Interview with Kathryn Nelson, Fantasy Novelist

by · Published · Updated

Image of Fantasy Novelists Beth Barany and Kathryn Nelson,

Quote from Kathryn Nelson, fantasy Novelist

Interview with Kathryn Nelson, Fantasy Novelist – How To Write the Future podcast, episode 161

***

“So you see that the main characters’ relationship develop. You see how their country’s changing, their themes of mental health and women’s rights, social justice, there’s magical gems. There’s Ice Giants, elves, yeah, all of the good things.“ – Kathryn Nelson

From Ice-giants, fantasy worlds, to the power of fantasy in addressing real-life issues. In this How To Write the Future episode, host Beth Barany talks to fellow fantasy Novelist Kathryn Nelson, where they discuss writing about matriarchal societies within their novels, including why there is a need for strong character role models. Plus, Beth and Kathryn explore positive futures through storytelling.

Platforms the podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts | Buzzsprout | Spotify | Amazon Music| YouTube

RESOURCES

FOR CREATIVE WRITING PROFESSIONALS – BUILD YOUR BUSINESS SERVING WRITERS

Sign up to be notified when our training opens and get a short Creative Business Style Quiz to help you create success.

https://bethbarany.com/apprenticeship/

Support our work for creatives!

Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING – START HERE

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

GET SOME FREE WRITING COACHING LIVE ON THE PODCAST

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

GET SUPPORT FOR YOUR FICTION WRITING BY A NOVELIST AND WRITING TEACHER AND COACH

Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/discovery-call/

About the How To Write the Future podcast

The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers.This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers, too, if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

ABOUT KATHRYN NELSON 

Image of Kathryn Nelson

Kathryn Nelson is a writer of honest fantasy, genuine heroines, and wellness wisdom. She lives in Northern Ireland with her husband and Irish red setter and spends her time sitting at a sunny desk overlooking her wild garden when writing every day. She enjoys long walks in the hills and by the coast, whilst conjuring dragons from the sky, questing for selkie in the sea, and conversing with fairies in the woods.

Website: https://www.kathrynnelsonwriter.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KathrynNelsonWriterFB

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/kathrynnelsonwriter

TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@kathrynnelsonwriter

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@kathrynnelsonwriter

Newsletter Sign-up for free ebook: https://www.kathrynnelsonwriter.com/gifts

Transcript for episode 161 Interview with Kathryn Nelson, Fantasy Novelist

Introduction 

BETH BARANY: Hi everyone. Welcome or welcome back to How to Write the Future podcast. I’m your host, Beth Barany, and I am a science fiction and fantasy writer, and, writing coach, teacher, editor, and filmmaker.

I run this podcast because I’m very interested in talking to authors and other futurists and other people who care about the future because I believe with story, with our stories, we can help people reshape how they think of what could be possible. And my big focus is on helping us be new humans. How can we change the way we interact with others and also with ourself?

And my focus is on positive, optimistic futures because why not? Our creativity is incredible. Why not use it to create worlds and relationships that would benefit all of us, everybody and all living creatures on this planet.

[00:59] Guest Introduction: Kathryn Nelson 

BETH BARANY: So I’m very excited today to bring to you a special guest, an author, a fantasy novelist, Kathryn Nelson.

Kathryn, welcome. So glad you could be here. 

KATHRYN NELSON: Lovely. Thank you for having me. 

BETH BARANY: And I understand you’re calling in from Northern Ireland, is that right? 

KATHRYN NELSON: Yeah, that’s right. It’s quite warm over here actually at the moment. Not too bad. 

BETH BARANY: I’m in the foggy San Francisco Bay area this morning. So with the magic of technology, we can connect in real time. It’s so wonderful. 

[01:27] Kathryn’s Background and Inspirations 

BETH BARANY: So everyone, I’m gonna read to you a little bit about Kathryn so you can get to know her, and then we’re gonna dive into our interview.

So Kathryn Nelson is a writer of honest fantasy, genuine heroines and wellness wisdom. She lives in Northern Ireland with her husband and Irish Red Setter. And spends her time sitting at a sunny desk, overlooking her wild garden when writing every day. She enjoys long walks in the hills and by the coast, whilst conjuring dragons from the sky, questing for selkie in the sea, and conversing with fairies in the woods.

What a beautiful bio. Welcome again, Kathryn. So glad you could be here, and I’m really excited to talk to you about, I know something we have in common with our fiction is featuring strong, interesting women in the leading role.

That’s so wonderful. 

KATHRYN NELSON: Yeah, definitely. 

BETH BARANY: Yeah. So good. So you obviously bring your Irishness to all that you create. I could just tell from your bio. 

[02:29] The Power of Fantasy in Addressing Real Issues 

BETH BARANY: So I was wondering if you could answer for us: How can the fantasy genre provide a unique perspective on issues close to home?

