Dragon Soul Press took the opportunity to interview Barend Nieuwstraten III, an author featured in Lethal Impact, All Dark Places 2 and 3, Wolf Night, and many more.
- Introduce yourself.
- Hi, I’m Barend Nieuwstraten III. I like my music, film, art, and literature dark and weird. I’ve worked on all those platforms and tried to make sure most of it fit into the description. I’ve made music under about 14 different projects, storyboarded a few films, drawn online comics, and hosted a community TV show back in the day about short films and music.
I live in Australia, and I’ve been furiously writing for the last few years.
- Hi, I’m Barend Nieuwstraten III. I like my music, film, art, and literature dark and weird. I’ve worked on all those platforms and tried to make sure most of it fit into the description. I’ve made music under about 14 different projects, storyboarded a few films, drawn online comics, and hosted a community TV show back in the day about short films and music.
- What prompted you to begin writing?
- I was always wanted to write but kept putting it off. Every now and then I’d start writing projects but never got past the first few paragraphs or pages. I think storytelling crept into everything else I pursued so eventually I decided to sit down and press hard at it. The Silmarillion was the first big influence to push me, and I wrote a book when I was younger but the notion of redrafting was exhausting to me. I wasn’t mature enough to continue, so I left it a long time, but then start jotting down ideas again around 2015 or so and my current fantasy world slowly began taking shape. But it wasn’t until the end of 2019 when bushfires were making the air outside unbreathable and I’d been made redundant from a nice job, that I decided to stay inside for three months to focus on writing. Then covid hit the world and I spent 2.5 years in isolation while unemployed and was forced to become a hermit, living off my savings. In that time, writing finally became my sole focus and started getting short stories published. Though financially disastrous and lonely, it was the first time in my life I felt truly alive and free.
- Do you have a favorite story or poem you’ve written? What’s it about?
- Like asking a parent who their favourite child is, this not an easy one to answer. A story called ‘Prowtied’, had a setting and played out in a manner I really enjoyed above most of the rest, but I might have to land on ‘The Tiger and the Ox’. An East Asian set story in my fantasy world, drawing inspiration from many kung-fu films and my favourite show of all time Monkey (1979). Every story I tell is a journey of discovery for me, learning more about that world and I really enjoyed some of the concepts that I found myself exploring in it.
The story is about a young bounty hunter and her even younger side kick endeavouring to hunt down a witch, joining forces with another pair of bounty hunters, and rescuing a village woman along the way to form an unlikely party.
- Like asking a parent who their favourite child is, this not an easy one to answer. A story called ‘Prowtied’, had a setting and played out in a manner I really enjoyed above most of the rest, but I might have to land on ‘The Tiger and the Ox’. An East Asian set story in my fantasy world, drawing inspiration from many kung-fu films and my favourite show of all time Monkey (1979). Every story I tell is a journey of discovery for me, learning more about that world and I really enjoyed some of the concepts that I found myself exploring in it.
- How many projects do you have planned over the next few years? Tell us about one.
- I’m shifting towards focusing on novels. ‘A Man Called Boy’ is my first one that came out in May (2024), and I’m planning to start sequel soon. I’ve written a dwarven novel, which I also intend to follow up with a sequel, as well as a sort of rags-to-riches story about a trio of travellers that make money gambling on wrestling and cards only to become involved in crushing rebellions for the king. I’m currently working on a story about a boy witch (whose mother has featured in a couple stories in the Dragon Soul Press anthology ‘Magic and Mystery’) coming after an ancient fae artifact. Woodelf rangers and an order of warlocks go after the unusually powerful young villain.
This will also have to have a sequel.
- I’m shifting towards focusing on novels. ‘A Man Called Boy’ is my first one that came out in May (2024), and I’m planning to start sequel soon. I’ve written a dwarven novel, which I also intend to follow up with a sequel, as well as a sort of rags-to-riches story about a trio of travellers that make money gambling on wrestling and cards only to become involved in crushing rebellions for the king. I’m currently working on a story about a boy witch (whose mother has featured in a couple stories in the Dragon Soul Press anthology ‘Magic and Mystery’) coming after an ancient fae artifact. Woodelf rangers and an order of warlocks go after the unusually powerful young villain.
- What is your writing process like?
