It’s Nardia’s turn to take you on her writing journey in today’s Q&A!

Ok Nardia, tell us about yourself in 3 sentences.
I’m a mumma to two little ladies and wife to a truck-driving hubby! We’ve currently completed a lap and a half of Australia and if I won the lotto tomorrow I’d be back on the road to do another lap or two! Until that point, I was a full time workaholic but now that we’re home, I’m a frustrated writer, the anti Susie-Homemaker and a reformed hoarder (after all, caravan space came at a premium and this gal had waaaaay too much stuff).

How long have you been writing?
When I dig back through the treasure box of school pictures and trinkets I gave my mum when I was a kid, it is filled with stories, more stories and some poetry. I still have a piece of poetry I wrote in year eight, that received an A+++! Yes, apparently an A+++ is a thing!!! The box also contained a story I wrote in Year 11 about a WW2 soldier performing an heroic feat, with the ending revealing a twist – the story was being viewed by his grandson decades later through archived news reel footage. I still vividly remember writing that story and it was in that moment that I imagined myself as an author.

Somewhere in-between then and the past 6 years, I wrote a lot – of corporate reports, memos, university assignments and strategic plans and not one short story or piece of fiction! And with so much corporate writing, I feared the creative spark had died.  But it hadn’t! It’s slowly coming back and I’m currently polishing my first full-length novel, which I hope to submit to publishers soon.

What genre do you write?
That’s like trying to decide which is my favourite place in Australia! Impossible to answer! At the moment my current work-in-progress is a rural suspense set around Kalgoorlie, however I want to write it all!!! I have outlined several contemporary category-length novels (around 50-60k), a longer length general fiction (I’m loathe to call it women’s fiction) and an historical set in Sydney in the 1920’s. I dabbled in erotic short story writing for the first time ever this year and made the Spicy Bites Anthology which was pretty exciting. Whatever genre it is, I always seem to create a thread of mystery or a subplot of suspense in everything I write.

What draws you to this genre?
I love rural romance because it’s so realistic and relatable, and allows for vivid and colourful description of some truly fantastic places. I love reading an awesome suspense where I’m left either being surprised (which doesn’t happen often as I usually work out what’s going on before the end!), or if I figure it out, leaves me in awe of the author’s ability to thread the pieces together. I read quite broadly and at the moment, I’ve been enjoying the rural suspense genre again thanks to Bronwyn Parry and Annie Seaton.

Where do you get your ideas?
Like most authors, anywhere and everywhere. Most recently, our travels have created an enormous amount of inspiration for stories set throughout our amazing country, but I’m often inspired by a news story I’ve read or seen, or a scenario that I see playing out around me. Thank goodness for smart phones as it enables me to jot down ideas and add to the list of concepts and story ideas I’ve come up with. I’m often recording random thoughts into my phone or even more ridiculously, have a diving slate hanging in my shower where I find the best thoughts tend to strike – with my trusty lead-pencil, I simply write them down mid-hair wash, and then take a picture afterwards so I don’t lose my thoughts!

Tell us about your process, how do you get into a writing mindset?
Yep, can you ask me that question again some other time? I’ve come to realise that I’m still working through my process and trying to understand what works, what doesn’t work and what I can do to give myself the best chance of achieving publication success.

I have two small children (aged 3 & 5), we’ve just spent 14 months travelling in a caravan and next year I am about to become a school-mum so there’s been little in the way of consistency in terms of what’s going on in my life over the past few years and that’s certainly evident in my writing process. Generally speaking though, I write at night when the kids are asleep, but am often jotting down notes on my phone during the day. We’ve just moved into a house again so I’m trialing an early morning start and getting in an hour each morning to see how that pans out. I am the master procrastinator, so I often find myself doing ‘writing-related’ things, like website updates, Love Sabre marketing and editing for my writer pals so I can delude myself into thinking that I’m being productive!

What are you working on at the moment?
I’m currently polishing my rural suspense, set in Kalgoorlie about a girl who inherits a transport and logistics company and has to save it from financial ruin… and sabotage. I’m also writing some short stories to enter into Spicy Bites and Little Gems competitions next year.

