- Where are you from?
I come from a place, where I enjoy all the four seasons of the year, which is something really great. We have hot summers, frosty winters, golden autumns and jasmine-scented springs. We also have delicious cuisine, places of breathtaking natural beauty – from the amber beaches of the north to the snow covered peaks and high mountain lakes in the south, lush forests, the stunning lake district of the Mazuras, and above all a fascinating culture and history. This is Poland.
- When and why did you begin writing?
When I was seven, maybe eight years old, children in my school used to call me Pippi Longstocking, I guess it was because I would always make up stories and generally pull everyone’s leg all the time. In fact my daydreaming got serious enough for my parents to be called to school. The teacher downright told them that the best way to deal with it would be to make me commit it all to paper. So, when I was around nine, my first book was written, it was called “Talking Dog and Me”. That’s how my adventure with writing begun. As for why, I guess it is because I’ve always seemed to have a rather lively imagination and because making up stories has always been my second nature, something I never had trouble with. I believe it to be a gift from God that I was meant to use.
3. How did you come up with the title of the first part of trilogy?
When I write books, titles come to me. In Commandos, I wanted a simple title which can be remembered by everyone, and shows who the characters are.
4. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
What matters to me the most is making my readers realize that the future is entirely up to them. Today’s choices may have a great impact on the reality of tomorrow. The Terrorist State I write about in my trilogy is, to a great extent, the result of the incompetence of those in power today. But that vision does not necessarily have to come true. Anyone who’s read the Commandos or other my books will understand that there is always a choice: you can either stand aside and watch, which is without doubt the safer and more comfortable option, or you can get actively involved in working towards a better and happier life in the future.
5. How much of the book is realistic?
Commandos is a Fiction book and the plot is fiction, but I put some facts there for example data about WTC.
6. Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
No.
7. What books have most influenced your life most?
When I was a teenager I read a lot of Ken Follet writings.
8. What book are you reading now?
Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer
9. What are your current projects?
I have just finished The Black Pearl, which will be published for now in four languages via e-book. The Black Pearl is a collection of short stories written during my journey through Italy. Stories tell about people’s life. First time in my life I write about myself and love.
10. Do you see writing as a career?
I see writing as a passion.
11. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
We all change in time, but I would leave the story the way it is. Commandos is my favourite book. Of course I appreciate the opportunity to write others, but this book has my biggest heart inside.
12. Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
I read a lot, since I have learnt how to read, I read two books weekly. I am totally in love in Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Mark Twain, Astrid Lingrend and many many more. The books are true and honest.
13. Do you travel much promoting your book(s)?
Not much really, I am the biggest outsider from all writers, I suppose.
14. What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Writing trilogy especially Commandos was a long process, I needed to learn the structure of the terrorism, I also had to learn a lot about places I have never been to, like Langley in US.
15. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I learnt about yoga philosophy and Kabbalah. I had to study thses things for 2 years to put some wise sentences into book.
16. Do you have any advice for other writers?
If you want to be a writer, just write a lot, read a lot, study how others write, what they write, and when you have a dream to be a writer just work hard to be the writer. If anyone will stand beside you and say: leave this because it is not worth to do it, do not listen. Follow your heart.
17. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Seeing the book on shelves is not so important to me as the process of writing itself. I write as much for my readers as for myself. Once a book has been written, I place its future in the hands of God. I truly believe Him to be watching over me and over my work, I believe I have Angels watching out for me as well. I have felt their presence in my life on many occasions and I have no doubt I will feel it many a time again, as I hope will all of You as well
Madlen Namro – Science Fiction Writer
Literary Award 2008 for the best debiut novel ,, Commandos”, bestseller Anagram Publishing House Warsaw, Poland.
Member of Women’s Writers and Journalists Society in London – the UK’s longest-established organisation for professional women writers
www.swwj.co.uk
If you want to find more information about my work, please visit this site http://www.facebook.com/pages/Madlen-Namro/125701390808250