan Box of Treasures, and my writing journey.
SR: Let’s jump right in! First, for those who might not know, could you tell us what a balikbayan box is?
CA: Of course! In the Philippines, the term "balikbayan" means "back home." Balikbayan boxes are international care packages sent by overseas workers to their friends, family, and loved ones in the Philippines. Their contents might include chocolates, canned goods, cosmetics, toys, diapers, household gadgets, and hard-to-find items. Families often send balikbayan boxes home for the holidays and at other times throughout the year. Balikbayan boxes are also the ultimate expression of connection and love to faraway family members.
SR: It’s such a lovely tradition, and one that I had never even heard of until I married into a Filipino family myself! I love that children with Filipino heritage will be able to see themselves and their culture in your book, and that others who don’t know about balikbayan boxes will learn about them!
CA: The silver thread through all my stories is "connection." I longed to share this honored family tradition with a broader audience. One of the wonderful things I've discovered is that many families and cultures share similar traditions. I love finding the universality that connects us all.
SR: What other traditions do you love that you practiced as a child and/or that you currently practice with your own children?
CA: I'm biracial, and so are my children, so my favorite thing has been sharing traditions and honoring our heritage. My children are learning to speak Armenian and learn Armenian dance, while I learn Tagalog. We love attending festivals that celebrate our cultural traditions. We enjoy preparing and serving foods from both our cultures on holidays. On a typical Thanksgiving for us, we tend to skip turkey in favor of a manti-making party with lumpia and pancit.
SR: Lumpia and pancit, yum. Ok, getting back on track after daydreaming about mouthwatering foods…
One of the many things I love about Bea's Balikbayan Box of Treasures is that the story is multi-layered. You have themes of cultural tradition, acts of giving, connecting with family in different ways (telephone, writing letters), waiting patiently, and using imagination. Did you set out to infuse all of those themes into the story, or did some of them take shape during revisions?
CA: This happened in part due to how it was acquired. Initially, the book was entitled "NO ORDINARY BOX" — a love letter to families who send Balikbayan boxes written in second person POV. The layers developed when I was asked to send in a series proposal. I combed through my repertoire of work and found this story and thought it would work well as part of the character-driven series they requested. It then switched to a first-person point-of-view narrative. In writing, the things that develop most organically, without being forced, are often the most well-rounded. Bea fit right in with the story's existing narrative, and the layers developed alongside this process. I am so happy with how it all turned out.
SR: It turned out beautifully, indeed! It’s always fun and helpful to get a look “behind the curtain.” You mentioned how the book was acquired - could you talk a little more about the publication process for Bea's Balikbayan Box of Treasures?
CA: Yes! So I was assigned an editor, and we worked through several drafts of the story together. Each round had different goals. One was for language. One was for adding art notes and art direction. We spent a lot of time fine-tuning details, such as establishing what the household might look like, how and where a balikbayan box ships from the U.S. to the Philippines (we reached out to the companies to make sure these details were accurate), and then the last rounds were line/copy edits. I loved the back-and-forth nature during the editing process and helping the story shine as brightly as possible!
SR: Aside from adding art notes, what was the illustration process like from your (author's) side of things? Dream Chen's illustrations are so vibrant and joyful.
CA: Enchanting! I'm thrilled that I was asked to be part of the process from the beginning. My publisher asked me about the art styles I was drawn to, and I provided a list of illustrators that appealed to me. They listened to all my wishes, and I am so grateful for Dream bringing Bea's story and family to life. There are all those unexpected little details that I didn't even imagine could leap off the page. For example — the swirling calendar pages sweep across the page to build anticipation as Bea waits. So precious!
SR: What else are you excited about these days? What other projects are you working on?
CA: I'm so grateful to be out on submission with several other stories right now. Some of them share a similar vibe and celebration of heritage with Bea's Balikbayan Box of Treasures. Another is an out-of-the-box, humorous, interactive picture book. Still others are inspired by one of my other passions — music! (I'm a classically trained vocalist turned karaoke singer.) I just revised several projects and sent them off to my agent. I've also just finished a first draft of a new picture book, which I've sent off to my critique groups.
SR: So many exciting things in the works! I couldn’t be happier for you, my friend. Where can readers find and connect with you?
