Maya Gwynn
With KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn with Black Perspectives IE, the show where we learn about the amazing things members of the Black community are doing in the Inland Empire. My guest today is children's book author and TV show host Mary D Welch. So nice to meet you.
Mary D. Welch
Oh, same here.
Maya Gwynn
So we're gonna start at the beginning. Okay, what sparked your passion for writing stories for children?
Mary D. Welch
What happened was, unfortunate - you could say tragedy. My youngest brother passed away, and 90 days later, my mother passed away, and in that grief, a friend of mine came over. It's about six months later, and she told me a story when she's telling me this, it wasn't a story - she told me about what her and her daughter had gone through. And I sit there and listened, I said, Dolores, that's a children's book. And she said, What's a children's book? I said, everything you just told me. I could actually see the characters moving in my mind. And it was so clear. I said, Well, don't you see it? And she said, I don't know what you're talking about. I took out a sheet of paper and did what would change my life, and I wrote the story down, and I read it to one of my granddaughters the next day, and she came over, and I'm reading the story, and she's laughing, and I'm listening to her, and then when she's finished, I said, Nasea, I wrote that. She was shocked. She goes, wow. And then she said, Can you write a story about me? And any grandparent knows you don't tell your grandchild, no, so I'm sitting here, I said, Yes, I can write a story about you. And I'm thinking, I don't even know how I wrote this story, really, but I wrote her story six months later, and her story is Nasea the Tooth Fairy. And I've been writing ever since.
Maya Gwynn
Yeah, I know you said you found writing just seven years ago. What do you feel about your own childhood experiences influences the stories you tell today?
Mary D. Welch
That is so interesting, because I'm writing a story now, and the title of the story is My Big Daddy, which was my grandfather, and we called him Big Daddy. And my father, I thought about how I would go to school in the morning, and he would hold my hand and walk me to elementary school, which was not far, about two blocks from where we live. And then when I got out of school, he would be standing there, and he walked me back home. But he would take me by the store, and he said, go in. I get 10 cents to buy penny candy. And that was heaven to a child. You can go in there and you could get anything for 10 cents. And I remember being so loved. And I'll be honest, I didn't even know our family was poor. I didn't know anything. I just knew anything I wanted or needed was provided. And the number one thing was love.
Maya Gwynn
How do you feel like the lessons relate to your stories now?
Mary D. Welch
I try to make sure that the stories I write, I call them the feel good stories where you can read it to a child and you give them a good night kiss and they turn over and go to sleep. I don't try to write a story that's going to scare a child or make them frightful in any way. The newest book I have coming out now is called When I Was on the Moon, and it's about a little African American girl, she plants her flag on the moon, and it says Mary. And I've never been a character in my story, so this is the first time that it's that I'm the character in the story.
Maya Gwynn
How do you balance creating fun, imaginative stories, with addressing deeper things like identity, resilience or community.
Mary D. Welch
Really all of it, because the one I'm looking at right in front of me is Justin Lost a Tooth. We have four sons, but Justin's the youngest of all sons. So what I did was go back and I named the little boy Justin. So he says, Justin lost a tooth. And it talks about, not only is he the character in the book, he takes command of the whole class. He's only four, he makes him get down on the floor to find his tooth. The teacher's looking for it. Everybody's looking for it. In the end, he does find the tooth. Another little boy finds it, helps him find it, and he puts it under his pillow. And the Tooth Fairy does come and leave some money. But all of those things are about community.
Maya Gwynn
What has been one of the most meaningful reactions or interactions you've received from a child or a parent who's read your books?
Mary D. Welch
Well, we have two small children who live across the street from us, and I take the books over there, and they start reading it, and then they finished reading, and they'll look up at me, I like that story. You got another one? Just that feedback from a child is - even from adults. I've had adults tell me they've read Peyton, the Pink Whale with the Yellow Tail. That's another one, and that book is talking about discrimination, because the blue whales don't like him because he's pink. Think about that. He doesn't even know he's pink, by the way, but they tell him, you know, you can't swim with us because you're pink. And he's like, but I swim like you do. I eat the same food. In other words, why can't he be my friend? But lo and behold, he does become friends with a blue octopus, and the octopus tells him, he said, I would have a lot of friends if I looked like you. And think about what they're both saying, and Peyton says, I'd have friends if I look like you. But they become friends. And it said, Peyton and Sue are friends forever.
Maya Gwynn
What advice would you give to anyone?
Mary D. Welch
I would tell them, number one, start. And don't be afraid. My son told me one day he said, Mom, you're doing good. I said, Why do you say that? Said, 'cause you have haters. They looked on Amazon and people had left negative comments. And he goes, Mom, does that bother you? I go, No. And they're like, why not? I said, well, where's their book? It's easy to criticize if they knew the journey it took to create that book. I work with the illustrator every single page. I want to bring those words to life. So it's really it's been a journey. I have written probably close to 50 books now, wow. But not all of them are not published. The newest one is I mentioned, When I Was on the Moon, that one's coming. I just actually thank God for this, because this is, it's a gift I didn't even know existed.
Maya Gwynn
Yeah, it's a gift that came to you in a hard time. You used that to express yourself. And a writing teacher I had, she said, some of the best writers the world will never know, because they don't have the bravery to just start.
Mary D. Welch
I like that.
Maya Gwynn
All right, we're gonna move to our rapid fire portion. Okay, if your work had a theme song, what would it be?
Mary D. Welch
This Girl is on Fire.
Maya Gwynn
Oh, I love that. That's a good one. If you have to teach a master class or give a TED talk on a random skill you have besides writing, what would it be?
Mary D. Welch
Talking and networking.
Maya Gwynn
And what's your favorite Inland Empire restaurant or a landmark that reminds you of the Inland Empire?
Mary D. Welch
Well, the one - we just thought to find a new one - and that's Dapper in Riverside. It's a restaurant. All I remember is the ambiance. It's really nice.
Maya Gwynn
It sounds very sophisticated with the name. And then, how can people keep up with you and support your writing?
Mary D. Welch
You can email me. And that's Mary @MaryDWelch.com. Also have a website, and it's MaryDWelch.com. Or you can go to frontpagepublishing.com. Either of those, or you can call me. I also have a number area code: 619-669-8603.
Maya Gwynn
Thank you so much for being here.
Mary D. Welch
Oh, you're welcome.
Maya Gwynn
Mary D. Welch is a children's book author and TV host. Find this segment and others at kvcrnews.org/bpie. Support for this segment comes from the Black Equity Fund at IECF, advancing racial equity and supporting long term investments in black led organizations in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Join us again next week for Black Perspectives IE. For KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn. Thank you.
