Former student publishes debut novel

Nathanael grew up on the North Peckham estate as one of eight children to French and Madagascan parents. 

He studied Creative and Professional Writing at the School of Arts and Creative Industries after completing a year-long foundation course. But he took the long way around before committing himself.

He worked as a builder and then moved to Paris and worked in a restaurant. He returned to London when he was 20 and worked at McDonald's for three years. Then he took up an office job which he found boring.

"So I started writing little ditties and stories and poems to pass the time," he said. "Off the back of that, I decided to study creative writing because I had so much fun doing it."

Even then Nathanael did not immediately pursue a career in writing. Instead, he worked in marketing for a software company. 

Four-way auction

However, during lockdown, he found himself with time on his hands and decided to write. To his surprise,  he was accepted by an agent, DA Agency, which represents authors including Beth Reekles, Lee Child, Polly Ho-Yen, and Kerry Fisher. 

The book went to a four-way auction, and they chose Bonnier to publish. Nathanael was also contracted by publishing company Stripes to write two children's books for younger audiences.

His book took time to evolve as well.

He said, "As part of my dissertation, I wrote the first three chapters of a novel. It was aimed at adults but had a strong voice. Over lockdown, I decided to write the rest, just to say I'd completed it. I had every intention of self-publishing but took a punt on getting an agent. 

"When I got one, I had to rewrite the entire thing for middle-grade readers, which I was more than happy to do. I kept the strong voice, though."

Nathanael said he hoped that readers will take away a sense of entertainment and the opportunity to get underprivileged minorities into reading through authentic representation. 

And his advice to creative writing students?

"Be open about sharing your work, even if it makes you vulnerable. If you can't take criticism from lecturers and peers, you'll have a hard time facing editors who'll make you edit your work a dozen times, line-by-line, to sell it. Let go of all ego. 

"If you have to fight tooth and nail to convince people of your creative choices, consider the fact that it doesn't work and go back to the drawing board. Also, encouraging each other to work and striving for originality is the difference between a 1st and 2:1." 

Looking to the future, Nathanael has already had his Middle Grade Book 2 outline approved and he is also handing in the first draft of his children's book.

If you want to find out more about our creative writing courses, visit the School of Arts and Creative Industries page.

Steady For This, an editor's choice in The Bookseller and chosen by the National Literacy Trust as part of their empowerment programme, is published by Hotkey, part of Bonnier.