Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a former copy- and substantive editor with a Master of Theology and a beautiful dog. 🙂 I’ve written around ten full-length books of my own in addition to some false starts and ghostwriting (which I don’t count).
At the moment I’m . . . sigh, looking for a different job. Because sitting alone in one’s living room all day year after year, hunched over the computer isn’t great for one’s mental health . . . and because editing other people’s books takes too much creative energy away from mine. Wish me luck!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Land of the Purple Ring.
So, Fisher Price has these toys called stacking ring toys, where you stack rings of different colors. The top, smallest one used to be purple — and it pretty well always gets lost. In my family, sure, but not just there. Everyone’s gets lost. So my mom started saying that when something got lost, it went to the land of lost things: The Land of the Purple Ring.
Honestly, how could I not write a book about it, after that?
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write over breakfast, first thing in the morning.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Diana Wynne Jones, Jonathan Stroud, and Walter Moers are some big ones. But honestly, there are so many . . .
What are you working on now?
At long last, I’m taking a break. But a new idea is already developing . . .
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Don’t just use one! Use them all!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
1. It takes 1,000,000 words to get good. Keep at it.
2. Read more than you write.
3. Get exercise! Expose yourself to new things!
4. Find great critiquers and think over their advice, but don’t take all of it.
5. Find a great professional copy/substantive editor, and take 60-80% of their advice.
6. Find a great professional proofreader and take 99.9% of their advice.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Take one day off per week to refresh your brain. Read something fun during it.
What are you reading now?
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, volume 2 (light novel)
What’s next for you as a writer?
Endless patience. I need to take a break, but an idea is welling up. I might write it as a web novel first, I think.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
How long am I going to be stranded? If a fixed amount of time — a year or two — and then I’ll be back, I think I might as well learn a new language. But German or Japanese? I’d pick one, then get a grammar book, a dictionary, and two novels in that language.
Author Websites and Profiles
Deborah Natelson Website
Deborah Natelson Amazon Profile
Deborah Natelson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
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