We were lucky to catch up with Inka Nisinbaum recently and have shared our conversation below.

Inka, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was one of the most important lessons you learned in school? Why did that lesson stick with you?

I went to school in Germany, where I was born and raised. I was in 11th grade when my German teacher advised me not to take German as my advanced class, but rather a different subject. To his opinion my German writing, and my understanding of classic German literacy wasn’t good enough for an advanced class.

Honestly, I was heartbroken when I heard it. I loved German. I loved reading. I loved to write quirky interpretations of classics novels we had read. I loved to swim against the stream, and getting everyone involved in class discussions if my interpretations were valid, or not.

For a few days I seriously considered not taking German as my advanced subject and to choose something else. My teacher had already decided I wasn’t good enough for his class, what chance did I have to succeed in it?

Fortunately, I’m also stubborn. When I hear I can’t do something, I especially want to prove that person wrong. I took German as my advanced subject and yes, it was a struggle. Often, I bumped heads with my teacher, often I was frustrated because I felt misunderstood and underappreciated, but eventually I graduated with a B in German. Today I’m a published author in Germany. I wrote many German articles for all kids of magazines, I worked for a German Newspaper, and helped translate an English novel to German.

School taught me that grades and teachers don’t define who you are or what you are capable of. Only you and your actions define who you are. Especially in the creative business you will get tons of negative feedback. You will receive doubt, and you will always doubt yourself. But my dear German teacher taught me not to listen to other people opinions but follow my own believe. Same goes for my English teacher. I never managed to get a C in English and immediately adopted the believe I was simply not smart enough to master a foreign language. Since 2009 I live my whole life in English. Every book I read is English, every movie I see is in English, every conversations I have is in English, and I’m working on my first English novel. Sometimes negative feedback can teach you more than praise.

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 back background and context?

Writing is not only by business, it was also my lifesaver during my darkest hours. In 2001 I was listed for a double lung and liver transplant due to Cystic Fibrosis. I waited 15 months for my transplant, 15 horrible months in which death often came very close. During this time, I turned to writing. I wasn’t able to be active anymore, I was only able to sit at home, keep breathing, wait to be saved by an organ transplant, and to write. Writing helped me to deal with death, fear, doubts, and everything else that came along with my illness. I wrote my last will, I wrote down all the things I wanted to do if I’d get a second chance in life, goodbye letters to my friends, and a few Christmas stories. Writing was my psychotherapy and since then I haven’t put my pencil down.

My first book was published in Germany in 2015. So far three more have followed, and right now I’m working on my first English novel. I love to write about death. How death is part of life and not something we should be afraid to talk about. My second book, unfortunately also written in German, is about death and how death himself explains to a dying, young woman why her life is about to end and isn’t endless. I had presented this book in Germany to a group of parents who had lost a child. It was held in a beautiful, small church in the middle of Germany. The weather was sunny, birds were chirping but I didn’t realize any of it, I was nervous. So nervous to face grieving parents who had experienced the worst tragedy anyone can imagine. After all, I don’t know much of the grieving side of death, I know the dying side of it. I wasn’t a parent back then, and I was worried to step on someone’s toes.

In the end, everybody loved the reading, the book, and was able to see death with slightly different eyes. To see death as a peaceful ending that has its purpose. This was a very rewarding moment for me. To ease pain with my written word. It doesn’t get better than that.

When I write, I write the same way I argued in Highschool with my German teacher: Always willing to swim against the stream. And always with the right amount of stubbornness that keeps me going.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Every writer must be resilient, especially regarding rejections. When I was working on my first book, a memoire, I was lucky to been able to work with a literary agent early on. He helped me to shape the book into what it is today. My journey from being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, to my double lung and liver transplant, and then giving birth to my baby boy as the first double lung and liver transplant recipient worldwide. When the book was finally ready, my agent started to reach out to publishers to see who would like to take on my book. And, I couldn’t believe it, we found a big publishing house in Germany that was interested, almost right away. Only problem, the publishing house was bankrupt at the time. A few weeks later they dropped my memoire. My literary agent dropped me, I was back to square one.

After a few days of self-pity, I picked myself up again and send my manuscript to every small publishing house in Germany and Austria. Every. One. Of. Them. Did I say I was stubborn? Thank God I am. Long story short, one of them showed interest and eventually I was able to say: I’m a published author.

Now I’m trying to accomplish the same here in the US. I’m sure there will be many days where I will doubt myself, want to give up, burn my laptop , and become anything but a writer. But I also know that I won’t give up to follow my dreams. Winners never quit!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Of course, I love to receive positive feedback. It is amazing when I hear from my readers how my words inspired them, helped them to talk about death, grieve, laugh, anything. It always feels a bit like a surprise, and longed for recognition, when strangers admire my work. But the most rewarding aspect of my work, and I know I sound very selfish saying this, is the work by itself. The process of getting the idea I envision out of my head, typing it into my pc, and eventually being able to read it as a fluent story. That’s when I fell most rewarded. All my thoughts, believes, ideas, banned neatly on paper. This is when I’m most content and why most writers struggle to advertise their work. Of course I want my books to be rad by millions, but once its out of my head I already feel accomplished, and am ready to write the next one.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inkanisinbaum/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InkaSchreibt
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inkanisinbaum/

Image Credits
Claudia Krogul