KATHRYN NELSON: I think the fantasy genre is really interesting because you can make up these kind of different worlds, and be different magic and different organizations for society and whole new planets. And then you can get this whole different perspective at issues close to home. 

So I write about social change and parenting and family stuff, and relationships and it’s set in this fantasy world. And at one point they go and visit the ice giants and their whole society is a matriarchy, so just really interesting what if, what if question, I think. And fantasy and sci-fi as well, are a really good vehicle for those sorts of questions. 

BETH BARANY: I totally agree. That’s wonderful. And is it the ice giants that are matriarchal? 

KATHRYN NELSON: Yeah. Yeah. They’ve got a matriarchy, but also it’s more of like an anarchy, but like in the best sort of way they’ve put this which is do what you want and you take personal responsibility for your actions. Yeah, some interesting consequences for the story kind of progression.

And then, the main characters come from what was, starts off in the story as like a military tyranny, dictatorship, and then it transitions into a monarchy and then she visits the neighboring country and more a communist style government going on. And then she goes and visits the Ice Giants, and other societies.

How she can then take these lessons back to her country. 

BETH BARANY: I really love that. I’m doing something similar in my science fiction space station mystery series, where my main character gets to see different kinds of societies, but I’m doing it one book at a time.

[04:14] Role Models in Fiction

BETH BARANY: Why in your opinion, do you think we need to see real people navigating, living in these fantasy worlds? 

KATHRYN NELSON: I think it’s really important because they’re role models that archetype and they for me, like I find, like I’m influenced by what these characters do in this situation. Okay. I’m going to behave like them and really admire them and what they do. And I just see a lot of not very good role models sometimes in public culture. 

Not just books, but culture in general. And I just find it really, part of the reason I like writing is cause sometimes like bad stories are more inspiring for me because I’m like, oh, that’s so annoying.

Like I really wanna retell that story in a better way, where the women’s got more of a voice that is, yeah, just a better role model. It annoys me when women, then are either like really wimpy or they can go for like a week with like no food and no sleep and then be like fight a big battle at the end. It’s like, when I was reading that stuff, as a teenager, I’d be like, oh, I’m not like that. That’s just not realistic. 

BETH BARANY: Yeah. Yeah. And then it’s like there’s no way that you could ever aspire to that, because it’s completely unrealistic to how real people operate. Yeah. 

KATHRYN NELSON: Yeah, definitely. And, and when you try to learn and like navigate relationships as well. Then there’s examples of bad relationships for the sake of drama or the sake of the story, but they actually mad modeling, really core behavior. And that sets up in your expectations for you. The relationships you have in real life yeah, it’s just, yeah not helpful. 

BETH BARANY: Yeah. So you’re really pointing to something that I really, love also about stories is that using your stories to model the best of humanity, even in, inside of a fantastical setting. I love that. 

KATHRYN NELSON: Yeah, definitely. And yeah, I don’t like anything too dark, there’s enough dark stuff going on in the world, like there could be a bit of dark, a bit of adventure, a bit of excitement, but yeah, definitely a happy ending. I’ve been reading a lot of cozy fantasy recently, which is just really nice.

Just like people being nice to each other, nice things happening. It’s just really, yeah, nice. 

BETH BARANY: I’ve read a few cozy fantasies. I’ve really enjoyed them. I do read a lot of cozy mysteries. My favorite are the cozy mystery fantasies. Putting that all together.

KATHRYN NELSON: Okay. 

BETH BARANY: Yeah. Oh, that’s great. 

[06:39] Exploring Positive Futures Through Stories 

BETH BARANY: And this really segues us to the next question, which is how can fiction that explores solutions inspire a brighter future?

KATHRYN NELSON: I think it’s what we’ve been talking about from the role models, about, all of those what if questions. 

I wrote a series of short stories a while ago, not published, but just as like thought exercises about kind of environmental problems and visioning, what would those solutions look like?

So about growing food in cities and rewilding rivers and, what would neighborhoods, at the time there was talk about, oh, you can’t do this and you’ve gotta do that and all like real negative stuff or doom and gloom stuff. And I was like, let’s think about what this could look like and try and do it in a really positive way because what you’re imagining is what’s gonna happen.

BETH BARANY: I so agree, you’re reminding me of this movement that people are creating art in called Thrutopia. Are you familiar with Thrutopia? 

KATHRYN NELSON: Oh, I heard the phrase the other day. 

BETH BARANY: It was coined by, I believe, an activist who, and then I learned it from Amanda Scott, who’s a writer, a British writer who then taught a wonderful class that I was a part of a few years ago. Where writers are and other artists are using their creativity and imagination to write stories about, what if positive environmental change, and how do we not utopia, which is when everything is all worked out, but how do we get there?

How do we go through the present moment into the kind of world we wanna create? So how do people come and work together? How do collectives make decisions to benefit the community? 

