Written Author Interview
1. Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do outside of writing?
What is a day in the life like for you?
I’m Nadi Petrova, a novelist living in Bali and the mother of three
sons. For more than twenty years my husband and I ran a family
manufacturing business in St Petersburg. These days I write fiction,
but the ordinary business of family life hasn’t disappeared. I think
that’s partly why I’m interested in ordinary people and what happens
to them when life refuses to follow the plan.
2. What inspired your first novel? What got you into writing in the first place?
For years I told myself I’d start writing when life calmed down. It
never did. After we left St Petersburg and began travelling in Asia, I
finally had space to ask what I wanted to do next. I started writing
at 45. The first novel grew out of questions about marriage, family
and what happens when you have the life you once wanted but still feel
something is missing.
3. How do you come up with characters? Are they spontaneous or
meticulously planned?
My fiction has autobiographical elements, but the characters aren’t
photographs of real people. I begin with familiar feelings and
contradictions, then let the characters make choices that aren’t
necessarily mine. Otherwise I’d be writing a family report rather than
a novel.
4. 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?
I wouldn’t prescribe one perfect book to everyone. A better starting
point is a story that speaks to something you’re living through right
now. My own books sit in contemporary women’s fiction, but I hope they
appeal to anyone interested in relationships, family and the
absurdities of starting again.
5. What’s the most difficult thing about being a writer?
The hard part isn’t only putting words on a page. It’s knowing when a
scene is honest and when you’re hiding behind a clever sentence. Then,
after the novel is finished, there’s the entirely different adventure
of editing, translation and independent publishing. I never expected
so many file formats.
6. What is your process for completing a novel, from outline to final product?
I start with a situation or a question I can’t shake. I have a general
sense of where the story is going, but I leave room for it to surprise
me. Then I go back and do the less romantic work: cutting, moving,
revising and proofreading. I wrote the novels myself; AI tools were
used for proofreading, not for generating the stories.
7. What’s the most unhinged thing you’ve written in your novel?
I’m not sure the most outrageous thing is a single scene. In my books,
ordinary domestic life can become ridiculous very quickly. People can
spend years making sensible decisions and still end up arguing about
something absurd. That’s often funnier, and more revealing, than a
grand dramatic twist.
8. What’s one thing about being a writer that absolutely drives you up the wall?
The idea that finishing the manuscript means you’ve finished the job.
You write “The End,” and suddenly you’re dealing with covers, formats,
translations, links and a hundred small publishing decisions. I ran a
business for twenty years, so perhaps I should have seen that coming.
9. What does being a successful writer look like for you? What kind of
life do you want to live as a writer?
Success isn’t a number I can put on a spreadsheet. I’d like to keep
writing stories I believe in, while having a life outside them. If a
reader recognizes something of themselves and feels a little less
alone, that’s a meaningful result for me.
10. Describe your writing journey. If you wrote a story about it,
could you pull it off?
A woman spends two decades helping run a mattress business, raising
three sons and waiting for a quiet moment to write. The quiet moment
never arrives. She leaves St Petersburg, travels through Asia, starts
her first novel at 45 and discovers that publishing is a second job.
I’d read that story. I’d probably cut a few of the paperwork scenes.
Follow and Connect with Nadi Petrova
Author Bio
Nadi Petrova began writing at 45 after more than twenty years in her family’s manufacturing business. Nadi and her husband left St Petersburg with their three sons and eventually settled in Bali. Her independently published novels Love Lives Here and Dreams Live Here explore love, marriage, family and starting again, with a fair bit of irony.
Social Media
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/npetroffa/ Love Lives Here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FW5KW16Y Dreams Live Here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H2FDC14L
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