Former Weekly editor Wendyl Nissen has always been a fearless writer, who has enjoyed a prolific and colourful career. But it’s the release of her very first novel, The Road From Midnight, that has forced the Green Goddess into new territory, making her uncharacteristically vulnerable and nervous.
“I’m petrified,” she admits. “I’m more comfortable writing non-fiction because I’ve done it most of my life. Fiction brings out the writer in you, exposing you more. It’s certainly very nerve-wracking.”
It’s often advised when penning a work of fiction to write about what you know. For Wendyl’s first attempt as a novelist, she focused on two experiences she has an intimate connection with – the world of magazines and a mother’s painful grief. The Road from Midnight, which is released this week, is a gripping tale of a successful New Zealand magazine editor, whose five-year-old daughter goes missing on an overnight train from Paris to Venice.
Like her main character Jane Lyndhurst, Wendyl has enjoyed success in magazines and knows how it feels to lose a child, after the cot death of her beloved daughter Virginia 21 years ago.
“At the core of it, the novel is about grief. It’s also about a woman who is struggling, thinking she was living the perfect life and it turns out that it’s not so satisfying. These ideas were happening when Madeleine McCann went missing, and I thought, ‘There is a book in this.’”
Writing the moments when her character is in the depths of despair, Wendyl (51) revisited her own deep emotions when dealing with Virginia’s sudden passing. In fact, there are passages in the book taken directly from Wendyl’s own diary during the time she was working through her grief.
“I never cried over the keyboard while I was writing, because I’ve had years of counselling and know how to cope with the sadness,” she explains. “Part of it was a joyful process. I got to play with ideas and see my character recover. When you lose a child, you can get lost in that grief, or you can work through it and move on with your life.”
Wendyl, who has written five non-fiction books, spent time at local retreats and even went to Venice for two weeks to write and finish her first work of fiction. She’s always loved the Italian city and says it was the perfect place to set parts of her novel. With her husband, fellow writer Paul Little, they’ve even taken the train from Paris to Venice with their daughter Pearl, when she was eight years old.
“I find Venice to be soothing, almost like a church – a sanctuary that brings clarity and healing,” Wendyl says.
She’s always wanted to write a novel where women, “curl up on the couch on a rainy day and escape”.
“I love chick lit, but I can’t stand it when you’ve read a whole book and basically all that’s happened is a woman has been rejected by someone and then finds someone else,” she explains.
The vivacious media personality channelled Jane Austen as she was writing her own words.
“There’s romance at the heart of Jane Austen books, but there is also so much more going on. There’s intrigue, death, all sorts of things. I was inspired by that. I wanted to write something with depth, and at the core of it there are lessons learned.”
Despite her nerves, Wendyl is excited about her novel’s release. She also appreciates the support from her family: husband Paul (56), children Daniel (27), Hannah (25), Pearl (15), and stepchildren Joel (30) and Alex (28), and her adorable granddaughters Lila (5) and Emmie (2).
This year, Virginia would have turned 21 in April and Wendyl celebrated by getting a tattoo on her arm of fantails in Virginia’s memory.
“When she died, fantails used to come around. Every year on her anniversary I would see a fantail. I look at my tattoo and think of her.”
Wendyl chose her daughter’s milestone year to make big changes in her life and has reinvented herself once again.
With Paul, she is selling her home of 12 years in Auckland’s Grey Lynn, and has bought a scenic property in the Hokianga region, where they plan to spend most of their time writing, but will also keep a smaller dwelling in Auckland.
“The last 10 years have been about being a Green Goddess, it was a passion – saving the environment, composting and baking bread. But the novel signals a stop to all of that. The Green Goddess will continue, but it’s time for me to pull back a little.”
Gone are the days of the long lunches, the wheeling and dealing, the world of magazines and celebrity. Wendyl is entering a new phase of her life – and loving every minute of it.
“I want to end my life living in the Hokianga region, with a green hippy life, writing books and becoming one of those eccentric novelists with frizzy grey hair. It’s the perfect time for that to happen.”
Photos: Caren Davis • Hair & Makeup: Luisa Petch
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