Six Questions with Stacey Byer

Stacey Byer is a Caribbean writer-illustrator who grew up on a volcanic island filled with folktales and adventure. After graduating with a degree in Illustration, she returned to her island to work on creative community-based projects with different organizations such as Room to Read, UNDP and Harper Collins UK. Stacey also serves on the Grenada Community Library board, where she advocates for the value of literacy and promotes a culture of reading. Stacey’s experiences working with children have inspired her to write and illustrate stories that all kids can enjoy. Visit Stacey’s website to learn more about her and her work.

1. To what extent is your writing inspired by your own experience, or by watching your children’s experiences?

My writing is fully inspired by my Caribbean identity, culture and childhood. I write about my memories and all the characters that I dreamt up as a child. I also write stories about long lost relatives who I still miss deeply. As a child, my favorite thing to do was to take a normal object and add a magical aspect to it. The shells I found on the beach would allow me to communicate with mermaids or a fallen coconut tree became a pirate ship. To this day I still do these creative exercises to develop my writing.

2. When you’re not writing, what are your favorite things to do? 

Being an islander, it’s almost impossible not to go outside. I love nature walks and going to the beach because not only is it an instant de-stressor, there’s also the reward of collecting inspiration for my art and stories. I also teach and create a lot of self-care art classes like crafting positive totems and painting river stones. And cake. I like eating cake -- definitely one of my favorite things to do. 

3. What kind of student were you? What were your favorite subjects?

I was the kind of student that did not want to sit at my desk all day because I would rather be outside. My favorite subjects were art, literature, history and biology. I didn’t really think about it then but they all had similar creative links to storytelling and art. History was all about studying stories of the past and I got to draw and learn the structure and colours of plants in biology. I appreciated certain aspects of a formal Caribbean school setting but I really thrived learning about the world through more informal means like understanding colour harmony by studying nature.

4. Where did you get the idea for Will and Krill? What was your inspiration?

Will and Krill was inspired by the bond that I have with my sister. It celebrates our different personalities, sisterhood and friendship. This story is also about tapping into your own reserve of inner strength and finding your voice when it matters. I think that’s a great message for all kids as they navigate life.

5. What was the most challenging thing you faced while writing this book?

I would say the vulnerability of sharing a personal story wrapped in a fictional tale. We all struggle at some point in our lives to speak up for ourselves or others. We all have similar feelings of worry, fear and loneliness and it’s important to remember that we can all overcome challenges in our lives, if we just take that first step, like Will does in the book.

6. Where do you get inspiration for your characters? Are you influenced by people you know?

Some traits are from people I know, but I also create characters from just experiences or even dreams I’ve had. My mind stitches together quirks, visuals and emotions to design characters. For example, if I see a woman in a floral dress having an allergy attack, I can then use these visual cues to create a sniffly flower character sneezing its poor petals off.