NATASHA LESTER
The bestselling historical novelist tells Lynne Hackles that she likes to feel her way through a story a bit at time
Lynne Hackles
Before becoming a writer, Natasha Lester, was the marketing manager for Maybelline cosmetics in Australia. Her first book took five years from when she began writing until the time it was published. ‘Over those years I had three children: a daughter in 2006, another daughter in 2008 and a son in 2010,’ Natasha says. She goes on to explain how having children made her a better writer.
‘It broadened my emotional range – Ifelt fear like I’d never known before at the idea of anything bad happening to my precious babies. It taught me discipline. When my first child was six months old, I realised I hadn’t written a single word in that time, and life could very easily continue that way if I let it. I made a pledge that every time the baby had a nap, I’d write. It taught me a book can be written in half hour chunks. It taught me to stay focussed, not get distracted, and how important writing was to me. It’s about discipline, sitting down and getting words on the page. The creative stuff happens at other times. You’re free to imagine as you wash dishes or drive or take a shower.