Nathalie Fiset, Author of I Will Always Be Here For You

Today we are interviewing Nathalie Fiset, M.D. about her children’s picture book, titled “I Will Always Be Here For You.”

Tell us a bit about yourself. 
Nathalie Fiset, M.D., is a retired family doctor and a mother of four. She still does medical missions in third world countries. She is the author of fiction and non-fiction books like The Reading Glasses Lie available on Amazon.


Describe your new book, “I Will Always Be Here For You,” in a few sentences. 
Mr Fizz is always here to help his little girl and her dog.Sometimes though, life changes and people we love leave us. A children's book about aging, losing people and grief.

Who do you think would most appreciate this book?
Children age 3 and up. Parents who need to address grief and the loss of a family member with their children.

What inspirations contributed to this book?
Mr Fizz, my father!

Tell us about the protagonist, Mr Fizz.
He was as colorful and reliable as the book shows. He loved to invent stuff and joke a lot. It was kind of like having my own Walt Disney! His most important value was family.

The story has a theme about aging, losing people, and grief. What inspired you to write about this theme?
When my father passed away, I felt a huge void in my life. We were very close seeing each other more than 20 times per year. But that is not just me, Mr Fizz was like that with  his five children and 14 grandchildren.

Was it difficult translating grief, a complex topic, in a way that is approachable for children?
Not really. When my father passed away, it touched my child heart. I had lost my Daddy. After all, even though I am 54 years old, he still called me madam Zoozoo or little girl.

What was the illustration process like for you?
I had hired someone from Fiverr but even though I explained exactly what I was seeing, he just sent generic images and did not render the images I was seeing. So, I had to learn drawing! I am very proud of the final images as they reflect the fun and colorful images I needed for telling my story.

Is there an author that had a major influence on your writing style?
Dr Seuss, Robert Munsch (Love you Forever which I read to my children thousands of times) and to a different extend, of course, J.K. Rowling.

Who was your favorite character to write?
Mr Fizz.

How do you think you've evolved as a writer since when you first started?
My God! I learned to draw on paint 3D, learned to format children’s books “with bleed” (lost a lot of blood there!), reformat after being rejected by Amazon kindle store so many times. I discovered a passion for children’s books and wrote other books like spot the differences and find the penguin having lots of fun doing so.

Are there any aspects (e.g. character building, world building) of your writing that you've been practicing?
My father thought by example and I like to think that I too give more than what is expected of me, show up when I say I will and can overcome small differences of opinions and dust myself up.

What are your goals as a writer for the next ten years?
I love the saying for children book’s writers: Teach don’t preach. I want to write more stories and game books and have fun doing it. I also want to continue my bigger project called The Pregnancy Chronicles a series of ten pregnancy books that read like novels (based on my experience delivering 3700 babies during my 25 year medical career).

How have your readers responded to the book so far?
I just launched it.

Is there any aspect of writing you don't like?
Editing since English is not my primary language. But, I found a good editor. That big gap when the book is done but you need to work at it which seams forever.

Author Nathalie Fiset.

Have you ever had writer's block? If yes, how'd you deal with it? If you have not had writer's block, why do you think you haven't?
I did not have writer’s block as I do not force myself to have to write on certain days. Ideas and dialogues are like a hamster running in my head during the day. I just write them down. I also keep a notepad on my nightstand so that I can go back to sleep after writing down the golden nugget my subconscious mind sent me as a gift!

What do you have in mind for your next project?
I have been creating game books for children and I am in the beginning stages of a new story about love.

Is there anything else you'd like potential readers to know about your book?
The story was very easy to write as it came straight from my heart. Putting the images, text and pages together was a learning curve and not a child’s play.  Now I know why so many people say they want to write a children’s book but do not do it.

Thank you,
Nathalie Fiset

More Information
Buy the book on Amazon.