Saturday, July 2, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

An Interview with Cynthia Keyllian, Author of ‘Just Us Three’

by Asbarez Staff
May 20, 2019
in Arts & Culture, Books, Community, Latest, News, Top Stories
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
"Just Us Three" by Cynthia Keyllian
“Just Us Three” by Cynthia Keyllian

BY ALEEN ARSLANIAN

LITTLE ARMENIA—Cynthia Keyllian, founder of Beads for Battle, has written her first children’s book, “Just Us Three.” With a background in Public Health and a passion for children, Cynthia ventured into children’s literature. “Just Us Three” is set to launch on Friday, May 31.

Cynthia founded Beads for Battle, a non-profit cancer support organization, in 2013 after being diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The bracelets are a handmade collaboration, made by Cynthia and her BFB team, and are gifted to individuals—often times children—battling cancer. Her desire was to spread hope and cancer awareness, while also giving back to her community and advocating for youth. Filled with creative ideas, Cynthia began working on “Just Us Three” in early 2018.

“Just Us Three” tells the real-life story of Cici and Mickey, a pair that find understanding and acceptance within one another. While working on her children’s book, Cynthia was simultaneously completing her Master of Public Health degree. She uses her background in public health to successfully incorporate her knowledge of the field into a storyline that engages, and teaches children. “Just Us Three” will be available for purchase by early June on Amazon, Google instant read, and the Barnes & Noble website. To learn more, visit the book’s Instagram page.

Author Cynthia Keyllian
Author Cynthia Keyllian

Recently, Keyllian sat down for an interview at the Asbarez offices.

Aleen Arslanian: From Beads for Battle to the literary world, you seem to be filled with creative ideas. What inspired you to write?

Cynthia Keyllian: Just to put it out there, the children’s book has nothing to do with Beads for Battle. The book is more of a personal accomplishment funded by me and my family. It was difficult to jump into a new field, because I had no idea about writing or publishing. But, I always knew I wanted to write a book, and specifically a children’s book. That’s all I really needed to get me going. I have that drive in me—if I put my mind to something, I’m going to do it. I had this story that kept repeating in my head. I woke up from a dream one night, and I had a journal next to my bed, so I started writing. I read the story to my parents and they thought it was fun and wanted to know more, so I completed the story and put the journal away. I didn’t immediately go back to it, but the story stayed on my mind until I decided to do something about it. I eventually started typing out and editing the story and one step led to the other. For me, this is a new platform to teach kids about public health, because that’s what I want to do with my career—to work with kids, work with health education, and find different creative ways to get messages across to them.

A.A.: Who, or what, were the inspiration for your characters Mickey and Cici?

C.K.: I’m Cici, and Mickey is my puppy, Mickey. I got Mickey when I was diagnosed with cancer. He’s been there for me throughout this journey. I was definitely spiraling down depression when I was going through treatment. With a puppy, they love you no matter what you look like, no matter what you’re going through. Watching Mickey grow up, I realized he had a physical disability. The story is about Mickey’s disability, and his urge to hide the disability from his owner because he thinks that if she finds out about it she’ll give him away. It’s told through Mickey’s perspective. The whole point of the story is to accept your differences, love them no matter what they are, and to embrace others for their differences or disabilities. It’s what makes them unique and beautiful.

A.A.: Is there a particular reason why you chose children as your audience?

C: I really want to make a career out of working with children, especially in the Armenian community. I think that kids should be taught valuable life lessons from a young age. My parent’s instilled important values in me early on: to always be kind, to always give back, and to never judge anyone. With what’s happening in the world today, it’s important that kids have these values. Also, I’m personally obsessed with children’s books—I’m a kid at heart. For a lot of my friend’s birthdays or graduations, I gift them children’s books that I think reflect them. Each time you read a children’s book you can take something different away from it, depending on your life circumstances. It’s a fun and interactive way to teach kids lessons.

A.A.: Is there a lesson that you want kids to take away from your book?

C.K.: The story is about friendship, compassion, kindness, and loving one another. I hope that kids can take that away from the story. Especially now, with all the bullying taking place, if kids are sick or can’t go to class their peers laugh at them, or criticize them for it. When in reality, no one really knows what that child is going through. Hopefully this book can be taken in that perspective and people can see that we all have our differences—for some its internal, for others its external. No matter what the differences are, you should embrace them, and love that person for their differences. Many moms have reached out to me through BFB. One in particular said her kid was being bullied because he couldn’t go to school, or one of the kids at school ripped his BFB bracelet from his hand. She’s shown me photos of her son crying…She’s tried to advocate for BFB to go to their school—we call them school takeovers—to talk about cancer education. But, they don’t have the time or aren’t trying to make the effort. A lot of moms are struggling with this, and have no outlet. I took all this into consideration when working on the book.

