Next up in our fairy tale author interview series…Nina Clare!
Nina is the author of five fairy tale retellings, beginning with The Swan King. She lives in rural Cornwall, England and had some very fun answers to my interview questions.
Also, keep an eye out for her great advice for would-be writers!
Here’s the blurb for her historical fairy tale The Swan King. Sounds so intriguing, doesn’t it?
The Swan King by Nina Clare
Elsa, the sheltered daughter of a baron, has been forced to flee her home. When she’s given refuge at the royal castle it would seem that help is at hand, but the young king is not an easy man to speak to. In fact, Elsa’s not sure what kind of man he is.
Caught up into strange and magical happenings, political intrigues and romantic conflicts, the glamorous world of the king disintegrates about her, and enemies close in. Elsa wonders who to trust, who to love, and if she will ever make it home again.
Now for the interview…
Your fairy godmother gives you an extra, distraction-free hour every day but you’re not allowed to use it to write. What do you do with your extra hour?
Aww, thanks, Fairy Godmother! So, you did hear all the times I’ve said “I wish I had time to get back into painting”. I’ve always painted and crafted since I can remember, but writing absorbs all my creative time at present, and I’d love to find time for art again, it’s so relaxing.
P.S. Fairy Godmother, do you think you could throw in a little studio space? Just a dinky room will do with some natural light…an iPod dock, a teapot…
What fairy tale sidekick do you need in your life?
I need a talking unicorn. With wings. No road tax, no traffic, and we can chat about all things unicorny. I have so many questions.
What’s your Enneagram number? How does it show up in your author life?
5w4 which I think is a useful combo for a writer – my 5 core makes me a keen reader, researcher and observer, while my 4 wing is my creative side and adores all things metaphorical and abstract, hence my love of myth and fantasy. Studying the Enneagram is a wonderful tool for thinking about character creation in writing, as well as for personal development, I love it for both of those things.
Do you have a consistent writing routine? What’s it like?
I have to write first-draft stuff early in the morning before anyone else is up. It’s just me and the snoozy dogs. I sit by a window, and for six months of the year it’s completely dark outside while I write, but I quite like that, it makes me feel cozy and secreted away in my writing den.
Current writing music:
I can’t listen to music when I’m writing, I need either silence or I’ll play heavy rain through headphones. But after my morning writing session, I head out for a walk with the dogs, and then I listen to music while I think about what my next scene will be. Current playlist is Sleeping at Last for thoughtful moods, and this summer it’s been the latest albums from Switchfoot and Tobymac for some fun, high-energy vibes.
P.P.S Fairy Godmother – I wish I could write prose the way Sleeping at Last (Ryan O Neil) crafts and sings his songs. Can that go on the list?
What’s your go-to beverage while writing?
A big mug of fresh coffee first thing in the morning. I get my beans from Karanu Coffee – they buy them from tiny farms around the world, and all the profit goes to charity. This month they sent me Peaberry Minaja beans from Tanzania – sooo good! For the rest of the day it’s peppermint tea.
If you weren’t writing fairy tale retellings, what genre would you be writing?
It would have to be historical fiction, I have a hard time keeping my head in the present day, so I don’t feel much drawn to contemporary fiction, either to read or write it, the past always seems much more interesting.
What is the craziest (or most fun) thing you have done as research for your novels?
I went to Munich for a few days last year to visit Ludwig II’s castles and palaces. It was research for The Swan King. I wish I could go back and do the trip all over again! Bavaria is beautiful, full of fairy tale castles and adorable pastries, and they play Mozart in the tube stations.
What advice would you give to your just-starting-out-writing self?
Study story structure sooner, and establish a dailywriting routine. I took lots of creative writing courses with the Open University years ago, but no one ever taught me about story structure – it was a revelation when I discovered it (K M Weiland and Jessica Brodie have been the most helpful teachers so far).
What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a writer?
As above, but also read as much as you can. Decide what genre you want to write in, it will usually be the one you most love reading. Know your own genre tropes inside out, but read widely in fiction and nonfiction to expose yourself to lots of different writing styles and ideas and language. And don’t compare yourself to anyone else. You can only write like you.
Describe your approach to fairy tale retelling. How you decide where and how to twist the original or keep it as is?
The stories I choose are the ones where there is something intriguing, that makes me want to explore it further or change the outcome in some way.
In my 12 Dancing Princesses story, The Thirteenth Princess, I was intrigued by who the princes were in the underground world. The original tale doesn’t tell us. Were they real men, and if so, how did they get there? What happened to them after the princess’s nocturnal mystery was solved? That was the idea that started me off on my story.
In my Rumpelstiltskin retelling, The Miller’s Girl, I just could not stomach the miller’s girl marrying the greedy old king who’d threatened to kill her! I just had to explore an alternative story for her.
In The Reluctant Wife, my King Thrushbeard story, I wanted to explore why such a nice chap as the young king would go to such lengths for a spoilt princess. And I thought it would be fun to write a heroine behaving badly, which it was!
The Swan King and Beck are not direct fairy tale retellings but a mix of history, legend and folklore reworked into fairy tales. The Swan King was inspired by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who was visionary and a great patron of the arts, but too lost in his own fantasy world to be the king his government wanted. His real-life ending was tragic, and I wanted to give him a happy ending.
Beck is set against the background of the tumultuous period of Richard III and Henry VII, and the white slavery trade of that era. It was a time when Corsa pirates would sail down the coastlines of Europe, including Cornwall, where I live, literally snatching people from villages and taking them back to North Africa to sell into slavery. I mixed these historical details up with an old Scottish balled called Young Beichan, and Beck was the hybrid result of history and folklore.
How did you come up with your fairy tale fantasy world? What details were the most fun to write about?
I draw on history for my worldbuilding. I pick a period in history and a country, and use that as my starting point. But the most fun thing about fantasy is you can embellish and change things round, it’s not as strict as pure historical fiction where you have to try and keep everything correct to the period.
P.P.P.S Fairy Godmother – could my flying unicorn be time-travelling? It would be really helpful for research purposes. (you’re the best!)
Share a writer meme that made you laugh recently:
I love this little meme chart, it’s very appropriate for the writing life.
Connect with Nina on her website and get a free fairy tale novella if you sign up for her email list there. You can also find her on Instagram and Facebook.