Guest post from Natalie Normann

I first met Natalie when she joined the local RNA Chapter and very soon she became a very active and popular member of the group. 

Natalie, welcome. Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about you as a writer.

I'm a Norwegian writer. My first book was published 25 years ago, so I've had a long career. I became a full-time writer about thirteen years ago, when I started writing historical romance series. Before that, I wrote serials and short stories for magazines, and also published thrillers and children's horror books. So quite a change of genres and a lot of different stories. 

You have written so many books. Where do you find your inspiration and ideas to keep your novels fresh and appealing for your readers?

I'm on my third series now, and the total of historical romance books I have published is 51. Because I write six books a year, it adds up surprisingly quickly.

I don't think inspiration is something you can wait for. I think it comes through writing. When I write historical novels, I find a lot of inspiration in the research. I love digging around for interesting details and always get surprised. It's half the fun of writing historical. Also, my readers sometimes suggest things that I can use, which I really appreciate. 

For contemporary romance, like Summer Island, I look at something that I love, something I feel connected to for a setting. And I love islands. My inspiration here comes as I develop the story.

My debut novel was a romantic thriller, published in 1995. Including my series, I have published 59 books as of June 2020.

How much planning did you do for each of your novels? Planner or pantser?

I do both. I never write a synopsis for a novel because I know that the story will change during the process, but I do a lot of groundwork before I start writing. I play with settings, letting characters and plot develop in my head and in my notebook, so I have an idea about where it should start and where it should end. And then, during the writing process, I have a grid where I fill in what happens. I use a pencil for this because there's an awful lot of changes that happen. Ideas tend to pop up and usually, they are better than the ones I started with. Stories develop while I work and I have learned to trust what happens.  

I’m full of admiration that your new novel, Summer Island, coming out soon, is written in English. It’s a first for you and it will be published by One More Chapter on 24^th June. Please tell us about that.

The last thing I had imagined when we came to stay in Cardiff for two years, was to write for One More Chapter. I've had to pinch myself more than once. The short of it is that I met Julia Williams from Harlequin and she later put me in touch with Charlotte Ledger. I sent her some of what I already had in English on my computer. She didn't really like any of it and asked me if I wanted to write a contemporary romance set in Norway. I jumped at the thought, not having clue what to write. I had so much fun finding the story and characters.

What were the main challenges you faced when writing in your second language?

I have to watch myself from using words I'm not totally comfortable with. I don't want it to sound like I have used Google translate or picked vocabulary out of a dictionary, and at the same time it shouldn't be repetitive – it can easily be flat. One problem is that I'm always confident what's American and what's British English. Luckily I have a wonderful proofreader who helps me. I love the challenge.

Can you say which came first, the characters or the story you wanted to tell?

I'm never sure what comes first when I start a story, to be honest. Sometimes I have a character in my head, sometimes I have a setting and look for a story that will fit. It's a puzzle and I like the process of putting it together.

Utsira

How important was setting your novel on an island off the coast of your home country of Norway?

The setting is so important in this book. I wanted a romantic setting, but I didn't want to set

in a city or a town. I wanted the Norwegian nature to be a big part of the story, and where I come from it's all coast, fjords and islands. Summer Island is a fictitious island, but it's put together by parts of real islands where I have spent summer holidays or long weekends since I was a little girl. Also, there has been so much Nordic Noir, and I wanted to share the beauty of a Nordic summer. It's not dark and grey all year round. We have beautiful summers, even when it rains.

I know you now have an agent. How crucial was her role when pitching to publishers and the novel being picked up by One More Chapter?

I already had the contract with One More Chapter when I got my agent, Lina Langlee. She has been so helpful and encouraging, and I think it's a good idea to have an agent in the UK, who understands the market and how things work. Because I'm still pretty clueless.

Where does the book fit in with your other novels?

It doesn't really fit with my Norwegian novels, because even if it's romance, it's a contemporary romance and that's a new genre for me.

What are you currently working on?

I am working on Christmas Island, the sequel to Summer Island. I'm trying really hard not to get it to noir since it's set in December. We'll see how that plays out. I love Christmas and it's the most important holiday in Norway. After weeks of nights getting longer and the days getting shorter, we fill our houses with Christmas lights and comfort food, and the celebrations usually start in November and last until after the New Year.

West coast view

I know you write late into the night, so do you have a particular routine when writing?

Writing in two languages can be confusing. I had one incident where I was working on my Norwegian book and wrote a whole paragraph in English. My routine is mostly sitting in front of the computer and hammer away for as long as I can. I do a strict word count and stick to it, for both the English project and the Norwegian. It works better if I write on one during the day, and the other at night.

Where do you write?

When I write at night, I sit in my office behind a very messy desk. During the writing process, the piles of post-it notes grow and notebooks seem to appear and disappear on a regular basis. And I always loose papers, usually the ones with the most important information.

During the day, I write in a coffee shop. I miss my local Costa in Cardiff something awful, and because of the lockdown, there haven't been many coffee shops open in Oslo. Now it's slowly getting back to some kind of normal and I'm finding my way outside again.

What would be the biggest compliment a reader could give you after reading Summer Island?

That they fell in love with the island and the people living there, and that it gave them a break from the real world.

Thank you, Natalie. It's been fascinated to find out more about you and your writing. I'm reading Summer Island at the moment and loving it. Good luck with the sales of this wonderful book.

Blurb
He never meant to stay.
He certainly never meant to fall in love ...

Summer island off the coast of Norway was the place London chef Jack Greene should have been from. he's an outsider in the community that should have been his family, and now he's setting foot on the strange land he has inherited for the first time.

Ninni Toft, his nearest neighbour, has come to the island to mend her broken heart. With her wild spirit and irrepressible enthusiasm, she shows city-boy Jack the simple pleasures of island life - and what it means to belong. To a place. To a people. To one person in particular.
Home is where the heart is, but is Jack's heart with the career he left behind in London, or on the wind-swept shores of Summer Island, with Ninni?

Links to all books on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summer-Island-Natalie-Normann-ebook/dp/B07ZG82B33/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NatalieNormannAuthor

Twitter: @NatalieNormann1

Instagram: natalienormann

Thank you for reading. I'm sure you'll have enjoyed reading Natalie's answers. Do any of you write or read books in more than one language? We'd love it if you left a comment below. Thank you. 

You may also follow me on Twitter @JanBaynham and on my Jan Baynham Writer page.