A.A.: Are the illustrations a collaboration between you and the publishing company?

C.K.: The publishing company has a set of their own illustrations. But, just to make sure they capture what I want, I sent them pictures of me and of Mickey. I sent them a picture of Mickey limping, and I asked that they make sure the illustration looks exactly like the picture. I sent a picture of Mickey’s doctor, too. They really captured exactly what I wanted, and they were really lenient with changes.

A.A.: Are there any Armenian touches to the “Just Us Three?”

C.K.: There’s a minimal touch of Armenian-ness to the book. For example, I had the publishing company create a sticker for Mickey’s luggage that says, “Armenia.” In the back of the book, I talk about how involved I am in the Armenian community.

A.A.: Did you have a mentor, or someone to consult through this process?

C.K.: This book project was all me. Initially, I reached out to someone who had published a book, but it wasn’t a children’s book. The novel world and children’s book world are very different. But, just seeing that someone was able to do it was comforting. I went on social media and found other young authors to see how they started up. My family was very motivating and pushed me to keep going. There were days where I had a final and the publishing company needed me to sign something, or there was a BFB event or a workshop…my family really calmed the storm for me. But, in terms of the actual book, it was me from start to end. I think that’s what makes it so beautiful. I had no experience or knowledge about writing and publishing. I started going online and signing up with author support organizations just to see what’s happening in the world of publishing. Or taking part in different webinars to see how you can expand your book or marketing tactics, and talking to different authors about events. I put myself out there just to see if I could do it on my own.

A.A.: How much research went into this project?

C.K.: Before I completed the book I decided to find out what the steps to publishing were. I saw that you can go traditional—market your book through an agent to a book publishing company. Or, publish on your own. I realized I wanted to have control of the whole process, because it was my first book. So, I took the self-publishing route. Then I started visiting bookstores. Any free time I had, I would run to a bookstore and sit in the children’s book section for hours. I would read books, see which publishing companies were used, read about the authors, and look at how many pages and illustrations were in each book. I took notes of all these things prior to writing the book. Once I started writing the book, I had to think about how to market it. How am I going to advertise to Barnes & Noble? How am I going to conduct a reading? What are the best strategies? It was a lot of research throughout the entire process.

A.A.: Do you plan on publishing more books? If so, will you continue writing children’s books?

C.K.: Yes, I definitely want to stick to children’s books. I’m not sure if I want to make a career out of writing, only because that’s never been something I see myself do in terms of a career. I definitely enjoy it and I find that it’s a good outlet for people to express themselves. But, it’s something I want to continue on the side. When these stories come to me, I have to get them on paper. I also think it’s important to challenge yourself. I hope that people see that, if they really want to do something, they can make it happen. My goal is to encourage that in the community. I do plan on writing other children’s books, and depending on the path this takes me, I’ll figure out if I want to independently sign, and maybe even write in Armenian.

Asbarez Staff

Asbarez Staff

Next Post

Pilibos Hye Tahd Conference: An Invitation to Collaborate

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Blessing of Muron Held at Catholicosate of Cilicia

Blessing of Muron Held at Catholicosate of Cilicia

1 day ago
Team of Armenian Mountaineers Summit Highest Peak in North America

Team of Armenian Mountaineers Summit Highest Peak in North America

1 day ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

Accessibility

Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

    Readable Experience

    Content Scaling
    Default
    Text Magnifier
    Readable Font
    Dyslexia Friendly
    Highlight Titles
    Highlight Links
    Font Sizing
    Default
    Line Height
    Default
    Letter Spacing
    Default
    Left Aligned
    Center Aligned
    Right Aligned

    Visually Pleasing Experience

    Dark Contrast
    Light Contrast
    Monochrome
    High Contrast
    High Saturation
    Low Saturation
    Adjust Text Colors
    Adjust Title Colors
    Adjust Background Colors

    Easy Orientation

    Mute Sounds
    Hide Images
    Virtual Keyboard
    Reading Guide
    Stop Animations
    Reading Mask
    Highlight Hover
    Highlight Focus
    Big Dark Cursor
    Big Light Cursor
    Navigation Keys

    Asbarez.com Accessibility Statement

    Accessibility Statement

    • www.asbarez.com
    • July 2, 2022

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to