In case you didn’t hear, modern day poet and bestselling author Lang Leav was in town about a week ago as part of her book signing tour. The event also saw a throng of fans being given the golden opportunity to meet their favourite author.
Being big fans of hers ourselves, we buckled up bright and early on a Sunday morning to get our copies of “Love & Misadventure” and “Lullabies” signed. Not only did we manage to get those signed, we also had the opportunity to sit down with Lang Leav to chat, have coffee, and some wedges for a bit at the Kinokuniya Cafe right before the event. All thanks to our friends from Penguin Books Malaysia, of course, and we cannot count our lucky stars enough for the chance to do so!
So here’s what went down:
Hi Lang! Welcome back to Kuala Lumpur. Before coming back here, what did you remember most about this city and what were you looking forward to most when you knew that you were coming back?
Hi! It’s my second time here and the first time was a very whirlwind trip so..I just remember getting here and sort of just leaving right away on the same day. But I do remember the people because everyone was so lovely and welcoming. I also remember the food because the food here in amazing. But I haven’t had a lot of time here. I’d love to come back here again for a longer time. I just love the people here. Everyone’s so friendly, it’s like family almost.
So you are an exhibiting artist and I read somewhere that you have your own fashion line, and then you also write books! Is there anything that you want to do that you haven’t gotten around to doing yet?
Well, I just love writing books so I think that’s what I’ve always wanted to do even though I took different paths to get there. But I think writing is the thing that I’m really passionate about and moving forward, I’d like to write more books 🙂
Have you ever thought of writing, maybe, like a script for a movie?
Oh, I’ve never thought of that. Having said that, you’ll just never know what’s going to happen in the future.
I’ve read both “Love & Misadventure” and “Lullabies” back-to-back and I was wondering if the content in these books are collections of your work over years that you put together?
The first one, “Love & Misadventure”, were more like poems that I’ve had for a long time but there was also a mixture some new pieces whereas the second one, “Lullabies”, most of the poems in there brand new pieces. Because what happened with social media now is that I’m interacting with my fans on a daily basis and I really like to give them something new. So what I do is that I try to write a new piece everyday and through that, I was able to write enough content for another book. And that’s how “Lullabies” came about.
Which one of the 2 holds more sentimental values for you?
They both do. It’s just like when you have children – you love them both in their own way and they do feel like children in a way. I think most writers feel that. That their books are..its like a creative thing, it’s theirs, and they’re protective over it.
Are a lot of the pieces in “Love & Misadventure” or “Lullabies” based on real-life experiences?
I think I write a lot from imagination. I mean, I would’ve had to have gone through a lot to write all of that! A lot of writers write, I mean you know Suzanne Collins who writes “The Hunger Games”, I’m pretty sure she didn’t experience that. Or JK Rowling with “Harry Potter”. I think a lot of authors just use their imagination and empathy and of course everyone goes through life experiences and sometimes you take that onboard as well.
Where do you draw inspiration from for your work? Is it from travelling or the music that you listen to? Or maybe from movies that you’ve watched?
I just draw inspiration from everything around me and the biggest source of inspiration, particularly in the last couple of years, would be from my readers. Because they’re always writing to me and sharing their stories, and because of that..I’ve got this insight into their lives. So a story they’ve shared with me would spark something and I’d write it.
Can you tell us about what’s to come for Lang Leav? Are you working on any new books?
I’m working on 2 projects at the moment. One is a third poetry and prose book in the same name as the other 2 (“Love & Misadventure” and “Lullabies”). And I’m also working on a novel which I’m halfway through but that has no release date yet. I’m just giving myself the time and the creative freedom to really work on that.
We’ll looking forward to reading those soon too then! Thank you so much for the chat, Lang Leav. It was great meeting you.
Thank you, lovely to meet you too!
For more pictures from Lang Leav’s book signing event at Kinokuniya KLCC, check out the gallery below:
Lang Leav’s books, “Love & Misadventure” and “Lullabies” are available at all major bookstores nationwide.
For more information on Lang Leav, visit her website. She’s also on Facebook and Twitter so follow her for more updates!
