Ask the Author: Nancy Ellen Brook
Answered Questions (8)
Nancy Ellen Brook
I haven't decided on my reading list for the summer yet, because I'm working on my next Jessica Seeker book, and another book with a working title "Born Unwanted". I tend to not read other books while I'm writing... I get too distracted. So if I do read anything, it'll be something that is nonfiction. I'll update this when I've decided.
Nancy Ellen Brook
Rhett Butler and Scarlet O'Hara from "Gone with the Wind" are my favorite couple. That choice was the easy part, telling you why I like them is much more complex. Maybe it's because these two represent so much of what I've experienced in life.
They missed the cues the other person was sending. Or maybe it was because they were confused about the difference between real love and the power of wanting something you couldn't have. Or maybe because they couldn't get past their different philosophies and see the common ground they both stood on. Or maybe because they were too preoccupied with everything around them to see what was standing right in front of them. Or all of the above. In other words, it's a mirror of my own life and the lives of my friends.
I suppose that in the end, they represent to me, the fact that we are sometimes so preoccupied with looking over the fence at the greener pastures on the other side, we frequently fail to see that we are grazing in the best pasture after all.
They missed the cues the other person was sending. Or maybe it was because they were confused about the difference between real love and the power of wanting something you couldn't have. Or maybe because they couldn't get past their different philosophies and see the common ground they both stood on. Or maybe because they were too preoccupied with everything around them to see what was standing right in front of them. Or all of the above. In other words, it's a mirror of my own life and the lives of my friends.
I suppose that in the end, they represent to me, the fact that we are sometimes so preoccupied with looking over the fence at the greener pastures on the other side, we frequently fail to see that we are grazing in the best pasture after all.
Nancy Ellen Brook
I've always loved mystical hero stories, Dragon Riders of Pern, Tales of Narnia, The Hobbit, and the like, but I had never come across a story with an aboriginal female hero that enthralled me the way the heroes in these books had enthralled me. I also got hooked on Harry Potter, and started thinking that I wanted to create a mystical aboriginal female hero.
I wanted to create a modern day hero that would appeal to the child in us, while telling an adult story. That gave birth to Jessica Seeker, a young woman who has seen the underbelly of life, but learns to rise above it and be better for it. She's a modern woman, who learns to use the ways and the mystical powers of aboriginal ancestors to conquer the blights of the present world.
Jessica Seeker became the life-spring of all the stories that will follow in this series.
I wanted to create a modern day hero that would appeal to the child in us, while telling an adult story. That gave birth to Jessica Seeker, a young woman who has seen the underbelly of life, but learns to rise above it and be better for it. She's a modern woman, who learns to use the ways and the mystical powers of aboriginal ancestors to conquer the blights of the present world.
Jessica Seeker became the life-spring of all the stories that will follow in this series.
Nancy Ellen Brook
I don't write until it becomes too painful not to write. This is how it works for me.
I come up with a little idea. I think about it for a short time and then I decide to encourage or not to encourage the idea. If I don't encourage the idea, I write it in my little idea book, and let it go. If I encourage it then I start thinking about it from time to time. I water it and nourish it (figuratively speaking). If it survives then it starts to take up more space in my thoughts, and starts nibbling at the corners of my mind. That's when I finally jot it down in a paragraph noting the beginning, the middle, and the end.
Once the characters become more and more real and they start talking with each other, that's when I'm inspired to write. More correctly, I have to write. I have to get the story onto the page. The story has now become a creature that has to be dealt with... the story must escape onto the page.
In a way it's not inspiration... it's an unyielding desire to write the story... in other words, it's too painful to keep it bottled up any longer... I have to write or the idea will give me no peace and quiet.
