Australian author AJ Betts is interviewed by CRI at the Bookworm Beijing on March 24, 2015. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

The author of a book about life and loss has arrived here in Beijing to promote her novel.

AJ Betts says she wants to present her Zac and Mia story to children who are sick, and also to young readers who are healthy and normal to help them become compassionate and understanding of people with differences.

"I think really the sense of compassion for other people who are ill or who are different, but also to have new gratitude for this life that we have, for this to be well is such a privilege. I think we often take it for granted when we are well, and we grumble and complain about silly things, but we forget how lucky we are. And so I like readers to realize when they read this book how amazing these characters are, but also how fortunate they are themselves."

AJ Betts is an English teacher at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth and she has spent eight years teaching in the Oncology Ward. AJ says she has found great strength in her job as a teacher for students who are ill, and she was deeply moved and inspired by her students to write "Zac and Mia."

"I think over the years I've been so inspired by these young people, who are so brave and so funny, and can teach me so much about life, and I've learned a lot from working with them about how precious life can be, and how courageous a person can be."

AJ Betts says she loves to teach students in the hospital, and the significance of her job lies in the hope that she can bring to them.

"When I come in, I treat them the way that they would if they were in the school. So that sense of normality, that sense of that things are going to get better, because when I come in to work with them on their homework or their English work, it's about not their sickness, but it's about their future, helping them get through their exams, so that they look forward to the future. So it's optimistic."

As an experienced children's' writer who has published three novels for young people, AJ Betts says that she has never tried to be educational. She says honesty is one of the best links to her young readers.

"I think young people in school have so much to read and to study and to learn, that I like them to see reading as a pleasure as an escape. But that doesn't mean it has to be fantasy. So if a book can take you into someone else's world, I think that's a wonderful thing for teaching empathy and compassion. So I think every book is educational in its own way, but as a writer I never try to be educational, I try to be honest, and I think that's one of the best forms of communication."

This year, Australian Writers Week in China features a celebration of young and emerging Australian authors, and runs between March 14th and the 27th. As an important element of the Writers' Week, the Australia-China Publishing Forum features a focus on children's publishing.