Marina Auer: Doctor, ninja, baker… and now, Author.
No matter how many books I write or how many panels I sit on, I always get a thrill when I meet a real-life author. The fangirl in me will never grow up. This week, I am thrilled to host Kwela-published Marina Auer on the blog and discuss her publishing journey so far.
Less than a year since her debut medical thriller, Double Edged, launched with Kwela Books, Marina Auer is already gearing up for her next release. Both Double Edged and Single Minded are stand-alone novels set in a shared world, and Marina’s experience as a GP adds the authenticity required to make her stories sing.
Marina! Firstly, congrats on making it through your first year of publication. I love seeing Double Edged in stores and being able to say: “I know that woman!”
Thank you. I love seeing Double Edged in stores too — it’s still a thrill. What I love even more is going back to the store a couple of days later and seeing fewer copies on the shelves! We’re fragile creatures, us creatives — in need of constant reassurance.
I know that feeling! *laughs* Imposter syndrome never goes away, though in your case, you wear so many hats I don’t know how you do it! In the eight years I’ve known you, you’ve been a GP, master baker, ninja, super mom, and now author. How do you balance it all, and which of these titles do you identify with most?
Ninja, obviously! How else does a woman juggle everything that she has to do in a day?
No, really though — it’s circumstantial. While being a mom is always front and centre, when I’m at the hospital I’m focussed on my work there (unless we’re running over schedule and it’s approaching school pick-up time and mom-panic starts to set in!). When I’m writing I try to avoid distractions and be as productive as possible. “Author” is the one role that often has to give way to the other demands, though. I need to get a sticker made for my laptop that warns “Plotting in progress. Do not disturb or you might be written into the story and bumped off.”
To clear up the ninja reference, I’d like to talk about that infamous cage fight you competed in a few years back. Can you talk us through how you felt at that moment? Were you frightened, intimidated, confident… or just looking for the exit?
There was no exit! It was in a cage. Gulp!
At the time, I’d been dappling in ju jitsu for a couple of years, and was strong-armed by my coach (he had very strong arms) into participating in a tournament for mixed martial arts, MMA. I should not have said yes, but I did. I was so nervous, adrenaline burned up all my energy stores, and by the time it was my turn to grabble, I was jelly. On top of that, because no other women in my weight category had entered the ju jitsu division, I was partnered with someone about fifteen kilograms heavier than me. So, what I really felt in that moment was… squashed!
Clearly your training came in handy because the fight scenes in Double Edged are very realistic! What about your creative process… where and when do you write, and do you have any writer quirks – a special candle to light, or a favorite beverage to drink?
Coffee, coffee and more coffee. And quiet. I don’t sit at a desk. At school and varsity I always sat on my bed and studied. It still works for me: cross-legged on my bed, or in a comfy chair. Cushion on lap; laptop on cushion. My favourite writing spot now in winter, is in the lounge. A corner that attracts the morning sun — so I’m frequently joined by a cat. Cushion on lap; cat on cushion; laptop on cat.
Mornings are my most productive time to write, but I take any gap I can get.
Pantser or Plotter? (If you know, you know)
Pantser, through and through.
You signed a three-book traditional publishing deal – quite a feat in S.A. and certainly a measure of your talent. How have you found your publication experience with Kwela so far?
The short answer is — fantastic. I work with such a supportive team (all women!) at Kwela and NB Publishers.
When the very first editorial recommendations highlighted areas in Double Edged that needed work, I knew I was in good hands. They’d pinpointed exactly the weak spots that I was aware of but had hoped no-one else would notice. And they didn’t tell me how to fix them, just that I should! My publisher and editor respect my author’s voice. The edits are phrased as suggestions, never instructions, and I am included in other important decisions, like covers design — always one of the most exciting stages of going to print.
An all-girl squad, that is amazing! Let’s talk about Double Edged for a minute. The potato scene had me in stitches but raised so-many-questions! Can you tell us if it happened?
Let’s just say that character details and vegetables were changed to protect identities…
But yes, if you’re asking does that kind of ‘injury’ present itself at the hospital: at least once a year. Human beings try to do all manner of things with all manner of vegetables in all manner of orifices. A couple of years ago, we had a patient with a chilli in his [insert rhyming body part here]. Enough said!
Enough said, indeed! *gulp* Your main character Erin is one of my favorite kinds of female MCs – mature, and capable, as opposed to the alcoholic lead we’ve seen trending the past few years who remembers nothing and makes every wrong decision possible. Given Erin’s profession, her preferred methods of exercise, and her rapier wit, it’s easy to assume some author insertion has occurred. Tell us how and why she isn’t you.
Well, thankfully I didn’t experience the traumatic childhood that Erin had to endure. She gobbles up a ten km run for breakfast, while I’m panting after five. I also specifically made her blonde so that my colleagues and friends who read Double Edged won’t picture me as Erin. Blonde and badass… Maybe she’s you, Melissa?!
But yes — you’re right: Erin is a woman who keeps herself in check, and that is a characteristic I identify with. Creating Erin, from the beginning, I knew that I wanted a female MC who was the antithesis of those doped-up protagonists you mentioned. She’s a woman in such control of herself, that we have to ask the question why? Why is she so disciplined, why is she ever-vigilant?
I’ll take it. Erin be my name! But purely out of interest: Erin’s surgical glove size is six and a half. What’s yours?
Ha! Six and a half.
But most women wear surgical gloves between a size six and seven — so 6.5 is perfectly average, Melissa!
Yeah, yeah… Okay, enough about Erin. What made Marina go into medicine and what is your favorite thing about your day job?
Do you want the standard answer that candidates give when being interviewed for med school (I just really want to help people), or the truth?
The truth… always!
The truth is that I have a fascination with how the body works and how it doesn’t — the nature of disease processes. I probably should have specialised in a field like forensic pathology — but that’s a particularly challenging discipline in a country that experiences as many violent and unnatural deaths as South Africa does. And I might not have time to write if I had specialised.
My work as a GP / surgical assistant gives me a varied week, and exposure to many different specialties. I love working in a theatre environment because of the camaraderie we have there. (And the odd appearance of an amusing vegetable-related injury.)
It’s strange how some people faint at the sight of blood and others are drawn to all things squeamish! Now, as to your reading tastes… If I asked you to recommend three books what would they be and why?
Ooh! That’s such a good question — better than being asked my three favourite books, because how do you narrow it down to three?
I’d recommend: For aspiring writers, Stephen King’s On Writing, a Memoir of the Craft. Part memoir, part instructive, it’s both interesting and offers real gems of writing advice.
For readers, Donald Ray Pollock’s The Devil All the Time (and I’m going to cheat here and add his second novel, The Heavenly Table). Why? Because not many people have heard of him, and he writes wonderfully — reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy, but with sprinklings of wry humour.
And for a third recommendation: well, go on and read Double Edged. (And follow that up with Single Minded). Local is lekker!
On that note, it’s worth mentioning that English language, South African novels in popular genres have a tough fight, competing with international bestselling authors, for shelf space. The big publishing houses have huge marketing budgets that we simply cannot match. So support local authors, and local bookshops — and spread the word!
If you could sum up your first year of publication in one word, what would it be?
Thrilling!
I see what you did there! Thank you so much for being so wonderful, Marina. I cannot wait to see Single-Minded in stores… and to watch the copies dwindle 😉
Single Minded launches 2nd August 2024, and will be available in brick-and-mortar stores across S.A., and on all leading digital platforms.
