☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼ with M.C.V. EGAN: Writerly Stuff, Hints, and Tips from Nathalie M.L. Römer author of Tainted Truth

Writerly Stuff, Hints, and Tips from Nathalie

As an author, I’ve come a long way from the person I was in 2014 who didn’t know anything about the writing process, editing or proofreading, publishing or what’s involved in the “epilogue,” i.e. the marketing and advertising.

A book begins with good research. You have to understand what you write about. For example, my series The Wolf Riders of Keldarra may be fantasy, but when you write any story it has to be grounded in reality. When I write any of my stories I foremost ask this question: “Would this happen?” or “Is this plausible enough?”

There’s one small aspect of my book series I purposefully give a disclaimer about on the About page of the book, and that’s about the timeline of Yalla’s pregnancy. It’s something like five times longer than it happens with wolves in our world. The rest of the information is as close as possible to the way it is in reality, such as how intelligent wolves are...

I read often still and have done so since early childhood. Reading for me is not just a chance to escape but also, especially now I’m a full-time author myself, a way to see my questions about my own books answers in someone else’s story. I don’t copy what I read as I got enough story circling my mind to last me a lifetime. Reading a book as an author should validate your own skill.

I prefer silence while I write, except in one situation which is when I write action scenes. I’ve found I write those better with a fast-paced music blasting into my ears. But the edit and re-evaluate that part of my writing I have to do it in silence. A few months I read an article about Nora Roberts, and how she writes, and in a way, I’m like her... I can write best when my partner, Anders, is at work, asleep, or in the living room. I love him but I need my “alone time” for my writing...

My favourite genre is fantasy, though I also write science-fiction or should I say “futuristic stories,” mysteries and here I’m partially influenced by reading all of George Simenon books my father owns (still!) as a child and realising that not every one of his stories had a dead person in it. Some had mysteries of missing people in them, and I decided I liked those sort of mysteries the best (Sorry, Agatha Christie!) so now I like to write mysteries that are about missing people (not necessary cold cases) and want to bring my own take of the genre. And then finally I love romance, but decided I wanted to tackle this genre differently too...

I write one book at a time, but have two days a week for brainstorming where I will polish plots for other books, figure out characters (both of a current draft or others), and generally expand my notes for books. Being well-organised is something to aspire as an author (or in any job really). Oh and I’ll answer one question I saw listed in the interview here: my biggest pet peeve is when people claim that being an author isn’t a real job. Remember that when you read the next article by a journalist (the author of the article), when you watch the next movie (where the script writer was the author) or anything else you read, such as a blog post by your favourite blogger writing about the authors and books out there. I stated in my other essay that we invented writing. We also invented storytelling. When someone specifically makes it into their career, show them the respect they deserve.

I’ll end this essay with the advice I always give in social media whenever someone says they have writer’s block. There’s no such thing....period. Here’s why, and the reason is biological. The next time you watch a marathon, or people completing with swimming, or any sport, watch what happens when they reach their physical limit. They stop. They let themselves get rest and recover. They wait until they’re no longer tired. Then when they’re recovered they recommence. The brain isn’t a muscle but you can train it in a similar way, which is also something newer writers should remember. Many authors on YouTube, Zoom, StreamYard etc. organise “writing sprints.” The NaNoWriMo effort was created to give you a platform to learn to write consistently. When I had a moment of not knowing how to move forward with my career my mentor and friend, Orna Ross, said this to me: “The MORE you write the better you get it.”

So if you feel the “writing juice” depleted, it’s like the athlete needing to rest after a sprint. You get this feeling after you had been writing, right? Well then, it means you take a break and give the “brain muscle” or “creative muscle” recover, reset, get the energy back and then you continue. An athlete who tries to force themselve to continue would get an injury in the muscle that takes longer to recover from. Forcing your mind to continue with writing when it is already tired creates a similar “creative injury.” That’s what this writer’s block is. The more you force yourself the long this injury stays present. Just leave it alone and you’ll come back better than before with renewed energy, drive and enthusiasm. It was not understanding this about myself that caused me to turn to Orna Ross for the advice I then received. Understanding from a television the science behind “sport” made me realise that what goes for them goes for us. Saying you have “writer’s block” is a negative approach to the situation. Saying you’re taking a break from writing is positive. It’s the latter that will help you in getting back to your writing...

Tainted Truth

The Wolf Riders of Keldarra Book 1

by Nathalie M.L. Römer

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Begin your journey in the land of Keldarra...

It's a land on the brink of war. Who wins it depends on which side is stronger: truth or the lies of thousands of years of deception and manipulation. But whose truth? What lies? That's for you to find out in the first book of this nine-book series!

When truth and lies have been used as a weapon. When you fight an enemy from the past using lies, and truth becomes the weapon with which you fight that enemy.

The story takes you to an ancient land under siege. The history of Keldarra is long but forgotten. A distant past when someone knew the Wolf Riders would rise. They also knew they would come to an end.

The Truth: Words spoken.

Still spoken to speak a lie.

Marrida. Alagur.

Each individual has a reason for wanting change. But can the reasons co-exist without clashing? Can truth prevail when each of them exists because of lies? When they discover similarity it reveals a hidden past, a past that means so much more than either knew.

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