I come up with a little idea. I think about it for a short time and then I decide to encourage or not to encourage the idea. If I don't encourage the idea, I write it in my little idea book, and let it go. If I encourage it then I start thinking about it from time to time. I water it and nourish it (figuratively speaking). If it survives then it starts to take up more space in my thoughts, and starts nibbling at the corners of my mind. That's when I finally jot it down in a paragraph noting the beginning, the middle, and the end.
Once the characters become more and more real and they start talking with each other, that's when I'm inspired to write. More correctly, I have to write. I have to get the story onto the page. The story has now become a creature that has to be dealt with... the story must escape onto the page.
In a way it's not inspiration... it's an unyielding desire to write the story... in other words, it's too painful to keep it bottled up any longer... I have to write or the idea will give me no peace and quiet.
Nancy Ellen Brook
I am currently working on my next Jessica Seeker book. The working title is Jessica Seeker and the REM Warriors. In this book Jessica, (Mother Eagle) will have to fight for her position as Shaman and Medicine Woman on the reserve, while battling with a rebel group of Watchers. And the budding romance between her and Tom may also be in jeopardy. Telling you more would require a spoiler alert.
Nancy Ellen Brook
Having written, is one of the best things about being a writer. Writing is hard and sometimes tedious detailed work, but once it is done I find it very satisfying.
Most of my career as a writer has been centered around non-fiction projects, but when I delve into the world of fiction that is truly the best thing about being a writer. I get to create worlds, people, places, and stories that allow my creative energies to run free, and there is nothing that feels better than telling a story that I created. A story that can entertain others... makes them laugh, cry, and question the world in new ways.
Most of my career as a writer has been centered around non-fiction projects, but when I delve into the world of fiction that is truly the best thing about being a writer. I get to create worlds, people, places, and stories that allow my creative energies to run free, and there is nothing that feels better than telling a story that I created. A story that can entertain others... makes them laugh, cry, and question the world in new ways.
Nancy Ellen Brook
Write, write, and write some more. And when you aren't writing--read other writer's work. Learn your craft, not just from books or classes or mentors. Learn from reading and writing as well. To be a good writer you need to understand the flow and subtleties of your craft. Know the rules and experiment with what rules can be bent, what can be broken, or what must not be changed.
Develop your own style and voice. Be you!! And then tell your story.
Never stop learning and never stop experimenting. After 30 years of earning a living as a working writer, I'm still learning and I never expect that to stop.
Develop your own style and voice. Be you!! And then tell your story.
Never stop learning and never stop experimenting. After 30 years of earning a living as a working writer, I'm still learning and I never expect that to stop.
Nancy Ellen Brook
For the smaller blocks that come while writing... you know the ones where you've written yourself into a corner and now you have to figure a way out, I simply pamper myself. I grab a candle, a book, and some bubble bath, and then launch myself into a great warm bath letting my imagination escape into another world. When I'm finished my bath, I take a nap. Usually when I wake I have an answer and the block is gone.
For the bigger blocks like "what will my story be about or is there a story or what can I write about now". I usually go to an idea book that I've put notes in for years, sometimes that gets the block moving. Other times I play a game with my self and ask "what if". For example, what if a dog walked up to me on the street and asked for directions to the nearest fire hydrant. Yes they are really off the wall crazy "what ifs" but that frequently gets the creative juices flowing and gets the muses to working. For me it starts triggering ideas, and reminds me that I've got creativity.
Writer's block is feed by fear... don't fear the block... it won't last. Find a way to relax and let go! It will break.
For the bigger blocks like "what will my story be about or is there a story or what can I write about now". I usually go to an idea book that I've put notes in for years, sometimes that gets the block moving. Other times I play a game with my self and ask "what if". For example, what if a dog walked up to me on the street and asked for directions to the nearest fire hydrant. Yes they are really off the wall crazy "what ifs" but that frequently gets the creative juices flowing and gets the muses to working. For me it starts triggering ideas, and reminds me that I've got creativity.
Writer's block is feed by fear... don't fear the block... it won't last. Find a way to relax and let go! It will break.
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