Lea Koivisto - Author Life

Lea Koivisto published her first children's book, Camu the Camel and His Big Dream, in November 2017. We wanted to catch up with the author and find out how life had been treating her since the release of her new book.

Did you always dream of becoming an author?

I had a fantastic Finnish teacher at high school and I really loved writing. She always encouraged me to continue writing and make it professionally, but somehow the traditional business career seemed like more secure option. Busy business life took its toll, so I only wrote business related articles for years, until moving to Middle East and falling in love changed my life completely.

What was your first job?

I had a long international business career in Service Management and Marketing.

How did you come about writing your book? Was that your intention or did you start writing for fun?

When I got married and my husband’s son moved to live with us, I took a leave of absence from work. My idea was to write a business book about Women in Leadership in Middle East, but somehow with the life-changing experience of a new stepson and volunteering with the special needs children at the horse therapy centre, that idea changed into children’s book.

My husband is a veterinary doctor, we love animals and train our own racing camels, so I didn’t need to look too far for inspiration. These fantastic animals have all special characters and all the stories I hear from my husband from his work with camels are great material for stories. I started to share my camel stories with my friends and when I realized how much everybody loved these stories, I decided to try to write a children’s book. 

What was your life like before you became an author?

I was working very long hours in the office and was travelling a lot around the world. Between endless meetings and different airports, I used to read a lot and share books and reading tips with my colleagues. I have always enjoyed all different kinds of books, from non-fiction to fiction.

Did you face any struggles before becoming an author? If so, how did you overcome them?

Even though I have been writing a lot, it’s very different to write business text or even magazine articles than to write fiction. I attended a creative writing course in Abu Dhabi and that helped me a lot. But it still took me almost three years and plenty of rewriting and editing to finalize my first book. Even though I have studied and lived abroad for a long time, English is my third language, so I was really unsure if my language skills were good enough to get published. Luckily, I had an English friend who did the first “proof reading” before I sent my manuscript to publishers.

Now that you are a published author, how has your life changed, if at all?

It has been great fun to do all promotion and events for my first book. The positive feedback has been overwhelming and I think that I’m even more proud of this “baby” than some of the mothers at the ex-pat clubs and their babies’ achievements! Marketing is more time consuming than I thought and I haven’t started to write a second book yet, but so many people are asking for the second part, so I’ll need to start soon.

Can you please describe a typical day in your life now?

I still haven’t established a good writing routine, so there is still no “typical day” in my life yet. But I’m dreaming of doing some writing every day between sports and farm life and taking care of the family.

What is your most memorable moment of your life as an author?

Signing the first book for a fan. She was such a lovely little girl and truly fascinated about the camel story. That was really such a special moment!

How would you best sum up your experience with Pegasus Publishers?

True professionals and I’m so proud to be a “Pegasus Author”.