Ask the Author: Natylie Baldwin
Answered Questions (3)
Natylie Baldwin
For fiction, I usually will come up with a theme and a character or characters first. These are usually inspired by the issues in the world that are important to me, such as humans' tendency toward self-destructiveness (both on an individual and a collective level) and how they might redeem themselves before it is too late. These are usually related to the topics of my non-fiction writing. But there is a lot you can do with fiction that you just can't do with non-fiction. In fiction, you can explore issues with more nuance and complexity and what it is like for individual humans to wrestle with important questions in the real world as opposed to the abstract. Ultimately, I think you can reach more people through storytelling than through argumentation, facts and logic. Humans evolved to be storytellers more than debaters.
As for getting inspired for individual writing sessions, I tend to listen to music and to pick songs that put me in the mood for the particular scene I have to write or in the head of the particular character whose viewpoint I' writing from. Allowing myself time and space to daydream and access the imagination necessary for creating a story world is important as well.
As for getting inspired for individual writing sessions, I tend to listen to music and to pick songs that put me in the mood for the particular scene I have to write or in the head of the particular character whose viewpoint I' writing from. Allowing myself time and space to daydream and access the imagination necessary for creating a story world is important as well.
Natylie Baldwin
I am currently working on several articles about my 2-week trip to 6 different cities in Russia where I saw a lot of wonderful sights (Red Square in Moscow, numerous beautiful places in St. Petersburg, Libadia Place where the famous Yalta Conference of 1945 took place, and the naval base in Sevastopol) and spoke to a cross-section of Russians, from cab drivers and bus riders to civil society workers, teenagers, professionals and small to medium business owners.
In 2016, I plan on learning the Russian alphabet, getting back to my fiction projects, and planning a return trip to Russia later in the year.
In 2016, I plan on learning the Russian alphabet, getting back to my fiction projects, and planning a return trip to Russia later in the year.
Natylie Baldwin
I actually was in the middle of writing a novel when the Ukraine crisis erupted. I had always been interested in international relations, war and peace issues, and U.S. foreign policy. I minored in Political Science in college and had written quite a bit on these kinds of issues for the college newspaper and later on for the alternative/indie media between 2003 and 2007.
Then I started to pursue a long-time dream of trying to write novels. I have one unpublished novel and was working on the second when I started paying close attention to the events in Ukraine and the larger US-Russia tensions. I was, of course, alarmed by what I was finding – the phone call with Victoria Nuland and its implications as well as independent reporting from well-connected and respected people like Robert Parry.
I had an email exchange with Kermit (my co-author) about the issue and we realized we were on the same wavelength – both alarmed at the insanity of those controlling US foreign policy as well as the dangerously distorted reporting in the mainstream media. He proposed that we write a book on what was happening. At first, I was a little taken aback. Writing articles was one thing but a whole non-fiction book seemed a bit overwhelming, even a little cocky. But it didn't take long for me to formulate ideas in my mind about what I wanted to focus on, which was the background of post-Soviet US-Russia relations, since so much of the media was leaving out this crucial context and, of course, the politicians aren't interested in truly educating people – only getting them to accept their policies, which requires a distorted and simplistic narrative. Unfortunately, the corporate media is only too happy to provide that kind of narrative.
Before long, we had an outline for the book with me covering the background and Kermit covering the blow-by-blow of the Maidan protests and subsequent events up to the present. I just threw myself into the research, I read about 15-20 books whole or in part, thousands of articles (judging by my Gmail folder where I saved them), and talked to some interesting people.
Then I started to pursue a long-time dream of trying to write novels. I have one unpublished novel and was working on the second when I started paying close attention to the events in Ukraine and the larger US-Russia tensions. I was, of course, alarmed by what I was finding – the phone call with Victoria Nuland and its implications as well as independent reporting from well-connected and respected people like Robert Parry.
I had an email exchange with Kermit (my co-author) about the issue and we realized we were on the same wavelength – both alarmed at the insanity of those controlling US foreign policy as well as the dangerously distorted reporting in the mainstream media. He proposed that we write a book on what was happening. At first, I was a little taken aback. Writing articles was one thing but a whole non-fiction book seemed a bit overwhelming, even a little cocky. But it didn't take long for me to formulate ideas in my mind about what I wanted to focus on, which was the background of post-Soviet US-Russia relations, since so much of the media was leaving out this crucial context and, of course, the politicians aren't interested in truly educating people – only getting them to accept their policies, which requires a distorted and simplistic narrative. Unfortunately, the corporate media is only too happy to provide that kind of narrative.
Before long, we had an outline for the book with me covering the background and Kermit covering the blow-by-blow of the Maidan protests and subsequent events up to the present. I just threw myself into the research, I read about 15-20 books whole or in part, thousands of articles (judging by my Gmail folder where I saved them), and talked to some interesting people.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more