Hi there, I’m Nyridae Dawnsong, though you can call me Nyri. I’m the author of The Book of Lost Wisdom, as well as a number of other books under a different name.
My first piece of writing was published in 1997 and since that time, I’ve written a number of books, short stories, poems, articles, shopping lists and ransom notes. Okay, I lied about the shopping lists.
About 12 years ago, events in my life took several bizarre left turns, and I chose to retire from writing. I never stopped thinking about it. I never stopped dreaming about it. But getting started again was hard.
I had so many projects going, and finishing any of them after such a long hiatus was daunting. I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to finish first, and even started several new pieces.
At some point I realized if I wanted to start over, I had to literally start over– as someone else. So here I am, starting over.
I think it’s better this way. I’m not the same person I was twelve years ago. I’m not in the same situation, and I’ve changed in other ways too, some of them life-altering.
This is, in my mind, my last chance to say some of what I’ve left unsaid, but what I really want to do is entertain you. It’s what I do. It’s what I’ve always done.
If I’ve succeeded, feel free to let me know. Leave a comment if you like what you read. Leave a comment if you don’t. Leave a comment if you just want to say hi. I won’t answer everything, but I’ll read them all. I’d probably have my PA do it if I had one, but I don’t, so it’s down to me. And who knows. Maybe if this works out, I’ll put some of my older writing up as well. Let me know what you think about that.
Most of all have fun. That’s what we’re here for, after all.
A Few Things About Me, My Life and Writing
This is more or less a place for me to give you a bit more detail about how I think and write. If I get questions, and I like them, I’ll try to add them to this section from time to time. What I wanted to talk about first, though, is how I use language in this novel.
A lot of authors who write fantasy tend to write formally. They don’t use a lot of slang. They don’t use Earth expressions. They might even make up their own expressions, and I do some of that as well.
That said, my characters are often on other worlds speaking a language that is not English and sound casual to each other, because it’s current day in their language. I’m essentially translating from their language to ours, so if I say “Go to hell” in a story, and the world doesn’t have hell, you don’t really need to point that out to me. I know that. But we all know what that expression means, and the words I’m using at that moment have that same connotation in a different language. And yes, I know some authors design entire languages, and make maps in such detail they could have been cartographers, but I’m not one of those.
Instead of world building up front, I explore the world as I write, which means things tend to change and I have to go back and edit later. It’s lazier, but it’s fun for me to learn about the world and create it as I go. And sure I stop and make parts of it as I need them, but my world is always growing and changing, even to me. It means, if I’m writing and putting up chapters, you and I are discovering the world together, and to me, that’s exciting.
That’s all for now, but I’ll be back again as soon as I remember all the things I was planning on saying and have subsequently forgotten.
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