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Ruth Nestvold Interview 5/4/2013 8:33:04 PM
Author Ruth Nestvold discusses her interest in Arthurian legends, her latest release and the writing life! LTS: From full-length novels of historical romance to numerous short stories of science fiction published in popular magazines and anthologies, this award-winning writer has done it all! I’d like to introduce you to Ruth Nestvold, author of Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur and its sequel, Shadow of Stone!
I’d like to begin by having you share a little information about yourself with our readers, Ruth.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?
RN: Reading, cooking, and family are probably most important to me besides writing. I love spending time with my granddaughters. In the summer months, I spend a lot of time gardening. We have a piece of property nestled between vineyards with a couple dozen fruit trees, and every year, we plant tomatoes, corn, chilis, beans and more. Keeping up with the harvest is pretty time-consuming!
LTS: You’ve been writing since you were a young child. Is it wrong to assume you’ve always dreamed of becoming a published author or is this something that is fairly new?
RN: I've pretty much always dreamed of being a published author. :)
LTS: I had a chance to read an excerpt from your novel, Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur and I must say I really enjoyed your writing style, Ruth! I can’t wait to read the entire novel that seems so reminiscent of the tragic love story between Lancelot and Guinevere. What inspired you to write this story, and for those who are not familiar with the tale of Cornish knight Tristan and Irish Princess Isolde, can you tell us a little bit about your protagonist, Yseult?
RN: I've been a fan of Arthurian literature for a long time, probably since reading T.H. White's The Once and Future King in high school. Not soon thereafter, I started fantasizing about writing my own version of King Arthur.
I didn't know much about the tragic love story of Tristan and Isolde until I took a course on Middle High German epic romance in college. In that course, I fell in love with Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan. Gottfried's version is magical. Besides, Tristan and Isolde is not as overdone in English. There are a lot more versions of the tragic triangle of Arthur, Guenivere and Lancelot, so Tristan and Isolde gave me a way to tackle the Arthurian legends from a perspective that hasn't been used quite as often.
In my version of the story, Yseult / Isolde gets her own backstory, which I created out of fifth century Irish legend and history. She's a member of the Old Race, with their magic powers, a princess and healer with some training in arms, enough to be able to help defend her home.
LTS: Without giving away too much, can you reveal what’s in store for the readers when they crack open Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur?
RN: I put a lot of research into Yseult and the sequel, Shadow of Stone, and they are both fairly dense in terms of historical detail. At the same time, I've done my best give the readers characters they can root for, despite their flaws. I think it's safe to describe the books as epic. There's both a lot of emotion as well as political intrigue and war. The books are officially categorized as fantasy, but magic isn't as important as it is in a lot of fantasy.
LTS: Can you share a little about the sequel, Shadow of Stone and where it picks up from Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur?
RN: Shadow of Stone takes place ten years after the end of Yseult. In the years of peace since Britain's enemies have been defeated, the regional kings have started to grow complacent, Arthur's army has grown soft, and jealousies and trivialities are ripping alliances apart. When Britain is once again threatened from without, they must band together again. You could say this is the end of Arthur's story, since the overarching legend that inspired me is the events leading up to the Battle of Camlann. But it is also the story of how Yseult learns to deal with the tragic events of the first book and outgrow the legend that her life has become.
LTS: Your stories have been traditionally published and self-published so you know firsthand that the road to publication is difficult at the best of times. Was it difficult for you to land an agent? Do you have any advice you’d like to share with the author struggling to find representation?
RN: I never managed to land an agent, and now I have stopped trying, since I've taken my own career into my hands. As a result, I can't really advise those who want to go the agent route.
LTS: Can you share that wonderful moment when your agent told you he/she sold your story to Random House?
RN: I sold Yseult to Random House Germany myself. When I got the call, I was ostensibly calm, discussing the business end with my editor. But when I hung up the phone, I jumped up and down and cried. :)
LTS: That is wonderful, Ruth! That is quite the accomplishment when you know many big publishing houses do not accept submissions unless the author is represented by a literary agent! Now, what is the most important lesson you’ve learned on the road to publication?
RN: Never give up. But a very important second comes, never stop writing and never stop learning. If you never give up with the first book you write, while never taking advice and never writing a second, you're just as likely to fail as someone who gives up after the third rejection.
LTS: Excellent advice, Ruth! On the subject of writing styles, are you a plotter or pantser? The readers would like to know if you tend to plot out your story line in great detail or if your writing is more organic with the characters and events unfolding as you write.
LTS: Some authors meditate, others need to fuel up on coffee or listen to music. Do you have any rituals, ones that can be shared with the readers, that you must do before you hunker down for a writing session?
RN: I like to listen to music while I write, but I don't really have any rituals. Perhaps I would be more effective if I did!
LTS: At one time or another, most writers hit the wall and their work stalls because of the dreaded writer’s block. What do you do to get around or over this mental wall to resume writing?
RN: These days, I have more difficulty finding time to write than suffering from writer's block. But for me, the most effective method of dealing with a reluctance to write is to have a daily word count I need to get done. Usually when I've finished that minimum, I'm into the story and ready to write more.
LTS: Who is your favourite author and how has he/she inspired you to write or influenced your writing style or choice of genre?
RN: Two of my favorite authors are Ursula K. Le Guin and George R.R. Martin. Le Guin has had a big influence on the kind of science fiction I write, while George's Song of Ice and Fire series was instrumental in the way I decided to create the world of Yseult, grittier than much fantasy, and with only a minimal amount of magic.
LTS: What do you foresee in your future over the next five years and what is your next big project?
RN: I have a time travel novel, Chameleon in a Mirror, based on the life of Aphra Behn that is currently with a critique partner. I'm hoping that I can get that novel out by the end of the year. I'm also working on a YA fantasy, Island of Glass, in which the protagonist is a glassmaker on Murano in Venice, an eighteenth century world with magic and glass. Another work in progress, Fragments of Legend, takes place on three different levels of time and revolves around a literary mystery concerning the German medieval epic, the Nibelungenlied. A kind of secret history fantasy. Then there are the collections of my previously published short stories that I'm putting together.
The next five years? I hope that by that time I will have published enough and sell regularly enough that I can make a living from my writing.
LTS: Thank you so much for taking the time from your hectic schedule to share in your novels and your writing experience, Ruth! Catch you on Twitter.
For more information about Ruth and her novels and many short stories, check out:
Website: www.ruthnestvold.com
Blog: ruthnestvold.wordpress.com
Follow Ruth on Twitter: .Ruth_Nestvold
Where to buy the books: I have a page listing my ebooks and where you can find them here: http://ruthnestvold.wordpress.com/books/