I watch a lot of YouTube, so I watch videos about, oh look, they took a plain golf course, and they turned it, they rewild it. Oh, look how they did that, and look what happened.

So showing positive stories and how the collective comes together to make the decision, and then the positive impact that has and how that’s happening now, or it could happen tomorrow. And so showing us the steps that we can take to make these bigger changes that affect the communities, the communities that we live in. 

Yeah. 

KATHRYN NELSON: Yeah. It’s amazing. Yeah. And amazing how stories can help show, show that way. 

BETH BARANY: Yeah. I love it. So those are some short stories that you wrote that you haven’t published yet? 

KATHRYN NELSON: Yes, but those sorts of themes weave through my novels as well, you know the talks about city healthcare and like healthier family dynamics and, the main character eventually ends up on like the governing committee in the country. And she’s like the first woman to do that. The female voices up on those higher levels of management, so yeah, those sorts of things that.. 

BETH BARANY: Oh, that’s wonderful. I really love that. And that brings us to this next question, which is: why is creating healthy role models for women crucial in 2025 and beyond? 

We’ll start with where we are right now.

KATHRYN NELSON: I think there can be a lot of negativity, like in the news, social engagement, but I think, it’s just what we’ve been saying isn’t it? About those positive stories, positive role models. Not to like completely ignore the less positive stuff that’s going on, and not to, you know, you’ve got to acknowledge that at the same time, it’s also part of the story, but it’s about, I think it’s, you know, where your, What’s the phrase, where your attention goes is where your energy flows? Is that the phrase? Like that’s you know, what you focus on, what you, what you look at. 

I saw your bio. You talk about neuro linguistic programming, like the words that you use and how you, how you talk, that self talk and how you talk to other people. Like it’s all so important. And if you want to go in a more positive direction and see healthier, yeah we need those role models, stories which can help us navigate our journey. 

BETH BARANY: That’s beautiful. 

[10:35] Kathryn’s Book Series Overview

BETH BARANY: I love seeing your books behind you and I was wondering if you could give us the short, back of the book blurb about your series, about Book one to entice people to check out your books.

KATHRYN NELSON: Yeah. Gems and Giant series. There’s four books in ebook, paperback and audiobook. Siria is married to the high commander, who has taken the thrown away from the king and is holding the country in a grip of military tyranny. And she is kidnapped by the monarchist rebel who’s hoping to turn her to his cause, and they go on an adventure, and so that’s book one. 

And then the next books are set all kind of a year apart. So you kind of see the main characters relationship develop, you see how their country’s changing. There’s themes of mental health and women’s rights, social justice. There’s magical gems. There’s Ice Giants, elves, yeah, all of the good things. Book one is free if you sign up for my newsletter. So if you go to my website and sign up for the newsletter, so you can yeah, check it out. 

BETH BARANY: Oh, that’s wonderful. And so tell us, your website link. 

KATHRYN NELSON: So it’s KathyrnNelsonWriter.com 

BETH BARANY: Beautiful. I encourage everyone to check it out. I will definitely check it out. 

[11:53] Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up

BETH BARANY: And as we wrap up today, is there anything else that you would like to talk about or bring up, or say as we wrap up our interview? 

KATHRYN NELSON: No, I think that’s covered everything. It was lovely talking to you. I feel like we’ve got quite a lot in common, and you know, similar themes in our writing. 

BETH BARANY: Absolutely.

And I love that you’re dealing with mental health issues. I’m actually working on a TV series that I wanna bring out mental health issues in a way that the group is handling well. So I love that you’re doing that and I presence strong women, as my main characters in all my stories.

‘Cause ‘ cause, role models, we need role models. Yeah. So this is wonderful. I just wanna thank you so much, Kathryn. I hope that this was a good first interview. I know, it’s, we all have to start somewhere, and I definitely would love to hear more about you and your work as it evolves.

So we’ll definitely have to have you back, and, yeah, that’s it. And, just wanna thank you again for being a guest. 

KATHRYN NELSON: Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed it. 

BETH BARANY: That’s so great. Alright everyone, that’s it for this week. Write long and prosper. 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here:   https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012061 

Need instructions on how to leave a review?  Go here.

***

Support our work for creatives: leave a tip: https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany 

***

ABOUT BETH BARANY

Image of Beth Barany

Beth Barany teaches science fiction and fantasy novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor. She’s an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist and runs the podcast, “How To Write The Future.”

 

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites: 

 

Author site /  Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT 

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbarany/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/bethbarany/

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@bethbarany/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/bethbarany

X: https://twitter.com/BethBarany

CREDITS

c 2025 BETH BARANY

https://bethbarany.com/

For more “How To Write the Future” episodes, go here.

If you’d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note here.

✅ Like the work we do? Tip us! https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany 

Tags:

You may also like...

>