Ask the Author: Leonora Meriel
Answered Questions (7)
Leonora Meriel
Really, everything in the world around me inspires me. Every single person on the planet (and beyond) has their own experience and lives according to their environment, their dreams, their fears and what they have been taught. This can vary so wildly on Earth, from tribes living isolated in forests, to modern youth living through social media. I'm always eager to find what connects, drives and delights each human being - and what the meaning of it all is.
Leonora Meriel
My most recent book is "The Unity Game" which is set in New York City, on a distant planet and in an after-life dimension. I used to live in Manhattan, and had wanted to write about it for several years. However I wanted to use it to combine with other perspectives on humanity, as it is such a vivid example of a particular way of living on the planet Earth. This is where I got the idea of combining it with life on another planet, and then life in another dimension. New York is very much about fulfilling the ego, and thus my alien character does not experience ego at all, and the after-life characters perceive humanity from a non-judgemental viewpoint. The three settings and story lines allowed me to explore some big themes that had been mulling for several years.
Leonora Meriel
Inspiration comes in waves for me. Some days, I can sit down and write and write and write without any effort. Some days, I have an idea but it is a great struggle to express it as I want to. There are some elements that help both situations though: candles and dark rooms if I am at home; a busy, noisy cafe with a great corner table if I'm out in the city. Writing is work to me, so whatever level of inspiration I feel, I am at a desk and something is going down on paper. Sometimes, the first draft doesn't feel inspired but then later I suddenly see how the scene can transform. It's different every day.
Leonora Meriel
I have just started my third novel. My first two novels were both literary fiction, but one was women's fiction and magical realism, and the other was science fiction. My current novel is also literary fiction, but I don't know what direction it will go yet. I would like to write something more simple and focus on the language, but so far my imagination has not let me do this. We'll see!
Leonora Meriel
Write write write. Read read read. It's very simple. However good you are now, if you keep writing then you will keep improving. Set yourself goals for your work. Complete a short story that you are proud of. Then complete a novella. Then try a novel. Your 10th novel might be the one you send to a literary agent. But you won't get there if you're not writing now.
Leonora Meriel
The flexibility! My work has so many sides to it. Observing, recording, researching, editing, reading the works of others, constantly learning, drafting, re-drafting. The work can be done in cafes, in airports, in libraries, on planes, on trains, on buses, walking down a street, at home - I can create my own work environment that suits me for each day.
Leonora Meriel
I have never had writer's block. I have so many ideas that my struggle is to find the time to get them down and assemble them into a sensical story one novel at a time. If I ever couldn't think of a topic then I would work on my writing skill - practice descriptions or dialogue, for example, or do some research. There are innumerable ways for a writer to "work" even if it is not on an actual draft. If I really couldn't write, I imagine that I would take some months to get experience in a new job, or in a new country, and build up some more first hand stories for new writing.
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