Today's Chat with Sarah features N.L. Holmes author of The North Wind Descends.
To view the book on the bookshelves, click here.
To view the book on Amazon, click here.
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1. When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
My cousin and I used to write novels for fun when we were kids (and sometimes even finished them!), but I didn’t give any thought to fiction writing as an adult until I retired from teaching. Up to then, I had written some poetry, and of course, scholarly articles. Fiction was never a stretch, though. My aunt was the book editor of the local paper, and my father wrote short stories for Boy’s Life until he went into advertising.
2. What was your favorite book or series growing up? How did that influence your writing?
I loved the old books that my parents had read as kids: Ivanhoe, Howard Pyle, Horatio Hornblower, Anne of Green Gables. But also, things like Nancy Drew, Caddie Woodlawn, and Rosemary Sutcliffe. You can see how that inclined me towards mysteries and historicals!
3. What's the first thing you do when you after coming up with an idea for a story?
I start by making a few notes of things I want to happen, and then I begin writing. I develop the plot as I go. Sometimes I write separate scenes as they occur to me, out of order, and then rearrange them and stitch them together. That’s as near as I get to an outline.
4. Let's discuss your book The North Wind Descends. It's a historical mystery set in Egypt. What made you choose this setting?
I had started with another series set in Bronze Age Anatolia (modern Turkey), and then it occurred to me that only about five other people than myself knew or cared about the Hittites. Since I had taught a class on ancient Egypt for years, I knew there were plenty of Egyptomaniacs out there. Plus, the period around Akhenaten’s reign is both exciting and little known, hence plenty of room for the novelist to embroider. So I worked up a series set in Egypt during his reign.
5. How much research did you do for the story?
Before I began the series, I did a lot of research—a lot, even beyond what I already knew professionally. But for subsequent books, the research got easier. I just needed to check out certain walks of life or parts of the country or whatever was specific to that particular book.
6. One of the things the reviewers enjoyed was the characters and their relationships. How did you make them so realistic?
How I came up with them in the first place I couldn’t tell you (except for those who were really historical figures, like Hani). Since Hani was a diplomat entrusted with many important missions, I tried to think of what sort of personality that would require. And once I had a person in mind, they became very real to me. I followed their lead—how they would interact with family and friends, the sorts of things they would or wouldn’t do. I would even picture them in situations that were never in the book, just to get to know them better.
7. Which character is your favorite? Which is your least favorite?
Hani is my favorite. He’s the kind of person I’d like to be; although Neferet is a winsome scamp (probably more like the kid I was!). Amen-nefer, the misogynist commissioner, is definitely the guy I like least.
8. This is a series. Do you have a plan for the total number of books? Can you tell us about the next in the series?
The next book is coming out at the beginning of this summer: Lake of Flowers. It takes place after the death of Akhenaten, when things are slowly (and violently) starting to change back to the traditional ways. Then I’m working on another one (number six) that will probably wrap the series. But I have in mind to go back in time and do some prequels about Hani’s earlier career, some of which has been hinted at in the present series.
I like to end on some fun questions.
9. What's on your car radio right now?
WSMR, classical music public radio.
10. What's your comfort food?
Chili (I’m from Texas!).
11. Give us your favorite or most inspirational quote.
“Anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
12. What's one product you can't live without?
Books!!