CA: My social media platform of choice is Instagram, where you can follow me at @C_Alemshah. I've been teaching myself how to post fun reels and carousels about my writing journey, Bea's story, and the Grow Your Writing Challenge. I am also on X: @C_Alemshah and bsky: @christinealemshah.bsky.social on a less frequent basis. You can also find me on my website at: christinealemshah.com
Links:
Instagram: @C_Alemshah (You can find a SNEAK PEAK video of the book here, too!)
Website: christinealemshah.com
And now, the moment we’ve been waiting for…. drumroll please…
Would you look at that! Read the blog, win prizes!
Christine is generously giving EITHER:
a signed copy of Bea’s Balikbayan Box of Treasures, OR
a 20 minute “Ask Me Anything” Zoom call.
To enter:
1) Follow Christine (c_alemshah) and me (New handle: @StaceyBRBooks) on Instagram.
2) Shoot me a note via my Contact Page here on my website to let me know you’ve been here - just saying “hi!” is sufficient!
Many thanks to Christine for this wonderful interview, and THANK YOU for reading and supporting!
Happy June!
Thanks for coming to check out my blog!
I’m excited for this to be a space for updates, musings, lists, travelogues, and more.
I’m especially keen to chat with and help boost writers and others in the publishing community.
So, grab a cup of tea, get comfy…and let’s dig in!
June is here! Spring is in full swing, summer approaches, and the Ramirez family has many milestones happening. I’m excited to share some updates!
Writing updates:
I’ve completed a revision and sent it off to my agent, Vicky Weber. This one gave me some challenges, but I think it’s ready! I’m so grateful to my amazing critique partners for helping me sort it out (as they do with all of my stories). It won’t go on submission right away, but it will be ready for when the time comes.
I’ve drafted a new bouncy, cheeky manuscript (about bouncy, cheeky squirrels) that I hope parents will enjoy reading to their littles. It’s in its beginning stages, so I’m sure I’ll have more revising to do. But a new manuscript is always exciting!
New interview coming soon: Keep an eye on the blog, because this month I’ll be interviewing author Christine Alemshah about her upcoming picture book release, Bea’s Balikbayan Box of Treasures (published by Free Spirit Publishing, illustrated by Dream Chen, and releasing very soon - preorder wherever you buy your books)! Find Christine on Instagram (@c_alemshah) and on her website christinealemshah.com. Christine is a font of information and resources for writers and readers!
Personal updates:
In May, we celebrated our daughter’s graduation from University of Missouri! She graduated with two degrees, in Journalism and Constitutional Democracy. This week I will be flying to Missouri and helping her move to Washington DC, where she will be working. We are so stinkin’ proud of her!
These milestones hit deep. They are HUGE, emotional, and meant to be savored. It seems that just two minutes ago, my husband was reading picture books to our kids in cute, funny voices. And now, they are doing and accomplishing hard things, navigating early adulthood, and I’m working on my dream of writing picture books that maybe one day they will read to their own kids! Phew. Right in the gut.
We’ve got a busy and joyful summer ahead, filled with camping trips with friends, family visits, and a WEDDING! I’m looking forward to sharing those updates with you. In the meantime…
Rapid Roundup:
Reading: The Briar Club by Kate Quinn (historical fiction) / Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life by Maggie Smith (non-fiction) - WRITERS: READ THIS! It’s fantastic!
Watching: Just finished Sanditon on PBS - lovely, fluffy Jane Austen period piece. Starting Department Q on Netflix - dark British crime drama.
Eating: My daughter got me hooked on Tortellini Caesar Salad. It’s literally just caesar salad with some store-bought tortellini thrown in. I made my own Caesar dressing, added some arugula and spinach to get some dark greens, and you could add chicken if you wanted more protein. It was fast, easy, and satisfying!
Making: The lei that my daughter is wearing is a money lei. There are so many ways to do them, but I took the easy route. Here is the link I used to learn to make them: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/5699937023963603/
Small delights: PEACHES. Sweet, juicy slices of summer. Delightful!
What are your favorite reads, shows, meals, or small delights this season? Drop me a line and let me know!
Thanks for stopping by — I hope you have a great month!
Interview: Cynthia Mackey— If A Bumblebee Lands On Your Toe
Thanks for coming to check out my brand new blog!
I’m excited for this to be a space for updates, musings, lists, travelogues, and more.
I’m especially keen to chat with and help boost writers and others in the publishing community.
So, grab a cup of tea, get comfy…and let’s dig in!
I’m honored to kick off the blog with an interview of author Cynthia Mackey, whose book, If A Bumblebee Lands On Your Toe, illustrated by Vikki Zhang, will be released on May 20, 2025!
