- a mother of four, neonatal and children’s physiotherapist, who also practices martial arts and somewhere in between finds time to write!
Readers, let’s give a good, hearty welcome to this week’s guest!
Anat Eliraz was born in Israel but spent a few years of her childhood in Singapore, where her love for fantasy started. She describes her life as being quite normal, even though she has driven a tank and jumped out of an airplane!
Between being a mother to four, working as a physiotherapist in a neonatal intensive care unit, and training in Martial Arts, she still finds time to write.
Anat loves to use double meanings and word games in her writing, allowing her readers to play along or double-check themselves, as the story unfolds.
Anat, thanks for agreeing to be here today. Most interviews start off with the boring stuff, but I know what readers REALLY want to know.
If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?
Oh! Fun!
I guess it would be a dragonette. A small dragon (or dragonlike) creature that can sit on my shoulder, can fly and can grasp small objects. Preferably one that doesn’t breathe fire (in case it hiccups or sneezes in bed, which can lead to an unfortunate ending…).
In real life- a dog. Anything from a beagle size and up. No offense, but anything smaller always gives me the impression of a barking mouse.
I love those choices. And yeah, I like my dogs “dog-sized”, too.
What do you write? And how did you get started?
I write fantasy.
I started in primary school (why did the auto-correct try to change that into ‘prison’?!). I wrote poems and stories that I never finished, all related to fantasy.
At the age of eight I was acquainted to the D&D games and the rest is history.
In 2018, I had an idea and felt like I had to write it down. It just grew and expanded until I had over 150 pages written. I finished it somewhere in the middle of 2019, but never thought of publishing. Until the pandemic. That’s when the whole process started to roll.
Now I am working on the sequel and also on another fantasy story that takes place on earth during WW2.
A few days ago I got an idea for another story, but I haven’t even started writing notes.
It’s always a great when the writing-bug hits!
What do you like to read?
Almost any genre!
Fantasy, of course. Thrillers, history, biographies, and fine literature. In the past two years, I have given new indie authors the chance to shine and in many cases, I was not disappointed. When I enjoy a book, I review it and also recommend it in different reader groups
A lovely selection — besides, as a writer, you’re encouraged to read broadly.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you
Write every day.
I don’t care if people say ‘write even a few sentences’. It doesn’t work for me. I need to have a muse in order to write and mine doesn’t have a set timetable. It really enjoys waking me up in the middle of the night and I can’t go back to sleep until I write what’s on my mind.
I can have weeks go by without writing one word and then write 10,000 words in a couple of days.
I need momentum for me, but I can only handle it for a month or two a year, the rest of the time, I definitely take breaks. 10k in a day?! You, my friend, might be a fast-drafting sprinter.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that works for you
If you have a story to tell- write it. Even if it’s only for yourself.
My story ‘sat’ on my disc on key for over a year until I decided- why not try and see if someone thinks it’s good enough?!
And here I am today- with a published book.
You never know where life will take you, but some surprises are worth it.
Indeed. You’ll never know if you don’t try. Please, ignore my five drafted WIPs that I haven’t put out there…
How do you come up with names for characters and places?
Well, you know when a movie ends and you click to another channel (or when we used to go to the cinema- everybody started getting up and out), while the list of actors and other roles roll down the screen?
That’s when I grab pen and paper and start scribbling down names I like.
I have this huge list and later I attach names to characters.
As for places- since I love hiking, I would write names of places along our trips and then use them (though in this case, I do a background check to make sure I am not offending some religion/ religious places if the name is used in a bad/ evil context).
An excellent technique, especially for more earthlike settings.
Shameless Self-Promotion time!
A Jewel of Smokey Quartz
A world ruled by force and magic. A game which could have a fatal ending.
She is just an ordinary woman – an emergency room nurse who practices martial arts in her free time. When she’s teleported into a harsh, strange world and sold into slavery to the fighters’ ring of Tur’an, she must use her wit and skills to survive.
On the brink of death, she wakes up in a strange room – only to meet one of her captors. Now, he acts as her protector. Together they leave the city, but their journey will confront them with their own fears and deepest secrets.
And through it all, she finds solace in an old tune. Not knowing yet how it will impact her life – and the lives of everyone else.
WRITING TIPS & WRITERLY MUSINGS 
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