1H 2025 highlights and author talks by Vivian Teo
- Vivian Teo
- Jul 8
- 4 min read
Author talks by Singapore children's book author, Vivian Teo, and her book-related highlights in the first half of 2025.
I can't believe the first half of the 2025 is over! It's been a wonderful six months where I had been busy with getting the second book of the Mikaela Kong series, Champion of the Realms, ready for publishing while working on the edits of the third book of the series. So, it was great to be able to head out to meet my readers - for me, this is really one of the most fulfilling aspects of being an author.
I started my first author talk of the year in February with Geylang Methodist School (Primary). The school hall was under reno, but school leaders, teachers and staff still made sure to include the whole school for my sharing with impressive coordination and effort. This is also one of the first few schools I got to share on The Epic Tale of Mikaela Kong, and it's really awesome to feel the enthusiasm for my new book (and of course, for My BFF Is an Alien too!) at the school's book fair ❤
It was really special to return to Nanyang Primary School in March this year. It was my second visit and for their celebration of World Book Day too. Last year, I had shared about My BFF Is an Alien with the school, and this year, I got to share about the Mikaela Kong series and its inspiration. We couldn't have a book fair in the school, so I was pleasantly surprised when some of the students came backstage after my talks to ask for autographs. I hope I get to visit and share new stories with all of you again next year!
April was a busy both as I visited Huamin Primary School, Mee Toh School and St Stephen's School. Thanks to Readers' House who facilitated my visits, everything went smoothly despite it being a superbly busy month for my book vendor. I felt a bit bad for the students at the school who wanted to get The Epic Tale of Mikaela Kong but couldn't as my publisher was out of stock and we were still waiting on reprints. That said, it was also heartening to know that the first book of Mikaela Kong had sold out on its first print within eight months of its launch 🙏
In May, I was off to Compassvale Primary School and other than the energy and enthusiasm of the students, I also love the lovely displays the school put up at their noticeboards and library. One of the teachers also sent me the "after" pic of the library photos library shelf featuring my books after my talk - the books were all gone! So happy to know the kids were inspired to read my books after my sharing 🤗
May was also the month where the second book of the Mikaela Kong series, Champion of the Realms, was published! Here's me at Epigram Books to sign the preorders for Champion of the Realms! We gave away with the preorders limited edition bookmarks specially printed by Epigram Books and certified bookworm stickers I made. Thank you to everyone who had preordered my books!
And of course, May is the month for the Asian Festival of Children's Content! I was very honoured to be on the same panel as Tanya Lloyd Kyi, Low Ying Ping and Melanie Lee about The Magic of Middle Grade.
Also had a great time sharing about my publishing journey and hearing from Amber Chen and Alyssa Christudason's publishing experiences with the amazing Lauren Ho as our moderator ❤
I'm also really glad that Mikaela Kong: Champion of the Realms is a part of Epigram Books' showcase of new books alongside Sly the Fly by R S Robbie, Debbie Yuen & Jessley Sim, and Ghost Hunters of Geylang by Xie Shi Min at the AFCC.
As always, one of the highlights of AFCC for me is attending the insightful sessions and catching up with fellow creatives. Also, thank you to everyone who came to get my books and say 'hi' at the book signing table 🙏
The Singapore Children's Book Festival was in June and it was wonderful to be in the same panel as Kayce Teo, Hwee Goh and Low Ying Ping to chat about some of my favourite topics - books, reading and MG/YA fiction. Thank you, SCBF, for having us in "From Magical Lands to Dystopian Worlds: Connecting Young Readers with the Perfect Books" and the SIngapore Book Publishers Association for organising this one and only festival that highlights Singapore kidlit. It's so important for our children here to see themselves represented in stories and know that our stories are worth telling 🙏
The book launch of Mikaela Kong: Champion of the Realms happened last Saturday at the Singapore Children’s Book Festival, and what a blast I had sharing the stories behind the book and meeting friends and readers ❤ It was really fun hosting a Mikaela Kong pop quiz, where our top three winners went home with prizes, and attendees got to design their own Mikaela Kong armour. We also gave away Underworld maps and my limited edition certified bookworm stickers 😄Thank you to everyone who came!
That's it for the first half of 2025! I'll be busy with the edits of Mikaela Kong book 3 and hopefully finish my draft for book 4 soon! I'll also be visiting more schools in the second half of this year and then there's the Singapore Writers Festival happening in November, where I'm really honoured to be one of the festival's speakers again this year. Will share more about that in time! But in the meanwhile, if there are any educators here who would like me to visit your school for author talks, please feel free to get in touch with me with via the "Contact Me" form in my "About" page.
I'm more active on Instagram, so do follow me there if you'd like more timely updates! Feel free to DM me on author talks over there too! Until the next update, have a wonderful rest of 2025!
©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.