Cynthia Mackey’s poetry appears in The Toy, The Dirigible Balloon and Little Thoughts Press. Her debut picture book, If a Bumblebee Lands on Your Toe, will be published by Yeehoo Press and illustrated by Vikki Zhang. Her second picture book, Butterfly Sea, is set for release with Tielmour Press in December 2025. Cynthia lives with her husband in Victoria, Canada.
SR: Welcome, Cindy! Thank you so much for being the debut interview on my blog. I’m honored and thrilled to feature you here.
CM: Stacey, thank you for interviewing me. I appreciate the opportunity to chat about my debut picture book and writing for children in general.
SR: Let’s jump in and start with your book. Please tell us about If A Bumblebee Lands On Your Toe!
CM: If A Bumblebee Lands On Your Toe offers readers mindfulness and nature connections as a way to overcome anxiety. It’s published by Yeehoo Press with a release date of May 20, 2025.
I’d like to talk a little about the mindfulness aspect of the book. I was working on this book during the pandemic, which was a difficult time for everyone, and yet we all had our own unique struggles. Looking back, I’m grateful for the daily yoga practice that I had established the year before. It served me well through all the things that flew into my life that year and in the years following. It was an especially difficult time for young people – my children were in their late teens/early twenties. I had other challenges to face as well at work and in my personal life. I took that life experience of daily yoga practice, the feeling of being calm and centered, and tried to give it to readers so that whatever flies into their lives, they come away feeling confident in their own coping abilities. At least, that’s my hope.
SR: I’m so glad to hear about the origins of the story. Learning how to find your calm and center in difficult times is so important for people of all ages.
In addition to your yoga practice, your experience as a nature-based educator of young children ties directly to this book. How does being a nature-based educator influence your work as a children’s writer? And vice-versa?
CM: In my role with young children at nature school, a big part of my work is documentation. We create something called ‘pedagogical narrations’ that is basically a story of the children’s learning. We do this by close observation, taking notes, audio recordings, photos or sometimes video. Then we share these learning moments with families. I find many of these moments are inspiring for story creation. Young children are so creative!
When I get excited about something connected with nature, like volunteering as a citizen scientist to document butterflies, I will write a manuscript about it, and the children pick up on my excitement about that topic. As a result, one of the children from my class last year told her mom, “Cindy is a butterfly teacher.” I loved that. Seeing the nature up close makes me more curious to research a topic for narrative non-fiction manuscripts like BUTTERFLY SEA, which, I’m happy to say, will be published by Tielmour Press and illustrated by Marie-Laure Couet in December 2025!
SR: TWO books out in 2025! Congratulations! I hope you’ll come back and talk to us about Butterfly Sea.
Could you describe a day-in-your-life as an educator and a writer? Where do nature, teaching, and books intersect during your day, and where you have to carve out time for each?
CM: That’s the most challenging part. As manager of our nature preschool program, I also supervise a small staff and practicum students so it’s a full-time job and during the week, it takes a fair bit of my energy. But my brain craves challenges and needs complex topics to think about so on weekends and mornings/evenings when I can, I’m happy to put on my writing hat and get to work. I’m also a workshop presenter for Early Years educators and it’s satisfying to be able to give back now that I’ve been an educator in the Early Years field for so many years. I’m lucky in that our nature preschool follows all the school holidays so I get regular breaks from teaching throughout the year to devote more time to writing.
SR: In If A Bumblebee Lands On Your Toe, you beautifully layer respect for nature, mindfulness, courage, and grace. From a teacher’s perspective, how can a book like this be important for teaching those values to children?
CM: Thank you, Stacey. I believe books are wonderful starting points for discussion and If A Bumblebee Lands On Your Toe can be an opportunity to talk about times when something unexpected comes into your life that makes you feel anxious, or about times when you’ve had courage and been able to act in spite of your fears. When I reflect on those times I’ve had courage, I feel proud of myself for facing something that felt difficult or maybe even insurmountable.
The book is also a jumping off point to talk about things we have in common with animals. Have you ever watched a bunny that’s afraid? It can freeze perfectly still so that it is motionless. They have an incredible skill and it serves them well because combined with camouflage, they can stay hidden from predators. And human beings freeze too when we’re afraid sometimes. I think it’s incredible that we share this trait with animals. It makes me feel more connected to them.
