J.M. Wong

What was your favorite book as a child?

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson was my favourite book as a child. It is a book that encourages me to liberate my creativity, showing how we can use art to help us overcome challenges in life while teaching us so-called adult life lessons involving death. It achieves a perfect balance between realism and fantasy, a perfect example of magical realism which is a genre I am now specialises in.

What was the original reason or motivation why you started writing creatively?

I wanted to be part of the Japanese anime I watched when I was little so I created my own character and wrote stories about how I interacted with my favourite characters in each anime. Then, this thought of wanting to be part of someone else's stories slowly evolved into the desire to create my own magical world and this is how I first started creating my original fantasy stories.

What was the most adventurous or thrilling thing you ever did/experienced?

I went on a trip to Morocco last year for my birthday. Did quay biking and crashed my bike into the bushes while coming out of it unscathed and laughing.

Do you listen to music while reading or writing?

Music is my source of inspiration when it comes to writing. Music sparks my imagination better and facilitates me in visualising story scenes in my head. My recent favourite song — "Golden Hour" by JVKE has assisted me in creating a scene where a girl dances in an empty ballroom bare feet, celebrating her freedom. Music also helps me to concentrate better when it comes to reading. I find it easier to finish a book when I have instrumental music especially video game soundtracks in the background.