Natalie Zellat Dyen: Fifteen Second Feature # 4

Fifteen Second Feature is for authors and those affiliated with publishing who have something they are excited to share. It can be a new publication, a new work in progress, a new idea. It is not only for published works, but I would love to provide the platform to shout to the world about your new book.

Author Name: Natalie Zellat Dyen

www.nataliewrites.com

Facebook: Natalie Dyen

Twitter : @NonnyZD

Instagram: nataliedyen

Tell us about the project/idea/publication etc. you’ve been working on:

A long time ago, I wrote a novel that “wasn’t ready for prime time,” but I pulled out some of the chapters and converted them to short stories. Two were published and a third one will appear in the fall issue of Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Journal. I am now trying to convert other chapters to create a set of linked short stories, and I had no idea how difficult a process that would be. Kind of like figuring out whether to raze an old building or renovate it.

Tell us about any publications or finished works you would like to talk about:

I am very excited about the upcoming publication of my first novel, Locked in Silence. The release date is February 1, 2024 and the publisher is Black Rose Writing. Locked in Silence is historical fiction set in ante-bellum Philadelphia and is about a woman who spends four years in solitary confinement at the notorious Eastern State Penitentiary for murdering her baby—a crime she may or may not have committed. You have to read the novel to find out. J I had so much fun doing the research that it was sometimes difficult to stop reading and start writing.

What books and movies would you like to recommend?

A few of my favorite books are Devil in the White City, by Eric Larson; Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout; Enders Game by Orson Scott Card; Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett; the Harry Potter series; Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Ann Tyler.

As for movies, I’m terrible at remembering them. But A Quiet Place is the first one that comes to mind.

Tell us something cool you’ve been into recently:

I recently started making up stories on the fly to tell my three-and-a-half-year-old grandson—the cutest kid on the planet, by the way. My father used to make up incredible, laugh-out-loud stories. My sister and I had no idea how he did it. Since I’ve never been good at on-the-spot writing, I believe I’m channeling my dad. My grandson loves these stories, and it sometimes feels like I’m connecting him to his great-grandfather.

Tell us about an issue you’re trying to draw attention to:

Lately there have been so many issues, but one of the most pressing is a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have a child. I marched for reproductive rights in the late 60s, and it’s disgusting that I have to do it all over again. Another issue is book banning. It’s what they did in Nazi Germany, where burning books led to burning people. America should be better than that.

I have also been involved in cemetery cleanup. There are a few very old Jewish cemeteries in the Philadelphia area. One of them, Har Jehuda, founded in the mid 1890s in Upper Darby is where many of my relatives are buried. The grounds are overgrown, because the current owners can’t afford maintenance, and it’s often difficult to locate the graves you’re looking for. Hopefully a more permanent maintenance schedule can be established, but in the meantime it’s up to us to pull up the vines, push weed wackers etc. I’m a “woman of a certain age” so bending and pulling can be challenging. But it’s a way to honor those who came before us.

Tell us a few things about yourself that you are really proud of:

I started to write fiction around the time I started collecting Social Security, and I’ve managed to get a lot of stories published since then. I tell people it’s never too late to embark on something new. In 2019, I published a short story collection called Finding Her Voice. Links to some of my other published works are on my website: http://www.nataliewrites.com.

I’m also proud that I ran two half-marathons when I was in my thirties. It wasn’t good for my knees (as I found out later in life); but it was especially rewarding back then, because that was the first time I was able to do anything remotely athletic.

And finally, I’m proud to have mentored two Philadelphia students from 9th grade through freshman year of college.

Keep an eye out for Natalie’s debut novel, Locked in Silence, February 1, 2024