Q: First tell us something about yourself ?
Firstly, I would like to say thank you for featuring me and conducting this author interview. I’m so honoured and grateful to be given this platform to discuss the importance and the valuable lessons my books will give families around the world.
My name is Medea Kalantar, I live in Ontario Canada, I was born in Georgia former USSR and immigrated to Canada when I was four years old. I’m a mother of two grown children, who are both married and a grandmother. I’m also a Reiki Master, Intuitive Healer, Spiritual Teacher, a Guinness World Record Holder and a Multi-Award-Winning Best Selling Author of a new children’s book series titled Honeycake.
I see my purpose as being one of serving humanity. In my understanding, the idea is for us all to live in a world of love and peace, both in the physical world as well as the etherial. That time is far off, but attainable. The work I do of helping people is a step in that direction.
I am grateful to God for allowing me to serve, influence and transform this planet for the higher good.
Q: How and when your journey started as a writer?
I started my journey as a writer when my daughter Shanaz found out that she was pregnant June of 2018. I was so excited that I was going to become a grandma. So much so that in honour of my own grandmother, my Bebi, I started to bake a honey cake—a traditional Jewish cake from my native Georgia which is typically baked for Rosh Hashanah and other special celebrations. It was a full circle moment for me because my Bebi taught me how to make a honey cake when I was a young girl. The correlation of the cake to my grandchild-to-be lay in the mix of different spices, which I realized was much like the mix of different ethnicities in my family. There are all these different spices in a honey cake, like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, and here is my grandson with all these different mixes of ethnicities. As I was baking, I realized that he was going to be my little Honeycake, which gave me the idea of the name for the series I was now envisioning.
The first book that flowed from me was a story about acceptance and celebrating the many different backgrounds that make us unique.
At the end of the book there is a recipe for readers to follow so they can make their own honey cake.
Q: When did you write your first story? Is it published or not?
In October of 2018 a few months after finding out I was going to become a grandmother to a beautiful soul that is mixed with many different ethnic cultures, I woke up one day and the words and stories started to pour out of me.
The fact that I have no formal training as a writer didn’t stop me from trying. I always wanted to write my biography someday, later down the road, because I’ve had so many hardships in my life that I had to overcome. But I never had any intention on writing—especially not a children’s book series. But the universe sent me a sign, and the messages were in me to share, and they simply had to come out. I wrote five books in four days, I couldn’t stop. Clearly the universe had something planned. My first book Honeycake: A Family Of Spices was published February 28th 2019.
Q: Tell us something more about your books?
Honeycake: A Family Of Spices, just like the spices in a honey cake, our different ethnicities blended together, create the single beautiful entity that is humanity, which adds flavour to life! Shedding light on what makes us unique and different brings compassion, understanding and positivity to the darkness.
The idea of a common human bond through the blending of culture and national origins is beautifully represented as mixtures of exotic spices in a manner that children can easily understand.
Just like the ingredients in the honey cake we can teach our children about diversity and acceptance because even though we look different and come from different places, we are all part of one race…THE HUMAN RACE. In this beautiful world we live in, WE ARE ALL ONE.
Q: Why do you choose kids as your reader ? is there any specific reason?
As I previously stated, I was inspired to write these books when I found out I was going to become a grandmother. My stories are all based on my own family, whose members come from many ethnic backgrounds. This unique mix is a perfect recipe, and it’s the reason why I call my grandchildren my little Honeycakes. My MC Nala in the series comes from a bi-racial family which is all based on my actual family. There are so many children in the world that are like my grandson whose parents are a mix of ethnicities. My daughter is a mix of Georgian and Persian, My son-in-law is a mix of Guyanese and Jamaican, so my grandson is a mix of all four ethnicities. What do kids like them do? There are no books out there that represent them. That is what the term Honeycake means, a whole bunch of spices. But I didn’t just want to put books out there that spoke only about race, I wanted each story to also teach valuable everyday life lessons, like diversity and acceptance. How to overcome anxiety and stress with meditation and deep breathing exercises. How a simple acts of kindness is a “special magical power” that we all have inside of us. How to have honest and open communication in a safe space so children aren’t afraid to talk with their parents when things go wrong in their lives. How to live in gratitude and not just be thankful for only all the material things in their lives. Even though my books are classified as a children’s books, it also teaching the parents, caregivers etc.
If we teach our children these valuable lessons and give them the tools they need at a young age, they will grow up to be kinder and more balanced adults.
Q: How did these stories and characters come to your mind?
As I stated in the previous question, all the characters are based on my actual family, the only fictional character is Nala, as I wrote my books before I found out that my daughter was actually having a little boy. So, I based Nala on my daughter when she was a little girl. All the stories are real life events and core family values that I truly believe and practice in our everyday lives.
Q: Do you want to give any message for your readers?
I feel it’s very important to create books with a more positive messages to help caregivers teach children to accept others, help children to become more balanced, kind, grateful and honest. Books to help children manage their emotions when things don’t go the way they hoped. I always say there is no such thing as winning or losing, there is only winning. You win when you reach the goal you wanted to achieve or you win by learning a very valuable lesson. It’s all about perspective and how you look at things. Giving children these tools at an early age will help them grow into happy and fulfilled adults that aren’t stressed out, but live in harmony with a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
Honeycake will be understood by all ages and truly is a refreshing approach to human life with its joy, blessing and special qualities. While Honeycake has been written as a children’s book series, it has a charm which will delight people of all ages. I feel these books will be enjoyed by parents, grandparents, and children alike and I expect the timeless positive messages in the series to resonate for ages.
With all the negativity in the world today, the Honeycake series is a much-needed glimmer of hope and positivity. The Honeycake books are a great children’s series that teaches valuable life lessons on diversity, kindness, mindfulness, trust and gratitude. These books will enlighten, empower, educate and entertain children and their families for generations to come.
