A mix of magic and mental health: meet YA author Nattie Kate Mason

Posted on 14 March, 2022

Three years ago, fantasy-loving mental health nurse Nattie Kate Mason never would have imagined she’d have her own writing published.

Six books later, it’s finally starting to sink in.

Spending her high-school years in Canberra before moving to Western Australia with her husband, Nattie has always been interested in writing, but it wasn’t until she put pen to paper as a form of therapy that the possibility that she could be a published author crossed her mind.

That’s when her first book, a young adult fantasy novel titled The Crowning, came to life in six short months.

“I’ve been a nurse most of my adult life, but I loved writing and I never had the guts to go for it and back myself,” says Nattie.

“But then I wrote my first book, just sort of heal my heart because it’s something I enjoy doing. Then one of my friends, who is also an author, pushed me into it and said, ‘Go for it.’ So I did.”

Writing for a younger audience (like her 10-year-old daughter, the namesake of her children’s series The Adventures of Lily-Rose) and inspired by her overflowing bookshelves, The Crowning Series is packed full of magic, suspense, betrayal, death, sibling rivalry, and a dash of mythology. But it also carries an important message.

“I wanted what I wrote to be something that [my daughter] could read and appreciate but I also wanted it to be something that had a strong mental health awareness thread through it so that young girls and teens would grow up seeing people they recognised and characters that reflected them,” says Nattie.

“I’m a mental health nurse, so it’s something that’s close to my heart, but also I struggle with anxiety. One of my characters, Anastasia, has anxiety and while our stories are not the same, it really helped me to be able to write about her experience of panic attacks and overcoming life events.”

While she doesn’t describe herself as a ‘planner’—instead she lets her feelings and the characters lead the story—Nattie has recently released a follow-on to her first series that has forced her to step out of her comfort zone once again.

Nattie’s new New Adult dark fantasy novel The Goddess of Blood and Bone completely abandons her YA roots. Told from the villain’s perspective, the book explores themes of redemption as she mixes mythology and fantasy into a twisted and dark world.

“It was definitely so much fun to write and it’s the one that I think adults would enjoy and take pleasure in reading…it’s got all that fun, spicy romance that we love as adults,” she says.

“It involves my characters from before so it’s still getting to love my characters all over again and revisiting their world but without those confining rules I had before!”

Coming to Canberra to visit her family and attend a Meet the Author Book Signing event at The Book Cow in April, Nattie’s advice to aspiring authors is simple: just keep trying.

“Your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect, no one’s first draft is…write what’s true to you, don’t write what you think people want to read because it’s not going to come off as authentic or genuine.”

“It’s got to be something you’re really passionate about. Otherwise, it just won’t have that soul that people are looking for when they read your stories.”