Written Author Interview
- Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do outside of writing. What is a day in the life like for you?
My name is Natalia Rose Wolfman, I’m a queer indigenous author who
specializes in horror and young adult novels. I finished my first novel at 13 and published my debut at 16. Currently, I have three novels released and I’m a member of both the Writing Heights Writing Association and the Colorado Authors League, where I’m an official speaker. Outside of writing, I love to draw and watch movies as I’m a massive cinephile. Usually, you can find me out on my college campus working on my latest piece.
- What inspired your first novel? What was the thing that got you into writing in the first place?
My debut novel was inspired by a large piece of my childhood which was spending summers at my grandma’s house. She lived in a very rural city and her house was surrounded by woods, so my family and I would often go into these woods and make up ghost stories. We were on the border of the Appalachians, so those stories were a staple of the area and that played a large role in my inspiration. I also took a lot of inspiration from 80s horror as my grandma would show me these 60s-80s horror films while we were there, so I got to see films like Friday the 13th, The Birds, Psycho, etc. that my parents usually wouldn’t let me
watch. The Woods is a bit of a homage to both those classic 80s films and some 80s horror novels like It.
I got into writing originally as a kind of escapism for the real world. I grew up spending a lot of time in the library and wanted to write one day, but as I got older, I kind of gave up on that dream. It wasn’t until I completed my first novel that I decided this was what I wanted to do. That is to say that it didn’t come without struggles. Before publishing The Woods, I vividly remember sitting in the middle of a Starbucks at Emerald City Comic Con with my manuscript in front of me, wondering if it was even worth it to try and publish it. Being 16 with your normal set of teenage self-esteem issues, I struggled badly with impostor syndrome. That night, I remember sitting in the autograph hall and met the cast of a certain famous horror show that was my age and I remember thinking “you know what, if they can come out here and create these characters people love, so can I”. I ended up publishing my debut later that year and it’s been an
incredible experience ever since. - How do you come up with characters? Are they spontaneous or meticulously planned?
It honestly depends, a few of my characters like Sheriff Barron from The Woods were plotted out way later in the story and his evolution came out of nowhere. However, when it comes to certain characters, like the Hydren, I spent a lot of time preparing and working out the logistics of his design. Most of my characters, like most of my book ideas, come from dreams.
- What are some of your favorite genres to read? Are there any books you’d recommend to first time readers or people looking for something new?
My favorite genre to read is horror. I’d always recommend Stephen to a first time reader because he’s the king of horror, pun intended, but I’d more so recommend The Sun Dog or Carrie over his other books like The Stand and It. I think they’re a lot more introductory friendly
than his longer works and so it makes them perfect if you’re wanting to get more into the industry. If you’re looking for something new in horror, I’m going to have to say The Turn of the Screw. It’s one of my favorites and it’s a classic, but so many people haven’t read it. It’s a
novella so it is shorter, but I feel like everyone has to read The Turn of the Screw at some point. Best part about it is that it’s free to download on Apple Library. - What’s the most difficult thing about being a writer?
One of the most difficult things I’ve found is trying to find that work-life balance. A lot of the time we struggle to find that sort of balance between writing and our other jobs versus our lives, yet our lives inspire so much of our work whether you like it or not. Our experiences, emotions, and actions shape everything we create, so you need to be able to find that balance. It’s hard to try and separate writing because you think it’s a hobby, but at the same time it’s that work and it falls into a sort of overlap. - What is your process to completing a novel from outline to final product?
I always start first with a basic concept. This includes the conflict, characters, and where I generally want the story to be set. Following this, I create what I call the basic plot, so this is essentially the main exposition, conflict, falling action, resolution along with the settings and characters a bit more fleshed. After that, I create a more complex plot which allows for me to add in the filler parts and the in betweens of events. Once these steps are complete, I start writing.
Before publishing, I run my book through two editorial dives, an editor, and my beta-read team before sending it off to the ARC team. The beta-read team of Wolfman Creative is incredible and a lot of them actually either have experience in editing professionally or they have their degrees in English, so it helps build their resume. My team is always asked if they want to beta-read and they’re always so excited to see my work, they immediately agree. - What’s the most unhinged thing you’ve written in your novel? Don’t worry, we don’t judge here.
Anything Chris says in The Woods is completely unhinged. He has no
boundaries and he makes that completely clear with his one-liners and insults. There’s banter between him and Michael that continues throughout the series where he constantly comments on Michael “playing with his balls” which is a fun double-meaning to Michael being a basketball player. There’s also a line where he tells Michael to lick him, which is a reference to one of my favorite movies of all time, Dazed and Confused. Chris is based on my personality and anyone who has met me outside of work or knows me will say that I’m completely chaotic and unhinged, so any of his lines are off the wall.
- What’s one thing about being a writer that absolutely drives you up the wall?
Editing, I will never not hate editing with a passion, especially when you miss something. I know not everyone’s perfect, but it drives me insane to see a typo in my work and wonder how I missed that because I tend to be slightly perfectionistic. - What does being a successful writer look like for you? What type of life do you want to live as a writer?
If someone reads my work and likes it, I’ve done my job. That’s what success means to me because I came here to put my stories into the world for others to enjoy and if someone enjoys it, then that’s all I can ask for. I want to live a life of anonymity, but part of me also dreams of a life where I can pursue writing full time and get my work turned into films. One day, I dream of seeing at least one of my works on the big screen and I would really love for it to be produced by Neon. - Describe your writing journey. If you had to write a story centered around it, do you think you could pull it off?
I started writing at 13, but ended up publishing my debut at 16. By the time I was 17, I’d booked my first comic con and when I was 18, I’d sold out my first panel. Currently I’ve spoken around the world including at the largest comic con in Canada about creative writing and I do mentorships along with beta and sensitivity reading. I feel like I could write a story about my journey, but I wouldn’t want to do it until later on. There’s so much left in my writing life, so many works to be published, and I feel like doing it now would be more like a memoir than the story of my work.
Want More From Nat Rose Wolfman?
Website: http://www.thewolfmanfiles.substack.com
IG & Threads: @nr_wolfman
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19759603.N_R_Wolfman
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