Vikki’s illustrations added another layer to the mindfulness aspect of the book in such a brilliant way. I feel like she has blended ideas – the ‘monkey-mind’ with the idea of stage fright, for example; and through the detail in her illustration, she shows how by spending time, slowing down, and focusing, you can find new things. It’s the same for slowing down and looking closely at the nature that surrounds us. I hope readers will spend some time looking more closely at each illustration to see what they might discover that they may not have noticed at first glance. The snail under the daisy spread is an incredible example.
All of these ideas provide further jumping off points for discussion. I think there’s enough layers here to fuel several lessons if a teacher chooses to go deeper with any of these topics: theatre, dance, mindfulness, looking closely at nature, things we have in common with birds or animals, pollinators and how essential they are to our food chain, camouflage, the monkey mind, breathing techniques, and yoga!
SR: Now let’s talk a little bit about the writing process itself. We often talk about finding critique partners and community as an essential part of the writing journey. How did you find your community?
CM: I’ve found community and writing partners in a host of different ways. I’d like to tell one example with the story of how I met one of my critique partner, Sue Macartney. Sue is author/illustrator of Benjamin’s Blue Feet. When we first met we were both pre-published. We had joined Julie Hedlund’s 12x12 Picture Book challenge – I joined in 2017 after attending a meeting of Victoria’s Children’s Literature Round Table and a member suggested it to me as a way of finding out if picture books were a good fit for my writing skills/style. My 2017 critique group hadn’t worked out as well as I’d hoped so in 2018, I was looking for a new group. There was an introductions 12x12 page where we could mention where we live and that’s how Sue and I found each other. We were surprised to find we were both from Victoria! After that, we met up for coffee in person and joined an online group with a few authors we met through 12x12, Tasha Hilderman (Canada), Tara J Hannon (US), Emma Wood (NZ), and Akilah Picoh (US). We’ve all stayed in touch (and published our first books since then), though we exchange work less frequently now. Sue and I, however, because we live in the same city, have been able to see each other regularly through another group we are both members of – Vancouver Island Children’s Writers and Illustrators. We meet three or four times/year to discuss and share our collective knowledge of what’s happening in the world of children’s writing and publishing, and to encourage each other’s writing/illustration pursuits. And in 2024, Sue and I both attended the ABLA Big Sur Writing Workshop in Monterey, California. It was super fun to experience that together!
Other ways I’ve found community – SCBWI, CANSCAIP, CWILL, Twitter, #PBChat (now on Bluesky). Hannah W. Holt offered an opportunity through a Google form critique partner match up that helped me meet my current group, Cheetah Force, which has been active since 2021!
SR: What is your favorite part about being a writer? What is the biggest challenge?
CM: Writing allows me to connect and feel more alive. I can connect with my deeper self, with other writers, and with editors who believe in the manuscript and want to see it published.
But most importantly, I love to connect with the readers through my books and hopefully, help them to make connections with their adults who read to them, AND to make connections with others and with the world. I hope my books will help children think more critically and deeply about the world around them. I hope readers will feel more connected to the natural world.
My biggest challenge is finding homes for the manuscripts I’ve poured my heart into, as I am still very new in the writing world and do not have an agent to submit work on my behalf. My time for sending submissions is limited because of my teaching position. I’ve got a few projects in the works I’m excited about. Some of my work is localized to the Pacific Northwest, and other manuscripts have a wider appeal. Many writers do work without agents and I’m okay to be un-agented, as long as I’m able to sell books on my own. Still, if I could find the right person to represent my work, I would go for it!
SR: Your experience is a great example that there are many paths to being published! We’re grateful that your beautiful work will be out in the world.
Cindy, thank you so much for spending time with us! Where else can readers connect with you?
CM: They can find me on my website: booksbycindy.com,
or on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/books.by.cindy/ AND https://www.instagram.com/mackey_cynthia/
Cindy is delighted to give our readers either
a digital teachers’ guide for If a Bumblebee Lands on Your Toe
OR
a picture book critique (max 500 words, no rhyming please)
TO ENTER:
Earn one entry for each action:
1) Post a link to the interview on social media, and tag us!
Instagram:
Cindy: @books.by.cindy & @mackey_cynthia
Stacey: @skr003
Bluesky:
Cindy: @booksbycindy.bsky.social
Stacey: @staceystories.bsky.social
2) Subscribe to my website/blog!
Please connect with Cindy to keep informed of her publishing news, and support her (and all of your favorite authors) by preordering wherever books are sold, asking your library to purchase copies, and writing reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, etc.!
THANK YOU for reading and supporting!