Author Interview for The Last Partner

Every time we release a book, we’ll post an interview with its author during the month before the book is published. Our next novel, The Last Partner, comes out on October 1st. The Last Partner is an action-packed dark fantasy drama, book 1 of The Midnight Files. We are interviewing author Deborah J. Natelson, whose other books include Bargaining Power and The Land of the Purple Ring, and who is currently trying to stop one of her black cats from chewing on a ream of paper.

​Thinklings: The Midnight Files was originally serialized on Kindle Vella, written and published chapter-by-chapter. (Might we note that it was consistently Top Faved and ended up at rank #6 in Fantasy!) Now you’re turning it into a trilogy of novels. Were there any challenges involved with that?
 
Deborah: Even when writing in serialized format, I kept novel arcs in mind—although the way the arcs work is in some ways more similar to the season of a TV show. Actually, writing to a deadline (even a self-set and rather generous one, like I used) really helped keep me motivated. I don’t generally need last-minute panic to write, but once in a while, it can be awfully handy.
 
As a reader myself of both traditional and serialized novels, I’ve observed the weaknesses of each, and especially of transferring between the two, which has really helped me dodge some of the problems that crop up. I even wrote a blog post about it.
 
 
TB: What was your inspiration for writing The Midnight Files series? How did you come up with the core idea or concept for it?
 
DJN: I started during National Novel Writing Month. For the challenge, instead of writing a novel, I decided to write a different short story every day, using as a prompt the books on my shelves. I started with “A” authors and moved my way on. Each day, I’d choose the first book of the first two or three authors, which would provide me with a basic idea. I was on “L” that day, and the books were Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (which has a fire-throwing skeleton in it who works with a preteen girl to save the world from various baddies, along with much action and snarking) and The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence (a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia, whose adventures were many and strength of will impressive). I also spotted, although it wasn’t official, a printout of the Protectors of the Plot Continuum by Jay and Acacia, which was a series of fanfiction-adjacent short stories in which agents killed Mary-Sues invading Middle-earth by way of fanfiction. It also had a Sunflower Official in it. (Sunflower . . . Daisy . . .)
 
Then I just started writing, and what came out is basically nothing like any of the above stories—because, of course, they were only a starting place.
 
I like working from prompts to create original things—and I tend to deliberately make those prompts very different from each other, so I never write anything too similar.
 
 
TB: Ah, so that’s where you got your main characters’ (Daisy and Lawrence) names! Fun way to write! What was the hardest section of this book to write?
 
DJN: Assignment 2. Only the desperation of the deadline got me through it—that, and Mijo, whose character made it suddenly easy to write! 
 
From a technical perspective, however, the scenario at the end was the most complex.
 
 
TB: What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
 
DJN: It lets me write whatever I want, and in a huge variety of genres and subgenres, so I never get bored! Also, I always wanted to write a haunted house, so that checked that off my list. (I also always wanted to write a vampire, but you’ll have to wait for Book 2 for that one.)
 
 
TB: Did you end up changing anything about the direction or plot of this book as you went along writing it?
 
DJN: I’m not an outliner, and I’m not a plotter as such. The more I tie myself into a story, the more I prevent myself from being able to actually write it. Instead, I have some ideas of what is to come that I sometimes move toward, but I let what comes before influence where I end up. I should mention also here that I don’t write books entirely in order. Assignment 1 was the first thing I wrote, followed by Report, followed by Assignment 13, then 4, then 2 (or maybe 2 and then 4—it’s been years). I did write Book 2 in order, but I definitely haven’t written Book 3 in order! Each book has 5 assignments. So far for Book 3, I first wrote the 2nd assignment, then the 1st interlude, then the 4th assignment, and I’ve started on the 3rd assignment.
 
 
TB: Which character in this book do you identify with the most, and why?
 
DJN: Sometimes, there are characters I quite identify with in my books, but this is a book about super-competent and interesting and action-oriented people . . . so never fear! You’ll get to read about fun people in this book rather than people like me. ;)
 
 
Thanks, Deborah! (Awww . . . we think you’re fun. 😊) We can’t wait to release this exciting book starring two badass, “odd couple” heroines!
 
A character interview, our official book review, and our top ten favorite quotes from The Last Partner are coming soon! (Check back every Wednesday.)

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