The good news is that Covid-19 isn’t completely stopping human communication! Today I am meeting with Natasha Tynes, a Jordanian-American author and communications professional based in Washington, DC. Her debut novel They Called Me Wyatt was published in April by Rebeller Media. Tynes was born in Amman, Jordan and moved to the United States in her late twenties. She lives in Maryland with her husband and three children.
SS: Tell us how you came to be a writer, Natasha.
NT: I have always known that I was going to be a writer. I knew it very early on in my life. My elementary school teachers were the first to notice that I had a knack for words, and I always received compliments on my writing. That’s why I pursued journalism as a career, because I was attracted to the writing aspect. I only started writing fiction in my late twenties after I read a profile of the author Yiyun Li in the Washington Post. I was really impressed by the fact that when she moved to the US she hardly knew any English, and that she first majored in science, then later on switched her major, pursuing her love for writing. I started by taking writing workshops then began writing short stories. When some of them were published in journals, I got encouraged and started working on my debut novel.
SS: If you have children, does being a parent influence your writing? To what extent?
NT: I have three children. Eight-year-old boy and a girl twins and a two-year-old boy. They influence my writing tremendously. In fact, They Called Me Wyatt has a very strong parenting theme where I touch upon the issue of helicopter parenting, the pressure of perfection imposed on moms, and the frustration and the loneliness of raising a child. When you are a parent, you see the world through a different lens, and that, for sure, reflects in my writing.
SS: What was your first recognition/success as an author?
NT: The first time one of my short stories was accepted for publication was a very triumphant day in my literary journey. I felt that there was hope. That I had enough talent that would make a well-respected journal like the Fjords Review publish my work.
SS: What are you working on at the moment?
NT: I’m working on a novel set in Amman, Jordan. It’s about a building whose residents all immigrate to the US and all end up facing unfortunate and sometimes tragic events. They all wonder if these unforeseen harsh circumstances were a result of their bad luck, or if they were actually all cursed. Was there a hex in the building that never left them? Or was it their own choices?
SS: At what point did you come up with the title? Did your publisher change it?
NT: I had a number of titles in mind. I did a bit of crowdsourcing and I asked my friends about their favorite one. That’s when I settled on They Called Me Wyatt. No, the publisher didn’t change it.
SS: Are you looking to entertain or illuminate?
NT: I think I hope to do a mix of both in my work. I like to use humor, but I also aim to illuminate and leave readers somehow changed. I love for my novels to change perspectives and deconstruct serotypes, and leave readers wanting more.
SS: Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner) says that he feels he is discovering a story rather than creating it. Are you a plotter? Or do let the novel develop organically?
NT: I agree with Khaled Hosseini. I usually start a novel or a short story with a rough idea, then I let the characters guide me through the plot. I’m not one of those writers who plan everything on a vision board. I just write, and write, and things happen and develop, and eventually the plot comes to a conclusion as I type away.
SS: Julian Barnes (The Sense of an Ending) says that one of the things he has learned as he grew older is how to manage time in a novel. Have you found an effective technique for this?
NT: I took a workshop called The Extreme Novelist and it helped me find my writing sweet spot. For me, it is early in the morning at 6:00 am, right before the kids wake up and right before I get ready for work. I show up to write every day rise or shine, every single day, even on my birthday! I take Christmas day off.
SS: What prompted your interest in writing paranormal stories?
NT:I have always been interested in the supernatural and the paranormal, but this story came to me in a dream as a cliché as this may sound. I dreamed that I was killed by someone who threw me off the roof of a building and then I woke up in the body of a three-year old boy.
SS: Is there a phrase or quote about writing you particularly like or that inspires you?
NT: I love this quote by Cheryl Stayed in her book Tiny Beautiful Things: “I finally reached a point where the prospect of not writing a book was more awful than the one of writing a book that sucked. And so at last, I got to serious work on the book.”
********************
They Called Me Wyatt is available through Amazon.
********************
They Called Me Wyatt is a murder mystery set between Jordan and the US, featuring Jordanian student Siwar Salaiha who is murdered on her birthday in Maryland, but her consciousness survives, finding refuge in the body of a Seattle baby boy. Stuck in this speech delayed three-year old body, Siwar tries but fails to communicate with Wyatt’s parents, instead she focuses on solving the mystery behind her murder. Eventually, her consciousness goes into a dormant state after Wyatt undergoes a major medical procedure.
Fast-forward twenty-two years. Wyatt is a well-adjusted young man with an affinity towards the Middle East and a fear of heights. While working on his graduate degree in Middle Eastern studies, Wyatt learns about Siwar’s death, which occurred twenty-five years ago. For reasons he can’t explain, he grows obsessed with Siwar and spends months investigating her death, which police at the time erroneously ruled as suicide. His investigation forces him to open a door he has kept shut all his life, a spiritual connection to an unknown entity that he frequently refused to acknowledge. His leads take him to Amman, Jordan where after talking to her friends and family members and through his special connection with the deceased, he discovers a clue that unravels the mystery of her death. Will Siwar get justice after all?
********************
Natasha Tynes can be found here on social media:
