We were lucky to catch up with Donna Casselman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Donna, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I have always taken to writing naturally from a young age. Some of my early poetry has been published, some articles published in magazines and several scripts used in theatrical productions. The Tales of Narda series is my first novel series.

After doing several years of preliminary research for the Narda series, I took a well-known author’s advice – “if you want to be a writer, write!” So I dove in and honed the craft as I went.

One great source for learning to write is to read. Read a lot and read various genres. I have been an avid reader since early childhood and this has helped me to be a better writer. I did find some useful information in one creative writing workshop, though that was geared more to short story writing.

The biggest obstacle for me has been time and making time to write because I have worked in other careers out of necessity.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I am fortunate to have had multiple careers and travel opportunities that provided me with a broad view of life so I can write using my own experiences as a basis for imagination and turn this into a fiction story. Many fantasy, science fiction and other genre authors have influenced my writing, foremost among them are Lewis, Tolkien and later Rowling, but also others. Because my novel series creates a whole world, it incorporates races, cultures, languages, genealogies, geography, herbology, flora, fauna, fictional creatures, some magic and even some technology.

My education in my own language, careers in the computer industry, consulting to health practitioners and working in the various arts, including theater, art and music have all assisted me in making my story come to life.

Although I have not yet mastered many of the new technologies, I have managed to use AI to create visual representations of my Tales of Narda characters. Nearly all of my earlier artwork included hand-drawn character concepts, genealogies and writings in the made-up language featured in the book, the Eolengwas.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Yes, I want to complete the series and publish it both for all of my reader fans and as a legacy to my friends and family all of whom have been supportive in the creation of the series.

Have you ever had to pivot?

One of my colleagues who spent many years in the book publishing industry and assisted me greatly with marketing and public relations passed away suddenly from health complications during the Covid pandemic. It has been difficult to find another with his broad talent and love of the series to guide me in the self-publishing industry and to help make the book series well known.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.talesofnarda.com
• Instagram: talesofnarda.com

Image Credits

Joshua Shultz Photography