Recently, a neighbor told me there was a children’s book author in Lake Nona. Who knew! As one of the book reviewers for Nonahood News, I wanted to find out more about our local author, creator and illustrator of The Boy and the Guitar, Veronica Valenzuela, DPT, OCS, and she was kind enough to respond to my interview questions.
Lake Nona Book Maven: Veronica, tell us something about your background, where you’re from and how you came to live in the Nonahood.
Veronica Valenzuela: My family is from Granada, Spain. I enjoyed several cultural hobbies from Spain such as flamenco dance and guitar, so it’s no surprise that the guitar is my main character. I was able to cultivate these arts by spending my childhood summers with my grandparents in Spain as well as the music and dance schools in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where I was born and raised. But since I love the warmer weather, it was sunny Florida – the Sunshine State – that was an obvious place to move to upon graduating from physical therapy school. I transferred from Miami Veterans Administration to Orlando six years ago to be part of Lake Nona’s Medical City, where I am working as a doctor in physical therapy at the Orlando VA Medical Center.
LNBM: Tell me a little about your creative pursuits and how you came to write a children’s book?
VV: I am by nature a “right-brained” person fitting into a “left-brain” world. Opportunities to be creative are usually in a form of hobbies or my work. Writing and illustrating a children’s book was a long-standing desire but a new process for me. I found many children’s books lacking substance to prepare children for the world we live in. This particular book, however, came to me [during] one of my trips to Spain. It was the night of my arrival in Granada. Trying to sleep, I was tossing and turning while the whole story played itself out – except the ending. I got up and wrote the story down the next day. The ending was left for me to finish. I believe life may be full of struggles, but there is a pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow, so that is how I decided on the happy ending.
LNBM: As a book reviewer, I’m always interested in how writers choose their subjects. Your book is about a boy and a lifelike guitar. What made you think of a guitar as a female main character?
VV: As a woman, picking a female character that is strong and does not depend 100% on a prince was near to my heart. I admit those fairytale stories are lovely, however, they can’t be the only representation of a female character in the world of children’s literature. The guitar as a female shows strength and courage despite her losses. However, she is not void of emotion, something that makes us human. I believe strength and sentiment coexist and make each other stronger. Children need to know how to process emotion versus making their emotions taboo. For example, what are the emotions when children exclude other children? Also, the fact that the guitar character experiences physical loss and is again restored ties to what I do as a physical therapist. The journey to healing is both emotional and physical, something I tried to depict in the story.
LNBM: What is your creative process when you write; do ideas come to you as a complete story or do you work out the story as you go?
VV: I believe the idea is shared to me by the Creator, and then I tweak it bringing a part of myself into it. I drew all the illustrations in the book, and when I paint, I look at the object and try to see the beauty in it that makes it unique. Once I see that element, I paint it.
LNBM: Will your book be available in Spanish?
VV: Yes.
LNBM: How did you get your book published?
VV: I self-published it through Amazon Books. Through the CreateSpace site, I was able to select certain elements such as large images and extra bright colors so the visual experience of the watercolors can be enjoyed by children.
LNBM: Do you think you’ll be writing more children’s books or doing writing of any kind in the future?
VV: I am currently working on my second book. The main character is a little girl who has to process what is her identity, a dilemma girls have to face in a rapidly changing world. Through a fable-style journey, she learns that strength and femininity can coexist. This has been a rewarding experience. Creating a character is an exciting journey. Also, I have enjoyed children’s responses to reading The Boy and the Guitar. I am surprised at their questions and ability to catch the multi-faceted messages in the story. Their love and concern for the characters inspire me to create new stories. That’s why I am always excited to read to children anywhere in the Nonahood.
If you’re interested in contacting Veronica, you can reach her at valenzuela.vero9@yahoo.com, and her book is available on Amazon.com.
