Today, January 18th, we have with us Nan val Daalen from the Netherlands, on Come In, Sit Down, Tell us...

We have with us today, Nan van Daalen, an author from the Netherlands. We met on BookRix and instantly liked one another. We’re still friends on Facebook but sometimes life gets in the way of keeping in touch, so I am so happy that Nan agreed to an interview. Let’s welcome Nan van Daalen ~ 

What inspired you to write?: The need to express myself, from a very young age on. And when I worked in social projects, I did tell story’s for my job daily, just give me a subject… part of the job. 


Do you have anyone you show manuscripts to and get advice from or are you a loner doing it all yourself? I have in own management out 6 booklets of poetry, and are in a stack of books together with others. These are Dutch Poems and Dutch short story’s, mostly winners of nation-wide contests. 
I do share my writing on my writers-site FOW. 


What genre do you normally write in? Also, is there a genre you've always wanted to write in, but don't feel you could pull it off? 
At the moment my project is fairy tales: all my great nieces and nephews get their own 8-12 year old fairy tale, for which I created a world special for them. 2 are ready, 1, ½ ways. Besides that there are 32 bed-time story’s from fairy land (toddler age), growing by the day. The fairy tales will be corrected from US English (what is my writing site!) to Oxford English (she is a teacher and he works in Oxford Uni, so they cannot show a book written for them in US English!) 
But I like to write my poems in between and blogs, about just whatever interests me that moment. 

Do you ever base your characters on people you know? I sometime let something slip in, that is un-avoidable: the leading figure in the first fairy tale is a curly redhead, which (not by accident) my niece is too… she only is 3 now, and not yet 10. 


What advice would you give to someone who was just starting off in writing? Dare to write, lay it away, and than dare to stripe out. But also: what is clear in your mind, is not necessarily so in that of another, so read over as of from somebody else (or let another person do so, preferably a stranger). 

Do your stories tend to have morals, or special messages, included within them? In mine they always slip in… nature, environment, questions about how you stand in life. 



This question was posed by a fellow author and I loved it so much I decided to throw it into the mix ~ Oh no! One of your characters has escaped. Luckily, I have caught them! I will interrogate them with the help of a lie detector. Welcome!Take a seat, make yourself comfortable. You will be returning to your book once this is over. What's your name, where are you from and what is your role in the book? 
I do not exist in my books, unless you count the story-teller as me, instead of the one who does the reading of the story. Toddlers like stories told as if mummy or daddy make them up, with questioning and possibilities to answer. 


Tell us why we would enjoy reading your books? 
People from the other side of the ocean do look at life from a total different perspective. 
It opens up your world… and makes it more complete, to allow other viewpoints, something people in the USA sometimes have a bit difficulty with (is my experience alas) So looking at the world as a whole is also looking at stories from other countries/cultures! 

Also need your latest info and links You find me on the Fellowship of Writers, a ning-site. If you have taken the trouble to look that far, you will be guided to my fairy tales, (poetry, some short story’s too) that have either a blogs pot or their own blog. 
But remember: all is copy-righted! (©) on the blogspot and wordpress-sites! For it is a present to my sisters grandchildren, you can read, but further they are mine! 
http://hwvandaalen.wordpress.com are the bedtime story’s. 
groetjes Nan van Daalen 

for the little ones: http://hwvandaalen.wordpress.com/ 
for the 8-12 year olds: http://cindyandtheotherlanders.blogspot.com/ 
http://nansfairytales.blogspot.com/ 
http://nanvandaalen.wordpress.com/ 
and I am now administrator of FOW (the Fellowship of writers) an American Christan-based writers/artists blog, a Ning-site. 
In Holland I have out 6 booklet, are in a stack of collection-books with poetry and short story's, and do not do competitions anymore, while somebody younger also needs the boost-up, and I have no time to do the readings, the people do expect, when you have won. (Or I cannot reach the place, while it is not shop-hopper accessable). Nan 

Bed time story's from fairy land 
hwvandaalen.wordpress.com 
Just another WordPress.com site 
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