We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hiroshi Sosa-Nakata a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hiroshi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

I’m lucky to have parents who celebrate the many ways that I’m unique. My mother is Japanese and my father is Mexican. Both being immigrants to this country, they have struggled in their own ways and have worked hard to ensure I’m proud of all aspects of my culture. They continue to teach me to value and appreciate those around me, regardless of where people come from, what language they speak, or the color of their skin.

The result is that they have created someone who is confident, proud, and capable of accomplishing anything I put my mind to. For example, wanting to write a book series about diverse characters confronting any obstacle by working together. This is the same lesson they have taught me in my own life and I am forever grateful to them both. Their journey and their celebration and recognition of roots is something that has shaped the way I see the world and it’s made me…uniquely me.

Hiroshi, 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?

When I started writing, back in elementary school, I never imagined I’d become an award-winning author or that my book series would be sold globally. I simply wanted to write stories that I would love to read. Most books I found at that age were written by adults and I thought there was a tremendous opportunity to write about the things I loved. As it turns out, kids easily relate to multicultural characters and I’m extremely proud to contribute to this field, ultimately inspiring other kids to embrace their creativity as well.

Believe me, I didn’t always have the confidence I do today. If you were to tell me in second grade that my drawings and short stories would turn into an epic, out-of-this-world book series, I’m not sure I would have believed you. I remember when I first moved to Texas at a young age and felt incredibly isolated. I didn’t have any friends and I spent lunch breaks dreaming up stories in my head. These short stories, usually a page or two, would eventually turn into my first manuscript. That process, for the first book in my series, took me three years to formulate into a rich story with diverse characters, all working together to save the world.

To support my dream of becoming a young author, I created my own publishing company, Sosa-Nakata Publishing. Through this business I currently publish one book per year. The publishing process can be broken down into many smaller parts, to include writing, sketching, storyboarding, digitization, editing, proofing, and publishing. It sounds like a lot of steps and to be honest it is, but seeing others fall in love with the characters you have written, join them on their journeys, and follow epic adventures across multiple books, makes it the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I’m very proud to announce that I’m currently working on book six in the series, I Saved the World and I’m Only in 4th Grade!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

My books all focus on themes of friendship and diversity, something incredibly important to me. Moving to Texas at a young age I quickly observed that everyone is proud to be Texan. That made me thoroughly consider what I was most proud of, which was my cultural background. I speak three languages and I’ve spent multiple summers abroad with my grandparents in Japan and Mexico. These experiences have helped shape the way I see the world and created an individual who celebrates culture every change I get. I’m extremely proud to say that my stories include multicultural characters who work together to, well…save the world. I want kids who read my book series to be proud of everything that makes them unique and read about characters that empower each other.

I’m a huge fan of reading, but was not able to find many series actually written by kids, for kids. Most books I found were written by adults and I thought there was an opportunity to create stories I would love to read. As it turns out, kids easily relate to multicultural characters and I’m extremely proud to contribute to this field, ultimately inspiring others to embrace their creativity as well.

Following my dream of becoming a children’s book author was not an easy process by any means. The truth is that we each have our own struggles to overcome and being willing to face those struggles head on, produces results we will forever be proud of. Challenges help shape who we are and we wouldn’t be uniquely us without them. My stories are uniquely me and that’s something I’m very proud to have created and shared with others around the globe.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

When I speak to others about entrepreneurship, storytelling, or publishing, they seem amazed that I’ve fully committed to this journey and that I don’t intend to stop until I reach my goal of ten books in the series. I just want other kids like me to dream big and embrace what they are most passionate about. I believe anything is possible with hard work, determination, and a support system to encourage you along the way. If I, a kid author, can start my own company and publish a global book series, then truly anyone can follow their dreams. Who knows where your dreams might take you!

If you are a parent, teacher, or friend to a creative mind, I would ask that you encourage their process in absolutely any way you can. As children we tend to embrace our creativity early on and then, without a support system in place, we sometimes lose that ability or belief in ourselves. If you can be that support system to a young mind, please fully embrace that opportunity because it literally will make all the difference. I did in my case!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sosanakatapublishing.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sosanakatafamily
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SosaNakataPublishing
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiroshi-sosa-nakata
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sosanakatafam
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/sosanakatafamily
• Other: Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Hiroshi-Sosa-Nakata/author/B07TJF6B4F