Women Who Dared To Dream: Interview with illustrator Amy Evans

Once Upon a Time in Birmingham: Women Who Dared To Dream is a fully illustrated book that tells the stories of 30 inspirational women from Birmingham, past and present. We interviewed one of the incredible women who helped make the book a reality... Amy Evans, one of the illustrators:

1. How did you get involved with this book?

I got involved with the book after I was approached by yourselves at the Emma Press and asked if it was something I would like to be involved in. How could I say no! The book didn't even have a name yet, but the concept sounded amazing and I couldn't wait to get going!

I am always proud to be a woman, and proud to have a connection to our beautiful Birmingham and its people. I was really excited.

2. What was it like being part of this book?

Being part of the book has been such an honour. It's a really special thing to be able to acknowledge these great women and their achievements by illustrating them and trying to embody their energy and spirit was a challenge that I tried to embrace. I desperately wanted to get it right so there were a good few furiously balled up sheet of paper in the process of trying to achieve their likeness! When things started coming together it felt good to represent them.

3. What kind of responses have you had from the book?

Lisa Clayton

When I tell people about Once Upon A Time In Birmingham it is always so well received. The way that it is out there and ready to inspire young women can only be a good thing and I love telling people about they way that was an all female effort behind the scenes too. My boss heard about it on the work grapevine and made a point to come and ask me about it and wanted to see a copy which was wonderful!

Hearing people being so positive at the launch and the Waterstones event was so touching. It's really out there and people are loving it, and I think that's been a real highlight. When I've illustrated books before, the normal process is that you finish your illustrations, it eventually goes out to print and it's exciting to see it on the shelves in book shops, but you never really get to see how it's received. This has been a really special book in that the events that have followed have allowed everyone to see how much the girls are enjoying it and being inspired by it.

 4. Can you tell us about a woman who has inspired you?

I find all women inspiring! My Mum, My Girl Gang, My sister, colleagues, everyone! If I had to pick one of the top of my head that inspired me when I was little I would choose JK Rowling. My Mum always made a big point, whilst I was reading the Harry Potter Books, about how she came from nothing and wrote the start of Harry Potter on a Napkin which I always found fascinating and must've taken real strength of character to get to where she is today.

Working on this book has really opened my eyes up to both the struggles and achievements of womenkind, that perhaps being born in the 90's I could've taken for granted. The world was a different place for women not so long ago and change has come about because of the efforts of so many women. The women featured in the book are particularly special because they knew what they wanted to do and were just going for it, regardless of their background, expectations of how they should behave or think or act. They have a cause for change and a job that needs doing and they're letting nothing get in their way! These are the kinds of women I admire in particular.

You can find out more about Once Upon a Time in Birmingham and order your copy (£14.99) here. 

Photo: Jack Spicer Adams

This week at Valley Press: spotlight on 'The Boy in the Mirror'

Dear readers,

Back in September, we published The Boy in the Mirror by Tom Preston; a hugely original memoir about being treated for stage 4 cancer, written in the second person. It's become clear since then (and I had a suspicion at the time) that this is one of the most important books VP has published so far – you might remember one reviewer saying it "should become the go-to recommended reading for the friends and family of a cancer sufferer", which is quite a statement.

Unusually, the book is about to have a second round of publicity: it's been shortlisted for the East Midlands Book Award, as announced yesterday at a festival in Leicester. For our international readers, I should explain: the East Midlands is a region of England between Yorkshire and the south – you could have guessed that much, I suppose – and the award was for literary work by writers who live in that region.

With a prize of £1000 at stake, I hope we'll all have our fingers crossed for Tom when they announce the overall winner in June (date to be confirmed). If you live in that region, keep an eye out for any displays relating to the award in bookshops, and let us know.

There's been another development too, coincidentally at exactly the same time – an audiobook version of The Boy in the Mirror has just been released; the very first Valley Press audiobook, ever. This is the result of months of work, not by us but by an audio production company called Storytec (whose director is called Jaime, and went to the same tiny university as me – lots of coincidences today!) It's been expertly narrated by Alex Wyndham, who you might have seen on TV in Rome, The Crimson Field etc; we did auditions and everything. It's been really exciting to see it all come together.

So: let me do you a deal. You can get 20% off the paperback of The Boy in the Mirror all this week, with the code BOY20; and anyone who buys it using that code will get a free copy of the audiobook – I'll email you a voucher which can be used on Audible.co.uk (I can't do the same internationally, sadly). If you need a little more convincing, you can read the book's first chapter here and listen to it here. It's not for the faint-hearted, obviously, but if you want to be challenged by some non-fiction this week, this is your chance.

I don't want to overstay my welcome, but I can't leave without a last plug for The Wild Gods launch event, which is happening tomorrow (Monday 14th) from 7pm, at the Genesis Cinema on Mile End Road in London. Oh – and this was also the week I started a new series of articles, over at Medium.com, which (when read in full) will work as guidelines for making a living as a self-employed literary publisher. If you don't plan on doing that, it may not be of much interest; but 500 people have read the first part already, so it might be more relevant than I thought...

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher