Nancy Guild Bendall

Nancy Guild Bendall's education in fantasy writing comes from an M.A. from McMaster University, Canada, with a thesis specialty in the fairy tale. As a artist, she has had formal training from Sheridan School of Fine Arts, Oakville, ON, and has operated her own multi-media fine art business for more than twenty years. She is also a member of The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. "All my writing is driven by my visual art. My latest book was inspired by a painting I did a few years ago that I kept fantasizing about. I kept dreaming of visiting the world in the painting until I awoke one day with the elements of the painting forming a story in my mind. So I put a 'narrator' into the painting — someone who might have come across this scene. Who was she, how did she get there, who does she meet in the painting, what’s her story, why did she come, what was the conflict, etc.? Then I worked out how this one scene would fit into a larger story. This led to a brief outline where I began to answers these questions and more — I didn’t flesh out the whole story but enough to be going on with. When I started writing (while my enthusiasm was still a full volume), I trusted that every day I woke up, the next chapter would be in my head — and it was. My only problem was slowing myself down, the ideas were gushing forth too quickly and I would awake in the night with the urge to continue. The process was magical, life was charged with excitement the entire time. In the writing process, I was surprised myself by what happened next. It was like I was reading it and writing it at the same time. Once finished, I polished it for months and months! That’s the professionalism and the twiddly bits. My process is different from most authors I feel sure, especially with respect to the pairing of visual and word art. But the KEY to writing in my view is the same for all writers, that is, not doubting that the story is there and that you can and should tell it — not suppressing yourself with feelings of inadequacy." Nancy writes and paints from her studio at the edge of a small village near Toronto Canada, looking all the while for fairies at the top of the garden. For more information on the author/illustrator see http://www.nancyguildbendall.com