We were lucky to catch up with Eva Chau recently and have shared our conversation below.

Eva, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Ever since I can remember I’ve been a creative person, either it was by drawing or painting, doings arts and crafts as a kid, even creating stories with my dolls when I played as a child, or when I’d write short-stories as I grew up. My two favourite subjects in school growing up were Art and English, so whenever I had to decide what to do I always went to the art side; I studied Art in highschool and got a BA in Art and Design.
But my love for storytelling was always present even not going the language route. I tried writing a book as a kid but never finished, not until in my senior year in highschool I got introduced to Wattpad and started writing there in English (being Portuguese my native language) to reach a wider audience and because like I mentioned I always loved the English language and I don’t know if it was because I was reading in English or watching tv shows in English without subtitles, but for some reason I learned to express myself better in that language.
The moment I started I knew: this is what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to use my creativity to tell stories that could help and inspire people, And as a hopeless romantic I knew, being a Romance Author was what I was meant to do.

Eva, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Eva Chau and I’m a Portuguese romance author who writes in English. I’ve been writing for myself all my life, but my first book, Hope, I started publishing on Wattpad on December 12th, 2016 and self-published it on July 22nd, 2020. At the moment I have two books out: Hope (a New Adult college romance with grumpy-sunshine, forced proximity, roommate’s brother and inexperienced-experienced tropes) and Modern Pen Pals (a K-drama inspired book with pen pals, love triangle, found family and mental health representation tropes) with many more on the way.

My books are for the dreamers and romantics, the ones who aren’t afraid to feel all the feels, be vulnerable, dig deep inside themselves and still smile through life, appreciating all the little things. I strive to make my characters relatable so people can connect and feel less lonely. Ultimately my goal is to help, even if just a little, someone with my words; bring a safe space for readers.
I also love to learn new languages, so I tend to create a lot of multicultural stories.

So, if you are looking for swoonworthy romances, with open-door scenes, some heavier topics all wrapped in the message of self-love, following your dreams and believing in yourself, my books are exactly what you need.

You can find me on social media @evachauauthor or my website www.evachauauthor.com to find more about me and my books.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

In my experience, especially in my country, I see that the Arts are not supported at all, greatly overlooked and mostly underrated, when it’s one of the most important things in life. There are a lot of things technology can and is starting to replace, but emotions and creativity are areas that no matter how close it might get, it’s a human thing, but for some reason society doesn’t encourage people to follow this path.
I know that there is that stigma of the “starving artist” and I believe that might be one of the bigger things that put off people to follow a creative road, but that only exists because of the underappreciation towards art, and the belief that it’s not important and therefore shouldn’t be rewarded, but if a person looks around, art is everywhere. And creatives should definitely be paid for their work, which in many cases takes hours, days, months to complete. If someone can go out an order a fancy coffee can definitely pay an author for their book instead of opting for illegal routes. But even if someone can’t afford it, sharing it with people around you helps tremendously.
The best ways to support the creative ecosystem is to reach out to artists instead of choosing, AI for example, is to share their work and talk about it, to make sure that what you are paying is going mostly towards the artist and not the platforms where the work is placed (direct buying is always better) and honestly, just encourage kids from a young age to think creatively and follow whatever their hearts desire, to not surpress their potential.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’m still building my audience, but what I wish I knew from the beginning is that consistence and connection goes a long way. You don’t need to stress about going viral or about constantly gaining new followers. Cultivate relationships with the ones you have and make them your biggest fans, soon there will be more. Be yourself, people like authenticity and be present. You don’t need to post everyday, but make sure to be online a few times a week, don’t let people forget you.
We all start from zero so don’t worry, you’ll get there!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.evachauauthor.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evachauauthor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evachauauthor
• Other: Tiktok: www.titkok.com/@evachauauthor

  Threads: www.threads.net/evachauauthor