About N.L. Holmes:
I am an archaeologist who has also been an artist, a cloistered nun, an antiques dealer, and an executive assistant. I really love ancient history–and books–and so, when I retired from teaching, I decided to write historical fiction. I have excavated in Greece and Israel, and now split my time between Florida and Northern France, where I garden, play the violin, weave, and–of course–read. I and my husband have a grown son.
What inspires you to write?
As a teacher of ancient history, my goal was always to help students understand that the people of the past were real people like us, with all the same emotions and baggage. I want to do the same thing as a novelist–to put a human face on the past. Maybe all those battles and stuff will seem less boring if we think about them as the results of human choices.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
I love the 19th-century realists, English and French. Among modern writers, the literary authors attract me–Strout, Erdrich, Welty–and oddballs like Neil Stephenson. Among mystery writers, I love Penny and Leon, but Tana French has probably become my favorite through the sheer beauty of her writing.
Tell us about your writing process.
I'm definitely a "pantser", who starts a book with only a vague sense of what I want to happen. Then, instead of starting at the beginning and writing in order, I often write separate nonconsecutive scenes as they come to me. Then comes the hard part: stiching them together! I never know who dunnit until the last.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I listen to them. Once I get a handle on their character, it's their reactions to things that determines where the plot will go. If I can't get a grip on a character, the book is a flop for me.
What advice would you give other writers?
Learn to take criticism well, without defensiveness. That's a life lesson, too, isn't it? You'll never learn anything or improve your craft if you already know everything. And the fact is, you cannot please all of the people all of the time. Everyone's taste and expectations are so different.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
At one point I had an agent, but we ended up parting company over a literary issue I found was important to me. I still have an external publisher for my Vella books. However, I found that I wanted more control over my craft and my books as products. I want to have the final say as to how the books look and what I can and cannot say. And a conventional publisher would only publish one book a year, if that. If I write more and get them to the point I'm satisfied, I want to be able to publish them. It used to be I thought I'd do anything not to have to do my own publicity, but nowadays, even with a publisher the author has to do so much that the trade isn't worth it. I might add that I had to overcome the same prejudice a lot of people have: "Independently published books aren't as good. These are just works that a publisher wouldn't touch." Untrue, and the industry is finding that out.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I welcome the ascendancy of the indie. There are millions of books being written every year, and yet the conventional publishing houses are becoming fewer and fewer and less likely to take a chance on an unknown. So we get the same five authors on the book racks all over the English-speaking world. Admittedly, all the books published aren't good (including conventionally published ones), but that's what readers and critics' reviews are for.
What genres do you write?: Historical fiction and historical mysteries
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
N.L. Holmes Home Page Link
Link To N.L. Holmes Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on BookBub
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
