Listen:
I met Olga on social media in writer’s groups we both belonged to, and it’s been wonderful to watch her evolution as she’s embraced fiction with boldness and imagination. Her journey—from journalist and essayist to novelist—embodies the creative reinvention so many of us crave, especially when we’ve already built a successful writing life.
In This Episode
- Defining Paranormal Women’s Fiction and why midlife heroines matter.
- World-building from reality (the Netherlands) + clear rules of magic.
- Element-driven characters:
- Designing a series to avoid continuity traps (time jumps = sanity).
- The self-pub learning curve: covers, formatting, and launch pacing.
- A scene-by-scene method: every scene has an event → reaction → decision that drives the next scene.
Watch on YouTube
About Olga
Olga is a writer, journalist, and translator whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and the BBC. Her book Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) has been translated into 14 languages and published worldwide. Originally from Poland, she now lives in the Netherlands with her husband and three multilingual children.
Connect with Olga
Get More from Estelle
Webinars:
- Sign up for my free online Editor-on-call NYU event on October 29th Inside Slate: An Unfiltered Conversation with Senior Editor, Rebecca Onion. Register here
Student Work
I’m proud of my student, Leslie Blanchard who workshopped this stunning Modern Love essay with me in class. Negotiating The End of Us.
Seeing a piece evolve from an early draft to a published essay is such a powerful reminder of why craft, structure, and feedback matter in writing.
Substack
- New Substack Post (plus an offer for paid subscribers): Why Every Memoir Needs the “Echo Effect”
TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond
In my talk I blend personal storytelling with actionable strategies for standing out—starting with a chaotic moment involving Thomas the Tank Engine.
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Explore More
- 📘 Writing That Gets Noticed – Buy the book | Audiobook
- 📰 Subscribe on Substack: https://estelleserasmus.substack.com
Latest posts: “When Writers Are the Ones Blocking the Page: 6 Ways to Move Forward (and An Offer); Stop Counting Your Words. Start Shaping Your Story” and “How to Get Published in Cosmopolitan or Seventeen” - 🎧 More episodes: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast
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