- Terrifying. As what they call a discovery writer (also a gardener, a pantser, etc.) I just jump in with little notion or idea of what’s going to happen. It’s all on reflex and instinct instead of sitting down and planning it out like a reasonable person. I’m quite jealous of potters who know where they’re going and what they hope to achieve. Also, all the advice from other writers out there on youtube tends to be for them. I think my process is drawing from my own subconscious, as when I writer it feels like I’m watching a movie in my head. I sometimes get glimpses or sensations of things to come, but I’m like anyone else reading a story, uncertain of the destination. It’s kind of a crazy ride. Even if I lose faith in the project, I just have to push through to see if it’s going to work out. It almost always does, and I’m always a little surprised.
On a practical level, putting on inspirational music (which sadly precludes a bunch of my favourite bands as anything with lyrics is distracting) mostly from film and video games, along with a ton of Dungeon Synth (something I’ve also indulged in with my DS project ‘Orc’). Though sometimes when I’ve paused music and forget to put it back on, I seem to get a lot done in silence. But silence is rare with all the roadworks and renovations happening around me. Sitting in the dark for best results too. Napping.
- Terrifying. As what they call a discovery writer (also a gardener, a pantser, etc.) I just jump in with little notion or idea of what’s going to happen. It’s all on reflex and instinct instead of sitting down and planning it out like a reasonable person. I’m quite jealous of potters who know where they’re going and what they hope to achieve. Also, all the advice from other writers out there on youtube tends to be for them. I think my process is drawing from my own subconscious, as when I writer it feels like I’m watching a movie in my head. I sometimes get glimpses or sensations of things to come, but I’m like anyone else reading a story, uncertain of the destination. It’s kind of a crazy ride. Even if I lose faith in the project, I just have to push through to see if it’s going to work out. It almost always does, and I’m always a little surprised.
- Where do you draw inspiration from?
- Dreams and the part of the brain that creates them. I have a strange history with my subconscious going back to my early, early childhood and infancy. Several of my published short stories are pretty much just transcripts of dreams, I’ve had over the years that stuck with me. Sometimes just elements of dreams when the dream failed to possess a coherent narrative, or I sadly didn’t remember enough of the dream to use. I’ve also snuck in a surprising number of things that actually happened to me in real life too. ‘A Man Called Boy’ has a character that tells an anecdote that was something that happened to me.
Obviously, I draw inspiration like everyone else also from books, film, games, etc. Even music has sparked a few visuals and concepts. I miss RPGs. The people I played them with all moved away, but I like how they made me think on my toes. I’d love to get back into that to stimulate that part of the brain.
- Dreams and the part of the brain that creates them. I have a strange history with my subconscious going back to my early, early childhood and infancy. Several of my published short stories are pretty much just transcripts of dreams, I’ve had over the years that stuck with me. Sometimes just elements of dreams when the dream failed to possess a coherent narrative, or I sadly didn’t remember enough of the dream to use. I’ve also snuck in a surprising number of things that actually happened to me in real life too. ‘A Man Called Boy’ has a character that tells an anecdote that was something that happened to me.
- Who is your favorite author / what is your favorite book?
- My favourite author is Douglas Adams, but my favourite book is the Silmarillion by Tolkien. A satirical world deconstructionist and the bible of a great world builder. Hopefully these opposing inspirations have given me some balance.
- What is one goal you have for your writing future?
- Firstly, to complete the seven-book epic fantasy story I want to eventually tell that was my primary reason for starting to write. (The first two books are pretty much drafted – but I wanted to learn more about my world before proceeding so I wrote all these short stories to give myself a clearer idea of it).
Secondly, getting popular enough to have fans assemble an online encyclopedia of my fantasy world so it’s easier for me to look up stuff when I’m not sure about something, even though I made it up. My current system is laborious to navigate and without links.
- Firstly, to complete the seven-book epic fantasy story I want to eventually tell that was my primary reason for starting to write. (The first two books are pretty much drafted – but I wanted to learn more about my world before proceeding so I wrote all these short stories to give myself a clearer idea of it).
- What do you hope readers enjoy most from your work?
- I hope they enjoy the ride as much as I did when writing them. I hope they laugh and cry and worry and celebrate the moments that call for it. Most importantly I hope they find an escape and get lost in my world. There’s nothing like that feeling when a book takes you somewhere else and the real world disappears. I can only hope I’m doing that.
- Where can readers learn more about you?
Dragon Soul Press 