Which writers inspire/influence you?
Reading Maisey Yates about seven years ago planted the seed in my mind that perhaps I could be a writer too and that it was time to step up and write that book. Her stories and characters are just fabulous, but her honesty about her writing journey really inspired me to stop dreaming and start doing.

I am a massive fan of Matthew Riley and could only wish to write a book like he can. The way he brings historical fact and rich, complex storylines together is sublime.

I’m also inspired every time I read a book by one of my fellow RWA members. Over the past few years I’ve been able to get to know a few authors and then when I read their books, I’m filled with pride and awe – they wrote a book… a real-life person that I know wrote a book and I read it! It’s pretty great motivation.

Why do you write romance?
In a nutshell – escapism. Afterall, time is precious and people often read to escape the negativity, pressures, challenges and mundanites of life. If I’m going to give up a few precious hours of my free time to the detriment of dealing with kids, work or life in general, I want it to make my heart sing.  And knowing that there will be a happy-ever-after, even if the characters have been through the worst of the worst, means that I know I’m going to walk away with a full heart.

Romance, and the knowledge that perhaps one day my book/s will enable that exhausted mother to unwind for five minutes, or corporate professional to chill out and stop her brain from whirring during her lunch break, or even that grandmother to enjoy her downtime during her retirement is a pretty heady reason to write romance.

What else about your writing journey should we know?
It’s not an easy gig. The amount of times I’ve heard people comment about how easy it would be to write a book, just follow the ‘formula’ like a Mills & Boon; it just makes me want to scream (yes, I’m directing that comment squarely at you Andrew O’Keefe of Channel 7’s Sunrise program!!!).

I’m my own worst enemy at times, grappling with ego and crises-of-confidence like all authors do. But at the heart of my journey, I know that I just want to create the best story that I can and up until now, I’ve been sabotaging myself by thinking that my first book has to be perfect. It’s only recently that I’ve conceded that every author strives to write the best story they can… given the circumstances at the time. Five years after I’m published, I’ll inevitably look at my first book and grimace at the prose and the structure and at any manner of things that are wrong with it. I guess that’s called growth. I credit this growth to attending my first RWA conference in 2015 and finding my people. I’d been a member of RWA for a few years prior to that, but finding my tribe has been a catalyst. Prior to that I had NEVER shown anyone anything I’d written (outside of school assignments). NEVER. Now, I offer up the words, still with trepidation, but also with a willingness to get feedback and improve.

I’m just glad that I’ve started to shift my head around that and am moving away from my initial perfectionist mindset. It won’t be perfect. I just need to do my best and keep moving forward.

What is your favourite childhood book?
Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park. Love it! And still pull it out to read often. I can’t wait until my girls are old enough to read it! I visited Sydney a few years ago and got to explore The Rocks where the book is set and it was surreal, and magical, like the book had come to life before my very eyes.

I also love an American cowboy series from the 1950’s called Pocomoto by Rex Dixon and collect first edition copies – I may or may not have spent over $100 on one of these books (don’t tell my hubby!) – there are 23 in the series and I have 15. Very rare and hard to find, but I adore them.

And of course, Enid Blyton – I also collect first edition copies of Enid Blyton stories as well and have over 100 of them (out of the thousands she wrote). I’m also a card carrying member of the Enid Blyton Society in the UK.

What is the best thing about being a Love Sabrist?
Tough question! I think the BEST thing is knowing that no matter what, someone is going to drag me (kicking and screaming if need be), along this journey. On the days when it is too hard, or I think that I’m a fraud and not good enough, these chicks are going to throw me some love and then in the next minute kick me up the bum to keep me moving forward.

Oh, hang on a minute… I change my mind!!! The best thing about being a Sabrist is definitely GIF-wars. When you can conduct a 7-way conversation purely in gif format that leaves you snorting in laughter and aching from all the giggles, then you know you’ve found your soul sisters!

 

You can find Nardia hanging out at all the cool places online: FB: @nardiasheriffauthor & @alifelikeours (travel blog), T: @nardiasheriff & @alifelikeours and I: @nardiasheriff & @alifelikeours