Natalie Bartley is a Canadian Adult-Fantasy author. Natalie has been writing for most of her teenage and adult life, but started publishing those stories in December 2019 with her first book, 'Love and Pain in Zion.' Lets find out more !
Tell me about yourself.
I’m a Canadian author, who has been writing for years. I am also a polytheistic sea-witch, and that tends to influence my work heavily. I prefer writing fantasy and paranormal romance, and with that will always come a ton of smut. But that’s just me.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing in some form or another since I was in Grade 2 or 3, so roughly around 7-9 years old. Most of my “early” work was poetry, and I even submitted to poetry.com back in the early 2000’s. As for stories, it’s been almost steady since 2009-ish.
Were you encouraged to read as a child?
Oh, absolutely. My dad was an avid fantasy and science fiction reader, and he inspired my love for those genres a great deal.
What do you enjoy about writing your chosen genre?
I’m kind of writing my own genre, to be honest. It’s a little bit erotica, a little bit fantasy, and a little bit romance. I’m not sure how to describe it, only that I thoroughly enjoy making up my own rules as I go. There may not be an HEA or HFA, which kind of removes it from the typical “romance” genre, or there may be a heavy sex scene which sort of keeps it out of fantasy entirely. That’s what I love about my writing, it’s my writing. Not me catering to the whims of a genre, publishing company or agent.
Tell me about ‘Titan of Light Book One -Remaking the Sorceress’.
Remaking the Sorceress was meant to be the next arc in my Medea’s story within the Darkened Veil (formerly the Curse of the Fallen) universe. It was a writing project started by some friends, and I’d like to say that I breathed new life into Medea. Obviously, there had to be some changes, as I only had the intellectual rights to my character, and none of the others. So, her romance with Vlad, while there was a Dracula within that universe, is a different character, a different take on it. Kidemonos, the Colchian Dragon, was my creation (the name and characteristics, not the dragon himself), so I was able to keep him with me. But everything else I had to start from scratch.
What inspired it?
Apart from the myth, the story and original arc planned were inspired by the thought of what would happen if one of the most powerful sorceresses in ancient myth survived into the modern era, and then lost her powers. What would she have to do to get them back, or did she even want them back? How would she atone for her sins, her past crimes, and move forward with her life? That’s how Remaking the Sorceress was born.
Are you a plotter or a panster?
Pantser, I am absolutely a pantser. However, I have recently begun to plot a bit. I plotted out Remaking the Sorceress by chapter title, and with my coming Windrider Saga I’ve begun plotting out each individual chapter, the series arc and worldbuilding before I’ve even begun writing it.
What does literary success look like to you?
Honestly, I’m not sure what it means to me. I’d like to say that it means I could write full-time and not have to worry about working a “day” job, but I think right now it means that I have a steady income coming in from my books.
Are you working on anything new?
I have plans for the second book of the Titan of Light series, but I’m building up my Windrider Saga right now. Whether I end up writing it, or not, the story has me hooked. I really should finish my WIP’s that I’ve let sit while finishing up Remaking the Sorceress, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to them.
What advice would you give a new author?
Write what you love. Don’t break yourself trying to fit into a mold that you really don’t want to.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I like to read and play video games. I also play flute, piccolo, and melodic percussion with a concert band here in Bowmanville, Ontario.
Thank you to Natalie for sharing with us. If you would like to check out Natalie's work, click on the links below.
Bartley/e/B085B66PJ9%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
Commenti