Guest Blog Post with Nina J. Lux

Today's Nina J. Lux, author of Bell Eleven: Book One of The Landskapë Saga, is talking about trust and friendship. Check out her post after the jump!




Thanks to the lovely S. Usher Evans for letting me take up some space here on her fantastic blog. Her books have got me head over heels so it’s certainly an honour to be featured here. My name is Nina J. Lux and I’ve just dipped my toes in the indie pub scene and published my first book, Bell Eleven which is now available on Amazon Kindle (and soon print!).

In Bell Eleven Freja, the main character, tumbles into the midst of a war in a parallel world and is forced to find out the hard way who is an ally and who simply feigns friendship. If I’m feeling extra pretentious, I’d say it’s also a novel about tolerance, sustainability and the difficult choices we must make in the face of something much larger than ourselves.

While S. Usher Evans is over in my corner to talk about taking risks, she's asked me to give some thoughts about trust and friendship.

Much like waging a war in a world you don’t know (seems like a fair comparison), writing a book is daunting; publishing it, even more so. And even if it takes a lot of courage and confidence from oneself, getting those two C’s from loved ones seems to me a crucial component in daring the feat of claiming to the world, ”My words are worth your precious time (and money).” In pure minion-style, I hold out the novel to the world: "Banana?"

My friends are wonderful and in the weeks leading up to publication and immediately after I received so many beautiful messages: congratulating, encouraging and complimenting. One friend said it was a bold thing to do, but that ”you [i.e. me] have the talent to back it up” and another one said that it was a great achievement. So nice, huh?

The most interesting thing here is that these friends had not, at that point, read any work of fiction by me. Not. One. Word. I repeat: zilch. Sure, they’d read articles and essays and those kinds of text by me, but never fiction. They simply believed in me because of the nature of our friendship.

Still, their blind encouragement was heart-warming. It was encouragement truly from the heart which, to me, is worth just as much – if not more! – than those derived from those with empirical evidence. Here are people who unconditionally believe in my efforts, simply because they know my person.

The cliché that writing is a lonely job is as true as clichés come. Especially when it comes to getting that first book down. It’d be interesting to know how many hours went into Bell Eleven during the two years I wrote it, where so many early mornings it was just me and my coffee bracing ourselves against tiredness and the soul-destroying doubt that it wouldn’t be good enough.

But writing the sequel will be, if not easier on the mind, easier on the heart. Because next to the readers who have enjoyed the book, will be these same friends (who probably still haven’t read it, to be honest); cheering on, complimenting the author by whom they’ve not read a single word.

 

And that love is priceless.

Bell Eleven is available on Amazon Kindle and soon coming in print edition as well. It’s the first book of four in The Landskapë Saga. Book two (yet untitled) will come out later this year!

Thanks for having me, S.!

xoxo N.

§34.2:1: Anyone found outside premises during Curfew hours will be removed."

Eighteen-year-old Freja Evenson goes about life as well as one can do under the circumstances. That is, when you’re stuck inside the house under a twelve-hour Curfew, when your best friend has left you stranded in the city, and when your over-protective father acts as if you’ll miss Curfew and be removed, just like your mother.

Until one day when Curfew touches her life for a second time, and a dangerous quest begins. Beyond the limits of her own world, Freja seeks answers to the questions no-one dares ask.

A clue sends her from her safe life into a parallel world, or landskapë, where the mysteries of her world begin to unfold with earth-shattering revelations. Behind every answer lies a dark secret – and the cold hand of Curfew reaches even further than she can imagine.

Bell Eleven is a novel about tolerance, sustainability and the difficult choices we must make in the face of something much larger than ourselves.

This is the first book of four in brand new YA fantasy adventure series The Landskapë Saga. 





Nina J. Lux was born in 1989 and started her writing career early in life by creating illustrated stories about villainous apples. Education took her through music school, sports academy and the IB Diploma Programme - all leading up to her move to London. During her time at the University of London the writing continued through prose, poetry and plays. At last, YA fantasy adventure series The Landskapë Saga came to life with the first instalment, Bell Eleven (free from evil fruit).

After graduating from university Nina left the country. Having written her way across the world to Japan and back, she now lives in Scandinavia where she's relying on words to pay for coffee and for her future pug, Charles Ingvar.