Author: Rachel Tey

Rachel Tey is the author of the middle-grade fantasy adventure series, Tea in Pajamas and Tea in Pajamas: Beyond Belzerac, and most recently contributed an original short story, "The Midnight Mission", to the anthology A View of the Stars: Stories of Love (Felix Cheong and Anitha Pillai, eds). She is also a resident writer and creative writing workshop instructor under Sing Lit Station’s “Book A Writer” programme. Since she was awarded the National Arts Council grant in 2015, Rachel has been featured in The Sunday Times, has spoken at the Singapore Writers Festival, and her books have been presented at the London and Frankfurt Bookfairs. Outside of writing and conducting talks and workshops for schools, she works as a content and communications specialist. Rachel lives in Singapore with her husband, who illustrated her books, and two children.

Is Writing Viable, and Other Questions: Answered

Posted on by Rachel Tey

A: “You’ll never make it as a writer, mark my words. You will never succeed.”

B: “You should be more involved in your son’s studies instead of doing this. You only care about your own success. You’re selfish.”

C: “You sit home all day writing stories? How many copies must you sell for this to become a viable career?”

D: “The theme is too continental, the spelling is too American, the premise is too international.”

Since I made the announcement about my book deal(s), I’ve received overwhelming support that’s really touched and humbled me. Most people who’ve been around since the start of my publishing journey are aware that I worked very hard on these projects, especially the sequel. But many who reached out were also curious if “being a writer” would be as smooth-sailing as I made it appear. “You make it look effortless,” one said. Continue reading “Is Writing Viable, and Other Questions: Answered” →

I got a book deal!

Posted on by Rachel Tey

Hello, I have some exciting news…

I’m pleased to share that I’ve signed a book deal with Marshall Cavendish to publish Tea in Pajamas and its sequel, Beyond Belzerac!

Both titles will be hitting all major bookstores very soon—the first book in September and the sequel around November of this year. Yep, that’s right, in time for Christmas!

In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at both covers. (Book 2’s cover is still a work-in-progress, and not a final draft.)

Continue reading “I got a book deal!” →

Shelter from the Storm

Posted on by Rachel Tey

In June of 1988, I caught my first glimpse of a gray winter sky.

It didn’t look much different from any overcast day in Singapore, the eight-year-old me had reckoned, though I was sure I was far from home. Where we came from, poufs of mist did not escape your mouth every time you spoke or exhaled. Also, no one bundled themselves in this many layers of clothing. I was wearing a robin-egg-blue cardigan my mother had hand-knit especially for this family trip, but it was buried too deeply beneath layers of pullovers to be seen.

“Where’s the snow?” I’d asked Mum, hoping she could explain why we hadn’t stepped into a Christmas-card-worthy snowscape which to my mind was synonymous with wintertime. For her part, my mother was too preoccupied with the logistics of collecting our luggage from the coach we’d just alighted. I never did get an answer as to why winter was gray and not white.

While waiting to enter our hotel for the night, I studied the streets of Christchurch. In place of falling snow were dead leaves. They were everywhere, blanketing the ground and swirling in the air. On this dramatically drafty day, passersby hurried about with their faces shielded from the onslaught of leaves, their hair blowing in all directions.

I didn’t mind the wind so much. I was eight with a chinadoll bob, also known as a permanent bad-hair-day. No weather condition could do further damage to that. Continue reading “Shelter from the Storm” →