Authors Answer: Nat Bickel
Authors Answer Q&A #515
Author interviews almost always focus on questions regarding an author’s latest publication (and that’s great because it’s how readers discover new books!) but sometimes it’s fun to ask authors to talk about their lives beyond the book they’ve just written. Authors Answer (started as a blog in 2020, moved onto Substack in 2025), is an attempt to give authors space to wax eloquent about the other influences on their writing. The questions posed here move beyond the formulaic classics like, “What books are on your nightstand?” or “What book inspired you to be a writer?” and even “You’re having a dinner party….which three authors (dead or alive) do you invite?” There are 20 standing questions. Authors pick FIVE that they want to answer.
Are you an author? Visit the Questions page to learn more about participating in the ongoing questionnaire series.
Today’s post features Nat Bickel.
Nat Bickel is an energetic writer who moves people to action with her words with bylines in the Los Angeles Times, Glamour, Darling Magazine, and more. She’s also the author of the books The Catalyst, The Christmas Clue, and The Volcano No One Could See.
Instagram: http://instagram.com/natmosfear
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/natmosfear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenatmosfear
Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
Two films greatly influenced the writing of The Catalyst—The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women. The former stars Ben Stiller and tells a story about this guy with all of these dramatic scenarios that he plays out in his head, but people think he's spacey. He ends up going on huge adventure after huge adventure to save his job, and it changes his entire life. He's finally living out what's only been imaginary for so long. He gains confidence and becomes a carefree human who isn't afraid of making mistakes or taking risks. That movie made me want to live out my own dreams, including writing a novel. Almost every time I sat down to write, I'd play the soundtrack to that movie. The songs gave me the perfect backdrop for the setting and the larger-than-life feeling of falling in love. And, then, Little Women, obviously a classic, has this scene where Jo March gets to watch the first physical copy of her book being printed and bound together. She gets to see the pages sewn together, the gold foil brushed onto the cover, and it finally becomes a book—this thing that took thousands of hours and many years transformed into something you can hold in your hands. I wanted that same feeling. Whenever I'd get another rejection from an agent, I'd try to remember that moment and keep pushing forward towards finishing my own story.
Have you ever experienced Imposter Syndrome?
Of course! That's partly why it took me six years to finally publish The Catalyst. While I was writing it, editing it, querying agents, and continuously fine-tuning the story, I kept telling myself—care for this like it's your baby. By the time I published it, it wasn't a baby or even a toddler, but a child. My protagonist, Kelynn, deals with a lot of anxiety in her life. She can't always see a clear path forward, and I felt similar. I thought telling people that I was working on a book would immediately make them question me, which is why I only told a select few during the process. It wasn't until I decided to self-publish that I made it public that I had even written a novel. I didn't know if I'd actually see the day that it made it into major bookstores and into the hands of my family and friends. Sometimes, it still doesn't feel real, but the truth of the matter is—I'm an author—no matter how many times I told myself I wasn't along the way.
What’s the difference (at least for you!) between being a writer and an author? How do you shift gears between the two?
I'm both a writer and an author, and I typically list those titles separately in my introduction or bio. Writing is how I process the world. It's how I make sense of things that have happened in my life, and it's how I uncover beauty in the mundane. Being a writer means that I put words on paper as a release. I'm able to move people to action with my words by inspiring them with an untapped perspective. As an author, I write fiction. I'm no longer writing in metaphors, but rather building a new world with believable characters and situations. I'm still using my life experience when writing fiction, but it's more playful at times. Whereas, when I'm writing about my real life, it feels like a need—like if I don't get the words out, I might explode. I'm a writer to my core who decided to exercise that writing in one facet by authoring fictional books.
If you could create a museum exhibition, what would be the theme?
I recreationally dabble in film photography. It's a creative outlet for me that has no rules. It's not like writing, where I have to go back and reread and edit. If a photo doesn't turn out how I'd hoped, I simply move on to a new subject and press the shutter, exposing the lens yet again. My museum exhibit would have film photography including 35mm and polaroids, both black & white and in color. They would make up a collage in both golden and wooden frames with oversized mats, as well as in frames that push the photo towards the front, and others that set it back further—playing with dimension. I'd also have circular mirrors throughout so that when you look at the photos, you also see yourself through the perspective of someone looking through the lens. We all deserve to be the subject at one time or another, and we get to choose how we look into the viewfinder with someone on the other side who sees our beauty and wants to capture it.
What piece of clothing tells the most interesting story about your life?
In college, I started leaning into style that felt like myself rather than what everyone expected me to wear partly because I understood who I was more. I remember buying this periwinkle t-shirt with the back cut out. It was my favorite color and it felt like a staple piece that could also be an eye-catcher. I still remember the first night I wore it paired with high-waisted dark grey jeans that had copper buttons, an oatmeal-colored cardigan, brown boots, and a copper watch. That was the first time I truly felt like myself in my clothes. I finally looked more mature and put together. That shirt became almost like a security blanket. I would wear it on days when nothing else looked or felt right. I even wore it under sweaters or sweatshirts just to give myself confidence even though no one else knew I was wearing it. It now hangs in my closet as a reminder of me coming into my own, and knowing that I no longer need it to make me feel okay. That cheap periwinkle top helped me put a style, a color, and a feeling to my personality, but now I'm much more deeply connected to my soul that a t-shirt can't possibly summarize it so simply.
Endnotes!
This newsletter is a passion project started by me, Elizabeth Rynecki, to try to help shine a light on new-to-me authors. I am also an author (and a documentary filmmaker and podcaster) and if you want to learn more about me, you can visit my website or read my personal newsletter, Ink Trails: A Chronicle in Creativity.
I’ve never made Authors Answer specific social media accounts, but you can find me on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky.