It’s my pleasure to welcome Bridget Nash to my blog!
Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hello! Thanks so much for allowing me to take up some of your online space!
I’m Bridget Nash. I’m just your average wife and mother who likes to make up stories when I get a few minutes alone. I like to write a lot of different things but I tend to lean toward speculative fiction which is just a fancy way of saying, “What if our world was different than what we know now?” Players began with the question, “What if we lived in a world where there were still traveling players like in the time of Shakespeare?
How long have you been writing for?
Except for those blurry memories from before I could hold a pencil, I can’t remember a time that I didn’t write stories to entertain myself. I was an only child for eight years and, as a kid, I was completely comfortable being alone with my imagination. I never grew out of that.
What is your writing process like?
It’s a bit like daydreaming. I don’t plot out a story before I write it. When I’m doing something mundane, I imagine scenes for my current work in progress, but I don’t really know a whole lot about my stories before I write them down. Sometimes I’m even surprised at what happens as I write it. When I started Players, I knew the beginning and the end. I had to write to book to see how the characters got there.
Do you have a writing routine? If so, what’s a typical day like for you?
I have a seven-year-old and an infant which means I squeeze in writing whenever I can but it doesn’t happen every day. One thing that hasn’t changed in my adult life is that I tend to write at night. I was a night-writer even before I was married or had kids.
What motivates you to write?
There’s no grand answer here. I just write to get the stories out of my head and onto paper so I can see what happens.
What was the first thing you did when you found out your book was being published?
Honestly, I’d had Players in my sole possession for so long that I was eager to hand it off for the process. Normally, I probably would have gone back through it with a fine-tooth comb to try and catch more idiotic mistakes before someone else did, but I’d been through it enough times that I knew it was way past due for fresh eyes.
Are you currently working on anything new?
There is a sequel to Players in the works. I wrote the entire first draft of Players by hand, and it looks like the sequel is going to come to life the same way. The sound of the keyboard tends to awaken the sleeping baby, so I am back to pen and paper.
If you weren’t a writer, what would your career be?
I do a little portrait photography, so maybe I’d go that route. I was a newspaper reporter until my oldest child was eight-months old and I decided to stay home with her. So, writing was my career before then, but even if I had a non-writing career, I think I would still write as a hobby. It’s been my hobby my whole life.
What is the easiest part of writing for you? What is the hardest part?
The easiest part is the writing itself. If I didn’t have other responsibilities, I don’t know how I’d ever stop. But, the hardest part is getting started. After a long day, when the house is dark and quiet and the night noises are coming through the window, sometimes I just want to lay down and rest. Once I convince myself to start writing, however, sleep becomes completely unimportant and I don’t want to stop.
I think another hard part is allowing a piece to be finished. It’s difficult to let it go and say, “It’s done.” I don’t want to leave the little world I made. And I always want to go back and change one more thing…
What’s one thing you learned through writing that you wish you knew before you started?
One thing I’m still learning to be okay with is that nothing is going to please everyone. William Shakespeare’s average Goodreads rating is 3.8 stars and it’s no secret that I’m no Shakespeare. People are going to hate my work. People are going to love my work. People are going to shrug their shoulders and say, “It was alright.” And I’m going to try really hard not to care.
What is your favorite book or genre? Is there a special book that made you realize you wanted to write?
There isn’t a certain book that made me want to write. I think the author that sparked my imagination the most was Madeleine L’Engle. She portrayed the most normal, mundane things in life as magical, mysterious and oh-so-important. I can never aspire to evoke even half the emotion and wonder as she did in her writings. If there was ever an author who changed me, it was Madeleine L’Engle.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
You just have to do it. You have to write. But you also have to read. Pay attention when you read. When you like a book, try to figure out why. It isn’t just the plotline that makes you enjoy a book; it’s something else. Try and put your finger on it.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Nothing but infinite thanks. Thanks to you for the interview. Thanks to anyone who gives me a chance as an author. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
About Bridget
Bridget Nash was a newspaper journalist who received several Associated Press/Oklahoma Press Association awards for both writing and photography, before starting her own small portrait photography business. She now stays home with her daughter, contributing to the news world on a freelance basis.
Players is Bridget’s first novel but ever since she could hold a pencil, she has enjoyed writing as a recreational activity. As a child and a teen, she could often be found outdoors with a notebook and pen, listening to the birds and the wind while making up her own worlds on paper.
When she isn’t writing or taking photographs, Bridget enjoys reading and watching sitcoms simultaneously. Her favorite books are Frankenstein, Jane Eyre and A Ring of Endless Light. Bridget lives in a very small Oklahoma town, along with her husband; her daughter; two dogs, Trevor and Penny; a border collie named Taban; a cat named Taylor Swift; and a fancy rat named Sheldon.
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